First Look at Mac's Wok, Formerly Jac's Asian Bistro

It’s a bummer when a restaurant you really like closes, and even worse when it’s unique.

So it was for us when Jac’s Asian Bistro shut its doors a couple months back. This inexpensive, authentic little Hong Kong-style restaurant lived in the Peppermint Plaza strip mall and, although there were plans to reopen in another location, one never knows. 

“Where on earth am I going to find oyster egg foo young at short notice?” I lamented to my husband and son. “What about those curried chicken wings with the potato cubes?”

Given their insane menu, and I’m referring to both length and fare, Jac’s was one of our go-to places. With eleven pages of options, from Hong Kong-style Western baked spaghetti to pork and string beans with salted fish, this place had it all — and thankfully still does, just a little further up the avenue under a new name: Mac’s Wok.

When the sign showed up last week, I called and asked, “This is Jac’s, right?” and was told, “It’s a different name in English, but the same.”

The relaunch occurred at 5:00 p.m. Jan. 16 and we went for lunch the next day.

Mac’s is larger and in a more upscale strip mall at 10558 San Pablo Ave. near Moeser Lane. Two flat-screens hang at opposite ends of a rectangular space done in shades of brown and tan, and there’s an adjoining hallway transmitting wok-cooking noises into the dining area.

We were handed the old Jac’s menu by the harried-looking proprietor, who said he’d not had time to generate a new one, but “it’ll be the same.”

I figured his look had something to do with the evening before, given that fans were tracking their reopen like bloodhounds. He described it as “almost unmanageable.”

As we had our lunch, patrons entered as old friends, exclaiming, “Oh, here you are!”

We went with three rice plates, two Hong Kong-style and one Chinese-style, and toyed with the idea of cabbage borscht — yes, borscht — but they provided a brothy soup of the day for the table.

Plates were heaping, as ever.

The Prawns and Egg Drop Sauce over Rice ($6.88), a thick, flavorful, eggy sauce loaded with shrimp, arrived in a glass pie plate. The dish eats like a very thick soup – akin to old school Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, if that helps.

Pork Chop, Beef Stew and 2 Eggs in Maggie Soya Sauce over Rice ($6.88) included a mound of sauceless stewed beef. Keep in mind that “beef stew” in authentic Chinese restaurants includes the bits Americans usually trim off. There was a fried pork chop peeking out from under two, soft-cooked, fried eggs — which I promptly upended and moved to the rice. The übersalty “Maggie Soya Sauce,” from Nestle’s line of Maggi sauces and seasonings, came on the side. I suggest chili oil and soy sauce.

Chinese-style Beef Stew and Bean Curd Stick over Rice ($5.88) was saucy and not gloppy — something I appreciate about this place in general. The bean curd sheets worked well as a mop for the beefy gravy.

When you peruse the menu, take notice of lucky numbers used in the prices, like “double fortune” 88 in the $5.88 price for the beef stew and bean curd dish mentioned above, for example. They’re certainly lucky for diners, because they’re low.

If you haven’t tried Hong Kong-style Western cuisine, this is a good place to take the plunge. I’m oversimplifying, but it’s the result of European and American influences on Chinese, often Cantonese, cuisine in Hong Kong. Some dishes may have you humming that old Sesame Street ditty, “One of These Things is not Like the Others,” where you’ll have a noodle soup that’s Chinese except for the hot dog. Others are Chinese interpretations of classic Western dishes, like baked spaghetti. Not for everyone, but it’s good to try things.

XO, an umami-laden hot seafood sauce created in Hong Kong and named for the cognac — you know, “extra old” — is not to be overlooked. There are quite a few XO dishes to choose from.

Snacks and hot and cold coffee and tea drinks popular in Hong Kong are available, too.

Less adventurous patrons are covered by “Daily Deal” entrees and, yes, there are mu shus and sweet and sours.

That said, if you order something less adventurous — though I don’t know
why you would when they have Chicken Steak Cutlet Submarine Sandwiches and
Pork and Black Egg Congee available — at least branch out a little by
getting a Hong Kong-style milk tea with it.