Kwok’s Bistro
Downtown Reno · Chinese · $$ ·275 West St. Reno, NV 89501 (775) 507-7270 www.kwoksbistro.com
The Peking duck at Kwok's Bistro takes two to three days to prepare. Air-dried, glazed with maltose syrup, hung and roasted until the skin turns the color of dark mahogany — it arrives at your table whole, the chef carving it tableside with practiced precision. You assemble your own bites: warm pancake, sweet bean sauce, julienned scallions, cucumber, duck. The skin shatters. The meat is rich and yielding beneath it. Andrew Zimmern put it on his personal list of favorite dishes. Food & Wine named Kwok's one of the Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in America. Neither accolade is a surprise.
Behind this kitchen is master chef Kwok Chen — a man who started by busing tables in Reno's casino kitchens and worked his way to become one of the most respected Chinese chefs in the region. He opened Kwok's Bistro in 2018 alongside his son Danny Nguyen, who manages the front of house with the same quiet dedication his father brings to the kitchen. "After all these years working under him," Danny says, "he can always knock my socks off with his Chinese food.”
Beyond the duck, the menu rewards genuine exploration. The XO shrimp — fried in Kwok's own house-made XO sauce — is not to be missed. For those who favor heat and bold flavors, the Szechuan preparations are where this kitchen really opens up: the eggplant stir-fried with minced pork, garlic, ginger, scallion and a house special plum sauce; the lamb sliced and stir-fried with onion, garlic and chili peppers — dishes that build on each other beautifully and reward the adventurous. Don't overlook the stir-fried spinach with garlic — simple on paper, something else entirely on the plate. And then there's Danny's wine list — Japanese selections, bottles from across Asia chosen to complement these plates. Pour yourself a glass and let him surprise you.
Call ahead for the duck. Come hungry. In Danny's family, whoever's birthday it is gets the drumstick first. A small tradition — but it says everything about what food means here.