Magic Escape Room is an immersive and interactive experience that takes participants on a thrilling adventure. It combines elements of puzzle solving, teamwork, and problem-solving, all within a themed room. The goal is to find clues, solve riddles, and unlock hidden compartments to escape before time runs out. The magic escape room offers a unique and engaging experience for groups of friends, family, or coworkers. It is a great way to bond and work together as a team, as everyone must use their skills and creativity to navigate through the challenges. The rooms are designed with intricate details and theming that transport participants to another world.
Magic Wok in Artesia Closes :-( …UPDATE!
They're still closed as of this writing, but it doesn't seem long that they might reopen…or at least we hope so.
Yet in reading their latest posts, there was a hint on the real reason why it closed. It said:
The gossips are that they closed us up that is not true. We decided to closed the store. We had an employee, you might say a whistleblower but at this moment I cannot discuss it yet till we settle this issue.
Thank you for asking…
“The Magic Wok Restaurant is close (sic) effective 9-29-14. We are taking a long vacation and R and R. Thank you for your support and patronage.”
My last meal there, serendipitously, was a day before, on 9-28-14. Apparently, it has been closed ever since. Calling the place earlier this week pretty much gets a message that repeats what's on the note.
This isn't the first time the Southland was deprived of what many consider (this writer included) the BEST Filipino restaurant in California. There was a fire that gutted the place in 2006.
Let's hope they are really on vacation. Let's hope the rumours I heard from Filipino friends and relatives that they're actually closing because of a sickness in the family isn't true. Let's hope that they reopen soon. Let's hope that they will be there in time to take the annual orders of crispy pata for Christmas.
Note: If anyone involved with the restaurant can give us a date on when the restaurant will re-open, drop us a line, won't you? Or just comment!
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.
Magic wok artesia
Ask a Filipina where to find the best Pinoy cooking in town and she’ll point you to her mother’s home. Ask her where to find an adequate substitute and she’ll suggest Magic Wok in Artesia.
Elena Pulmano converted a former Chinese fast-food outlet into a homey spot for honest Filipino cooking in 1979, but kept the restaurant’s moniker out of convenience. After a decade of feeding the community the crispiest pata in town, Ms. Pulmano handed the reins to her nephew Rudy and his wife, Marivic Abuyen, in 1989. Other than a fresh coat of paint and a few new menu items, not much has changed at Magic Wok since it debuted over 30 years ago.
The crowds still go gaga for the crispy pata, a bone-in leg of pork that’s brined, boiled, and fried till blistered and golden. The sisig is also wildly popular. Bits of skin-on pork, carrots, and scallions are sautéed and seasoned with a heavy dose of garlic, black pepper, and citrus.
For me though, the jewel at Magic Wok is the impossible-to-pronounce-without-a-smile binagoongang baboy, a punchy marriage of deeply fermented shrimp paste (bagoong alamang) and tender and caramelized bits of pork. This dish isn’t for everyone, but if your tastes swing toward the funky, sweet, fatty, and fermented, this pig’s for you (and me).
Magic Wok
11869 Artesia Boulevard
Artesia, CA 90701
Phone: 562-865-7340
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The Find: Magic Wok in Artesia
Magic Wok is a porcine palace, a restaurant where the pillars of Filipino cooking are fortified by all things pork. Kids chomp on shards of pig skin as crisp as potato chips, grandparents leisurely ladle hunks of pork from sour tamarind soups — the homey restaurant went whole hog long before quivering cubes of pork belly cropped up on happy-hour menus and bacon became an almost de rigueur dessert.
Perhaps even more than most, Filipino cooking is a tradition that you’ll be told time and again is best experienced in the home. Restaurants, it’s often said, simply can’t replicate the custardy feel of an aunt’s cassava cake or the loving, peanut butter-rich base of a mother’s kare kare. But out on the periphery of Artesia’s Little India, Magic Wok has been making this familial food for decades.
The restaurant has never been one to be bothered by timeworn trappings — its drop ceiling, wood paneling and even its name (a holdover from when the space once housed a Chinese fast-food chain) all came with the place. Nor is it now concerned with visibility, as after a recent strip-mall remodel, Magic Wok is without a sign. Those searching out this hog heaven for the first time need only look for the constant crowds to find it.
AdvertisementCrispy pata is the masterwork of Magic Wok’s pork oeuvre. When a fire temporarily closed down the restaurant a few years ago, crispy pata was the dish for which everyone’s appetites began to ache. And crispy pata is still the entrée you see on every table: a bone-in leg of pork fried to a beautiful brown.
