Cycle 13 – Item 295

27 (Thu) October 2022

One Pick

1.0

at Go to Wok

-Seongsu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-

with W and Mom

Go to Wok is an American-Chinese restaurant chain.  Offers pre-made American-Chinese dishes, served on combo plates in the style of American shopping mall chains, like Panda Express (see for example 9.358 Cheeseburgers).  Launched 2022, just 2 locations – as yet.  The latest enterprise of The Born, Baek Jong Won’s ever-growing restaurant empire.

I had high hopes, as a lifelong devotee of American-Chinese food, also in light of Chef Baek’s apparently magic touch (see for example 12.329 Tomato Pasta).  And how amazing would it be to have an American-Chinese joint near the office?

But I knew that I had no good reason to hope, given the inherent crappiness of shopping mall American-Chinese food (see for example 9.349 Pea Shoots with Garlic), as confirmed recently at the Panda Express in Korea (see generally 12.057 Bigger Plate).

The basic combo is called “One Pick,” but the customer is required to pick between fried rice or chow mein, and then to pick 4 mains – that’s actually 5 picks.

Ugh.  We were the first customers in line, and yet the food was cold like it’d been sitting out for hours.  Most offerings were deep-fried, now mushy and oily.  Everything was bland.  If Chef Baek was trying to keep it real – in the tradition of crappy shopping mall American-Chinese food – he succeeded.

(See also RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)