Kwan Luck Restaurant 君悅海鮮中菜館

FIRST REVIST POST ON KWAN LUCK [HERE], SECOND REVISIT POST [HERE]

Kwan Luck is one of the late night Chinese cuisine restaurants available on Kingsway Street. BF usually grabs take out from here and it is my first time visiting the restaurant.

When entering the restaurant, the first thing you see are the seafood tanks and a whiteboard of what is available as well as the price per pound. I was so glad to see spot prawns! Kwan Luck did not have fresh oysters or scallops, but their menu has a lot more dishes than Sing Kee.

After my excitement of seeing spot prawns, I took a look at the restaurant and thought it was pretty dirty. Honest to truth, I do not mind the dirtiness since I expect that at certain Chinese restaurants. The restaurant's interior is somewhat spacious with comfortable booth seating, larger tables for parties of more than six, and is bigger than Sing Kee (plus no velour table cloths!).

 

STEAMED SPOT PRAWNS, LEMON GRASS CLAMS, HAINAN CHICKEN, LOBSTER IN SUPREME BROTH, PAN FRIED BEEF WITH VERMICELLI, COMPLIMENTARY GREEN BEAN SOUP, AND STEAMED EGGPLANT.

1LB STEAMED SPOT PRAWNS ($25.99/lb). The presentation does not look as nice as Pelican's but meh, spot prawns taste the same everywhere as long as they are not overcooked. The spot prawns taste fresh, slightly sweet, are large of course, and comes freshly steamed and hot.

LEMON GRASS CLAMS ($6.95). The clams taste somewhat fresh but the broth does not taste as flavourful as Congee Noodle King's, and is definitely not as tasty as Sing Kee's. The broth has a light lemon grass taste.

HAINAN CHICKEN ($6.95). The hainan chicken tastes like cold steamed chicken. The chicken has no flavour and does not taste hainanese at all. After some eavesdropping, we heard a waitress tell another table they were sold out of hainan chicken, and they gave us steamed cold chicken. Uhhh, never experienced that before.

3LB LOBSTER WITH SUPREME BROTH ($14.99/lb). I feel like we I (confession, BF does not even eat crab and I always finish them all to myself) have been eating crab too much lately so I chose the lobster, plus the price is not bad. The lobster tastes perfectly cooked, has a nice snappy bounce, and the sauce tastes properly made, flavourful without tasting salty.

STEAMED EGGPLANT WITH GARLIC ($10.95). This is my favourite dish! Yes, more than the spot prawns and lobster. The eggplant tastes clean, not bland or salty, and refreshing. If anything, the eggplant is a wee bit overcooked as some of the pieces are mushy, but a few pieces are a bit stiffer and tasty. I will probably pass on the minced garlic next time because it adds to some unnecessarily sodium (like it matters with the amount of Chinese food I eat anyways LOL).

PAN FRIED BEEF WITH VERMICELLI ($10.95). The beef tastes tender and the vermicelli is not overly salty or oily, the dish tastes like Sing Kee's. The vermicelli has a decent amount of beef, bean sprouts, and green onions.

COMPLIMENTARY GREEN BEAN SOUP. The soup has a nice thickened consistency and tastes sweet. I personally prefer the soup to taste less sweet.

POSITIVES
- Friendly service and somewhat attentive (may need to wave them down a few times)
- Above average eats

NEGATIVES
- Restaurant is "dirty" but cleaner than Sing Kee

LITTLE THINGS
- First revisit post [here]
- Second revisit post [here]
- One of those restaurants as another alternative to the busy Congee Noodle King

Food: 3/5
Service: 3/5