The Road to Lucky City

If you’re looking for an authentic neighborhood Cantonese restaurant, you’re in luck. Actually if you follow our advice, you’ll find yourself in Lucky City.

Lucky City offers the perfect blend of comfort, welcome and authenticity. The restaurant was filled during our visit with families, local business people and friends out for a bite to eat. It was exactly what I’d expect to see at a neighborhood restaurant.

We were greeted upon arrival and tucked ourselves into a booth near the storefront windows. We had a great view of the cheerful light-filled open dining room floor. Signage covered the walls, written in Chinese characters with English translations noted underneath. A row of delicious-looking peking duck hung near the entrance to the kitchen.

We had no doubt we were going to experience a wonderful meal. Even better: The menu is not Americanized. It’s exciting to find restaurants where the most popular dish is something we’ve not heard of before.

lucky-city-chinese-plano-hidden-gem — Lucky City meal for three

Though friends had urged us to try the crispy beef and “Four Treasures with Garlic Sauce,” we decided to order the Lucky City meal for three. At $28 plus tax, it was good value for lunch, particularly when we discovered Lucky City’s food is served family-style. And unless you have a ravenous family, the meal for three will feed you for lunch today and your family for dinner tonight. Lucky, indeed!

We had a difficult time deciding on our three entrees out of the 21 delicious options. We avoided familiar Chinese dishes (such as orange chicken) in favor of items we might not regularly order.

We settled on a starter of sweet corn chicken soup, followed by beef flat noodles, B.B.Q. pork and marinated chicken, and fried chicken (also called Cantonese Chicken elsewhere). While we waited on our main dishes to arrive, a plate of lightly pickled cabbage was served along with a steamer full of rice. The slight tartness of the crispy cabbage paired nicely with the rice and took the edge off our appetites.

The soup arrived in a tureen. A tureen! This was a sign of things to come…both in food quantity and arm wrestling to determine who get the leftovers.

Our main dishes arrived on platter after platter. (Make sure you don’t sit at too small of a table!) The beef flat noodles included (you guessed it!) wide flat noodles and slices of tender beef, along with bean sprouts and green onions. It was all cooked in a savory sauce that lightly coated each bite, but didn’t overwhelm the flavor of the ingredients.

The B.B.Q. pork and marinated chicken arrived already sliced and in separate piles. The pork was amazing! With a slightly sweet flavor, the meat was tender but not fatty. The marinated chicken was similarly tasty. A hint of what we guessed was Chinese Five Spice in the marinade creates a delightful mix of fragrant, savory and sweet.

We couldn’t have asked for a better prepared fried chicken. Each piece was very crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It came with shrimp crackers on the side, a personal favorite. It’s nearly impossible to eat just one. (So why try?)

Lucky City may be hard to find, tucked away in one of Plano’s four-corner retail strips, but it’s worth the search. And challenge yourself to be adventurous with your menu selections. The deep fried pineapple pork chop is calling our name!