Dionne T.
Yelp
Ok Lucky Jade.....I see you!!! (Again. LOL)
It's been a long-time standing tradition I grew up having and carried over into my marriage, to enjoy Christmas Eve dinner having a traditional sit-down Chinese restaurant experience. I'm talking full-on (usually a Cantonese) "Family-style meal with the sharable entrees served on the center lazy-susan" type of meal! I've tried many different restaurants after our regular spot closed shortly after COVID. We tried spots on Freeport Blvd, and after the horrible fiasco of 2022 (that place is no longer around....no big surprise there!), 2023 meant we needed a new spot.
That's when our first/initial time dining at Lucky Jade was, last year in 2023 on the suggestion of a fellow Yelpie (thanks Patrick Y!) who I know knows good Chinese food in this area. See, although I grew up in this part of town, I only now come when attending church down the street in Pocket/Greenhaven. So it's not often I have the opportunity to have a good sit-down meal. We gave Lucky Jade a chance last year and was not disappointed, as we needed somewhere open after 7pm (when I'm typically done singing for Christmas Eve service). The place was BUSY due to a party being held in their banquet room. The restaurant itself had a few tables with parties enjoying their meal, but enough open tables to suit smaller groups like ours (party of 3). We all remember the meal being good, so this year was attempt #2. Let's see if they fair a whole year later.......
Christmas Eve 2024, no banquet room party we noticed, yet the parking lot was still pretty full. We walked in to see several empty tables with a few occupied, and were immediately seated. Same table as last year! LOL Our drink order of Jasmine tea and 1 can of Pepsi for Hubs was placed while we sat to look over the menu. Our usual guest left the ordering up to me/us. In that case, this is what I typically order every Christmas Eve for dinner:
1) Start with Wor Wonton Soup - this is a MUST! and theirs is SUPER delicious!!! Excellent broth, large wontons and choice meats, plus a good amount of veggies (carrots & bok choy--side note: I'm not a bok choy fan but they cook it so well I actually am ok with it in this soup!) Rating: 10/10!!
2) I also like some other appetizer, like gyoza or foil-wrapped chicken. I let hubby pick this time and was surprised he opted for shrimp tempura because he doesn't usually seafood, but will eat fried anything! lol These were light, crispy, not heavily battered, and enjoyed by everyone, served with sweet & sour sauce. Rating: 8/10 (It was tasty but felt the shrimp pieces were a little small)
3) BBQ pork fried rice - always gotta have a rice dish, mostly to serve the entrees with all the sauce over.....Mmmmm! BBQ pork is my standard go-to fried rice, but plain white is a great option. I think hubs didn't want white though. Rating: 10/10 Not greasy, lots of meats and veggies. Perfectly balanced.
I also order 1 dish with chicken and beef, and sometimes pork. But since the rice had that, we just did chicken & beef.
4) For the chicken, I ordered General Chicken. Mostly because Hubs doesn't like a lot of veggies, and this was basically just deep-fried chicken chunks in a gooey sauce. It was good, still crispy even in all the sauce, but a little chewy texture in some pieces. Rating: 7/10 I probably would've much preferred the Green Beans w/Chicken dish and may need to remember next time when Hubs was open to the idea. Another goodie order would be Kung Pao Chicken.
5) Szechuan Beef - It's either this, or Mongolian Beef (cuz I enjoy a spicy kick), or Beef w/Broccoli. I think I'm the only one at the table that takes into account getting my greens in! LOL Since hubby likes spicy too, he usually eats around the veg, which in this dish came with zucchini, bok choy, carrots, and broccoli. You can see the small whole red peppers in the dish, but I could barely taste a spice and opted to add on top a drizzle of hot chili oil to punch it up a bit. Yumm-O!
Everything was magnificent!!! Even better than we remembered from last year, solidifying its place as being our new go-to Christmas Eve dinner location! Not only was the food phenomenal, but the friendly family service matched. They checked on us periodically but not too much, and were just so pleasant. We ended up being there close to close-time of 9pm, and never did we feel from them rushed to leave. But we made sure not to stay past 9pm, because after all, it was Christmas Eve and we don't want to keep them from being with their families.
So.....all that to say, Lucky Jade is definitely a place I can recommend you go to for a wonderful traditional Chinese meal. I think they dim sum on the weekends too, but not sure myself. Should you ever be in the area, give this establishment your money and they will give their love served in a plate of delicious food!