Red Hot Wok

Red Hot Wok is a Taiwanese joint in Cupertino, CA. It seems to be really popular because when we went, there was an hour long line. Inside, the place looks like a cross between a Chinese restaurant and a bar, with wooden plank tables and benches.

We had a group of six that had helped NN move into his new apartment that day. Since we had been stuffed full at IKEA earlier in the day (dem unlimited amounts of meatballs when you buy enough furniture...) we were just peckish, so we shared a few dishes.

Eggplant was nice and spicy - very tasty!

The squid, however, was a bit more questionable... we weren't expecting complete squid so some at the table were a little put off. Those who didn't mind, like myself, were uninspired by the flavor... it was supposed to be gingery and spicy, but the squid themselves were just bland. Not a fan.

They had a kungpao stir fried century old egg which sounded interesting and we just had to try. It is has the sweet and spicy flavor that you would associate with kung pao - generally, very good! Though, it is a bit difficult to eat without enough rice to help it along, since it is very salty.

And the stone plate pepper beef which was strongly mediocre.

And lastly, we had their signature dessert - shaved ice! I believe it was shaved snow... We opted for the green tea.

It comes with a heaping of red beans on top...

The shaved ice itself is very tasty! It's creamy but icy and comes out in amazingly flavorful flakes. They melt very quickly, so eat fast!

Food-wise, Red Hot Wok is bipolar - they have some hits (AMAZING shaved ice, nice quirky dishes like the kung pao egg) but some of their other dishes are mediocre or even just bad. For the south bay, which is filled with excellent Chinese restaurants, I think you can do better if you are looking for a full meal.

That said, I would definitely stop by for a beer and some salty side dishes, and to try more shaved snow. Mango shaved snow, I have my eye on you.

Red Hot Wok

Red Hot Wok Yelp

Cupertino, CA

Extra Feature: ANA In-Flight Meals

In spring 2013 I took a vacation to Japan in which I had splurged on traveling with ANA for the first time. I have been on many flights and had my share of poking forlornly at in-flight meals, but what I had this time shocked me - in a good way!

On ANA flights, meals are actually preceded by a snack. From the looks of the package it looked like a standard mix of salty peanuts and pretzels, but to my surprise it was actually a tasty mix of nuts, soft sweet pretzels, and a sweet rice cracker mix.

ANA's dinner choice option 1, which was obviously the more "western" choice. The main dish was some kind of beef and mushroom with rice, which was not bad. The side dish was some sort of crab salad with chicken strips and a caprese (!) salad. I usually shy away from seafood and cheese on airplanes like the plague but it was shockingly fresh and good.

My travel companion FT had the curry rice (good!), and a side dish of cold soba with hijiki (the black seaweed you see there). 

The next meal "lunch" was a chicken pasta dish... also shockingly tasty! It looks like some creamy fettuccine but is actually a more Asian style chicken and gravy sauce.

And on my next ANA flight, the in flight meal was crab rice which, to my shock, had chunks of real crab along with various mushrooms, lotus root, and egg. 

I took some subsequent domestic flights from another airline that had the standard mushy food and unpalatable cold cuts - blegh. However, a next flight on ANA again helped reassure me about airplane food. A stewed beef dish paired with some cold cuts, pickles, and a small amount of noodles. 

On my returning flight, dinner was a donburi meal. 

And the very last "lunch" (and I'll figure out how to rotate this photo... eventually...) before returning home was an oden meal with stewed fishcakes and veggies. There was also fruit that had an apple rabbit, peach, and kiwi. 

Best of all, after all meals, you also get a little haagen-daaz individual portion ice cream.

I had balked a little on the price I had paid for flying with ANA, but was so pleasantly surprised by the experience, especially the food! It was probably the first time I actually looked forward to the meals while flying and helped make my long haul flights seem so short. I hope that this brings good tidings to weary travelers that yes - good meals in the sky do exist.