Imagine that you’re walking through the familiar stretches of the Oxford Valley Mall. After buying what you’ve ultimately set out to buy, you have some extra cash left over and you’re hungry. You decide to head to the conveniently located Food Court for a quick bite. A sudden craving for Asian cuisine hits.

After a few moments, you find yourself adjacent to the Telephones and Restrooms staring at your restaurant choices in awe.

To the left stands the hurricane of soy and rice that is Master Wok.
To the right stands the proud pusher of the famous Bourbon Chicken, Chao Cajun. Which is it going to be?

We decided to confront this paradox ourselves. We each ordered a meal from the two competitors of very similar proportions. Each of us chose the restaurant’s specialty chicken along with vegetable fried rice, and an egg roll.

From Chao Cajun, we were urged by the employees to get a small soft drink in order to take advantage of their free refills. We took the advice, but purchased a medium soft drink from Master Wok. The meal at Master Wok came to a total of $6.55. The meal at Chao Cajun was slightly more expensive, despite a smaller soft drink, at $6.77. Both meals proved to be very affordable.

Of course, our food was excellent, but which restaurant had the edge? The famous Bourbon Chicken served by Chao Cajun exploded with tangy flavor initially, but the flavor is easy to get used to and may seem less delicious as the meal progresses.

General’s Chicken, served by Master Wok, didn’t quite have the barrage of soy that the Bourbon Chicken had, so it wasn’t quite as tasty. However, the General’s Chicken can be enjoyed to the last bite, while the taste of the Bourbon Chicken became gradually tired.

After the chicken comparison, it was still anybody’s game. Like the chicken, our vegetable fried rice differed somewhat. While Master Wok served up its rice piping hot, the dish that Chao Cajun served proved to be considerably cooler.

Advantage: Wok

Though most of the food was excellent, the egg rolls are less strongly recommended. Both lacked the zip of salty flavor expected. On top of that, neither was very hot, making them far less enjoyable.

As far as service goes, Chao Cajun seemed to be a bit more helpful to us. They informed us that their small soft drinks offered free refills, which we enthusiastically took advantage of. So, Chao Cajun had the edge on service. We are back to neutral.

When we asked around school, we discovered that the student body was also torn over this perplexity. “I’m a Master Wok gal to the core,” said senior Michaelia Carroll when asked about her preference. “You can’t beat that Bourbon Chicken,” said senior Bob O’Donnell.

Most students who have chosen one restaurant have never gone back and aren’t aware of how the two restaurants differ. For that purpose, we struck out to find the truth. Comeing into a nose to nose finish, Master Wok takes the honored title of "Superior Asian Cuisine Eatery" at home in the Oxford Valley Mall. With piping hot food good to the last bite, and a slight edge on the expenditure, Master Wok has earned a special place in hearts as well as our tummies.