Culinary
WOKCANO…A MODERN ASIAN RESTAURANT
REVIEWED BY JOAN PINE
Just a few blocks away from the
Santa Monica Promenade and a half block South of Wilshire is a glass, 2-story
building that looks architecturally intriguing if you are just walking by and
contemporary Asian when you come inside. This is the home of WOKCANO, a modern
style Asian Restaurant.
There is a Sushi bar, a cocktail lounge, a patio, with heat lamps, of course, and an upstairs dining level. They also have a happy hour, which I have been told is outstanding.
One of my friends’ always ordered take-out from here and she finally checked it out for dinner. She was so impressed that I decided to try it myself, along with that friend and another friend.
The easy part is getting together; the harder part is getting three people to decide on what to order.
My friend suggested that we start with the salad, get an order of the spare ribs, and go on from there. “Sounds good to me,” I said. The salad arrived with a snappy ginger dressing, lettuce, beets and walnuts. “That’s a great way to start a dinner,” I thought. The spare ribs were served next; they had just enough barbeque sauce and were tasty and succulent -- not overcooked.
We then shared the aromatic shrimp, which were crispy prawns served in a spicy, sweet sauce. For our meat dish we ordered the black pepper beef mignon that was so soft and tender I could cut it with my fork. Broccoli was served with that and we ordered the brown rice instead of the white. Both entrees were good, although I found the filet a little dry, but my friends disagreed, so there we are.
We thought we were finished when the server told us about dessert. There is always one person in a crowd who says they don’t do desserts, while the rest of us definitely want to indulge. Over my friend’s protests we ordered the cheesecake, which had white and chocolate layers of cheesecake with more chocolate on top. Well, that was a good choice! We also had the chocolate pyramid with banana custard filling that my friend even sampled. Yea!
This is the destination place to go before or after your stroll on the Promenade or going by the beach. The restaurant is located at 1413 5th Street and is open from 11 am to 2 am daily. For reservations call 310 458 3080 or go online to www.wokcanorestaurant.com