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ST. CHARLES – After working my way through some dining options in Geneva, a lunch in St. Charles seemed in order. I went with Wok n Fire, a restaurant self-described on its website as offering “sushi-centric, Asian-inspired cuisine.”
My friend and I noticed right away how peppy its music and decor both were. A large dragon towers over the back wall, and the sushi line is inside the restaurant if you want to watch the rolls being made. While the St. Charles location doesn’t have outdoor seating, you can opt for carryout or distance yourself – the interior is big enough to spread out the tables. The staff is friendly and attentive, too; I’m already planning my next visit.
We started with dumplings as an appetizer. The five dumplings were lightly fried and packed with chicken and vegetables. With dumplings, I test the soy sauce and decide whether it calls for a dunk (the whole dumpling) or dip (lightly, quickly). I found the soy sauce light and tangy and would definitely recommend drenching the whole dumpling if you’re a soy sauce aficionado.
We split two entrees, the Crispy Crunchy Roll (pictured) and the Pad Thai, which our server said were two of her favorites. The roll was breaded (hence its namesake) for the shrimp tempura, and incorporated cream cheese, avocado and crab. It was topped with sriracha and a mango sauce that added a sweet, light component to the otherwise crispy roll – not to mention how beautiful the presentation was, arranged on a square plate with the sauces artfully swirled on top. It wasn’t super spicy, and the creaminess of the avocado mixed well with the crab and the sweet mango sauce.
The Pad Thai came with chicken, egg, tofu and scallions mixed in with sauce and rice noodles, all topped with bean sprouts, carrots and crushed peanuts. I’ll admit I’m not usually tofu’s biggest fan, but the pieces were seared and firm, cut into small squares to add a different texture to the dish – by far the best tofu I’ve ever had. While we chose chicken, you can opt for any meat.
If you get the Pad Thai, I’d recommend splitting it or planning for another full meal of leftovers; it was a lot of food. By the end of our meal though, my best friend and I could definitely understand why our picks were two favorites. We’ll definitely be back.
• The Mystery Diner is a newsroom employee at the Kane County Chronicle. The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a review.
IF YOU GO
Wok n Fire
WHERE: 181 S. First St., St. Charles
PHONE: 630-444-3580
INFO: www.woknfire.com