Marv’s family likes coming to Lucky Tao for dim sum and have recommended it to me several times, but each time we decide to try it out, it’s been closed! 🙁 I guess it’s cause they were closed for a long period of time for the winter holidays. So finally, we made a plan to try it in the new year and here we are! 🙂 It’s a nice change to see the ‘Open’ sign illuminated haha!
Lucky Tao Chinese Seafood Restaurant
8077 Alexandra Road, Richmond BC
Tel#: (604) 233-1219
Marv ‘n I met up with his family at Lucky Tao. We were pretty much the first people in the restaurant. Okay, we were definitely the first customers in the restaurant. We even beat some of the staff members! Haha yes, we were eager to have dim sum here 🙂 There were a couple of other tables that arrived a minute after we did, so I guess we were all aiming to be the first!
We started off with the Deep Fried Seafood Salad Roll.
This is Marvs sisters favourite dish, and I must say it was really good! I enjoyed how the wrapper was different than the regular spring roll wrap. There was ample shrimp filling in the roll.
Next up came the Sticky Rice Wrapped in Bamboo Leaves.
Okay, so this didn’t come wrapped in bamboo leaves, but I’m glad it didn’t as it would’ve just been more work to take it apart. This was actually the real reason why they wanted me to come try this place. I normally do enjoy eating this dish, so we ordered 2 of them for our table 🙂 Marvs family was absolutely right. This was delicious! The sticky rice was soft and well, sticky. I enjoy eating the outside more than the filling on the inside.
The next 2 dishes to arrive were the Deep Fried Eggplant with Shrimp Paste and the Steamed Beef Tripe & Tendons with Special Sauce. There was no skimping out on the shrimp paste in the deep fried eggplant. This was very tasty and fried quite nicely. There was only 3 on the plate and they did not cut this for us all to share. The steamed beef tripe & tendons was very juicy, there was just enough sauce on this dish.
We also ordered the Steamed Prawn Dumpling and Marvs staple for dimsum, the Steamed BBQ Pork Buns. How can we have dim sum without ordering the prawn dumplings! 🙂 The wrap was a bit gummy, but there was a nice amount of shrimp offered in this dish. As for the BBQ pork buns, this was a solid pick. The bun was still fluffy and not dry. There was enough filling to satisfy each bite.
Our last 2 dishes were the Phoenix Claw in Black Bean Sauce and the Steamed Pork Shui Mai Dumplings. I’ve never had such moist pork dumplings ever! It was actually very good. The phoenix claws was also a solid pick. It turned out to be a table favourite and disappeared quite quickly.
Overall, the dishes we ordered was pretty solid. Of course there are better places to go, but in terms of value, this was worth it.
Post by Colleen
Hi 604 Munchie: Like you, I prefer the outside sticky rice over the filling. I personally don’t like beans and all the stuff. If only it is filled with meat, I’ll gobbled it all down. Nice review, BTW. Ben
agreed! I find the beans and egg makes everything taste so dry. I think my favourite is when it’s filled with meat and peanuts! 🙂 I did try one from the refrigerated section at t&t, and it was a good enough substitute when you’re having a craving for one outside of the ‘dim sum’ hours.
Hi LD, I also love that sticky rice. In Manila Chinatown, we call it machang. BTW, whats the price point of their dimsum?
haha I’m always a bit surprised when people tell me they don’t like the sticky rice, but then again, that just leaves more for me! 🙂
The dim sum at Lucky Tao is $2.75/dish and the sticky rice ended up being about $6
We did get 15% off our bill though, but I think it’s because we were there before a certain time?
I just phoned them to check their hours. They dont start dimsum till 10:30 am which is kinda late I think. They give 15% discount on the dimsum for the whole day Mon to Friday. On weekends, the discount is only good till noon. At 15% discount, a 2.75 dimsum item becomes 2.35. Pretty good deal specially if its tasty too. I’ve got them down for my dimsum.
Nice! Thanks for the info! Just be forewarned like Elaine said below, the selection is pretty limited! 🙂
I like Lucky Tao! Cheap prices! Too bad selection is somewhat limited…
Yes, you’re right! I think if they had a better selection, I would be a regular lol 🙂
I just phoned them to check their hours. They dont start dimsum till 10:30 am which is kinda late I think. They give 15% discount on the dimsum for the whole day Mon to Friday. On weekends, the discount is only good till noon. At 15% discount, a 2.75 dimsum item becomes 2.35. Pretty good deal specially if its tasty too. I’ve got them down for my next dimsum.