Lucky House Chinese Restaurant @ Upper East Coast Road

Lucky House has been picked up by The Straits Times as one of the private dining places to consider and since then bookings have been so brisk, word has it the wait list is minimally four months and Chef is sold out on two seatings Mondays - Fridays.

When we finally arrived at Lucky House, it was as if we stepped into an Antique House. There were cabinets full of treasures and those tiles speak of history. 

This is Chef's open concept kitchen and the garden of organic produce.

Our menu for the night, handwritten! Do note that the menu is not fixed and is subject to the market's produce and catch of the day - boy, I love concepts like these.

We were given the largest communal dining table for our party of 15, the other room fits 8-10 comfortably.

I spotted a claypot over the stove, so old school!

But first, we get served chinese tea.

 

Chef appears with a cauldron of 霸王花海底椰煲鸡汤.

 

Boiled for a good 18 hours, the Cantonese in me already screams approval. The chicken is fall of the bone so tender and not to mention the sea vegetable that made all the difference. 

 

Overboiled vegetables are my pet peeves actually but these were actually tasty and seconds was not enough even. The soup is naturally sweet and that was what Chef was going for - the essence of all the ingredients without over seasoning.

 

蒜香黄油大肥鸡

I broke my own rules on steamed yellow skinned chicken and shallot oil. To be honest these aren't exactly top of my list favourite things to eat and man, I lost this battle at first bite. Incredibly tender and the chicken and shallot oil was to die for.

I had my bowl of rice drizzled with enough oil to render this dish a favourite.

 


师父蒸大深海老虎班

 

At a hefty 4.2kg, this tiger garoupa measures the length of my arm and it takes more than skill to get the timing right when steaming. Firm and flaky, little seasoning is required when you have an ingredient literally straight out of the sea waters. As much as I am no pescatarian, this dish resonated with me.

 

Chef was deshelling clams and emptying those crab shells of crab roe for the next dish.

 

鲜蟹黄啦啦蒸水蛋


Instead of his signature crayfish omelette, we had an alternative presented - steamed crab roe and fresh clam steamed egg. Honestly if I read based on the menu, I definitely would not bothered attending because this is yet another of those meh dishes that have barely wowed me. And, I was. Light and wobbly, the juice from the clams itself was so clear and tasty. You bet, I lost another battle at Chef Chan's.

金瓜黄金番薯羊肉塔津

Lamb curry served in a tagine adorned with coriander. Whilst some deem this way too sweet because of the usage of pumpkin and sweet potato, I thought it was a refreshing change from the other dishes.

The lamb still retained its bite and none of the gameyness, two thumbs up!
 

陶然烤鸭


 

Alas, the signature I waited all dinner for. Fish and soy sauce roasted duck won for its strong flavours.

That briney crust and bursts of flavor in every bite was a show stopper, and every part of the duck had a different texture to it - best of the best, according to the husband belonged to that prized butt.

有机苋菜炒鲜蚬


To think I can even rave about organic vegetables? Fresh clams is the key and I wish I can just switch to organic vegetables henceforth. It's refreshing, tender and cooked so right.

炭炉煲红豆陈皮甘蔗糖水

Red bean soup with home dried orange peel cooked in sugar cane juice. I guess sugar cane juice made all the difference, extra refreshing and for the first time in yonks, I slurped it clean.


It is amazing how many firsts I gave to Lucky House, particularly when I went in without expectations and left so amazed. The big question remains - how to score another appointment without killing myself with the wait.


Lucky House Chinese Restaurant
Upper East Coast Road