Lucky China

Pretty good food for the location. I love their Almond Chicken dish, or the #7 noodle dish off their Korean menu. Try either and see for yourself. The only thing that could be fixed is a more modern décor.

Both the Chinese and Korean menus are really good. Everything from Jajung mein to bilgulgi was on point. The service is a bit informal and décor a little used. Look past this and enjoy the food. If you like the mass-​market Chinese food, I was told by others in my party that they’re OK also.

Great food but next time I’ll ask for the Korean menu. Thier Chinese food is very Korean influence. You can tell the difference. Awesome

I wish I loved this place because it’s a 5 minute drive from my mom ‘s house. We followed the Unilocal recommends to get the black bean noodles. They were served with Kim Che. I’m a huge Thai fan and so in probably not comparing this food fairly. The food seemed fresh, just not my taste. We ordered both the hot and sour soup AND the egg drop soup and they were identical except for the amount of heat in the hot and sour. The restaurant has no appeal at all. Tired carpet, tables, dated wall hangings. There was no reason to return. If you like Korean food you might feel differently.

The only reason i go to this place is that this is the only korean-​chinese place in town and my friends like this place for some reason. To be honest, their black bean noodles (jjajangmyun) and sweet and sour pork/​beef/​chicken are the worst — maybe my standard is too high as i have tried so many good korean chinese restaurants in korea, but i tried the ones in other states and their food was way better than this place. But im not saying that their food is not edible, i’m saying that their jjajangmyun is very greasy and does not have much flavor. There was not much taste to dishes in general. They have two side dishes, kimchi and pickled radish, and neither of them are fresh. Their kimchi tastes like pickled cabbage sprinkled with some hot chili powder. Very disappointed and sad that there is no good korean-​chinese restaurant in town.
Oh but the service here is pretty nice!

A Korean friend recommended this place to me years ago: If you have a craving for jajangmyeon, Lucky China serves the best in the Cities. Don’t be fooled by the exterior — there’s a Korean menu that you can request. You receive a generous portion with a side of kimchi at a very reasonable price. I haven’t had a chance to try other items yet because I just can’t stop ordering the jajangmyeon. It’s addicting! Extra brownie points for attentive service every time.

The Korean menu is the way to go. You need to ask for it or else they’ll just give you the regular Chinese menu. The jia jia mein is my go to dish because it’s probably the only restaurant in the twin cities that can do this dish well. Plus the price is on point for $ 8! Can’t be beat. Wait times can be a beast though. Saturday night 6:30 and every dish took over 30 minutes — even the typical egg drop or hot & sour soup. A bit odd.
The hot & sour soup is both sort of hot & sour but lacked depth for me. There’s no pork so vegetarians can order this.

I’ve been here multiple times with my friends and we always get decent-​to-​good service; the food is always delicious. They give you a lot of food for what you pay. :)

You’ll notice one common thread among the negative reviews of this place: Everyone ordered the standard-​fare Chinese food you find at every other Chinese place. Do not do this. Order from the Korean menu, at least one dish if you’re not feeling especially adventurous, and you will keep coming back. Personally, I recommend that one Korean dish be the jjajangmyun («cha jang mein» on the menu).
The jjajangmyun here is the best I have ever had (as one who has never been to Korea and does not have a Korean mother-​in-​law). It is the ultimate comfort food. Thick chewy noodles smothered in a warm, rich, black bean based sauce full of yummy «stuff» (meat, veggies). I’ll take this over anything my mother ever made, anytime! I’ve ordered the «Lucky cha jang mein» twice and once it was delicious, more «stuff» than the regular version, and the other time it was so crammed full of jalapenos I couldn’t even eat it. Just a warning. I have never been disappointed with the regular «cha jang mein» so I always order it, every time I come here.
Most of the standard-​fare Chinese items are pretty standard here, it’s good but won’t knock your socks off. The only real stand-​out for me is the Mongolian beef. Super yummy, and my other «usual» dish. I do not personally like hot and sour soup but according to the people who have tried it here, it is some of the best they’ve had, so if you are a hot and sour soup fan, give it a try.

Delicious food and amazingly fast service. Never too busy and such cheap prices. This place is like entering a new, better world.

Love it! It’s like EXO () cause they got Chinese and Korean as well! Always go by it for many years now wishing I could have eaten there a long time ago!

I didn’t like Korean noodles until I came here! We got chae jung myun which used to hate before, but here the noodle dish had cucumbers so the sauce wasn’t overwhelming. We also got sam sun champong with beef instead of seafood. I loved the big, chewy noodles and the slighty sweet but mainly smoky broth.

