Foodists

Following the Wise Monkeys to delicious Hunan at Lucky Noodle

Grilled Green Peppers, Chopped Potato with Chili Oil, and Chinese Bacon with Bamboo Shoots

The Wise Monkeys blog is a site that I’ve been following obsessively because of the great insider tips about Chinese food around Vancouver. Contributor Fernando is the one that also tipped me off about Nine Dishes, so when I read his review of Lucky Noodle I knew I had to try it.

Lucky Noodle is a Hunan-style Chinese restaurant at 3377 Kingsway (a couple of blocks east of Joyce).

After a long day of errand running, Mark, Andrea, Rachael and myself made it into Luckynoodle (sometimes it has a space, sometimes it doesn’t). The whole block along Kingsway looks like an interesting couple of blocks of cheap and cheerful restaurants of various kinds.

We followed Fernando’s recommendations, but with only 4 of us had to order less. We decided to stay away from the fish choices and focus on hearty options.

The “code” we remembered from the menu numbers was B, I, L, #73, #37, #64 if you want to follow our choices. The dishes were (not in the same order):

• Squid & Chinese Mushroom Hot Plate
• Lamb with Cumin
• Boiled Chicken with Special Sauce (cold)
• Grilled Green Peppers
• Chopped Potatoes with Chili Oil
• Chinese Bacon with Bamboo Shoots

Boiled Chicken With Special Sauce

Squid And Mushroom Hot Plate

Lamb with Cumin

The “chopped” potatoes (which were long spaghetti-like strands of potato) is something I’ve never experienced at a Chinese restaurant. The potatoes were sort of al dente – I guess they were mainly wok-fried with some liquid and then the chili oil thrown in.

The Chinese bacon was Hunan bacon – very smoky as the Hunan cuisine is known for, and a little bit sweet. With the bamboo shoots, the entire dish was very earthy tasting. One of my favourites, but Rachael isn’t a fan of smoke so enjoyed it less.

We also had some rice on the side, to cool our mouths from the very spicy dishes. Yes, very spicy! Also: for four people, this was way too much food. Each couple took home 2 dishes of leftovers which made one or two more meals of leftovers.

The server seemed glad to see some new faces, and congratulated us on picking all the “right” dishes. We asked her what else we should try next time, and she mentioned some of the fish dishes that Fernando had also pointed out. Several of the fish dishes are filets if you (like me) are afraid of picking your way through a minefield of fish bones, so I’ll definitely want to try it next time.

I can’t wait to follow the Wise Monkeys to more hidden gems around Vancouver.