Magic Wok

Image Courtesy of Google Maps

I know it sounds like a generic chain, but hear me out. This restaurant is my family's go to restaurant for birthday celebrations for years. It is NOT the toned down, fried, made for the meat-and-potatoes-palate kind of food. It's at the other end of the spectrum. There are meats and fungi on the menu that most Canadians wouldn't dream of touching, but they are delicious if you know how to prepare it right. And boy, can they prepare it right here.

That being said, we've never tended to stray from our usual order. We may try a new dish here or there, but the reason we choose the same things is because they are so good, we all have our favourites, and nobody want's to give up what they like. Except for dad and mom. Which means it really is just the three of us who will never compromise. On top of our orders, we all (except for dad) order a dish of steamed rice to go with our food.

And now we have Mark, so I'm sure soon we will have an additional dish added to our repertoire. Maybe our desire to insist it is closer to 'authentic' than 'Americanized' is the reason we refer to the place as '14th line; the location rather than the name.

Magic Wok is located on 14th Ave west of Kennedy in Markham, right beside the Mandir En and I got married in. I'm not sure about lunch, but they open for dinner service at 5.00pm.

Steamed Pickerel with Ginger and Green Onion

From Bottom Clockwise: Chicken Hot Pot, Cantonese Chow Mien,
Black Bean Lobster, Chicken Fried Rice, Baby Bok Choi

Dad's Selection: 
Baby Bok Choi in Garlic. This is a great and healthy side for all the rich meat dishes. Crisp yet delicious, we always finish the entire platter.

Mom's Selection: 
Beef Brisket Hot Plate in Sauce. It spits sauce everywhere from the sizzling hot iron platter and leaves a red ring on the tablecloth around the dish once you lift it. We didn't order it this time because of the XM processing plant bacteria scare, but it suits me fine as Diwali is coming up and I've chosen to fast off of beef for the proceeding month. But it is yummy! I need to remember what sauce we order, but it is covered in a red, almost barbeque consistency, but with far more tang. The meat is so tender and is loaded with onions - wonderful with the steamed rice.

Cher's Selection: 
Lobster in Black Bean Sauce. If she doesn't order it, I will. It's so good. The key to it is to eat it as soon as you can, since cold lobster is gross. They serve all pieces, even if it's just shell, but I have to say, even sucking the sauce off the shell alone is tasty, and I do this, regardless of who may be watching and judging. It's good food. Deal with it. And yes, I crunch up the shells and crack them with my teeth.

My Selection: 
Steamed Pickerel with Ginger and Green Onion. If they don't have fresh pickerel, I'll settle for grouper. The entire fish is steamed and then finished off with some sizzling oil drizzled overtop. Dad has always saved the cheeks for me and Cher, but soon that tradition will change once Alexis is old enough to eat solids!

En's Selection: 
Cantonese Chow Mein. It may sound generic, and my husband prefers the mainstream dishes, but this one I must agree with him, is the best so far. The top is perfectly crispy and the bottom is incredibly saucy. It's mixed, so there is plenty of seafood, greens, water chestnuts, chicken and char siu pork. It is so good it was covered in 'Street Eats', a local show featuring the best dishes around the city.

Mark's Selection: 
TBD I guess. Cher and Mark started dating a while back, but he's only started joining us for celebratory meals in the past year. This is his first time at Magic Wok, but he's familiar with the cuisine, so it's just a matter of time.


Other dishes we've had in not-so-regular rotation are Cashew Shrimp, Phoenix's Nest, Chicken Fried Rice, Crab, Chicken Hot Pot, and Chinese Broccoli.

Restaurant Info:
Magic Wok
4331 14th Avenue, Markham Ontario, L3R 0J2
(905) 305-6088
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