I wandered in for a solo dinner after reading the reviews. Â I sat at the bar with zero wait on a week night. Â Parking wasn't an issue as I'm staying in a hotel up the street and walked over.
Waitstaff is extremely friendly and offers tastes of wine and other beverages to help with the selection process...the selection is quite wide, including Japanese Whisky.
I really enjoyed the Beast Bowl although there were other menu items that were enticing. Â
The ambiance was pleasant as well, with quiet music playing in the background. As I looked around, there wasn't one face that expressed anything less than pleasure with their food, drink and company.
If I'm ever in town again with my wife, I will certainly make a date night of it!
Went for lunch today- arrived a little after the 11 AM. Got seated right away but after hour I could see people waiting for seats.
The service was great. The server was very informative and professional- one of the best we've ever had. Overall the service was A+.
Four of shared the roasted beet salad (layered with goat cheese), pork belly bao (comes in 3 but they were nice enough to make an extra one), ahi burger and tomato bisque special and the Belly bowl ( 4 thick slices of pork belly- the broth was milky good). We were pretty stuffed after that. The food was awesome!!
The drink menu is pretty extensive. Bottomless ice tea.
Parking was at the municipal lot- enter from S. Beretania St.
We will definitely return!!
I have heard nothing except awesome things about this place. Came here for lunch on a Friday, I was told to get there early and good thing, because we got there at 11AM and when we left at noon, there was line of people waiting.
The beet salad, the ahi burger lunch special, and the Belly Bowl were all perfect.
Can't wait to come back and try more stuff.
I am so happy that Lucky Belly opened in Chinatown, what  an wonderful addition to the neighborhood! I work in Chinatown and have become a regular at this gem of a restaurant. At Lucky Belly you'll find amazing food (I haven't tasted a dish I didn't like, Pork Belly Bao, Duck Tataki, Beast Bowl, and the Beet Salad are some of my favorites,) great service, and all within a very chicly designed space. I always feel like I left the place paying too little for what I enjoyed. A perfect "date night" spot that won't break the bank. Don't forget to check out the cocktail and sake menu too!
Review Source:I don't really like ramen or any soupy noodley things too much so I wasn't a huge fan of that... BUT THEIR OXTAIL DUMPLINGS ARE TO DIE FOR!!! Â Chewy, soft, meaty ball sacks in my mouth. Â YUM! Â The beet salad and chicken sandwich are winners as well!!! Â Service is great, interior is great, music is great, drinks are great... nice place to hang out! Â I'll be back again for sure :)
Review Source:Some times I hate myself for giving into places that are overly-hyped ...
First off, parking ALWAYS usually bites in Chinatown.
Secondly, the place had a nice ambiance, wasn't too noisy, and staff seemed A-OK.
Thirdly, their ramen isn't quite worth the price! (Not to mention, all the hype ...)
I'll make this clear to everyone; I AM NOT a 'professional' ramen critic. But I am a ramen nazi. Every chance I get, I'll try new ramens. When I travel to Japan, I'll scope out hole-in-the-wall ramen joints! Now, I've tried quite a few ramen places here in Hawai'i but this place would not be on my top 10. I was intrigued by their use of a gigantic bowl and quick service. But everything about the ramen was A-OK for me. "BEST RAMEN!" or "COME HERE IF YOU WANT REAL RAMEN" quoted by other Yelpers. Um, NO-NO-NO. The broth tasted like another familiar broth I've had once upon a time. They did not give me an ajitsuke egg. They give a good amount of bean sprouts and wakame. And the menu selection was quite SMALL. (Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing. Because I do hate having to spend over 5 minutes deciding what I want when the menu is too big) But they did have a big drink menu on the next following pages of the menu.
Yes, I left FULL.
No, I did not leave with a 'Lucky Belly.'
The next time my belly is thinking of ramen, I'll be sure to go to either Gomaichi or Yotteko-Ya.
It's a warm evening in Honolulu. Â The sun is setting and it is looking like a great date night is about to begin. Â We are both done with work before 5 pm on a Friday evening...a First Friday, in fact. Â We are in the mood to try a new place and I have been eyeing Lucky Belly for a few months now. Â The perfect place for our impromptu date night - ramen and a walk through town during First Friday. Â
We park the car in town and start walking to Lucky Belly. Â We are enjoying our walk when my husband and I start looking at our surroundings. Â Oh yeah. Â I kind of forgot - we are walking through CHINATOWN. Â Let's just say, I was very happy and thankful that I had 1 - my husband with me and 2 - the sun was still up. Â I would NOT come through this area by myself or at night. Â If you do, just be super aware of what is going on around you and be prepared to run. Â No joke. It can be a little scary when I noticed little things going on around me.
Besides the location, Lucky Belly is like a diamond in the rough. Â A pretty gem hidden in the depths of Chinatown. Â When we first walked in, the hostess was there to greet us. Â She let us know that there was a possible wait of up to 30 minutes, but if we are open to bar seating, the bar normally opens up first. Â We weren't starving and I really wanted to try this place, so we were willing to wait. Â The hostess offered a menu for us to browse through while we waited. Â I swear, it wasn't longer than 10 minutes before they seated us at the bar.
