Magic Wok

London is a city of extremes. Extreme heat and humidity (and the smell of the Thames that goes with it) in the summer, frigid temperatures in the winter, and everything in between. The same could be said for the food. You’ll find the best of food, along with the worst of food, sometimes on the same street. This establishment is one of those rare eateries with praices one would expect from the more disappointing restaurants, but with food that easily defies expectations and leaves you wondering when your next trip across Hyde Park could be.
I’m of the opinion that the key to great Chinese cooking in London is simplicity. Magic Wok epitomizes this. The décor is simple, some would say a bit claustrophobic, the menu is relatively simple, as is the presentation. But a great restaurant shouldn’t need visual frills to convey how impressive the food is. The duck was among the best I’ve had in some time, the vegetables were the right amount of crispy and not soggy at all. The sauces were in no way overdone, not too salty, and just enough to season everything. Culinarily, I had no complaints.
The service was a bit slow, but the place was PACKED when I was there. Always a good sign, having to wait in a queue for Chinese food in London when there are possibly 10 other establishments on the same street.

An almost infinite menu to choose from. At a first sight you feel absolutely lost.
When you get more confident, you’ll be faced with hard choices everything seeming interesting but at the end, you would like to come back and try the whole menu. Roast duck DELICIOUS, tender, saucy and with crispy skin
Prawn sichuan-​style FABULOUS Any hints, for what to try next, anyone?

this restaurant tends to get overshadowed by Gold Mine, its popular next door neighbor. after overlooking this restaurant many times, my wife and i decided to give it a try. i must say, it can hold its own even against the toughest on this competitive street. i would rank their roast duck a cut above Gold Mine and bit below New Fortune. their prices are a bit more than New Fortune, but the service is very upbeat and friendly. we also tried their beef fillet on sizzling plate (which was excellent) and their tofu stuffed with prawn meat (also very good). overall, highly recommended.

Really bad hot & sour soup
Good prawns
Would not come again

The restaurants clustered around this area of Queensway never disappoint (probably because, if the rumours are true, they all share the same kitchen). The standard Chinese fare is pretty good. The Szechuan prawns (which aren’t really done in the Szechuanese way) were delicious, while the roast duck gravy was out of this world. The beef ho fun in black bean sauce was amazing and even the sweet and sour pork, a dish I don’t usually order as I’m Chinese, was good. And, of course, you get a fortune cookie at the end of the meal. That’s how you know it’s a proper authentic Chinese restaurant. (I’m kidding.)

we got take out and the food was mediocre. nothing stood out. seems like it’s made for the british palette (no offense…).
four seasons is better.

I really love this place. The food choice is good and reasonably priced. The kitchen area is open so you can see everything being prepared.

Good food decent prices…
That was all I was gonna say, but just saw a note about the crispy pork, its usually ok, maybe it was just bad luck? We usually get the same dishes when we go there, deep fried prawn balls, some veg, duck and crispy pork, or salt and chilli squid.
yes Im a creature of habbit, but we like it there…

Wirklich sehr, sehr gute Chinesische Küche.
Für alle, die bisher nur Chinesische Geldwaschanlagen mit Chop Suey Angebot aus Deutschland kennengelernt haben,
probiert hier mal die Pekingente.
Ihr werdet es nicht bereuen.

