Lucky Red reopens as a licensed, late-night snack bar
Lucky Red reopens as a licensed, late-night snack bar
After Banh Mi Boys co-owner David Chau shut down his Spadina Avenue spot, Lucky Red, last September after just a few months in business, he admitted that the concept was rushed and needed to be refined further before it could compete in Chinatown’s changing dining scene. On April 1, the now-fully-licensed restaurant reopened as a sit-down restaurant and cocktail bar. Its revamped menu is full of bar food favourites, each with its own twist: sticky tamarind wings, eleven-spiced fried chicken, a Vietnamese take on tartare and a game-changing nacho dish that subs in fried pork dumplings for chips. (And there are baos too, of course.) Cocktails with Asian flavours and a selection of local and imported beers round out the drink list. Fans of the fried s’more bao will be happy to know it’s still on the menu, but for those who want to try something different: durian tarts.
318 Spadina Ave., 416-792-8628, luckyredshop.com, @LuckyRedShop
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- (Image: Jackie Pal)
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- The Thai Beet salad is packed with shredded young papaya and daikon, pickled beets, sliced red pepper, mint and crushed peanuts ($6).
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- The Lucky Wings: chicken wings marinated in a fish tamarind sauce and lightly fried, then finished with fried garlic and serrano chilies ($7).
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- Soi Mung rice balls inspired by Italian arancini are made with arborio rice mixed with sausage and dried shrimp, then topped with pickled corn, Sriracha mayo and bonito flakes ($6).
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- The Nacho Koreano: fried and flattened pork dumplings are topped with gochujang sour cream, kimchi and green onions ($8).
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- The "Hambaoger": beef patties on steamed bao, topped with shredded lettuce, pickles and special sauce ($8 for two).
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- The fried chicken is made to order and seasoned with 11 spices ($13 for four pieces).
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- Bò tái chanh, a Vietnamese dish, is reinvented at Lucky Red as a beef tartare topped with fried shallots, peanuts and herbs ($8).
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- Fried bao are stuffed with giant, torched marshmallows slathered with Nutella spread ($6).
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- The Lucky Red is a boozy elixir made with rum and ginger beer spiked with soy sauce and lime ($10).
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- The Sakura blends Dillon's gin and elderflower liqueur with Sriracha and lavender syrups ($11).
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![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/lucky-red-reopens-licensed-late-night-snack-bar/&title=Lucky Red reopens as a licensed, late-night snack bar&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Lucky-Red_lead-image.jpg&description=[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Image: Jackie Pal)[/caption]
After Banh Mi Boys co-owner David Chau shut down his Spadina Avenue spot, Lucky Red, last September after just a few months in business, he admitted that the concept was rushed and needed to be refined further before it could compete in Chinatown's changing dining scene. On April 1, the now-fully-licensed restaurant reopened as a sit-down restaurant and cocktail bar. Its revamped menu is full of bar food favourites, each with its own twist: sticky tamarind wings, eleven-spiced fried chicken, a Vietnamese take on tartare and a game-changing nacho dish that subs in fried pork dumplings for chips. (And there are baos too, of course.) Cocktails with Asian flavours and a selection of local and imported beers round out the drink list. Fans of the fried s'more bao will be happy to know it's still on the menu, but for those who want to try something different: durian tarts.
318 Spadina Ave., 416-792-8628, luckyredshop.com, @LuckyRedShop
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West: 78
East: 4
and let the whiners start whining.
Huh? You thought you’d make a non-sequitur comment about whining, Caroline, by posting a whiny comment?
(Assuming that you are Caroline, since you appear to be a sockpuppet account of the only person around here who doesn’t grasp what Darren is doing or why).
i think you misunderstand. i’m with darren and the whiners i’m referring to are mytwocents and john a who, literally, never post anything except whining about what darren is doing, not to mention i upvoted darren. in other words, i’m one of darren’s “goons” as john a refers to people on here. whiny and paranoid is a bad combination and john a shows why.
I did misunderstand. Apologies, Caroline.
You never post anything except for whining about me posting on Darren’s posts.
You guys never really post anything either. Every time I see the same nonsense repeated over and over in every thread. Darren posts the tally, John posts a response making fun of the tally, you post a response defending Darren.
I don’t know why I waste my time reading these things.
Actually, many of us do post, here and elsewhere, on matters unrelated to Darren’s tally. Given your concern over wasting your time, mojo, why you feel the need to complain about the interest of others in the tally is beyond me.