Iron Wok

This was a great place that had to close because the rent went way up. They wouldn’t have been able to charge the high prices that the rent increase would have required. They have now moved as of May 2014 and changed their name to Chang’s Kitchen at 1030 Irving in SF. The new storefront name hasn’t been changed yet so it is temporarily under the old restaurant name Golden Rice Bowl. I’m so glad glad they are open again as I miss all their great food I used to get when they were downtown.

Good bye Iron Wok, I’ll miss you. You were friendly family run place and my go to for honey walnut prawns over crispy cabbage with brown rice and your chili paste on the side. It was so good, no substitute found. Shocked when I saw you were gone. Maybe reopening somewhere else, I hope?

Did they close? I order my spicy chicken wings every week and the number is disconnected! Waah. I’m telling you, the best saucy chicken wings ever, since I moved from back East. I am going through withdrawals…
If they are truly gone, I will be very sad.

Their lease is up. They are now closed. We will miss it. It was a very tired location and in desperate need of a makeover. The mid-​market explosion must have made the lease renewal too high.

Ohhh Iron Wok.
Good food and cheap! They make it fast so it’s a good idea to take it to go.
Service… what you would stereotypically expect from Chinese restaurant owners (sadly). Maybe it’s because I’m Chinese so they’re not trying to impress me as much.
Anyway– what I mean by that is– they speak accented English, talk very fast and rush you (at least with my experience)…and they seem kind of stingy. Honestly, for the fact that I value service so much, 3 stars is a gift.
But! If I actually lived around here I would still come. It’s a kind of weirdly comforting experience and I do like the food. I haven’t tried anything from the Japanese menu but my friend said it is good too.
I like the eggplant dishes and their combo meals aren’t bad either.
They’re open every day. There’s a fee if you pay with credit card for under $ 10.

Needed to grab a quick bite before a concert nearby and decided to check out Iron Wok across the street from my place. Ordered Salt & Pepper Calamari, Cashew Chicken, and Walnut Prawns. Food came out fast and was good, especially calamari.
However, I was a bit concerned on being the only customer inside… hmmm…

This is one of my favorite places for quick to go Chinese food. It’s not the best in the world, but consistently good food and a great value. The salmon teriyaki bento box is delicious. The Mongolian beef is amazing. They offer brown rice upon request. Never have gotten sick and I never have seen any evidence of health or cleanliness issues that some reviewers have mentioned. Been coming here for 6 years and it remains popular with my peers and me.
I will continue to keep this in my lunch rotation for years to come.

Got a few bites in to the chow mein and found a dead COCKROACH in the food. Gross!!! The food was decently good until I came across this and wanted to throw up. I immediately called them and they offered to refund my money, but I will not be going here again. :(

The food is so bad that if they’re offering it for free, I would not even take the risk of consuming it. The place is filthy and I saw the chinese cook took a dump and left without washing his hands.

This place could certainly use some curb appeal, but the beauty is in the food, value and service.
They do it all! They do Chinese, Japanese and sushi (I don’t do sushi). This place is just half a block from home and has been the source of several good meals over the last 4 months. They are fast and the combo meals are a good value at around $ 7 you get fried rice, your entrée selection, soup and an egg roll and it is usually enough for 2 meals with plenty of leftovers and I have a (un) healthy large appetite! To be fair we are not big into Chinese food but they came through in a clutch and now we are fans of this fast and fresh place. The cashew chicken combo is always good and I like the chow mien and chow fun. We have also enjoyed the Teryaki bento box meals a couple of times.
This place is a good quick cheap option for lunch or dinner in the Mid Market area across from Twitter.
CHEERS!

Quick and clean with good prices. Hot & sour soup had a thin broth and mild sour spice but was still good and has plenty of mushroom and other stuff in it.