Cheers from London. I’ve been to Magic Wok 3 times so far and every time there is a new dish that I would highly recommend for the real authentic Chinese flavours such as their steamed fish w/​black bean sauce as well as the always delicious comfort foods like lemon chicken and sweet and sour pork ribs. Now I have not tried the most discussed and rated dish, the fried crispy pork; however, I will have to the next time I’m there to give my honest opinion of this dish.
The next time you visit (do give it another chance if your rating was quite low) I would highly recommended trying the following dishes (note: I do not know the exact names of the dishes, but the description should help do it justice! or just ask me and I will find out exactly what you should order). You should order the following:
1) Steamed fish w/​black bean sauce (has green onions, ginger, and a whole lot of black beans. I am sure you can request to hold back on the black beans, but why would you?)
2) White tofu dish w/​diced vegetables on top (vegetables include carrots, peas, mushrooms, etc. I will find out exactly what this is, but they should know.) Essentially, it’s a plate of soft white tofu with vegetables on top in a lightly starched /​creamy sauce. Don’t think creamy Italian though! Hard to describe — maybe a picture would help.
3) Gai lon (Chinese Broccoli) — For those that love vegetables, this is a simple dish cooked simply delightful! A good dish to have among all your other meat and fish dishes.
4) Whole steamed chicken — Basically they take a whole chicken and cook it up for you. Very moist and very tasty. Promise it won’t come with the head on :) Unless you like that!
5) Lemon chicken — Okay I get a lot of flack for this dish, as well as the next one I will recommend. Being ABC, but growing up eating authentic Chinese food, I have to stay this IS my comfort food (and the next recommendation as well). A bowl of fresh white rice with this on top is a dish on its on! If you like rice and you like sauce — go for this dish.
6) Sweet and Sour Pork w/​green & red peppers, pineapples, and onions — Again, I will get some flack for this dish; however, safe comfort food. Eat this with a big bowl of fresh rice and I guarantee you will be satisfied. If not, you must not be ABC :) — and for those reading this that don’t know what ABC is? Well you can google it :)
I do agree that this place can do something about the décor, bathrooms, etc.; however, many times for some Chinese restaurants the focus is more on the food than the décor. Perhaps they can work on both, but if you can ignore the amenities and focus on the food, I think you’ll be alright. Then again, I’m ABC… what do I know?
Feel free to leave me a comment. I plan to go back again and post some pics.
Cheers —
Jeff

One of the best restaurants in Bayswater. This place is non-​pretentious, serves good Cantonese and Chinese food at very reasonable price. The staffs are attentive. The menu is quite extensive. I had the best roasted duck in London — the duck is much better than the ones served at the acclaimed roasted duck specialist joint which has recently gone down hill. The lobster noodles is also nice. If I’m in Bayswater and would like some Chinese food, this is undoubtly my first choice of Chinese restaurant in the area.

We ordered two dishes — one shredded pork, the other was fried tofu stuffed with prawns. By «stuffed with prawns», I think they meant «with one measly prawn kind of pushed into the top», but fine, whatever… It wasn’t bad and I love tofu. It was just funny how… when the shredded pork dish came out… It kind of tasted just the same. Same stock sauce and mixed veggies for every dish or something. :-)
Not really disappointed, but wasn’t expecting much. Just another average Chinese restaurant.

Sunday night & the place was packed. But still got seated quickly by friendly & efficient staff. Some simple starters that came quickly and were hot, not just warm & can happily recommend the squid with seasonal veg as well as the chicken with cashews… great food. Although you have little choice over the 12.5% service charge they apply, but would still go back there. Enjoy!

I’m always on the search for bomb Chinese food. Magic Wok, I’m severely disappointed.
In my restaurant bible by Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential, one of his rules is to check out the bathrooms of the restaurant where you will be eating. If there restaurants are dirty, it’s likely their kitchens are atrocious. Bathrooms are easy to clean, kitchens are not.
Magic Wok had gross bathrooms.
And gross food to top it off. Besides the won ton soup (the only thing saving this review from a one star), the food was hardly edible. My chicken noodles were flavorless. The chick was like McDonald’s chicken. My boyfriends pork was the fatty end pieces, also flavorless.
On goes my search for good Chinese food in London.

One of the first time’s Unilocal has let me down!
Like many reviewers below, I also got the crispy pork.
The pork was cut up into little nuggets, with the edges carmelized over to make it crispy. Unfortunately I think only the edges were cooked. The middle of the pork was cold (yes, cold!) and the majority of each piece was pure fat. I had to search out for pieces that even had a bit of meat on it. It seems to be a terrible cut of pork and they didn’t even try to hide it by deep frying it! Probably the worst pork I’ve had at a Chinese restaurant.
It was a HUGE menu, so I thought I may have chosen a dish they weren’t as great at making, but with many Unilocalers stating they loved the crispy, I guess they were just having a bad bad day.
I’m sure the rest of their dishes are great, but because of all the other great food options around London, I won’t be finding out personally.