The bar was a great place to sit. Â There were two bartenders who were also our waiters. Â Our main waiter was very friendly, courteous, and genuinely happy. Â The employees did a great job overall - the waiters kept the drinks filled, they asked us how we were doing/how the food and drinks were multiple times throughout the meal, and everyone there was very helpful. Â Being seated at the bar provided entertainment too - we could watch them make drinks.
For drinks, I tried their plantation iced tea ($3.75). Â It was very refreshing. Â Not too sweet, but still had the slight flavor of pineapple. Â We also received a refill.
The food was amazing. Â I ordered the lucky bowl ($8) - ramen with bean sprouts, wakame, soft-boiled egg, and green onions. Â The ramen noodles were a good texture - still chewy and on the firmer side. Â What really made this dish was their broth. Â It had a milky color and had a great flavor. Â It had a creamy, rich miso flavor (call me crazy, but I would even say it was reminiscent of butter) - not salty or overpowering, but it was there. Â Definitely not milky water. Â They provided chili oil too - perfect for those spice addicts (like myself). Â The garnishings worked well with the ramen and broth, but my favorites were the bean sprouts and wakame. Â
The overall ambiance of the place is very trendy. Â It looks like they were trying to combine Asian decor with the feel of an American bar. Â Whatever they were trying to do, it works. Â It feels cozy and makes the place look bigger than it does on the outside. Â Even though they were busy and all the tables were filled, it never felt overcrowded. Â
Too bad they don't have a second location - I'd be heading there more often. Â I definitely want to go back to check out their lunch menu. Â If I have a large group of friends, I may chance it and try their take-out window one night too (the window is only open late at night on the weekends).
My friend and I had an early dinner at Lucky Belly the other day. It's one of those trendy bars/ gastro pubs in Chinatown that you know is a big hit with the 'in crowd': the rustic, minimalist ambiance with the pops of art on the wall, the personable/ attentive wait staff, the well-stocked bar. The place was nearly packed with customers.
My friend had heard about this place in a newspaper review, and she claims that during lunch time, people wait in long lines for a table. Lucky Belly does not take reservations so you need to come early or come late.
At first look, I was disappointed to see that food took up only one page of the dinner menu. The rest were all alcoholic drinks (and a few non-alcoholic ones). Next thought: I don't eat "exotic" food or meats (like oxtail, "belly," or quail egg), seafood, duck or pork. And what's with all the ramen bowls? I wasn't sure if I was going to like this place.
- I settled with the Lucky Bowl ramen (bean sprouts, soft steamed egg, wakame, sesame seeds, green onion and ginger); it seemed safe. The verdict? It's not very "soupy" (a good thing). There is maybe about half the broth of regular ramen, but it's highly concentrated. It was delicious, and big enough to share with another person. (And at this place, you do want to order a variety of food and share!)
- We split the roasted beet & spicy greens salad (goat cheese, candied pumpkin seeds and pomegranate dressing). My friend is not a big salad fan, but she loved this, as did I. The candied pumpkin seeds add a nice crunch and burst of flavor that makes the salad exciting. The beets are actually layered with goat cheese, so you get a nice balance of both with each bite. (I'm not a goat cheese fan, so this works for me. I detest crumbled goat cheese.)
- My friend made me try the pork belly bao and oxtail dumplings. As mentioned, I don't eat "exotic meats" but this was actually good! The former is made with sake hoisin and pickled cucumbers (that unexpected crunch!). The latter, my favorite, is made with soy glaze and hot mustard crème. My friend felt the oxtail dumplings weren't flavorful enough, but I thought the thin layer of sauce they sat on was intended for you to dip [the dumpling] with each bite so you get precisely the amount of flavor you want.
- No, I did not try the alcohol so I can't comment on that.
***
So don't let the small menu fool you.
It seems that the chefs created these original food choices with creativity and a knack for knowing how to combine ingredients for texture and flavor as they played homage to Asian and local palettes. The food is artfully arranged on the plate with their respective sauces, worthy of Facebook postings. This is truly a culinary experience!