What do you do when you eat a pot brownie on your way to see Prometheus at the AMC on Van Ness? I don’t know. I went to Iron Wok.
There are limited takeout options when hoofing it to the theater from my house. Chow mein seemed like an okay idea so we went with it. I got some sort of meat medley, a combination of chicken, pork, and seafood. Though I ate my food in the darkness of the theater, I’m pretty sure the chicken was shrimp, the shrimp was chicken, and the pork was pepperoni.
Not sure if the portions were big or if I was just moving super slowly, but I managed to make my plate last for the entire duration of the movie with noodles to spare by the end credits. Everything looked coagulated in the light so I left my leftovers on my seat.

Most probably the best Value in the city for Chinese food.
P. S. After reading other reviews I must say:
B&T, Yups, hips, amateur «gourmands», stay in Pleasanton or wherever you came from: P

Market Street is the main street in a world class city and yet I find myself not being able to find anything to eat in the Van Ness region except sandwiches. This is my excuse for having to settle for a dirty spoon lunch in a place such as this that serves watered down tea. This joint has some redeeming factors:
– you can call in your order
– you can place an order online
– full menu with prices available for viewing online
– takes credit card
– generous portions
– fast service
– plentiful seating
The lunch specials are reasonable, but I don’t find the prices all that cheap. It’s only cheap compared to other food around here, but not to other Chinese food establishments of this caliber. They also offer Japanese food, but those items are a little pricier because of the seafood. I was tempted to get a hot bowl of udon, but didn’t think so after I saw that it wasn’t cooked in a Japanese style. I stick with rice plates because those are reliable even if it’s smothered in starchy sauce and mushy. I liked the bittermelon with beef.

This review is based on a delivery order through Grub Hub. I haven’t actually been inside this place.
One star for delivering on time and one star for ok food. Bummed because they completely forgot include something from our order. When I called to inform them, they couldn’t find my order. Then when I explained to them what it was missing, they asked if I would like to come pick it up. I had it delivered for a reason; I was at work and only had 30 minutes for lunch. They delivered the food they forgot to include but it took another half hour and my lunch was over by the time it came. Half-​assed apology. Nothing to make up for it. Bummer.

Wow… really not that good.
Beef Chow fun
Salted fish with diced chicken fried rice
sizzling beef platter
won ton soup
Chinese brocolli with oyster sauce (the only thing that was good)
fried chicken wings
salt and pepper ribs
Had most of the stuff minus the Japanese portion. I was starving after having some cocktails at Hot Spot bar next door and when I saw their sushi station, I really wasn’t that hungry anymore.
Did you know that Hot Spot Bar has a daily special where for 5 dollars you can get a shot, beer, and a 1 dollar scratcher. Hot Damn!!! How do they do that?!?

When a Chinese restaurant begins to incorporate sushi, this should be a big indicator that something is wrong.
Pros:
* Fast food
Con:
* Cleanliness in restaurant is an issue
* Found hair twice in my take-​out, not at once, thank God
* Food itself can get very heavy, especially since they don’t strain any of the sauce they use
* Sushi is not even decent for their price. It’s a rip-​off compared to Japanese restaurants who are serving the same thing. They purposely add too much rice to make you full faster.
* Doesn’t take credit card though they used to because the lady who owns the restaurant once complained to me that the company rates were getting expensive
That being said, only go if you are desperate for Chinese food, otherwise SKIP.

