Lucky Bamboo (Post 2020.3)

Place: Lucky Bamboo

Category: Chinese

Website: https://luckybambootogo.com/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lucky-bamboo-seaside

Location: 1784 Fremont Blvd, Seaside, CA 93955

Date of visit: 2020 December 9

On Wednesday December 9, 2020 I order takeout food from Lucky Bamboo in Seaside, CA. I enjoy Chinese takeout but I haven’t actually gotten food at many of the Chinese restaurants in the area. I found one I really like: the food is good, prices are good, and owners are nice. Therefore, I didn’t go looking for another one because I had no reason to. However, with the goal of trying a new food place every week, I decided to venture out to a different Chinese restaurant. After looking at Yelp reviews, I decided to try Lucky Bamboo mostly because the other place I was considering didn’t have General Tso’s Chicken on the menu. I think the other place is more focused on traditional Chinese food versus American Chinese food. I wanted American Chinese food this night! I’ll try the other place at some point when I want something a bit less American.

As you would guess from above, I ordered General Tso’s Chicken. I ordered it in the form of a dinner special which included egg fried rice and an egg roll. I also ordered a fresh strawberry latte. For those that might not know what the fresh strawberry latte is, it’s fresh strawberry jam with the milk. Not much to say about it besides that it was delicious. Just as good as a milk shake although not quite as cold. I’d definitely order one from them again, I actually want another one right now!

I felt that the General Tso’s Chicken Dinner Special was a good value. The chicken and sauce was great. It is interesting that every place, or at least in different regions of the U.S., serve this different. Back east I remember typical it was served with broccoli. Other places I’ve had it at didn’t include any vegetables. Lucky Bamboo served it with carrots, squash, and peppers. I am not a squash fan but I have to say the squash was well-prepared and I actually ate it all. That’s high praise! The carrots and peppers also were tasty with a good texture. Overall, I was quite pleased with the main dish. The egg fried rice was good but it was egg fried rice and not something like pork fried rice which I would have preferred. That said, the rice was perfectly prepared and vegetarians would have liked it (well, at least the set of vegetarians that eat eggs, I know some do and some don’t). The egg roll was good but nothing exciting. I was happy it was included and enjoyed it but I am not going to go out of my way for another one.

Since this was takeout I can’t say much about the service but the person that rang up my order was friendly and the food was ready on time. That’s what I like. Inside dining is currently closed in the area due to the pandemic but Lucky Bamboo has a nice, albeit not huge, dining area and a small bar. Unlike some Chinese restaurants that focus on takeout, the dining area had more of a casual restaurant feel than a fast food place feel. I think once we can eat inside again I will go and have a meal in the restaurant. I am not sure that Lucky Bamboo will knock off my regular go-to Chinese restaurant but I will add it to the rotation as I think they are neck and neck and I suspect it will depend on the individual meal or whatever is more convenient at the time to go to