Came here after hearing about the late night take out window. Â Wanted to check out where the window was just in case I was hungry one late night, I'm sure its tastier and a bit healthier than jack in the crack. Â My wife was also motivated to try it out, oddly she dosen't really like pork and sometimes refuses to eat pork at home. Â
When we walked in for lunch it was crowed. Â The waiting area is only a couple of chairs, they were cool looking chairs but again very limited seating in the waiting area. Â I was glad to hear it was only a 15 min wait, which was spent outside because of the limited space. Â
After checking in, grabbing a menu, avoiding the traffic in the seating area and looking over the menu the word limited kept flashing in my head. Â At first I thought I grab the drink or bar menu then realized it thats almost the whole menu, drinks. Â I could list all the apps and entree in one small corner of the huge menu, I think they had something like 4 apps and 5 entree and two pages of drinks. Â I didn't have a good feeling about this but maybe I just needed a drink. Â
Huge present of cops in the area makes u overlook the blaring homeless and substance abuser problem in the area. Â Also makes u think twice about not cheaping out on the parking meters which is the only parking around. Â
Wait was less than 15 min and our host took our drink orders which I felt was a great effort on service and the point where Lucky Belly started to shine. Â Although the communication between the host and server may need some work I appreciate the effort, we ended up getting our drinks a min after our app hit the table. Â Normally I would take a star away for that but two things changed my mind. Â 1. Effort of the host to provide great service. Â 2. My wife drink was the best drink I ever tasted. Â It was some passion orange cocktail. Â First time I tasted a drink where the alcohol made it taste better. Â
Our server was nice. Â I felt she was a typical template server, used appropriate language, ask the right questions, anticipated our needs and up sold when the opportunity presented itself but was not pushy. Â I found her to be very polished in managing her section. Â Although I don't remember an apology for the drink mix up, I can see the host holding the majority of the blame, but it would have been nice to hear a sorry.
We order the pork belly in Chinese bun as our app, the lucky bowl and the braised beef. Â
Our app was typical, nothing special. Â I felt the sake hoisin sauce was alright, couldn't taste the sake. Â Would rather have the rosted pig with the crispy skin be the fill in the bun. Â The belly just didn't have flavor like crispy skin or even better have the belly finished w/ a torch.
I was a little bumed when my wife ordered the kochi kang braised beef, that's what I wanted to eat. Â I wasn't in the mood for saimin but ordered it with extra noodles because it was basically the only option other than fish tacos. Â The extra noodles were some thing crazy like $5 or $7. Â
My bowl came out and I first noticed the noodles, looks like a regular serving. Â I wasn't sure if I was mad or disappointed. Â Other than that the broth was very good. Â It was that tendon broth they cook for a long time but they added sesame seed oil and toasted sesame seeds. Â Also was a good helping if bean sprouts that have the soup that little extra. Â I was impressed and satisfied just not full but close. Â
My wife braised beef was also very good. I thought it was odd it came on bread and not rice, the local favorite. Â But once I tried it I realized the bread was needed to sop up the drippings and the butter on the bread really gave the dish an extra richness. Â
All in all great choice for lunch. Â Parking is horrible but the food was innovative and thought out. Â Hope to try the take out window one night. Â Would hope the amend their price for extra noodles or give more. Â Was close to giving them 4 stars but the food and drinks made up for the price and communication problems.
An update and an additional star is so necessary. Â I've only previously visited their late night window until last night - a belated Father's Day dinner, of my list of suggestions my dad was actually stoked to try Lucky Belly.
My first thought after a quick glance at their menu was that a place with such a small number of choices (the food menu is 1/4 the size of the drink selections) has got the right idea. Â Focus on a few dishes that you perfect and keep the rest happy with alcohol! Â That is exactly what went down. Â The food was EXCELLENT. Â Even better was the service.
I had to keep reminding myself I was dining at the bar on $12 or less dishes because our bartender/server made me feel like I was in a fine dining establishment. Â Offering full descriptions of all of our orders, every ingredient and technique and even offering my dad tastes of other wines when he placed his wine order to make sure he knew the best choice of his options. Phenomenal service even though the place was busy!
The food:
I had the shrimp & kimchee ramen bowl - this was massive and delicious. Â Just the right amount of heat from the house-made kim chee and the shrimp was a little crispy from being fried lightly - clean and tail removed - thank you!
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/lucky-belly-honolulu?select=m-4k5Ihkd1lwfpvILi4SFA#bx3cg3C-wLul5_PUd-ls1w">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
Belly bao - delicious, loved the tender pork belly and crunchy pickles inside were a nice contrast.
Duck breast on kabocha puree - this was more fancy than I can describe it. It was delicious and reminded me of Thanksgiving in a bite.
Thanks for such an awesome experience Lucky Belly staff! Â Everyone was awesome from the friendly hostess to basically everyone that passed by us asking if we were enjoying and if everything was ok - I really felt like they value their customers. Â Nice touch compared to most establishments.
This is my favorite restaurant in Chinatown. Â Lucky Belly is my dinner kitchen at least twice a week.
I live in downtown and surprisingly there are only a few restaurants that really do a good job with customer service, food selection, price and atmosphere. Â Lucky belly wins on all accounts.
I go for dinner and enjoy the pot stickers and a lucky bowl. Â I go for lunch and never order anything but the Shrimp Tacos! YUMM!
For drinks at night, their sake and whiskey collection is really impressive. Â Their staff is so friendly and the bartenders are great at keeping you lubricated and happy.
This is quite an interesting place. I love the decor of this place and the Asian fusion dishes. I planned my friend's retirement get-together here with a few of my work friends. They laughed at he fact that the drink menu was larger than the food menu which made them a little uneasy but happy that it wouldn't be too hard to choose items.
