Lucky Garden

Went there last year and discovered they have a new owner. The food went from authentic to greasy fried food. Not surprised they are out of business.

poor service and food is tasteless. very mediocre place. we did take-​out and and the portions were a decent size but there was hardly any flavor. we called to asked and were told that this is what we paid for (very difficult to communicate). at last we were told to throw the food away…

Suckkss! dont order the general tsao’s chickk with fried rice. the rice taste badd! Alsoo dont order the chicken odon noddles no flavor at allllll!
P.s Im Asian

Lucky Garden and I go back a couple of years. I dig on dim sum, and they had the best dim sum in Rhode Island.
Well, not anymore. I was jonesing for dim sum today, and went in for the first time in a couple of months. New owners, new décor, and no more dim sum menu. What?
Well, ok, since we drove all the out there, I figure we might as well try it. The menu is a mix of American-​Chinese and «authentic Sichuan» style, and while it’s a little more interesting than an average American-​Chinese restaurant menu, it’s not going to cut it when you were hoping for dim sum.
Disappointment aside, we tried the boneless sparerib, an order of steamed dumplings, and the spicy garlic eggplant. The sparerib, while tasty, was cold in the middle, evidence that it had been refrigerated and reheated. The dumplings were a little on the thick side. The eggplant, however, was surprisingly good; spicy, and flavorful, and enough for two people to share.
Without a dim sum menu, there’s no reason to go to Lucky Garden anymore unless you happen to be in the neighborhood and absolutely dying for Chinese food. For now, Phoenix Dragon in Providence is the new winner of the RI dim sum crown by default.

This is one the worst dining experience I’ve had in Providence. The restaurant was empty. The service was poor. And the food was not tasty. But it wasn’t just the bad food… for some reason the whole dining experience was really odd. Supposedly this place was great years back, but sadly it’s not worth visiting anymore.

Wow. I’m flabbergasted. This must be the definition of a single Unilocal star.
Wow.
The first sign should have been the empty parking lot and the empty restaurant. Honestly, the young man at the counter seemed surprised that we were actual customers. He was friendly, but weird… he claimed that the menu has undergone some changes and a second chef has been hired to ensure their food was «more authentic.» Uhhh, so how come you don’t know what Fujian fried rice is (it was on their former menu). He recommended Yangzhou fried rice, «classic, you must know it.» Yes, we know it, and it doesn’t customarily have pineapple in it… and it isn’t so ungodly salty.
By the way, apparently the second chef is the very young man himself, as we witnessed him cloaked in white in the kitchen after taking our order…
The second sign should have been the music, switching from traditional zither, to Michael Jackson, to Jay Chou. Actually, wait, that is pretty typical Chinese restaurant style. It’s just so weird when the whole place is empty and that’s all you hear.
Finally, the waitress sealed the deal. She isn’t Chinese, which is odd in a Chinese restaurant, but her demeanor is actually the real problem. You shouldn’t say, «You want like a cup? It’s only a dollar.» when I ask for some white rice. And you shouldn’t offer more water when the glasses are visibly empty and in a way that makes us fear to refuse.
Most importantly, the food sucks. It isn’t just not authentic, it’s remotely digestible. Raw onions with sizzling beef that sizzles for 40 seconds… pineapples in the clumpy fried rice… chunks of celery and cucumber with flavorless meat in the kung pao chicken. It’s all wrong. And the prices are through the roof for the quality you get. Horrible.
Easily in the top 5 worst dining experiences ever.

My family and I have been going to Lucky Garden for years, but stopped for a while in favor of spicier fare at Sichuan restaurants. After hearing that Lucky Garden was under new ownership, underwent renovations, and changed to a Sichuan-​focused menu, we decided to give it a shot.
If you’re a fan of sliced celery and julienned carrots, you picked the right restaurant.
The spicy boiled fish had 6 pitifully small fish slices over a huge mound of celery and carrot. It’s a shame that the decently flavored broth was wasted on such a ridiculous amount of filler veggies.
The shrimp with cashew nuts had the smallest shrimps I’d ever seen in any restaurant, not just Chinese. They were roughly the size of pennies, with tons of roughly chopped cucumber and a tiny sprinkling of cashews. They should rename this dish «shrimp with cucumber».
The hunan stir-​fried pork belly had a decent flavor, but again, there was far too little meat and far too much veggie filler for the price.
Calling this food «authentic» is laughable. The flavor is almost passable, but the way they pack every dish with a small mountain of cheap flavorless veggies makes me feel like I got robbed for the exorbitant price.
If you’re looking for authentic Chinese food, you won’t find it here. If you’re looking for cheap Chinese food, you won’t find it here either.

Me and fiancé visited his place for the first time today and we were honestly taken aback at how good the food was here. The service was amazing and the food was worth the money. The only reason I’d take away a star would be because of the pricing. The combo platters and certain items were priced appropriately but other things were kind of pricey. Other than that it’s worth the trip out here.

It’s painful to downgrade the rating. As others have mentioned, new ownership, new style (Sichuan, not Cantonese), no more Dim Sum (the few dumplings we tried, the wrapper was too thick, grainy, and gummy, and the filling was non-​descript), ’nuff said…
The search for good Dim Sum in Rhode Island, unfortunately, has begun anew…

Drove 60 miles for which was without a doubt the best meal I’ve had in a long time. Get pork shank

Though lots of people are complaining about the change in ownership and lack of dimsum, and though i agree that I miss having a go-​to dimsum place, their food is amazing! Really authentic. The pork in garlic sauce cold appetizer brings me back to my childhood, as does the boiled chicken. Fried coconut cream for dessert is excellent, if too rich-​tastic at the end of a rich meal. Today was our second visit and we are going to keep coming back.

