Category Asian

Susur Lee’s Chinese food restaurant, Luckee, is a jewel. From the moment you enter the door, thoughtful details – from décor to Nouvelle Chinoise delicacies – stir you sensually.

Enter from Toronto’s SoHo Metropolitan Hotel through the sultry bar, accented with ultra-feminine hits of lipstick red, sumptuous velvet, and a stunning, floor-to-ceiling canvas.

Asian motifs are repeated throughout the décor – in the delightful butterfly and lantern decals at the street entrance, in the beautiful floor tiles, and a flashy neon sign. Even the intricate pillars are pretty. Juxtaposed against modern wooden tables and chairs, sleek black tile, and dark wood floors and panelling, the décor is an embrace of masculine and feminine, modern and traditional.

Catch a glimpse through the open kitchen of the hidden gems soon to be revealed at your table.

Steamed Long Xia Gow are plump, supple dumplings filled with luxurious lobster and asparagus, and garnished with green onion. Siu Mai (steamed chicken and shrimp dumplings) are crowned with scallop and black truffle.

Steamed Long Xia Gow and Siu Mai

Leave the delicate Xiao Long Bao (steamed pork soup dumplings) in your bowl when you tear into them; a delicious broth of tender, shredded pork will cascade out.

One of the things I love about dim sum is the dipping sauces. Luckee serves a variety of exquisite, housemade sauces. Crispy, caramelized Chicken Pot Stickers (stuffed with chicken, chives, and cabbage) are served with black vinegar ginger dip. Soya dip is laced with fresh, hot chili peppers. Chef Susur Lee’s Sriracha and Chinese mustard have different flavours of heat. A bright, ginger and green onion pesto adds a whole new, fresh dimension.

Chicken Pot Stickers and Salt and Pepper Spiced Squid

There’s a bounty of seafood delicacies to choose from, like Salt & Pepper Spiced Squid. Hong Kong Style Steamed Whole Sea Bass is so tender and sweet, garnished with julienned red pepper, leeks, and ginger, and dressed at the table with sweet soya juice.

Hong Kong Style Steamed Whole Sea Bass and Spicy Soya Bean Crumble Shrimp

Succulent Spicy Soya Bean Crumble Shrimp sit on top of crisp cucumber slices in a gorgeous puddle of sweet and tangy kaffir lime and Thai basil glaze.

Service is informative and attentive. As much as I enjoy the typical, cheap dim sum dives, the pleasures of our dim sum brunch at Luckee left us feeling utterly pampered. A must-try stop on your next trip into T Dot.

Luckee Restaurant and Bar
328 Wellington Street West
Toronto, Ontario

Telephone: 416-935-0400

Website: http://luckeerestaurant.com/

Look at these beauties that I found at Longo’s Glen Erin: pretty, pink Fuji apples with Chinese lettering on them, packed in a festive red box.

The friendly voice at the other end of the @LongosMarkets twitter handle explained that these apples are grown with paper stencils attached to block the sunlight, leaving natural and elegant Chinese lettering when the apples have matured. According to Longo’s, the message on the box – 恭喜發財- loosely translates into English as “congratulations and be prosperous”. Wikipedia states that in Chinese culture, the colour red “symbolizes good fortune and joy” and yellow symbolizes “neutrality and good luck” and “is considered the most beautiful and prestigious color”¹.

These apples look lovely piled into a pretty bowl or adorning a place setting at a Lunar New Year celebration. Delightfully crisp and sweet, they would make a thoughtful gift for a lucky Chinese friend.

However you celebrate it and however you say it (How to Say “Happy Lunar New Year in Vietnamese, Cantonese, and Korean), Happy Lunar New Year to you!

¹Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_in_Chinese_culture January 25, 2014

Please check my Grocery Store Directory for details on Longo’s supermarkets.

Accessories (mini takeout box, geisha place card holder, chopsticks, and napkins) courtesy of www.cobistyle.com.