   I felt the appetizers were great.  The two dishes we ordered were like different Asian cultures coming together with one bite with a slight euro twist. I loved the poke belly bao.  There was the right amount of hoisin sauce with the right amount of toppings. The pickle added a little takes of American BBQ to it. The pork belly was well seasoned and melted in my mouth.
  The Shrimp gyoza had kind of a Japanese/Chinese flare to it. The shrimp was PERFECTLY cooked with the snap of freshness to it. What made it interesting was the Avocado puree and soy sauce made an unusual but delicious dipping sauce for the gyoza with the creaminess of the avocado and the saltiness of the soy sauce. It didn't overpower the shrimp, which was the main attraction.
  I ordered the Belly Bowl. I kind of have mixed feelings on this dish. I didn't feel like my noodles were cooked au dente like how I normally like it. This bowl, for me, the fusion part didn't go as well as the other dishes. The pork belly was not as flavorful as the bao and my slices were just fat, no meat to them.  The smokiness of  the bacon kind of confused my palate on which was the main attraction, The soup, or the bacon. Don't get me wrong, the bacon was good but at least for me, I'm not sure if it fit well in this bowl because the tonkotsu had mellow pork flavor to it vs the stronger smoke flavor . The bean sprouts were good and I usually hate bean sprouts. I did love the soft boiled egg. The soup was solid for me. A solid good but not overwhelmingly great. It was a mellow, smooth, Tonkotsu that was not overpowering.  It also had a miso flavor to it too, perhaps too much. The sausage was the best part for me. A coarse grind sausage that was very tasty. Overall, I can't say I really like it or dislike it. I think the concept was like how I felt after I ate it...a bit confused.
  I really like the ambiance of this place. I felt like was was in a hip art museum cafe.  The serve was excellent. Considering this place was crowded, the wait staff was always friendly and eager to help. I was really happy when I found out that they have a bottomless plantation ice tea. They kept it full the entire time. Though its not the most perfect place for me, I think I would come back for more. Prices were reasonable and the service was great. I recommend this place.
Yay new menu items!! Well ok new is a relative word - I hadn't been here in about 6 weeks (I have no idea how I let that happen) so I was pleasantly surprised last night to find some appetizers I hadn't tried. I think they've actually been offering them for about a month already.
Lobster shu mai: OMG I literally had one of those "close my eyes from pure joy" moments when I bit into this. The meyer lemon beurre blanc sauce is to die for. I just wish there were more of them - one order is 3 pieces. Totally worth it though.
Duck breast tataki: Delicious, although not quite as tasty as the lobster shu mai. A fantastic combination of flavors - duck, kabocha puree and pear and raisin chutney.
And of course I still love all of the bowls - lucky, belly, and beast. Can't go wrong with any of them. Drink menu is amazing as well, I went with the Pimm's Cup last night. Refreshing and very ginger-y.
The one and only thing that sometimes bothers me about this place is that they don't take reservations during certain times. Can't blame them, they're always packed so they can fill seats even without the reservations, but it can be a little frustrating. If you want to be able to sit at a table, go early. If you want to be able to sit at the bar, still go early. Weeknights are of course easier to get a table than weekends.
I really liked my first visit here. Â It had a really nice hip vibe. Â Let's just say female staff was attractive. Â The pork bao was really flavorful. Â The pork belly had a nice crunchy exterior. Â I also had the lucky bowl. Â Nice pork based broth with coddled egg, seaweed and bean sprouts. Â Pretty terrific dish. Â I need to come back!
Review Source:After reading all of the hype and good reviews, I decided to take the family there for an early dinner on a friday night.
After FREAKING out my kids by walking through the streets of chinatown (in daylight) with the fresh smell of urine all over the place, cross dressing man in the streets dancing, and a group of guys without shirts looking like they were robbing a store (must have been movers), we got to our destination........I parked at the meters next to the police station and we all still felt unsafe in the daytime!
The place was half full and it was 5:30pm. Â They said they could not give us a table because we did not have reservations. Â I noted to the hostess that #1 their website noted that reservations were only between the hours of 5pm to 6pm and #2 we were willing to wait. Â She said that we could wait but we probably would not get a seat of a couple of hours?????
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.luckybelly.com%2Fhtml%2Freservations.html&s=a4d28ac44d260a45048da348609f6c685f352f9d3ea6a424b7ae37ef4de735c4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.luckybelly.co…</a>
So we ordered take out as we watched the empty tables NOT get filled for the next 20 minutes. Â Why put something on your website that says you'll only take reservations for the time period 5 pm to 6 pm and leave tables unfilled with customers like us dying to have one of them? Â First rule of a ramen shop, maximize throughput and turnover in seats/customers (learn this from watching the Ala Moana Goma Tei crew show how it's done).
So we got our take out, went home and off course everything was cold. Â The soup on the side was still warm but we had to nuke it.
