Magic Wok Chinese Take Away

Magic Wok is a Chinese, Cantonese and Thai takeaway on the long Nottingham Road that runs south out of Ilkeston town centre towards the Erewash valley. It is a small one-shop operation with a wide menu and a loyal short-radius following — the kind of independent that gets repeat orders from the same households on the same night every week.

The menu is broader than most local Chinese takeaways. Alongside the standard Cantonese set — sweet-and-sour, chow mein, chop suey, foo yung, beef in black bean — there is a Szechuan section, a Peking section, a long list of crispy aromatic duck variations and a small Thai set covering green and red curries. The lemon chicken and the salt-and-pepper dishes are the most repeated mentions in reviews. Set meals run from one to four and family banquets work for larger households.

Trading runs evening only, with closure on Tuesdays. Most orders come by phone for collection or short delivery into the residential streets either side of Nottingham Road and across central Ilkeston. Magic Wok has held a steady local profile for years without any of the high-turnover marketing of the chain operators a few miles south in Long Eaton.