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125 East Clayton Street • Downtown, Athens • 706-546-8826
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145 E. CLAYTON ST.
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“Been There - Did These”
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ROCKING THE WOK
vvmiervme excursion. i was going to try to make tnis weeks
column all about Winterville, but an attempted visit to Don
Nacho revealed that restaurant is no longer. What this means
is that Wok Star (225 Cherokee Rd.), just down the road, is
about the only game in town. The shopping center it occupies
resembles nothing so much as a prison, but the interior is more
welcoming, with neither the ostentatiousness of some Chinese
restaurants nor the greasy fast food feel of others.
Wok Star advertises itself as "fusion" cuisine, which isn't
exactly accurate. It's more that it cooks both Chinese and
American food than that it merges the two into something
new. At breakfast, you can get a biscuit or a plate with eggs,
grits and toast, but you can't, unsurprisingly, get congee, the
rice porridge popular throughout China for the morning meal.
Lunch and dinner menus include a section of burgers and
sandwiches such as BLTs and chicken salad, but I opted for the
Chinese offerings instead and was mostly pleasantly surprised.
Wok Star is a little greasier than Chef Ming (on Epps Bridge
Parkway), but the two restaurants are in the same ballpark:
some more interesting dishes and solid execution of Chinese-
American standards, which feel made from scratch and not just
MSG-ed into submission. Potstickers, for example, are porky
and appropriately fatty, with their thin skins nicely crisped in
the pan. The hot and sour soup is peppery and starchy, and
another soup of tofu and spinach (or, in my case, Chinese cab
bage) is refined and restorative, the kind of thing you feel
both virtuous and supremely happy sipping.
Basics like Mongolian beef and moo goo gai pan contain
fresh ingredients, with crisp matchsticks of cabbage and an
abundance of bright green scallions. Salt and pepper shrimp is,
unfortunately, a bit too heavy on the salt, even for yours truly,
and its batter is flat and soggy. The
rice, in general, isn't very good, with
a hint of oil that doesn't taste great.
Venturing into the chef's specials
section of the menu is a good idea.
The Chinese pot roast takes longer to
prepare than other items, so you may
want to call ahead or make sure you have time for a lengthier
meal, as it's worth the wait. Unctuous and fragrant with spices
like star anise, it's rich enough to feed two.
Wok Star is open for lunch and dinner six days a week
(closed Tuesdays), serves breakfast (except on Sunday), does
delivery and take-out, has no liquoV license and takes credit
cards. It has a good number of vegetarian dishes.
...fragrant
with spices like
star anise...
Collegiate Eats: Chango's Noodle House (320 E. Clayton St.)
hasn't changed much in its switch to its current name from
Doc Chey's. Other than a bit of paint and a new name and logo,
you'll be hard pressed to see any differences at all. The menu
and the recipes remain almost identical: pan-Asian noodle and
rice bowls, plus soups and snacks.
In most cases, you can choose your pre ain (tofu, chicken,
beef, shrimp or salmon) or to remain with veggies only when
you order something like a big bowl of lo mein. Steaming and
freshly stir-fried, it arrives swiftly to your table, a welcome
sight on a cold, rainy day. Like its predecessor, Chango's is
an ideal place for college students, large groups and business
meetings. Most people can find something to their taste, and
the fact that it serves sake bombs alongside its food makes it a
popular destination on Sundays in Athens.
The appetizers are pricey compared to the mains ($4 for
edamame), and the renderings of different Asian dishes aren't
tremendously authentic, but one shouldn't expect them to be.
I also miss the chicken wings Doc Chey's had added for a while.
Chango's is open for lunch and dinner every day. It serves beer,
wine and sake, does take-out and accepts credit cards.
What Up?: Although Athens Bagel Co. (on Jackson Street
downtown), the second location of Sr. Sol (on Atlanta Highway
in the former La Cazuela) and The Volstead (on Clayton Street
downtown) are all getting close to opening, none are quite
there yet. The Big Easy Cafe in Watkinsville has opened its
second location, on Baxter Street, next to Domino's, where it
serves dinner as well as breakfast and lunch. The Dogg Pound,
serving hot dogs and deep-fried candy bars in the former Hollis
Ribs (on Broad, near Hancock Avenue) is also open.
12 FLAGPOLE.COM • OCTOBER 19, 2011
Hillary Brown food@flagpole.com