Was not impressed with the pork buns or shrimp dumplings. The pork buns buns tasted stale/old/hard and had that funky stale smell. Â The dumplings pi was not cooked enough and ruined to whole dish.
We also had 3 belly bowls and 1 beast bowl. Â The beast bowl had funky tasking oxtail dumplings that did not taste right and the pi was also not cooked enough. Â My oldest had a night of stomach cramps and #2s from this.
After all of the negative things about this place, I'm giving it a 2 stars because #1 maybe eating the food there versus take out would have improved the whole experience and #2 the belly bowl was ok for $8 and something I would order again.
Hope you have a more "lucky" experience!
I've been dying to go here. Â Caution: Â be hungry when you go here. Â There are lots of fun things to try and the ramen bowls are HUGE!
As most of my other reviews, the downtown parking always irks me, but this place was worth the trek down. Â I met two friends that work downtown. Â
APPETIZERS: Â shrimp gyoza (which was so yummy that we had two orders) & lamb lumpia. Â Both delish. Â I really want to go back to try the other appetizers.
RAMEN: Â Belly Bowl was HUGE. Â Good sized pieces of pork belly, bacon and "sausage" which is really a hot dog. Â Loved it. Â The broth was good as well (shoyu-ish based). Â Still doesn't stand up to my long standing favorite ramen at Tenkaiipin, but it's still yummy. Â And again HUGE.
DRINKS: Â Not a full bar and not aligned with my kind of drinks, but there is a special drink menu with a variety of mixed drinks to try.
ATMOSPHERE: Â It's a little more trendy decor: Â dark lighting in the bathroom, wooden furniture. Â Not my cup of tea, but minor in the overall.
CONCLUSION: Â You should go at least once to try it. Â And go back again for more appetizers.
Ramen in Hawaii is a definite hit or miss and it's nothing like the ramen you'll encounter in Los Angeles. That being said, this place serves ramen that can hold it's own against some of those iconic ramen restaurants in LA. If you love pork, definitely make room for the huge Belly Bowl. Pork done three ways add to the already abundant toppings (especially the wakame), making for a really filling meal. The egg was cooked perfectly.
The shrimp gyoza was super delicious -- super huge too. I love how it was plated as well.
They have an excellent alcohol selection including some Japanese whiskey. They also serve Hitachino beer which can be hard to find.
Parking around the area is hit or miss. It's probably easiest to just park at the nearby Municipal parking structure.
Lucky Belly was on the list of recommended by a local friend. I chose this restaurant based on many other Yelp reviews. Lucky Belly holds up to my expectations. My travelling group and I were determined to eat ramen while in Hawaii. Restaurant is furnished with a simple wood decor with meticulous and detailed touches that is suppose to seem not-meticulous.
There was a wait for a table considering it was during lunch time (normal for NYC standards), didn't mind waiting. We started off with appetizers: Pork Belly Bao and Lamb Lumpia and my entree: Belly Bowl. Drinks: somekind of lemonade and ginger drink.
I have to say all of the food was amazingly delicious. The ramen broth wasn't too thick or wasn't too salty, just the way I like it. I had hope their website had a list of the non-alcoholic beverages because the lemonade and ginger drink I had were so different but equally delicious.
Three words you should know before coming to Lucky Belly: PORK BELLY BAO!
I had heard about this place through my fellow yelpers, foodies and bloggers. Â Been dying to try it out for awhile, but I'm almost never in Chinatown. Â Finally I lucked out as a friend had some things to handle downtown and I suggested this place for lunch.
The place is small, but there's a nice feel to it. Â It reminds me of being in the North End of Boston or downtown SF in one of those artsy dive bars. Â
We arrived shortly before the lunch rush, so we were lucky to be seated right away. Â After we sat down the place filled up pretty quickly. Â
The menu is small. Â Not overly complex, but nice and simple. Â A blend of Asian cuisines with local influences. Â Their liquor, wine and beer menu is HUGE. Â They have an awesome beer selection that includes many craft beers, ales and ciders. Â I'll have to return sometime to sample. Â
I started us off with the Pork Belly Bao. Â It came with a line of Sake Hoisin which was sweet and tart. Â The Bao itself was very tasty. Â The pork belly was cooked perfectly. Â It was tender and juicy, not over cooked. Â Pork belly done right.
My friend ordered the braised brisket tartine with creme fresh. Â This dish was their take on an open faced brisket sandwich. Â The brisket was tender and juicy, perfectly cooked. Â The dish as a whole was a bit rich, and prolly could have done without the creme fresh. Â But still good overall. Â
I ordered the belly bowl (braised pork belly, sausage and smoked bacon) ramen. Â Nice blend of flavors. Â Again perfectly cooked pork belly. Â The noodle portion was large!
Service was OK. Â Not overly attentive. Â My friend's Jasmine soda took awhile to come out and arrived right before the appetizer, but no big deal. Â
Overall a good experience. Â Definitely plan on returning in the near future. Â This place made all day downtown errands worth it! LOL :) Hooray for LUCKY BELLY! Oh and PORK BELLY BAO!
