Lucky Plus
I shy away from writing about Chinese restaurants for a couple reasons. One being that I'm almost always dining with a large number of extended family members so it's pretty impossible to snap a photo before people start digging in (I'm a huge believer in not getting in the way of people and their food - plus, grandma will probably ask me what the hell I'm doing). Second is that I'm not a big fan of Chinese food to begin with. I think that's the main reason my brother and I got into cooking in the first place, because my mom almost always cooked Chinese food at home.
Anyways, it was my dad's birthday and my parents wanted to try out Lucky Plus. They had been there for dim sum and liked it, so we decided to give dinner a try. We ordered from a set menu for 4 people, but since there were 5 of us, we added two more dishes (which ended up being so unnecessary). I managed to snap photos since it was just immediate family, so I didn't feel as guilty about it!
Soup with Mushrooms and Chives
As with most Chinese dinners, you start with a soup. We had one with enoki mushrooms and chives. The mushrooms were way smaller than what I'm used to (eg. in hot pot), but they don't impart much flavour in the first place - it's more of a textural thing. The soup part itself was well seasoned and adding some red vinegar helped cut through the richness.
Deep Fried Pork Chops with Chili Pepper Salt
YUM. This was my favourite dish of the night (my husband's too). The pork chops were leaner than what you find in some other restaurants, but the meat was still very tender. It was nice not biting into a chunk of pure fat, though I understand that some people like that (I do for my steaks). This version was spicier than others, but seasoned aggressively without being too much. The only thing missing was the deep fried slivers of garlic.
Seafood Fried Rice with Pineapple
I don't like fruit with my savoury foods. I've started to accept cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, but I still can't do pork chops & apple sauce, and I absolutely cannot deal with the pineapples in here. Thankfully the pineapple flavour didn't rub off on anything and the remaining fried rice was flavourful with lots of seafood pieces scattered throughout (shrimp & small scallops). My husband, on the other hand liked having the pineapple in there, saying the sweetness was a nice contrast to the salt.
Yi Mein
Since it was my dad's birthday, we ordered the yi mein (AKA longevity noodles, you know, live long and prosper and all that), which came with mushrooms and sliced snap peas. This dish does not have a very bold flavour, but I've always liked it and this dish was as expected. I enjoyed eating the leftovers with sriracha drizzled all over.
Lobster Hot Pot with Satay, Ginger, Onion & Vermicelli Noodles
This was a good dish, though it would have been better if they replaced the lobster head with another piece of meat since no one in our family likes eating the head. The sauce was tasty, so I appreciated that it came with noodles to soak up that sauce!
Pea Leaves, Deep Fried Shrimp, and Garlic in Broth
Pea leaves (or shoots) are one of my favourite vegetables, especially in this kind of preparation! I loved the soft, roasted garlic cloves (they had a hint of sweetness) and the flavour of the broth. The only thing is I wish they cooked the pea leaves longer, they weren't as tender as they could/should be. I think it was better the next day as leftovers when I microwaved it because it got a bit softer.
Other dishes we ordered but aren't pictured include half a deep fried crispy chicken, and a dish with scallops, shrimp, and gai lan (Chinese broccoli). The menu for four people also comes with dessert, which was a green bean dessert soup. I'm not a fan of any of those listed dishes, so I didn't have any and therefore won't be writing about them. Overall we enjoyed our dinner at Lucky Plus and I'm sure we'll be back - especially for those pork chops!