Having been to many late night chinese restaurants, I am probably one of the very few who rather have McDonalds for dinner and go to bed. The reason for having McDonalds (IE something fast) rather than going for a late night dinner is because I find that late night dinners are time consuming, especially if it is something you are not craving for, sick of, or simply just don't feel like going out. I consider myself as a lazy eater, I take larger bites, sit back to relax with chipmunk cheeks, chew, finish, and continue with my larger bites. Anyways, my friend was hungry and since I can always eat, I agreed to keep her company and we decided to try a random late night Chinese restaurant that neither one of us have been to.
On Lok is quite spacious, food court style and you pay at the counter. The menus are available on the table under the glass, which seems pretty efficient to me.
THE GINGER BEEF, EGG FOO YUNG, BONELESS CHICKEN IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE CHOW MEIN, DEEP FRIED BEAN CURD,FORTUNE COOKIES, SPICY PRAWNS, PAN FRIED SPINACH WITH GARLIC, BLACK BEAN SAUCE CLAMS AND STEAMED RICE.
The first dish is the SPICY MEDIUM SIZE PRAWNS ($7.00). Yum these are my favourite and one of the only dishes I liked here. The prawns are spicy with a nice strong pepper taste. These are actually probably the most expensive prawns I have had (spicy salt and chilli style)! We counted the prawns, yes, we counted and there was only 8. I think it is kind of pricy especially for a restaurant like this, yes I am judging! The batter is a bit thick, but meh, the seasoning is pretttty good.
The second dish is the PAN FRIED CLAMS WITH BLACK BEAN SAUCE ($5.75). The clams do not taste very fresh and has a funky taste like they went bad. To be honest, it really tastes like they forced open some of the clams. Other than the quality issue of clams, the black bean sauce is average without being too salty.
Her STEAMED BOWL OF RICE ($1.50).
The third dish is the BONELESS CHICKEN AND GREEN PEPPER BLACK BEAN SAUCE CHOW MEIN ($4.25). The chicken does not taste fresh, is dry and has an old chicken taste. It seems like they steamed poached the chicken and it has been sitting there for a day. I am okay with restaurants pre-making sweet and sour pork and honey garlic spareribs, but eek, not with the chicken or anything that is not deep fried. The chow mein is what it is, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, there are peppers and onions which taste average and the black bean sauce is exactly the same as the clams.
The fourth dish is the EGG FOO YUNG WITH PRESERVED RADISH ($3.85). I have never tried egg foo yung before, so I had no idea why my friend looked upset. She complained how this is scrambled eggs and not foo yung (apparently foo yung is more like an omelette). The scrambled eggs are semi fluffy...
with a fly inside, *phew* good thing I double check every bite. This was probably by luck, who knows in general how many flies I have eaten.
The fifth dish is the GINGER BEEF, HOT, SZECHUAN STYLE ($11.25). There is a mild, barely there ginger taste and is not spicy at all. The beef is too dry and overly sweet. I am not a fan of these probably because I am more for the sweet and sour or honey garlic kind of thing.
The sixth dish is the SPICY FRIED BEAN CURD ($3.85). This was a last minute order in case I got bored of watching her eat and I am so glad I ordered this! Honestly, this is almost THE BEST as well as PERFECTLY crispy and moist deep fried bean curd I ever had. If this was spicy, not bland and had the exact same seasoning as their spicy prawns, it would have been my all time favourite. Do yourself a favour, order nothing but this and you will leave will a big smile on your face, ask them for it to be spicy too!
The last dish is the PAN FRIED SPINACH WITH GARLIC ($3.25). The spinach is over cooked, not fresh with brown spots and there is barely a garlic taste even though you see garlic pieces. There is also the taste of bits of sand from not being washed properly.
For dessert, FORTUNE COOKIES.
Surprisingly as I was uploading some photos on Urbanspoon, On Lok has a very high rating! We must have ordered the wrong things. Unfortunately, I have better late night options. Note: Total came around $50.00 and IMO is definitely not worth it. I recommend reading some reviews so you know the safe dishes.
Food: 1.5/5 (if only the prawns and bean curd was ordered, would be a 3/5)
Service: 2.5/5
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