[REVIEW] Lucky Star Chinese Restaurant 新港澳茶餐廳

After working on a project with my friend, Peggy, we went to get some late lunch/early afternoon tea. Peggy recommended we go to a Hong Kong-style cafe (茶餐廳).

image credit: Chinesebites.com
We were parked directly in front of the restaurant and left in a rush,
so I didn't take a picture of the restaurant. 

The restaurant is located in Burnaby, on Hastings St. x Ellesmere Ave.

You won't miss the big bright-red banner :)

They also do take-out (604-294-2773)

Address: 5527 Hastings St. V5B 3P9

Ambiance: (3/5) When I first walked in I thought this was a dim sum restaurant. I think it has something to do with this place used to being Capitol Hill Szechuan Cuisine; they've probably kept the interior design and furniture.

we were seated at the back of the restaurant

Seeing the empty restaurant really scared me..."Oh crap, why are there no people?" "Is the food bad? Is that why there's no customers?"

Food: (5/5) We got there around 1:30pm, so we ordered something from their afternoon tea meal menu. Like most afternoon tea menus, it includes a drink as well (+$1 for a cold drink). I ordered a XO sauce stir-fry beef (rice) noodles (XO醬乾炒牛河) and a hot lemon tea.

XO sauce stir-fry beef (rice) noodles (XO醬乾炒牛河)

There's bean sprouts, red and green bell peppers, some chili peppers, and a decent handful of beef. The beef are very tender, and is very flavorful. It isn't too spicy, just a very very slight hint of heat.

I'm honestly amazed how it's not very oily at all! When making stir-fry rice noodles, they either tend to 'stack' onto each other and clump together, or it's super oily to prevent them from sticking to each other. My noodles were nicely separated and not breaking apart (when they start to clump together, they tear and become short little clumps). After I ate all of it, I did not see a puddle of oil. GOOD JOB, LUCKY STAR!

Service: (5/5) There was only one waitress. We asked for a table for 2 in English, then she asked us if we speak Chinese. She speaks Mandarin, but understands Cantonese. Service is quite fast, since we were the only ones in the restaurant. A couple came in when we were halfway done our meal. There were 2 customers who came in for take-out. I guess they do most of their business through take-out.

Value: (5/5) My meal is $6.75 (if I remember correctly). I'm very pleased with the quality of the noodles, based on their preparation: it's not oily and the noodles are separated nicely.

OVERALL: I will definitely go back there and try other stuff from their menu. This is the first time I've been to this restaurant, and I'm pleased with my experience there. The price is pretty cheap and it's super close to school =]

I can't say much about this restaurant, but I will definitely update my next experience. So far so good!