Love this place :) If you don't know where to go in downtown, I definitely recommend Lucky Belly as one of the options. The service is great/ friendly and their ramens are amazing!!
Not only remens but also their appetizers are awesome!! Had Pork Bao and Lamb Lumpia were excellent, even though lumpia had a little smell of lamb but mixed with Kim Chee so that it was easy to eat :)
They have kinda big bowls for ramen and if you go there at late night, you may have enough with one or two appetizer(s) and one ramen for two girls if you want to share.
It was my 3rd time to eat here and can't wait for the next time already!!
I can't stop trying to mentally recreate the cocktail I had at Lucky Belly called the Herb & Vine.
Lucky Belly is a pretty new restaurant-bar in Chinatown, and it's getting a lot of hype, so there can be a wait. I went on a Monday night and was seated immediately at the bar. The place is a five kinda appetizer, drink and slurp ramen place; they only have ramen as the main dish. Given how good their shrimp gyoza were, I'd be down to eat only appetizers here too (but if you're curious, the Belly Bowl was really good, and they really know how to cook an egg). I like gyoza but never thought I'd eat a rave-worthy one, let alone a shrimp rave worthy one, but these were snappy, tender, and served with a creamy avocado-edamame sauce. The two of us also shared the grilled shisitos.
The bar has a nice selection of beer and wine and liquor, but I ended up drinking two cocktails. It helps that the bartender was really sweet and excited about what he makes. Since it's been a while, I can't remember the first whiskey drink, although it had good ginger beer in it (Bundaberg) and I know I enjoyed it. The second, the Herb & Vine, was SO good, especially if you like lighter flavored cocktails and shiso. It came in a champagne flute and was the color of pale gold, mixing filtered white grape juice, sparkling wine (??), another liquor, and shiso leaf. Very fresh, hardly sweet.
My co-worker and I hustled down here for a lunch on her last day of work and we definitely didn't make it back to work on time, but that definitely wasn't because of slow service!
When we arrived, we were seated right away at a long community table with one other couple at the end. I immediately noticed the cool brick wall, modern touches, and the big awesome wood tables. There is a good amount of seating for a downtown restaurant and a nice sized bar as well.
The menu is simple and short. I love menus like this because no one on a lunch break needs to waste time deciding what they want to eat. My girlfriend and I both ordered a toki toki tea (something like that, not a tokyo tea though). It was so friggin' refreshing and a deliciously guilty (kay, we didn't really feel guilty) break in the middle of a work day.
We both ordered the Lucky Bowls which came shorty after a couple sips on our cocktails. This bowl is HUGE! Don't worry-it's only half filled, so it's do-able. The broth is delicious! The ramen is perfect. It also had wakame, egg, onions, ginger and some sprouts. Everything topped with some optional chilli oil (staple for me), and it was perfect.
I didn't want to waste any of it, but as we realized it was actually the time we needed to be back, we had to leave a few noodles untouched. Overall, I loved the food, atmosphere, and service I received here and want to go back for a dinner date ASAP!
So I finally got to dine in...twice so far. Â I'm still amazed with the food. Â Although sometimes you need to order two orders of one dish if there's more than 4 people and you're all hungry. Â
I got some drinks here as well, not bad...pretty strong. Leaves a nice hit to your throat. We never had to wait for a seat. There's a bar as well.
I just wanna compliment the waiters because they are really on it. Â Ask them for suggestions it's always spot on!!
WIth a name like Lucky Belly, you would think this is full fledged restaurant. Â Well, not really, 75% of their menu is a liquid diet. Â So keep in mind, this is a bar first and restaurant second. Â They have separate lunch and dinner menus, plus a late night drive thru window, well more of a walk thru window. Â
For Your Belly:
Appetizers ($3-$7) such as Pork Belly Bao and the Ox Tail dumplings were very good. Â Both were tender and flavorful. Â Shishito peppers in a soy sauce topped with bonito was a good starter, much more creative than boiled soybeans at your favorite watering hole. Â This was definitely better than at Salt Tasting Bar. Â Shrimp Shumai was lacking flavor thus less than stellar compared to other offerings.
All ramens ($8-$14) consists of a miso based broth with a hint of ginger, which compliments the soup well. Â The differences in the ramens are the toppings ranging from sausage, pork, & shrimp. Â If you're here for dinner, try the Kim Chee Shrimp Ramen. Â It's the only one not available for lunch. Â
For Your Thirst:
A wide selection of thirst quenchers here from beer, sakes, mixed drinks, & non alcohol. Â Unfortunately for us several different things were sold out. Â
For Your Senses:
Atmosphere is chic, modern, and contemporary. Â Black ceilings, red brick walls, & japanese art greet you walking in. Â Service is attentive and polite.