First, the leg is brined, then boiled and finally fried. The delicate process ends with the skin annealing just long enough for patches of blistery bubbles to cool into a crisp golden armor. The skin has an allure all its own — its addictive crunch is so powerful you can feel each bite reverberate through your brain. Underneath is a stratum of slightly gamey, supremely tender meat that falls off the bone on its own accord. Using a fork is futile — crispy pata mandates that you get your hands dirty.
Sisig is a more manageable option. It isn’t served in the typical sizzling skillet, but Magic Wok’s version is still excellent. Fatty bits of fried pork are chopped into dice-sized bites, tossed with flecks of ginger, scallion and peppers and united by a tart squeeze of citrus. But sisig can be dangerous. Whereas your crispy pata consumption naturally slows as your fingers work around the bone, there’s no such speed bump to stop you from scooping up the entire plate of sisig.
Pork doesn’t hog every meal. Bistek Tagalog is a fine alternative, strips of steak varnished with soy sauce and vinegar, as is the classic chicken adobo. Still, if you prefer, there’s a vast pork world to explore here, one in which dinuguan, an oil-black pork blood stew, represents the outer limits.
You can allay potential cardiological concerns with one of the restaurant’s lighter dishes. Pinakbet, a stir-fry of bitter melon, squash, okra, eggplant and string beans, yields a bounty of produce. It’s held together with bagoong alamang, a funky, purplish fermented shrimp paste that is the dish’s defining flavor but not an overwhelming one. There’s also the palate-cleansing sinigang na baboy, a sour tamarind soup that can wipe away all traces of crispy pata with one spoonful.
Halo-halo — a sundae of shaved ice, jackfruit, gelatinous agar-agar, sweet red beans, ube ice cream and more — is a reliable dessert, though you can also make do with a finishing sip of calamansi juice, which refreshes like a tangerine-sweetened limeade.
Regardless of the hour, a crowd is assured at Magic Wok. You can call ahead for takeout, but there’s no to-go menu here. Orders must instead be recited by rote. Diners calling in their orders decide by cycling through all the memories they’ve accrued here, often as complete an edible history as any whipped up in a family kitchen.
Magic WokLocation: 11869 Artesia Blvd., Artesia, (562) 865-7340
Price: Entrees, $4.99 to $8.99; soups, vegetable and noodle dishes, $4.99 to $5.75; drinks and dessert, $1.75 to $3.55
Best dishes: Crispy pata, sisig, sinigang na baboy, pinakbet
Details: Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Lot parking. Credit cards accepted.
For The Record: In an earlier version of this story, the headline incorrectly referred to the restaurant as Happy Wok. It is the Magic Wok.
The rooms are designed with intricate details and theming that transport participants to another world. Whether it's a haunted house, a mystical forest, or an ancient temple, each room tells a different story and presents a variety of puzzles and obstacles to overcome. Participants must think critically, communicate effectively, and collaborate with their team members to progress through the room.
The challenges may involve manipulating objects, deciphering codes, or finding hidden compartments. Some puzzles require logical reasoning, while others may require outside-the-box thinking. The time limit adds an element of suspense and urgency to the experience. As the clock ticks down, the pressure builds, and participants must stay focused and work efficiently to escape in time. It tests their ability to think under pressure and make quick decisions. Magic Escape Rooms are suitable for people of all ages and skill levels. They can be enjoyed by beginners and experienced escape room enthusiasts alike. The rooms are typically designed to accommodate varying levels of difficulty, allowing participants to choose a challenge that suits their preferences. Overall, the Magic Escape Room is a thrilling and unforgettable experience. It combines the elements of mystery, teamwork, and problem-solving to create an immersive adventure like no other. It's a perfect activity for anyone looking to have a fun and challenging time with friends, family, or colleagues..
Reviews for "The Great Escape: How Magic Escape Rooms are Testing the Limits of Participants"
1. Sarah - 2 stars - I was really excited to try out the Magic Escape Room, but I was left feeling disappointed. The puzzles were overly complicated and required a lot of guesswork to solve. The room was poorly lit, making it hard to see the clues and navigate our way through. The overall theme and story were also quite confusing and didn't have a clear connection. I left feeling frustrated and unsatisfied with the whole experience.
2. Mike - 1 star - Magic Escape Room was a complete waste of my time and money. The room was poorly designed and lacked any real challenge. The puzzles were too easy and predictable, making the whole experience boring and unengaging. The props and decorations were cheap and tacky, adding to the overall disappointment. I wouldn't recommend this escape room to anyone looking for a thrilling and immersive adventure.
3. Emily - 2 stars - I had high expectations for the Magic Escape Room, but it fell short in many aspects. The clues and puzzles were poorly organized and didn't flow well, causing confusion among our group. The room lacked any unique or creative elements that could have made the experience more enjoyable. The staff also seemed disinterested and unenthusiastic, which added to the overall lackluster atmosphere. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this escape room as there are much better options out there.