Saratoga, California Since
1955
Dining
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Chef Wong appeals to Asian, non-Asian customers alike 
Macy Wong shows off one of the many dishes served at Chef Wong in Saratoga. She and her husband, Kin Man Wong, are owners of the restaurant. By Suzanne Cristallo Whether patrons speak Mandarin, Cantonese or English, there's a dish to suit their taste at Chef Wong in Saratoga. For six months, owners Macy and Kin Man Wong have been catering to the preferences of Chinese and Caucasian customers at their 50-seat restaurant, located on the corner of Prospect and Saratoga-Sunnyvale roads. Some customers have discovered that they have already been regulars of the Wongs, who had previously owned other restaurants over the past 14 years in San Jose and Cupertino. "Our grand opening sign made people think something was new, so they came in," Macy relates. She's a 5-foot, 2-inch bundle of energy who can whip out a to-go order in 10 minutes. As regulars come in the door, she knows what they want: "Here comes a steamed rice," she notes, looking at one customer. "He's on a diet." Hong Kong-born, Macy, 38, switches easily into Mandarin or Cantonese dialects, depending on who she's talking to. "The Chinese writing on our window tells what we serve: chow fun, noodles, porridge and rice. Chinese people like to eat at a place with those four words on the window," she adds. "It's friendly, and they know that it's authentic Chinese." Customer Michael Sherf from Boulder Creek orders from among the 121 items on the English side of the menu. He likes the food well enough to make the 40-mile round trip from home or to swing by after a day of job-hunting at least once a week. His to-go order is chicken with double mushrooms for five people. Favorites among non-Asians, Macy says, are the Mongolian beef, lemon chicken and broccoli beef - items that sell in the $7 range. A deluxe dinner for a minimum of two people includes two of those dishes, plus chicken salad, pot stickers, hot and sour soup and steamed rice - all for $12.95 per person. A different menu, all in Chinese, lists 106 items. "For them we make a porridge that has rice in it," says Macy, explaining that the porridge has a cereal-like consistency and can include shredded pork, onions and "1,000-year-old eggs." A 1,000-year-old egg is a duck egg. Inside, it is dark green around the sides and black in the center. Six of the eggs come packaged from China in a Styrofoam box with assurances printed on the label that they are "certified eggs from certified flocks." Each egg has been coated in lime, ashes and salt and shallowly buried for 100 days. The lime petrifies the egg, making it look like it has been buried for centuries. "It's new for you guys, but very popular for the Chinese," Macy observes. "It tastes awful, some people think," she giggles, "but the Chinese like it. That's why we put it on a separate menu." It joins the salty fish and the chow fun (rice noodles), among many other choices. Customer Sidney Yee of Saratoga likes 1,000-year-old eggs. "It's an acquired taste," he explains. "My 11- and 13-year-old boys like it, but the 3-year-old hasn't learned to yet." His order of eggs with porridge, he adds, is for his grandmother. "She's 99 and has no teeth," he says, chuckling. Won ton soup is a favorite on both sides of the menu. Kin Man Wong - or Chef Wong - can roll out 500 of the dumplings at a sitting, taking each wheat flour dough wrapper, spreading egg yolk on it to create a sticky quality and placing a dollop of ground pork with green onions and water chestnuts inside. Won tons float nicely in chicken broth or can be grilled as an appetizer. Wor won ton, a gourmet version of the soup, is a meal in itself, with a big bowl selling for $5.95. Kin Man, 42, was born in Canton, China, and 22 years ago came to San Jose, where he met Macy at work. They live in Cupertino with their children, Alan, 6, and Michele, 3. Chef Wong, located at 12172 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, Saratoga, is open daily for lunch, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., and dinner, 5-9:30 p.m. For more information, call 408-253-2232. |
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