I was a bit surprised on the limited dinner menu consisting of several creative appetizers and entrees consisting of a few salads and ramen. Â But after some thinking, the concept is genius. Â Whether you decided to have a few drinks at nearby Bar35, Thirtyninehotel, or even at Lucky Belly, what do most crave? Â Some hot soupy elixir to sober you up. Â Probably not as good as grandma's chicken soup, nevertheless your belly will be the Lucky Belly with the first taste of this soupy goodness.
Okay, this is my first review (ever!) so go easy on me.
I'll start off by saying that I have really high standards for ramen. I lived in LA for a bit and that's a city that has wars over which restaurant serves it best. That being said, this place was still pretty awesome. I ordered the Belly Bowl which is pretty much the Lucky Bowl (their standard bowl of ramen) with pork belly, smoked bacon and kurobuta sausage. All bowls come with bean sprouts, soft steamed egg, wakame, sesame seeds, green onion and ginger but I opted out of most of those because I'm weirdly picky about the flavor it adds to the broth.
But anyway. I went with my brother and we sat at the bar--where the full menu is served--because the wait for a table was pretty long. I think there were 3-4 parties waiting when we arrived at about 1pm so the place stays busy right up until it closes for dinner prep at 2 (they reopen at 5).
The waitress was really sweet--and patient with my super specialized order, which I always appreciate--and the food came out pretty fast considering how busy they were. I noticed that when appetizers were brought to the people seated next to us, the waitress took some time to sort of explain what was going on with the plate and the best way to go about eating it to maximize all the "parts" which I thought was pretty cool. My brother is sort of a minimalist when it comes to ordering so we just had our bowls of ramen for today. He ordered the Shrimp Kim Chee Bowl and seemed to like it. He's also a minimalist when it comes to talking while eating but did say that his dish was spicy but "just enough, and the good kind." So do with that what you will.
IN ADDITION to all the yummy things, the place has a very modern feel to it which I really liked. The wall paintings were kind of weird in my opinion but I'm hoping you won't hold my lack of appreciation for "contemporary" art against me--see it for yourself!
I'd definitely recommend this place. So if you're on the fence, go go go!
Oh, I imagine parking would be a pain. We walked over from Bishop Street so didn't run into this problem, but if you do head over.. plan accordingly!
This place is AMAZING!!! It reminds me of the fusion restaurants we have back home in LA.
It's located in the heart of Chinatown/Downtown and it's pretty easy to find. You'll have to park on the street or park in one of the garages in the downtown area.
The decor inside is simple, clean and has a very airy feel to it. It's a very inviting atmosphere.
The staff is VERY attentive in every way possible and always there when you need something. No need to ask for drink refills or a take out box, these guys are on top of their shit!
And last, but definitely not least, the spectacular scrumptious dishes that they have are to die for! It's the sort of food that you dream about when you're sleeping or that you imagine the people on TV are eating. It is one of THOSE places! Every dish is flawless and delicious to the very last bite!!
A must go for the Chinatown neighborhood!
I love a good bowl of ramen!!!! Â Their appetizers and salads are just perfect too!!!! Â While I have not tried everything I wanted to just yet, all the dishes that I have tried were delicious!!!! Â
I recommend the belly bowl!!!!! Â They have this oil/sauce to go with your ramen that is a little spicy, but complements the broth perfectly.
Finding street parking in down town sucked sooooo badly but my mood was completely lighten the moment I walked into Lucky Belly! Â We were greeted by a waiter who quickly told us that there was only one table opened for two people which was the community table. Â We didn't mind since we were both hungry and didn't want to wait 15 min for a table to open up.
The restaurant wasn't what I imagined. Â It had a cute, modern feel to it and everyone was very nice and friendly. Â While glancing at the menu, I noticed that there was a wonderful variety of choices to choose from and the prices were affordable too! Â We decided to go with the shrimp kim chee bowl, ku chu chung braised brisket tartine, and lamb lumpia. Â I loved the tartine the best! Â The meat was super tender and very flavorful! It paired perfectly well with the bread. Â I also really liked the lamb lumpia. Â I think it was great that it didn't have a strong lamb taste. Â The kim chee bowl was nom nom! Â Big pieces of shrimp in kim chee broth? What more can a girl ask for?
One of the biggest reasons why we will definitely return soon is because of the service we received from EVERY person who served us. Â We were approached by at least 3 to 4 different people during our visit. Â The service was absolutely wonderful! Â Goobz, our main waiter, was super friendly and new the menu very well. Â It's always a plus if your waiter knows what to recommend from their menu. Â I hate it when someone stars blankly at you after asking for a recommendation! Haha
There were other items on the menu that I really want to try! Hoping to find some time for a visit back soon! :)
"I wish I could take it all back, but I can't. And I definitely can't un-feel a feeling."
Jolene Stockman, The Jelly Bean Crisis
I had high expectations of this place based on the reviews on yelp (which puts me at risk for more disappointment.) Anyway, this is a solid 3.5 stars (with a yelper push to 4) because the food itself were tasty. We had both ramen, and it was tasty. I was a bit disappointed with the pork belly bao (too much bread, hardly any pork belly), but the service was good and I'm looking forward to a return visit.
