Wong's Lucky Bar, Box Hill by Obelix

Let me set the scene for those who are not familiar with Wong's.  It's location is on the median strip of Maroondah Hwy as it traverses through the busy hub of Box Hill with traffic rushing by on both sides.  Being on the median strip, it shares it's presence on this narrow archipelago with the tram terminal.  So one could have literally one foot at the tram stop waiting for the tram and the other foot inside Wong's ordering take away.  Wong's itself is narrow, no frills establishment.  It is approximately 5 metres wide (if that).  The owners have tacked on an extra 0.5m or so in width simply by building another wall one table's breadth away from the existing external window in order to fit in an extra three tables.  That in itself fascinates me.  The architecture;  the fact its located on the median strip on a busy highway and the intermittent 'ding ding' of the tram a hair's breadth away makes this place an endless source of wonderment for me.  How on earth did they get approval to build this? Other people on the other hand, come here for the food.  Apparently it's good. 

P and I decided to go for a seafood studded meal as that seems like what everyone else was doing.  Most of the main dishes are $18.80 with the exception of crab and lobster, etc which were more based on weight.  We ordered sauteed snow peas sprouts with century old egg and preserved salted duck egg.  It was a generous serve and even P who normally shun any greenage was very happy with this dish particularly as the soupy sauce was morish sloshed over rice. 

We also ordered a mixed seafood with Japanese silken tofu.  This was the best version of this dish I have ever tasted.  The tofu was lightly battered in egg before frying.  It was such a comforting dish particularly on a cold rainy night. 

P could not go without ordering the salt and pepper calamari.  This too was one of the better versions I have tasted.  The batter was light and crisp and the calamari itself was tender. 

Tea was complementary. 

Ok, so the meal was great.  Service was rapid fire (it's a place which relies on fast turnover of tables). The location is quirky.  Now for the not-so-good bit.  The table we were originally sat at stank of wee.  *holds hand up in placating posture* I'm sorry I had to mention bodily fluids on a food blog but it's necessary to present this info if I am to be an honest blogger.  We were originally shown a table in the extension area and upon walking into the narrow area, we were overcame with stale ammonia stench reminiscent of public toilets.  We requested for a different table and they obliged.  As the establishment is too much of a tin shed to even house a toilet, I can only surmise that a previous diner urinated at their table.   

The extension area

 The exterior, right on the median strip of a highway, sharing space with tram stop.  On a rainy night.

Verdict:  We loved the food.  We didn't like the wee wee.  

Overall

For Chinese food that is actually better executed than any fancy a la carte restaurant, come to Wongs.  Just don't be squeamish about the less than salubrious surrounds.