The Ugly Cupcake

Something Besides Turkey? China Luck is a Fortunate Find

By Alan Kleinfeld, 11-25-05

After the grueling task of moving and unpacking, we sat dirty and famished in our new living room. We needed nourishment. ASAP. We ventured down the street to the strip mall not far from the new pad only to find that the Thai restaurant we wanted to try was closed for the evening. It was in the stars that we would also find in the same strip mall China Luck.

On our first visit, we arrived just before closing. As we got ready to pay our bill, the waitress came up to us with carry-our boxes and offered us free rein at the buffet to take whatever we wanted with us. “We’re just going to throw it out if you don’t take it,� she said.

Many folks would say that the Chinese restaurant buffet, in general, is mediocre at best. But when other Chinese people not only eat at a local Chinese restaurant, but eat from the buffet, you know it’s got to be good. An older Chinese lady, very grandmotherly, with a fancy hairdo, made her way around the buffet and piled her plate high, all while holding a cane in her hand.

At lunch the buffet is a bargain at $6.50, with over a dozen dishes to choose from, not including the salad bar and the appetizer bar, with soup, spring rolls and even Chinese donuts. On the way out, grab an ice cream cone and fill it yourself with chocolate or vanilla soft serve.

Dinnertime is even more of a steal. The price jumps two bucks to $8.95, but the all-you-can-eat buffet now includes all-you-can-eat snow crab crab legs. A quick look at the other diners and their eye-high pile of crab shells and you know who’s come for the buffet. The buffet menu changes from time to time, but there is always a good variety of chicken, beef, pork, seafood and veggie choices, from main dishes to dim sum to noodles to dessert.

The word must be getting out about the quality buffet. Since we started going there about five months ago, they’ve raised the price of the buffet slightly (old prices use to be $5.95 for lunch and $7.95 for dinner).

It’s not a hole in the wall kind of place. It’s clean with simple furnishings and a mix of tables and booths. The décor is nothing to write home about, with Chinese fans and drawings on the wall. But can you go wrong with a place that has a big marble Buddha and a golden Chinese cat made of plastic waving its paw at you as you enter the door?

Because most of the diners choose the buffet, the wait staff spends most of its time refilling the chaffing dishes and clearing away used plates, but they approach quickly when customers walk in the door and drink orders arrive promptly.

Of the dozen or so times I’ve eaten at China Luck, I have never ordered off the menu and have done carry-out only once, but I found the food to be tasty. The regular menu runneth over with choices for appetizers, soups, beef, pork, chicken and seafood dishes. There are also the Chef Specialties (17 to choose from) and a slew of options for fried rice, lo mein, egg foo young, chop suey and chow mein.

Oddly enough, the only thing so far that I have found disappointing in China Luck are the fortunes in the fortune cookies. What happened to, “you’ll be showered with riches� and “you will win the lottery?� All I seem to get is, “you will be appreciated at the office.� Bah, so what? Maybe you’ll get luckier with your fortune when you try China Luck.

The 411 on China Luck
6200 Coors Rd. NW, Suite B-6 & B-7
505.899.7888
Monday – Friday: 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Saturday: 12:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sunday: 12:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Lunch Buffet
Monday- Friday: 11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: 12:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Dinner Buffet Daily: 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Beer and Wine offered
Major credit cards accepted

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