Yelp Challenge: 84/365
Went to Chinatown on a random weeknight to come just for lucky belly. I have heard so many things about this place that I just had to check it out. It was a thursday night about an hour before closing, so there was no wait at all. I like the darkness of it, the brick walls, and the harajuku japanese schoolgirl style paitings all over the walls. We were immediately helped and handed a menu. The menu is so confusing at first because of the orientation of the food items. I picked it up and thought it was backwads or maybe upside down, but nope. The food selection is really tiny on barely one page and the other 2-3 pages are all drinks. I guess their ramen is the signature dish so a large food selection isn't really necessary, plus it is technically a bar too.
We started with the Fresh Greens salad. A simple, but flavorful salad to open up your appetite. I then ordered the Lucky Bowl while my friend had the Belly Bowl. I really really liked this ramen. It was less than $10 and it was the right amount of food. The soup base was a little salty yet tasty. It had a soft egg in it, which is basically cooked egg whites with runny yolk. It was my first time having it and I liked it!!
Glad I tried this place for a 2nd time before I wrote this my review.
The first time we ordered take out because it was super crowded at the restaurant. Â We ordered the belly bowl ramen, spring rolls, beef tartare and the pork belly bao. Â We really enjoyed the ramen (smoked bacon just melted in your mouth!) and the pork belly bao was good as well. Â I really appreciated the way they packed up our ramen since they seperated the broth so our noodles wouldn't be soggy. Â The spring rolls were so-so and the beef tartare was nothing i would order again. Â I felt like it was OK...
However, I just recently visited Lucky Belly for lunch and dined in this time. Â We were SOOOOO happy with the service and the food! Â We ordered the belly bowl ramen again and loved it!! Â Also, i ordered the shrimp gyoza and really enjoyed it too.
Will definitely be coming back for their belly bowl ramen :)
I was really looking forward to trying Lucky Belly because of the rave reviews and the fact that everyone and their momma has been. Â I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up because I was quite disappointed.
The bill for 2 came out to $60. Â This is what we had:
Beef tartare = Unfortunately the menu did not explain that this was a smoked beef tartare. Â I was expecting nice red, RAW beef, but unfortunately I did not get what I craved. Â There were lots of capers in the dish, which made it too salty for my liking. Â
Oxtail dumplings = 4 dumplings overstuffed with oxtail. Â The meat was tender, but the oxtail's meaty flavor overpowered everything else.
Ramen = The kitchen apparently ran out of bean sprouts that evening and compensated my missing bean sprouts with kim chi. Â However, the kim chi had red onions and was surprisingly sweet. Â I understand this is a "fusion" kind of restaurant, but sometimes there are certain things that should be left the way they are--like kim chi. Â The reason people like kim chi is because of the spicy, tangy, fermented taste. Â Making kim chi sweet defeats its purpose (well, for me, at least). Â Whyyyy?
Anyway, back to the ramen. Â The broth was a-ok, but kind of bland. Â It's a good thing they had chili oil as a condiment. Â There was also a lot of seaweed, but it's okay because I like seaweed.
Drinks = SO had a Modelo and I had a vodka soda. Â I should've got a beer because my drink was pretty weak.
All-in-all, I would consider going back if the bill were half the price. Â I just cannot imagine paying $60 for ramen and 2 appetizers again. Â :(
I gotta say, Chinatown is really stepping it up! My idea of Chinatown is slowly changing from "horrible place I'd never want to go to because of the smell and prostitutes" to "quaint area that still smells and has prostitutes but has a lot of delicious eateries."
If I had thought of North Hotel Street without Lucky Belly, I can only be reminded of the jokes about buying a hooker for dirt cheap on this street. Now I can talk about the delicious food that is being served at Lucky Belly! When two friends and I went, the entire restaurant was packed for dinner and we were asked politely to wait for about 45 minutes for a table or the bar to open up. The hostess was extremely pleasant and gave us menus for both the drinks and the food. A bar area for three opened up about 10 minutes later and we were quickly seated and greeted by both of the bartenders.
We were given waters and asked if we wanted anything other than that to drink. We got our beers and ordered away! I got the belly bowl and, I have to say, it was delicious! It seemed really small in that large bowl but don't let that illusion fool you like it fooled me! I was full by the time I finished my bowl! The belly bowl comes with pork belly, smoked bacon, kurobuta sausage, bean sprouts, a soft steamed egg, wakame, sesame seeds, ginger, and green onion, all of which are enough to pack a punch! The bartenders were also on it when it came to refilling our beers and water. Even if we took a small sip, they immediately came to refill that half inch of emptiness. That's super attentive customer service!
I also enjoyed the decor of the restaurant as it reminded me of a little Akihabara because the paintings that are mounted on the wall are all about Japanese schoolgirls and robots.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
