Paul Watson, Campus Carrier Editor-in-Chief

With fresh-made, highly flavorful food, huge portions and reasonable prices, Happy Wok may be the best Chinese restaurant in Rome.

Located in the Charles Hight Square shopping center near Publix, Happy Wok opened on Feb. 16. A friend and I went around 9 p.m., one hour before closing, to get dinner. We had driven by earlier in the day, and the parking area near the restaurant was packed; it was relatively empty when we arrived, however. The restaurant itself is nothing unique; it looks like a normal Chinese takeout restaurant with a couple tables within the establishment. But Happy Wok is claiming to be a “New York-style takeout restaurant,” so this atmosphere works for them.

I ordered shrimp lo mein and crab rangoon (eight per order), and my friend ordered sautéed teriyaki chicken with rice; we also ordered steamed dumplings (eight per order) to share.  The first thing we tried was the dumplings. Served with a special soy sauce-based dipping sauce, these dumplings were some of the freshest-tasting I’ve ever had. They were still a bit doughy, which was great; the filling was a pork and vegetable mix. They were tasty by themselves, but the dipping sauce brought flavors that were extraordinary to the mix. The large array of flavors and spices made these dumplings some of the best I’ve ever had.

While I’m on the topic of appetizers, the crab rangoon I ordered were the best I’ve had out of any restaurant in Rome. Many Chinese restaurants go light on the crab (or imitation crab) meat and instead load rangoon with cream cheese and garlic. Happy Wok, on the other hand, fills their triangular rangoon with lots of crab and adds cream cheese as a complement.

My shrimp lo mein was not the best item on the menu. The shrimp was noticeably not fresh, which can be attributed to the fact that we live in a landlocked region. Beyond that, the lo mein was a little overcooked. There was a good variety of vegetables in the lo mein, though, and it was overall a satisfying meal.

The teriyaki chicken, on the other hand, was a delicious blend of chicken, peppers, onions and other vegetables and spices. The majority of the entrees at Happy Wok come in two sizes: pint and quart. My friend ordered a quart of the teriyaki chicken, which was enough to easily feed two people; I made sure I got a few bites of it. The dish was a little light on the chicken compared to the vegetables, but I didn’t mind. The vegetables were good enough on their own to make a meal.

Happy Wok’s menu is huge, full of Chinese, American and, in some cases, Chinese-American food. With most dishes running between $5-10 (house specials get a little pricier, but nothing is more expensive than $13), the portions of food served are well worth the price. Service is incredibly fast; I was told to be at the restaurant 10 minutes after ordering to get my food. The service itself was friendly, and the confusion that is usually present when ordering food over the phone was absent from the conversation.

The restaurant is open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 12 p.m.-10 p.m. on Sunday. If you’ve got a few bucks lying around, I would highly recommend giving Happy Wok a try, even if it’s just to get an order of dumplings.