Everyone *used* to go to Four Seasons for the roast duck, but those days are over. Magic Wok is the new daddy on the block for my staple diet at Chinese restaurants, crispy pork roast duck rice.
If you go in the evenings and ask for crispy pork, be aware that they’ll deep fry it unless you ask them not to. It is pretty special fried, but it is also no longer crispy pork. It’s double fried crispy pork?
This restaurant also serves other dishes, but nobody knows what they taste like. «Four crispy pork roast duck rice, please!» is all you’ll hear me ask for (regardless of how many people I’m eating with).
The best chinese food in London, assuming you only ever eat one thing.

In limerick because I’m a dork:
I’m OBSESSED with this spot’s crispy pork.
I’ll return lots of nights
For these crunchety bites,
Straight to mouth with knife, spoon, and… CHOPSTICKS!!!

Being half chinese does have its perks. You know good chinese food and can clearly distinguish, not so authentic ones out there.
This came highly recommended by a colleague and after many postponed plans, we finally got to go for lunch after a visit to the Portobello Market (which clearly deserves its separate review). Location wise, it is excellent. Either you choose to drop at the Queensway, Central Line or Bayswater, Bakerloo line, it is pretty accessible.
From the outside, it’s a relatively small chinese restaurant. Upon entering, you’d see though that while they maximized the space and the tables are pretty close to each other, the place is clean and you won’t come out of the resto smelling like a walking Chinese dish.
My colleagues ordered the seafood crispy noodle, to which they were all sung and praises. I, on the other hand, stuck to a Chinese resto staple, Yang Chow rice and ordered their very spicy prawns. Their food is delicious and they will make sure that you’ve got the chili paste, soy sauce and even the lemon sauce handy in case you’re just like me who loves her Chinese food with all these condiments mixed altogether! While enjoying my food, they wanted me to try and boy did they insist that I try some of their seafood crispy noodle. I did and I was converted. Right there and then, I told myself that I’d order it the next time I go back. The vegetables and seafood were all fresh and generously served on top of the crispy noodles, really, what’s not to love?
After enjoying the meal, the best part about this resto and one of the reasons that they’re known for is them providing all customers sliced, fresh oranges, the sweetest variety too, together with those fortune cookies. I have to say that this has always been a favorite part for me, reading all the fortunes, whoever I am with.
As for the price, I’d think its pretty moderate. More importantly, you definitely get your money’s worth.
Go there for excellent Chinese food. Thank me after. ;)

Seek and ye shall find! From the outside, this looks like one of the many Chinese restaurants on Queesnway. It is actually located between the more illustrious ‘best roast duck in London’ Four Seasons restaurant on one side and ‘Gordon Ramsay has been here’ Inn Noodle on the other.
Look at the menu and you may be forgiven for initially recognising the old Anglo-​Canto favourites and thinking it’s another generic restaurant. However, move your eyes to the right hand side of the menu where you’ll see an extensive list of chef’s specials and all in English! A frequent trick in Chinese restaurants is to have a lot of specials but only written in Chinese on the menu.
In this specials section, you’ll find much to intrigue. There are dishes with more familiar European ingredients such as quail and frogs’ legs but venture further to find fish lips and crispy pigs’ intestines. I can personally vouch for duck stuffed with taro (yam) and crispy fried oysters.
When you feel like pushing the culinary boundaries a little, head to Magic Wok

I liked it, very much actually more so that Four Seasons for some weird reason.
GOOD Authentic Chinese food, the Roast Duck was good! Their noodles were good. Brought a mix of people from Asia and Westerners and we all enjoyed the food.

For some reason, I’m obsessed with crispy duck. I said DUCK. Sheesh. Anyway, near where I live there have got to be 10 Chinese restaurants featuring crispy duck within walking distance. I happened to come across the Magic Wok by accident after the first choice restaurant was too full.
I ordered the aromatic duck which comes with the skin and meat separate, with the former being served on a bed of prawn crackers. You get ample pancakes, and all the accouterments to go with it. It was absolutely delicious — not too rich or gamy.
Service was curt but efficient and professional and the locals seem to enjoy the place — always a good sign.
I’ll be going back.