HOW TO (LC) LUCKY CHINA LIKE A KOREAN /​KOREAN AMERICAN:
A lot of locals go here but I am not «local». I will let you in on the true essence of the LC. The inner Asian busts out here. Consider the myth about a korean menu busted cause its real, and its great. Combining Chinese food with a Korean comfort food spin is always bomb. Don’t be fooled by the «Just another Chinese restaurant» exterior folks. The customer service and the varied menu sets this place a part,
Koreans order like this: For two people you get two of the noodle dishes (typically different kinds) and then hit up a «Yori» which is like a sharing dish like sweet sour chicken etc.
The Koreanese (Korean + Chinese) menu breakdown:
Native Koreans and Chinese folk flock here for a reason. I live in the cities, and yes I make the 20 minute drive out to West Saint Paul with friends to get my fix. Whats the fix? The Korean-​Chinese menu is the hook up and where it’s at.
The three most popular things on this menu from my experience are:
1. Cha Jang Myun (Black Bean Sauce Noodles)
2. Cham Pong (Spicy Soup Noodles With Seafood)
3. Kam Poongi (Spicy Fried Chicken)
Don’t be fooled by the names as they arent «ordinary». These are extremely popular dishes and comfort food eaten in Korea. The black bean sauce noodles hook it up with one of three additional «secret» options: Saeri Park style (Famous golfer liked her stuff SPICY) although this is also called the «Lucky Cha Jang». «Go Peh Gi» = Double the noodles for twice the fun (applies to the Cham Pong) as well. «Gan Cha Jang» = You get the sauce and the noodles separately but the sauce tends to be a bit more concentrated on the way out.
IF you are a little adventurous but a little scared. Go with a group, get #1 through 3 mentioned above and the goh-​peh-​gi for #1−3 is easily enough to go around for y’all. I dont know who took the photos for the food on here but it’ s better than that trust me. Its pretty packed on weekends. If you dont believe me, you can try going on a Saturday evening (you probably wont understand much) cause it will probably be a lot of korean people and chinese folk gettin their grub on but that is NO reason to be daunted. Own it. GOHPEHGI everything. :) (Pronounced Go-​Pay-​Gi) You too can briefly be an honorary korean.
ONE ULTIMATE RULE: DONT TAKE TOO MUCH TIME WHEN EATING THE NOODLES OR THEY WILL EXPAND (Duh). You wouldn’t let your mama’s spaghetti sit there on a plate for an hour and expect a culinary orgasm yea?

We’ve loved going here a couple times a month for the last 8 years so this review is well over due. My husband eats for quantity and I like quality, lucky China is our perfect match. The lunch orders are always more then we need to eat, served with tea, soup, wontons or wings and large plate of rice with the main meal choice.
I compare Lucky China’s hot and sour soup to everywhere else and it is hands down always the best. Mongolian Beef and hot and sweet chicken is what generally order. It’s hard to find a great filling meal for under $ 13 for two people plus, I usually have leftovers for lunch.
They close up shop for a few weeks every winter. We always look forward to when they return.

On the outside, Lucky China looks like any nondescript Chinese restaurant. And, when it comes to the Chinese menu, that’s what it delivers. The menu is filled with a wide array of expected items. We ate pork lo mein, hot & sour soup, egg rolls and (marginally) spicy fried tofu. The food is reasonable, but not memorable
However, when I got up to leave, I noticed something VERY INTERESTING: Everyone around us was eating from a separate Korean menu — not the Chinese menu we started with. The Korean dishes I observed looked authentic, compelling and enjoyed by Lucky China’s patrons.
While Lucky China’s ‘Chinese’ menu rated two stars for me, I suspect the Korean menu will rate higher. With that in mind, I plan to return. When I do, I’ll update this review. In the meantime: ask for the Korean menu!

My husband and I ate there this evening, I have not been back for many many years and it was just as good as I remember. We got hunan beef, bulgogi beef with beef egg rolls and it was so yummy. Prices are very reasonable the food is very fresh with very helpful and nice service. We live just off of Robert Street so we’ll be back over and over again I am sure.

Best cream cheese wontons, not the best eggroll. Service was good though and this is my second time there, not bad.

To start, the outside of this place looks like it was closed down a decade ago… we went down a drop from one parking lot to this parking lot, unsure of how else to arrive at the parking lot.
I had high expectations for this place based on the reviews and I had to drag my coworkers here, only to be very disappointed.
The hot and sour soup was pretty good… good start. But then when the crab rangoon came out… it was not good at all. To top it off, my beef with oyster sauce was unappetizing as well. I picked at it until I was like half full so that it could last me until dinner time, not because I enjoyed it. I have made better tasting beef with oyster sauce at home.
My coworker got the orange chicken and said it was ok. He was not a fan of the egg drop soup. My other coworker got the fried chicken and enjoyed it.
The server was really nice though.

As my son used to say, «nummy num, nami!»
This is some of the best Chinese I’ve had since we moved to Minnesota in 1996.
Everything we’ve had has been as expected: Delicious, crispy when such things are ordered, and hot.
The only drawback to this restaurant is not having delivery service. At the same time, this place is worth driving to, even in the snow (which we’ve done).
Take a chance and get «lucky» when you’re wanting something Chinese/​Korean and you happen to be in West. St. Paul.

Except for the one time when the restaurant was three-​quarters full and the lady told me it would take over an hour for my food… I love this place. It’s a little out of the way from U of M, but it’s worth going to!
They make the most legit jjajangmyun, and Korean-​style Chinese food! Please note: their jjajangmyun has been getting saltier than they used to be, but they still have excellent flavor. We have tried their yusamseul, palbochae, jjambbong, jjajangmyun, etc etc… Jjambong can be better, so I will not get it again, but the other items were delicious!
My friends and I are definitely a regular here. Yummmm!!!