Malaysian Sichuan Cuisine at Lucky Cuisine Restaurant

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Lucky Cuisine(?????) – we were lucky to stumble upon this Chinese restaurant! Malaysia is second only to China itself for the number of Chinese restaurants it contains. This should
come as no surprise since a large percentage of the population is Chinese.

There are several broad
categories commonly found on each developed urban block, ranging from noodle chains to Cantonese
style dim sum to self-service “mixed rice” joints, and countless variations in between.

However most
have one thing in common – they are usually aimed, understandably at the Chinese-Malaysian market,
and this is reflected in the dishes offered. A minority however are what I like to call “proper” Chinese restaurants which serve “real” Chinese
dishes exactly as you would find them in mainland China.

One of our favorites in this category is Lucky
Cuisine in Kota Damansara. We do indeed consider ourselves lucky to have found it. Let me give you a
glimpse of some of the good stuff you can get here.


Let’s start with something other than the food for a change. The laobanniang (lady in charge) is a lovely
lady – from mainland China of course – who doesn’t speak English but if you don’t speak Chinese will
welcome you with a smile.

Each and every time we visit, she attempts to learn a few expressions, as if in
the hope of being able to show off her newly acquired knowledge the next time we come. Yet to no
avail, she never quite seems to recall what we taught her the last time.


In fact come to think of it, nobody in the establishment appears to be able to understand even a single
word of English.

Not a problem! The glossy menu provided is more like a colourful magazine than a
restaurant menu, and each item listed is accompanied by a picture of exactly what you’ll get if you order
the item in question. And there are so many!


Lucky Cuisine markets itself as a “Sichuan restaurant” but in reality, as is normally the case with this
category of proper Chinese restaurants in Malaysia, you will find famous dishes from all over China, as
well as a few less common ones.


The interior is pretty well decorated with an assortment of Chinese artifacts and paintings covering the
walls, making you feel even more like you’re in China!

The seating arrangements are a bit strange
though, something which we tend to joke about whenever we are here, almost as if we had forgotten
about it since the last time we came. Each table is designed to seat 3 on each side. There is a physical
divider one-third of the way along, so that you are supposed to have one person sat to the left of the
divider, and two to the right. The problem is that the table is not really long enough for three people –
especially for whomever is unlucky enough to sit to the left of the divider, but too long for only 2 people.

Even if it wasn’t too long for 2, either one person would have to squeeze into the cramped space to the
left of the divider, or both would have to sit next to each other to the right, and it would again be too
cramped.

The result is that in practice, you can only really get one person sitting comfortably on each
side! What a crazy situation! We laugh about this every single time and we just can’t for the life of us
understand why the tables were designed like that!

Fortunately the food more than makes up for this relatively trivial matter, so let’s get right into the meat
and potatoes.

In this case literally! Here are three of our favorites.
Tudousi: finely shredded potato with hot red chilli peppers. I’ll be honest, I don’t normally consider
potatoes one of my favorite foods.

I mean, how can potatoes be anyone’s favorite food, seriously?
Potatoes are meant to accompany meats or other highlights of your plate; they are not the highlight

themselves. But this dish is an exception. It is shockingly good.

How can potatoes taste so good? We’re
still not even sure. The taste is ridiculous. Taste it to believe it.

I don’t know what they did to them, and I
don’t even think that I want to know.

Something to do with the shape of the potatoes (finely shredded),
their texture (kinda “al dente”) and of course the seasoning (hot and sour).

This dish is the first on our
list every single time, even ahead of the delicious meats, and I’ll just carry on ordering it without giving it
a second thought thank you very much.


Mala niurou (spicy beef slices): I would rank this second on our list, very close behind the shredded
potato, meaning that you can expect us to order this dish nearly every time, but perhaps not quite every
time we go. Like the tudousi, this is incredibly addictive.

Very oily, but it’s almost like we don’t care
because the oil itself tastes so good!

Having said that, I do normally like to give my beef slice a quick
shake or wipe to get rid of some of the oil, otherwise the calories would add up fast.

The beef, however
is lean and marbled with tendon.

They use a particular part of the cow only – I think it’s the shin.
Whatever it is, it is quality. The portion is large; although not cheap, it is well worth it.


Suancai yu (Sour vegetable fish soup) and Xuehua yu (Chinese mushroom fish soup): one or the other of
these usually makes up our three core dishes. Yes, one has sour green vegetables and the other Chinese
mushrooms.

But the real difference is that the first is extremely hot, and the second is.. Well, just a bit
spicy. Both are served in an impressive, unusually shaped giant dish which looks great in the middle of
the table, and both have a generous amount of white grouper.

If you are confident you can handle it, go
for the first one. The fish, vegetables and anything else you may find floating about aren’t too hot. The
issue, at least for me, is the soup itself! The first few sips are alright, but after a couple of bowls, your
mouth will be on fire!

In addition to the three dishes mentioned here, let me briefly list some of the others that we have tried on the seven or so occasions that we’ve visited over the past 2 years.

They include: dumplings with pork and minced green onions, spicy mapo tofu with mixed pork cooked in a syrupy sauce, and garlicky fried kangkong (locally called water spinach).

You will need to order rice separately, and water is charged separately too. 

Sometimes I also drink Tsingtao beer imported from China. All of these are admittedly pretty pricey.

Vegetables and side dishes usually cost more than RM20(US$4.5) per plate, and meat dishes RM 40(US$9) and upwards.

Signature dishes like fish stews etc start at RM60(US$14). So, if you add up the total, since we typically choose 4 items no matter how we order, the bill usually comes out at around RM140(US$33), and should we feel the urge to order several meat dishes all at once, including dumplings, the bill can quite easily reach RM200(US$45). 

Check out an example of our bill!

Still, if you want to enjoy the taste of authentic Sichuan cuisine like what you would get in mainland China, rather than Malaysian localized Chinese food, you won’t regret paying the high price. Three satisfied customers!

Lucky Cuisine ?????

Address: 19, Jalan PJU 5/12, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

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