1, This is a review of delivery from Iron Wok.
2. Ordering was easy via
.
3. General’s Chicken — This was a average version of the dish. It could have used more zip and I added it with the hot sauce they provided on the side (by request). The chicken was crispy but it was tough. There was definitely quite a chew there. A number of the pieces were also very large. The portion was very large and almost all chicken.
4. Mongolian Beef — It had a very interesting taste and not interesting in the good way. I tried to mask it with hot sauce but that didn’t work. I could not eat it.
5. Steamed Rice — The rice was very good. Not too hard, not too mushy.
6. Soup — This was free. They have a number of specials. This was free (or other options) with an order of over $ 20. The soup basically had no flavor.
6. Order minimum — Relatively high ($ 20)
7. Prices — Their prices are in line with most Chinese delivery restaurants. Most of their entrees come in at just under $ 8 each.
1 General Chicken $ 7.70
1 Mongolian Beef $ 7.70
2 Coke $ 2.50
2 Steamed Rice $ 2.50
Free Soup of the Day with order of $ 20 or more
Subtotal $ 20.40
Tax $ 1.94
Total $ 22.34
8. Packing — The entrees were packed well in easy to reseal recycled containers. The rice was packed in a standard Chinese food container. They carefully wrapped the sealed sides of hot sauce. There were no leaks.
9. Delivery — Order placed at 4:10 PM. Order delivered at 4:38 PM. Delivery time was 28 minutes. The delivery person was polite and professional.
10. Overall — The food was mostly mediocre to poor. The services and prices were good. I will not use them again though. There are better options with higher quality food with the same services and prices.
11. Fortune — «Follow your own path.»
12. Lucky Numbers — 50, 7, 56, 22, 16, 32

This review has been long over due since I ordered from this place almost daily when I lived in SF the last year and half. They deliver locally and always customize your dish if you have dietary restrictions. The portions are decent for the price you pay for their food. They not only serve Chinese food, they also have a whole Japanese menu.
Some dishes I recommend would be:
* Hot and Sour soup (they use shitake mushrooms!)
* Spicy eggplants
* Mongolian Beef
* Basil Chicken
They usually deliver fairly quickly and they are also on

Iron Wok’s menu states: «We Use Garden Fresh Vegetables!» Hmmm, maybe they confused the freezer for a garden?
What a disgrace to Chinese food and if I had the option to give Negative Stars, I would gladly do so. And, anyone who gives IW more than 1 – 2 Stars probably never had «real» Chinese food before… Sorry!
First off, I know better to come to a place that serves Chinese/​Japanese food. That’s a red a flag begin to with, but it’s the only Chinese place within walking distance other than Shanghai China down the block which I’m not a fan of b/​c of their ultra rude customer service. The waitresses talk in Canto about the customers which they should be careful of b/​c some people DO actually understand; so I do know what you’re saying Miss! Anyways, I digress…
I called IW for a take-​out and ordered Shrimp Egg FooYoung. I normally would NEVER order something like this from a Chinese restaurant, but did so b/​c it was lo-​carb.
When I got there, and paid, they lady said by total was $ 9.45, but on the menu it said, «$ 8.15». Even with 9.5% tax, that doesn’t add up correctly. Perhaps, they charge extra for take-​out?
It took 15 minutes to get my food and when walking back to the office, I noticed that there was chili oil dripping out from all over the container and into the plastic bag. Weird!
When I got to my desk and opened the container, I am confronted by a big yellow blob with orange (carrots) and green (peas) specks, smothered with brown gravy (no chili oil). Being that Egg Foo Young is a Chinese omelet, I guess I expected it to taste like an omelet? It was more like an egg scramble with mushy bean sprouts and frozen peas and carrots. The egg was not fresh b/​c it had a very weird yellowish brown color and had a heavy texture to it. The shrimp? Umm, it was like looking for a needle in haystack and was NOT fresh; obviously frozen b/​c it was hard. The gravy, don’t know the addition to it as it did nothing to the dish except to make everything soggy.
Portions are HUGE and it’s more than enough for 2 lunches. But, being as it was almost inedible, after a couple of bites, it went straight to the compost bin.
If it weren’t for the nearby offices, I highly doubt anyone would even come to this establishment.
If IW’s view of fresh vegetables is coming from the freezer, I don’t even want to imagine how fresh their fish is for their sashimi and sushi! :X
Ummm, and I’m still wondering, where exactly did that chili oil come from??? In this instance, I think it’s one of those «what you don’t know, won’t hurt you…»