Big Wong
Seasoned Rice
Authentic Curry Chicken served with three Roti Pancakes
Curry Fish Balls
Curry Beef with Noodle Soup
Located on Spring Mountain Road, a street of constant turnover featuring approximately two-hundred eateries at any given time, it was in an intentional attempt to avoid Las Vegas Boulevard that New Year’s Eve was spent at Big Wong Restaurant, the casual Chinese spot located in the same plaza as the likes of Raku and Kabuto proving both affordable and appetizing in addition to offering surprisingly efficient service.
Originally opened in the middle of 2011 and largely unchanged in terms of decoration or menu over the intervening 6.5 years as judged by photographs, the interior clean and brightly lit with images of the Restaurant’s cuisine hanging on walls, guests entering Big Wong can expect to be greeted quickly by a man standing at the counter, his directions as to where to sit gauged by party size with a server quickly emerging to provide laminated menus.
Small in size and more limited in scope that other nearby Restaurants, the double-sided menu featuring some sixty choices largely revolving around items such as Chicken, Beef, Pork or Shrimp in a variety of preparations including a Starch and Curry or Soup, it was after being told that no Congee was available at 7:00pm that the decision was instead made to focus elsewhere, a total of three plates plus Rice, extra Noodles and Water tallying just $30.
Unsurprisingly not packed given the holiday, but still doing brisk take-out business to an almost universally Asian clientele, it was just as Water was refilled by request that plates came forth from the kitchen one after another, the portion-sizes about what one would expect for the area with the bowl of Curry Beef and Ramen easily enough to feed two given the ample amount of springy Noodles and tender braised Meat floating in a pool of Orange Broth.
Having not really paid attention to tablemate’s orders after being disappointed regarding the Rice Porridge, a second-choice of store-bought Fish Balls presented similar to the Beef but without Noodles for $1.50 less, it was atop a Soy-slicked scoop of Rice that the mild orbs made rich by Curry and Turmeric were enjoyed before turning attention to a smaller cup of boiled Chicken, the blend of Dark Meat and Breast well-cooked, juicy throughout and delicious whether on its own or atop crispy fried Roti.
THREE STARS: Not purporting to be anything it is not, but at the same time not nearly as diverse as much of its nearby competition, Big Wong Restaurant offers guests good Food at a fair price, though the fact that they cannot keep something as simple and cheap as Congee in-stock four-hours prior to closing seems fairly ridiculous.
RECOMMENDED: Curry Beef with Noodle Soup, Authentic Curry Chicken served with three Roti Pancakes.
AVOID: There are better Fish Balls to be had and no pan-seared Noodle dishes are available, just Soups.
TIP: 10a-11p daily at 5040 Spring Mountain Road.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor.