Fantastic authentic sichuanese food.
Lived in china for several years and have been looking for four years for authentic Chinese food in providence. At long last, these guys came along. Superb. Get the chicken in chili oil and the boiled fish in sichuanese chili oil. Really, really freaking good.

We used to come here for our weekly dimsum fix but now, it’s totally different which they claim to be a more «focused, authentic Chinese menu».
The restaurant had a full renovation with new chairs, tables and a much updated atmosphere. While it has a much nicer and welcoming interior, the staff and menu also had a make over too. The nice grandmas-​Cantonese speaking staff are gone. The dimsum chef is gone; hence the traditional «dimsum sheet menu» is gone. They claimed they have a few «dimsum» dishes on their menu but really it’s only 3: chicken feet, pork ribs and BBQ pork. We ordered all 3 and they are nowhere near the former dimsum quality. What pushed me over the cliff was the pork ribs came in portion of a super tiny ceramic plate in a metal container and they charge $ 7.95. You got to be kidding me. We asked the staff why and they pitied us and took off $ 1. I am not trying to be cheap but a dimsum dish should not cost more than $ 4 or so. The «chef specials» on the white board during lunch time are 50% off. Their pricing is a little all over the place and is inconsistent.
We tried a few other dishes on the menu and they are average. They now conform to what the general public likes instead of sticking to real authentic Chinese/​Cantonese dishes. I am saddened by this change.

Unfortunately the new ownership has done away with dim sum. Chef Cam is no longer there (they retired) and the new management specialized in watered –down tea with Americanized Chinese food. There were some authentic options though our waiter was promoting a selection of fried ditties. I was sorely disappointed.

This family owned Chinese restaurant is the closest thing to «real Chinese food» in the area. None of that preheated fast-​food/​take-​out Chinese food that scatters most of North Providence.
As of right now they are undergoing some renovations so I’ve been deprived of my weekly fix of dim sum, congee and sticky wings w/​oyster sauce for quite some time. *shakes with withdrawals*
Let’s just say that it better be fricken gorgeous inside when they reopen! But, no for real. I’ve been going to this place for years and they have always been delicious, dependable and very family friendly.

First, the restaurant clearly uses fresh vegetables, which is fantastic. Our dishes were full of carrots, peppers, and celery.
However, the negatives outweigh the positives:
1) My husband ordered cashew chicken. It did not come with white rice, which was surprising since white rice seems pretty standard.
2) The cashew chicken was «padded» with celery. Lots and lots of celery, not a lot of cashews or chicken, even though it cost $ 10.95.
3) The shrimp and garlic sauce was disappointing. The shrimp were large and the vegetables were yummy, but the sauce was disappointing.
4) The fried rice lacked flavor. It had very little pork in it and was a dark, sticky mess rather than what it should have been.
5) The egg roll was red inside! Very odd. Very strong celery flavor.
If you love celery, Lucky Garden is for you!

Lucky Garden is really a fantastic find. I’ve been 3 or 4 times and have always been super satisfied with my meal. I usually go for a dim sum brunch on the weekend. Admittedly I don’t stray too far off the beaten path – no chicken feet or tripe for me – but what I get is truly fresh and delicious and perfect. My go-​to meal is fried ravioli (similar to dumplings, but with a thicker skin), noodles, beef rice rolls, crab rangoons and whatever fresh green vegetable they have on hand sauteed with garlic. They have choi sum on the menu, which is similar to Chinese broccoli or broccoli rabe, but they had chive blossoms as a special last time I was there and they were out of this world! Garlicky, slightly oniony and perfect with the noodles. If you see them you must get them!
This place is usually busy, but never really crowded, it’s full of families and couples just enjoying a great meal in a relaxing atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere, there’s not much. Lucky Garden is clean and casual, but they’re not trying to impress with beautiful décor. They have a lovely waitstaff of elderly Chinese ladies who are always ready with fresh tea and a good recommendation. Don’t be afraid to point to pictures of what you want or to ask what other tables are eating, Lucky Garden is pretty inexpensive so it’s a great place to be bold and try new things!
Also, the egg custard tart dessert is awesome. Finish your meal with that.

No migraine chinese food. Yes, I am sensitive to msg, shocking I know.
Struggled for years on finding chinese food that I wouldn’t regret.
Lucky Garden was suggested to me by a friend that also suffers from msg induced migraines. Luckily ;) Lucky Garden is only a stone throw from my house!
On my first visit I treated myself and ate in with hubby. We dived right into the dim sum menu and had mass quantities of hot fresh dumplings, steamed buns and fried noodles to delight our taste buds.
On our second trip, we ate in with the kiddos this time and ordered not only too much dim sum but ventured into the traditional chinese menu. Pleased with all our selections besides the fried rice on the traditional menu and still no migraine.
I am enjoying take out during our busy week nights. I savored kung po beef last night and sampled from my daughter the shanghai noodles. All very tasty.
And don’t over look the sweet asian ladies that take care of you, no mess no fuss at Lucky Garden.

Dim sum, yum. The only reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 is the dim sum menu is small and on the safer side. Other than that, this place is great. After only going once the ladies remember that I like the chili sauce and now I don’t have to ask. I mean, I am spoiled, right.
Worth the drive to Johnston.

I was expecting a decent experience here given the generally favorable reviews. This wasn’t the case, at least for me.
To start, the interior is drab and run down. Not welcoming from a dining standpoint.
The waitresses just stand there and watch you. Too much pressure.
The food was bland and flavorless. The steamed pork buns just gave off an unpleasant odor from the steaming. It was off putting. The Siew Mai was completely bland and flavorless.
I did like the fact that they handed you a picture book of all their offerings. Pictures were of actual items from the restaurant.
All in all this wasn’t worth the drive out here. I guess you really do need to go up to Boston to get good Dim Sum.