REVISIT POST ON LUCKY GATE CHINESE RESTAURANT [HERE]
Judging from the restaurant's exterior, I did not have much hopes for a clean restaurant and assumed that Lucky Gate is another "dirty" late night Chinese restaurant; serving average or below average tasting food. However, after walking in, the restaurant looked promising with a clean interior and an open kitchen window, which showed the cook making fresh noodles from scratch. Lucky Gate specializes in Northern China cuisine and the restaurant has booth seating arrangements as well as a couple of tables to accommodate larger parties.
HOT AND SOUR SOUP ($4.99).
When ordering, we wanted the eggplant hot pot but the waitress mentioned the hot pot is similar to soup. In addition, she did not recommend ordering two orders of soup because we already ordered the hot n' sour. I thought this was really nice of her especially at a Chinese restaurant. The Northern China version of hot n' sour soup tastes more simple compared to the cantonese style, and has a smoother consistency rather than slightly thick. As for the taste, the hot n' sour soup has a hint of spiciness but lacks the nice sour flavour. Also, the soup seems more like a vegetarian option, with only carrot, green onion, fungus and tofu; no meat.
SPICY SHREDDED PORK WITH BAMBOO SHOOT IN GARLIC SAUCE ($10.99).
The garlic sauce tastes very light despite the greasy appearance and has a mild spiciness. Furthermore, the shredded pieces of pork tastes tender, and the carrot as well as green pepper have a soft crunch.
GREEN ONION PANCAKE ($2.99).
The green onion pancake is pan fried and could have been crispier, but is good enough. The pancake tastes flaky and has plenty of layers, along with a strong flavourful green onion taste. This is definitely housemade and properly made. Furthermore, the restaurant does not cheap out on the green onion!
LUCKY GATE HOME STYLE STEAMED PORK DUMPLING, XIAO LONG BAO ($5.59).
Despite not being the usual "take a small bite and suck the juice out" xiao long baos, the pork meat tastes flavourful, tasty as well as juicy. Although the skin is a bit thick… but it tastes fine. In addition, every XLB has a thin slice of carrot placed on the bottom to prevent the buns from ripping.
STEWED PORK NECK ($5.59).
This dish is not offered on the menu but is posted around the restaurant, in Chinese. As we were ordering, the waitress was kind and mentioned the dish would be all bones and requires the use of hands rather than chopsticks (we were fine using chopsticks). The meat tastes very tender, falls off the bone easily and tastes quite good without tasting salty.
DRUNKEN CHICKEN ($7.00).
The drunken chicken is served in a homestyle way; not marinated in wine but cooked with wine. Therefore, the chicken has more of a subtle wine flavour rather than the stronger wine taste from a marinade. In addition, despite the lack of a very strong flavourful wine taste, the chicken tastes quite good and the meat tastes very tender. The meat is neither mushy nor soggy, and requires minimal chewing. If anything, the only complaint would be the strand of hair on the plate. Since the waitress was such a sweetheart, mistakes can happen and the hair was not touching the chicken, so I did not bother mentioning it. However, if the waitress was rude and the hair was touching the chicken, then I would have mentioned it.
HOUSE SPECIAL FRIED RICE WITH DEEP FRIED CHICKEN ($9.99).
The fried rice has a damp taste due to the use of long grain rice and the ingredients are properly fused together. The rice has a good amount of shrimp, ham, egg and green onion. Also, that deep fried chicken? Ohmmmmygoddd. I swear the chicken melts in the mouth. What is with this place and having chicken melt in the mouth? You know how there are people who go to a Chinese restaurant and order nothing but chow mein or fried rice? THIS IS THE PLACE TO DO IT FOR THE CHICKEN. The chicken tastes tender, fatty and juicy… extremely juicy!
POSITIVES
- Friendly waitress who goes out of her way to mention little things
- Chicken melts in the mouth
- Housemade green onion pancake
- Only late night Chinese restaurant in the area
NEGATIVES
- Hot n' sour soup can improve
- Menu is a bit limited
LITTLE THINGS
- Would come back for the chicken and to try their noodles!
- Usually I get annoyed if I have to go up to pay the bill when a restaurant is empty, but I did not mind this time since the waitress was friendly and I did not want to ask her to pick it up
Food: 3/5
Service: 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment