Reviews Lucky Place Restaurant

Lucky was one of my favourite hidden gems when I use to work near Chinatown. Their lunch specials are very reasonably priced and portions are huge. Quick service, great prices, tasty food... you honestly cannot go wrong.

Good Recommendation. We tried this place based on the recommendation of a friend and were very pleased with our meal. We were quickly seated (we had reservations) and then moved to another table -- I guess we ordered too many dishes. Our meal began with papaya & carrot soup which I did not have. First to arrive was a radish and beef dish, then fried noodles, snow pea leaves, egg whites and seafood, pineapple sweet and sour pork and ling cod. Everything came in quick succession. Everyone commented how good the food was and that we would gladly return and try the lunch menu too.

Fantastic lunch specials. Lucky is one of my favourite places to go to for lunch. Good food but even better prices! The portions are huge and filling. Dinner menu is straightforward with standard prices and dishes you can find most places. But the lunch specials are fantastic and keeps me coming back on a regular basis!

I’m unique in that I like Chinese food but I have a sesame allergy and have to be careful whenever I go out to eat it. I’ve had multiple occasions where I’ve been assured my food does not have sesame in it, but then it turns out it does. Here, I told the staff about my allergy and found them to be so accommodating and understanding that I felt completely safe (and needless to say I did not have an allergic reaction).

As for the food itself, I came here with a large group of people and we ordered a variety of dishes. Among other things, we had:

Sweet and Sour Pork in a Pineapple
Salt and Pepper Eggplant
Salt and Pepper Squid
Shanghai Rice Vermicelli
Special Fried Noodles

All of the food was excellent. More authentic tasting and far less greasy than Chinese food in Calgary tends to be. The eggplant was a favourite of mine, and the big hit at the table was the Sweet and Sour Pork in Pineapple. I had such a good experience here that from now on whenever someone asks for a recommendation for Chinese food I’m telling them to go to Lucky Place Restaurant. And if I ever find myself in Chinatown looking for good Chinese food, this is where I’m going.

Good value, Ok food. I knew this place opened up recently (used to be Urban Rice), so I thought it would be a good time to try it out.

My parents and my companion (4) all went down for lunch on Sat. We got there just a little past 11 am, and while not super busy it was somewhat bustling.

If anyone was a fan of (now defunct) Harbour City, I believe one of the persons/owners there was ex Harbour City.

My parents obtained the table first, so I have no idea how friendly the staff were in greeting people, getting them seated, ...

The lunch menu was sparse yet simple. What surprised me was they have a 'dinner for one' (they called it combo) on the menu. for little over $9, it comes with chicken fried rice and your choice of 2 sides (the number of choices for sides is limited, I think 6-7). The combo also comes with one veggie spring roll and a soup (choices : chicken cream corn or wonton).

For kickers, I ordered the combo meal. Soup : wonton, and the 2 sides were ginger beef and sweet and sour pork.

The soup arrived quickly, and I was greeted with 5 average sized wontons. What I noticed right away was the soup broth was very peppery - I don't mind it that peppery as I use it heavily in my cooking, but it maybe a turn off for others. The wontons themselves were good, but it was just pork fillings. My companion also ordered the combo, and I sample the chicken corn soup and it was also good, those that aren't keen on peppery foods may opt for the chicken corn soup.

The spring roll arrived next, it was quite large, but to me there was a staleness to it, yuck.

The main course arrived, and the plate was packed full of food. The chicken fried rice wasn't bad, ample chunks of chicken abound. The ginger beef (sauce) was yummy, but I found the ginger beef itself was mostly batter than beef. I enjoyed the s&s pork, lots of pork chunks accompanied with red/green peppers and pineapple chunks. Some of the pork was overcooked, but edible nonetheless.

I sample my companion's chicken mixed veggies, and it was good. The bean sprouts, celery, and carrots was cooked well (al dente) and ample chicken throughout.

My parents ordered the fried beef rice noodle and the shredded pork fried noodle, both plates were loaded to the gills with food and both were scrumptious, I particularly enjoyed the shredded pork fried noodles.

Overall, we had leftovers. The price they charge was fair, and where else in Chinatown can you still order 'westernized' chinese food ? While there were some misses (the ginger beef), I felt the hits outweighed the misses; will be back.

We shared a bowl of mixed meat congee, which arrived steaming hot ($6.99). Silky smooth in texture, the soup tasted clean and light. The bits of meat and green onion added the only prominent flavours. AC likes to add white pepper, much like my late grandmother did whenever she dined on congee. Our second dish was a typical AC special order. AC requested white flat rice noodles with a clear white sauce ($12.99). The dish didn’t come out exactly as he ordered, but it was still delicious. The gravy like sauce had that delicious wok smell and taste. The shrimp was plentiful in number, cooked just so it had a nice crunch. Served with Chinese greens, this dish was a wet, slippery mess to eat.

I have some serious reservations about posting a review on this place. The reason being that Lucky Place is truly a hidden gem. The food is great, the servers friendly and the prices reasonable.  As much as I'd like to keep this place a secret for my own selfish reasons, they really do deserve some credit.