Ask yourself a question: Do I feel Lucky, Chan?

Lucky Chan @ Crown Casino
(degusted 23/9/2011 )

Wagyu rolls - a standout -
but at $50 a plate don't fill up on these.
See below for more...

We had planned to do some cooking ourselves over at the Wooga Korean grill on Victoria street, but we found out – at 6pm on a Friday - that it was fully booked. So instead, we had to quickly find something else to satisfy our spicy cravings, on one of the busiest nights... At the recommendation of our dining friends, we decided to give Lucky Chan’s a run for our money (of which we had plenty, just as well), and they had a table available!

Lucky Chan’s used to be located on the corner of the Crown Casino near Jeff’s shed for some time, but recently moved to a more central position along in the Casino complex – still river side.. With a number of lack-lustre reviews on the ‘old’ location, we wondered if the move to the new digs would change anything…

As we have previously mentioned (and careful readers will recall) we don’t normally pay much attention to the prices of foods – instead letting the ‘vibe’ of the place and the quality of the food dictate whether we enjoyed it or not. Here we did sneak a peek at some prices, and we were amazed at some of the asking prices. The prices may be fair compared to the likes of the premium dining destinations at Crown (for example, the nearby Nobu, Silks, or Koko’s), but it’s an apples and oranges case – you can’t just directly compare them. Chan’s is listed as one of the “casual” dining places in the Crown website, and one would expect prices to reflect that distinction. Relatively small servings put the sting into the tail of these prices, which are at the high end of normal, if not perhaps more than most people would expect to pay for a meal. Looking at other blogs and reviews, it seems that the peeps definitely consider these prices too high. From our perspective, all we can say is that when we ignored the price-tag, we thought some of the food was top-notch..   But not everything was good.

Service was another aspect… We felt a little rushed: "in and out, turn over the table quickly"  seemed to be the mantra. There’s a subtle difference between ‘efficiency’ and ‘rudeness’, and some of the Lucky Chan staff might need to re-sit that class in Table Service 101. For us, other than that feeling of being rushed, there were no problems with service per se.

To start we ordered some salt and peppered calamari. For fried calamari, this was of a suitable standard – nothing wrong with it, but nothing exceptional. We preferred the calamari at Khe Sanh restaurant.

The crispy quails were next. These are served as halved quails (the pic shows one half – the plate came with 2 halves per serve). The meat was nice and crispy on the outside – just the way we like it (a bit dried out makes it chewy and tasty –almost like a jerky) but still was tender in the thicker pieces. This was a tasty start – albeit a little fiddly for some of the bones. This has inspired us to try and replicate something like this on the BBQ at home one day soon…

Crispy Quail

The Kung Po Chicken was incredibly good. The presence of some big complete chillies throughout the dish gives one the option of picking them out quite easily, or adjusting the heat to your preference - from peppery spicy, all the way up to – well, lava. The “Deguster S” took on the challenge of eating one of these chillies whole, and paid the price of a numb tongue for the next 10 or 15 minutes. The dish was so ‘more-ish’ – as a shared plate it quickly made its way onto the ‘endangered species’ list once the first mouthful was taken. Serving size was a bit on the small side for a shared dish, but being so full of flavour, it was a hit even in limited portions.

Kung Po Chicken

The next item was an indulgence for the Degusters –the Wagyu beef rolled around an Enoki mushroom filling. We’re suckers for advertising, and based on the description it was something we just had to try.  At $50 a plate though, we thought this would have to be good....
....And it was....
  Ever-so lightly cooked and served on a sizzling cast iron tray, the Wagyu – with all its fatty marbled glory – was thin and almost as soft and delicate as a rice noodle. The flavours were rich, intense and delicious.  Was it worth $50? In terms of value of product, probably not, but who can put a price on the experience and enjoyment? 

Wagyu beef rolls with Enoki Mushroom filling.

The final dish was a steamed ocean fish in a delicate soy and ginger broth. We did not want a fresh-water fish, but could not ascertain which ocean fish they were giving us.. Blame the rush and language barrier.. This was really underwhelming, compared to the Kung Po and the Wagyu. The flavours were dull, and the fish was so-so – this was the least favoured of the evening.

Steamed ocean fish in a mediocre sauce (our description, not theirs)

Lots of people seem to have reviewed Chan’s on the basis of their Yum Cha, and based on price and service. From what we read of other peoples’ experiences, Lucky Chan’s is not doing so well. From our limited range of dishes we would not necessarily argue with the other reviews where complaints of high price, bad service and bland food were bandied around. We would add, however, that there is the potential to pick up some really nice food here – granted, you might get similar dishes at lower prices elsewhere, but that is beside the point. If you’re looking for value, look elsewhere. We had a few nice dishes (one was a bit of a fizzer), and we were happy enough despite the cost. 

Would we go back? Or, in the words of Dirty Harry.. "Do you feel like eating at  Lucky Chan? Well, do ya?"
Yes, we’d have no objection going back if we were invited by friends, but honestly, we probably won’t be making a reservation for ourselves any time soon.




Rating:  It'll Do

Meh                      It’ll Do                   Nom(x3)                              Must go back!
 

Done and Degusted @ Lucky Chan

-Calamari

-Crispy quails

-Kung Po Chicken

-Wagyu beef rolls

-Steamed fish