Wild Goji's Wild Flavor

When my dad talked about this new place he wanted to try, I didn’t expect it to be in a strip mall. In fact, when me and my mom went out to get the food, we almost didn’t see it at first, save for the billboard we saw while driving up. A hidden gem of Castle Hills, located near Northstar Mall and the Hilton airport, Wild Goji served to be quite the experience in Asian cuisine.

           

Their menu had a variety of different dishes that caught my eye, from the gyoza to the authentic ramen and numerous sushi rolls. Though, a few things stood out for me immediately as I surfed through the list of food: The Stir-Fry Ramen, a combination of bacon, shrimp, chicken and calamari stir-fried with ginger, carrots, scallions and beansprouts, and the Wild Bao, a pork belly bao slider with pickles, red onions, plum sauce, and goji berries. At TLU, I tend to go to this Asian restaurant called A-Tan a lot with friends, and we always order ramen with sushi. I think that’s the reason why the stir-fry ramen stood out to me so much. As for the bao, I have to blame my dad for that one. I kept going on and on about how he wanted to try it out and how good it would be. But I digress: These were the two dishes I decided to get. For the rest of my family, we got the Jalapeno Beef fried rice, and my mom decided on a spider sushi roll.

           

Calling and ordering was a pretty easy thing to do. Although it took a while because of how busy the place was, the person on the other line was quick and to the point with asking what we wanted. When we actually drove up to Wild Goji, I called again to tell them that we had arrived. Not even a minute after calling, the food was delivered to us outside and we were good to go. The fast-paced service was really nice to see, since it meant we didn’t have to wait very long for our order.

           

When the time arrived to try the food, I dug right in. However, immediately I was somewhat disappointed by the stir-fry ramen. Although it smelled great, the flavor was dull and overwhelmingly sweet, with that being the main flavor from it. I was really expecting more savory, smokey flavors from it, considering it was a stir-fry. While the texture of the noodles, meats and vegetables were good, I really with the flavor would have been better to match their quality. When it came to the bao, though, I instantly fell in love. The texture of the fluffy, chewy bao bun with the succulent, almost melty texture of the pork was amazing. Coupled with the sweetness of the plum sauce and pickles, the bun had an incredible mix of flavors that made me crave another one! Sadly, they only served us one, which ended up costing $5. Still, it was an incredible appetizer on their menu, one that I wouldn’t mind getting again.

           

            Although the cost of the meal went up to $71 (including all other dishes the family got), I found the experience to be overall enjoyable! Next time, I might try to order some actual ramen instead of the stir-fry ramen. It was a very interesting take-out experience that I feel others might want to give a try as well! Hopefully one day I’ll go back to Wild Goji for a dine-in experience. When I’m 21. The place is also a bar, you know!