Magic Wok Artesia is a popular Chinese restaurant located in Artesia, California. It is known for its delicious and authentic Chinese cuisine, friendly service, and cozy ambiance. The restaurant has been serving customers for over 20 years and has gained a loyal following in the community. Magic Wok Artesia offers a wide variety of menu options, including traditional Chinese dishes such as Kung Pao chicken, sweet and sour pork, and Mongolian beef. **One of the standout features of the restaurant is its use of a special technique called wok cooking**. This involves cooking food in a round-bottomed pan called a wok, which allows for high heat and quick cooking times.
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!
Follow Stick a Fork In It on Twitter @ocweeklyfood or on Facebook! And don't forget to download our free Best Of App here!
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
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to print (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
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.
This involves cooking food in a round-bottomed pan called a wok, which allows for high heat and quick cooking times. Wok cooking is known for creating unique flavors and textures in dishes, and Magic Wok Artesia excels in this culinary art. The chefs at Magic Wok Artesia are highly skilled in wok cooking, ensuring that each dish is bursting with flavor and cooked to perfection.
In addition to its delicious food, the restaurant also provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere for customers. The dining area is tastefully decorated with Chinese-inspired décor, creating a cozy and inviting space to enjoy a meal. The staff at Magic Wok Artesia are attentive and friendly, providing excellent service to ensure a memorable dining experience for each customer. Whether you're in the mood for classic Chinese dishes or want to try something new, Magic Wok Artesia is a fantastic choice. **With its skillful use of wok cooking and dedication to customer satisfaction**, it has rightfully earned its reputation as one of the best Chinese restaurants in Artesia. If you're in the area, be sure to visit Magic Wok Artesia and indulge in their delicious Chinese cuisine..
Reviews for "Uncovering the Hidden Gems at the Magic Wok Artesia: Lesser-Known Delicacies for Food Enthusiasts"
1. John - 1 star
I was greatly disappointed with my experience at Magic Wok Artensia. The food was below par and lacked any flavor. The vegetables were overcooked and mushy, while the meat was chewy and tasteless. The service was also extremely slow and inattentive. Overall, I would not recommend dining at this restaurant.
2. Mary - 2 stars
I had high hopes for Magic Wok Artensia based on its reviews, but unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. The portion sizes were small compared to other Chinese restaurants, and the prices were quite high. The dishes I ordered lacked authenticity and tasted bland. Although the staff was friendly, the slow service detracted from the overall experience. I won't be returning to Magic Wok Artensia.
3. David - 1 star
Magic Wok Artensia was a huge letdown for me. The food was mediocre at best and lacked any distinct flavors. The meat in my dish was tough and dry, and the sauces were watery and tasteless. The restaurant was also quite noisy, making it difficult to have a conversation. Moreover, the prices were too high considering the low quality of the food. I would not recommend this place to anyone looking for an authentic Chinese dining experience.