Shikira H.
Yelp
I'm a huge GR fan, not just because I'm in love with most, if not all of his shows including Hell's Kitchen, Master Chef and Unchartered, but because I recently went to Hell's Kitchen and had an amazing experience. I was hoping for the same if not better with Lucky Cat as I'm personally a sushi fan. Our group was celebrating another birthday (we are the same group that went to Hell's Kitchen) and although I wouldn't personally have favored another one of GR establishments just weeks from one another, but was vetoed to go as they were all still flying high on the GR wagon.
I can gladly say that this restaurant gives a romantic sort of speakeasy vibe with it's dim lighting, dark colored walls and rich luxurious seating. Beautiful decor. The birthday couple got there first and were getting started at the bar until the rest of us arrived, however upon entering, the host hastily seated us at our table and advised us she will call the couple over from the bar. This was a bit of a bummer as we would've preferred to join them but I must disclose that this time around we made a Saturday night reservation whereas Hell's Kitchen was a Monday night experience. This of course meant it was a much busier environment with families and kids and so service was slow and not as closely attentive.
Now on to the cocktails and menu. We have 'old fashioned' lovers in our group including myself so it tends to be the go-to cocktail, so we went for their Gohan version which successfully passed the test however someone decided to order the Lucky Negroni. Whatever combination was rolled, didn't combine well at all. Our drinker that likes it pretty went for the Sozu which consisted of gin, plum blossom sake, yuzu, coconut and rhubarb. At first you'd think it would be milky but was pleasantly surprised by the lightness and refreshing taste. We were then greeted by our waiter making his way around the table to advise us on the menu. We understood it to be family style and that the dishes were sharable. I would have to disagree as the servings were rather small. We started with edamame, papaya salad and ceviche. I thoroughly enjoyed the papaya salad however the group's not too keen to spicy and thought it was too much. We then went on to order (for sharing): ceviche, lamb dumplings, (2) egg fried rice, the 30 day prime dry-aged porterhouse, baked clay pot glass noodles, Australian waygu skirt steak, and zenmai roll. The waygu was presented along with a certificate of authenticity. It was very good, melt in your mouth good as the steak didn't need much if any chewing, it literally emulsified in your mouth. By far the highlight of the night. What didn't live up to the expectations were the Zenmai roll, glass noodles and lamb dumplings. The glass noodles and 2nd fried rice came out so late we thought it was comp'd but come to find out it just came out when we were already almost finished. Unfortunately the noodles and dumplings were rather oily and were much smaller than I'd hoped (for the price). Didn't even get to try any nigiri or any other sushi that I was looking forward to tasting. Not many of us opted for dessert so we nibbled on a sticky tamarind cake which was pretty good.
For what our bill ended up tallying to as we wrapped things up, we all agreed that it didn't measure up to our expectations and left wanting something more. I plan to return in a non-group setting to try their Miami Spice menu and give this another shot.