Lucky Rooster. CBD: 515 Baronne. 504-529-5825.

Written by Tom Fitzmorris May 07, 2014 22:00 in

3 Fleur
Average check per person $15-$25
 BreakfastNo Breakfast SundayNo Breakfast MondayNo Breakfast TuesdayNo Breakfast WednesdayNo Breakfast ThursdayNo Breakfast FridayNo Breakfast Saturday
LunchNo Lunch SundayLunch MondayLunch TuesdayLunch WednesdayLunch ThursdayLunch FridayLunch Saturday
DinnerNo Dinner SundayDinner MondayDinner TuesdayDinner WednesdayDinner ThursdayDinner FridayDinner Saturday

Lucky Rooster

CBD: 515 Baronne. 504-529-5825. Map.
Very Casual.
AE DS MC V
Website

ANECDOTES AND ANALYSIS Two trends merge at Lucky Rooster. The first is the street-food fad. Most operators of food trucks and the like wind up either opening their own places or closing altogether. Lucky Rooster skipped the truck/cart/popup step and went right to bricks and mortar, but all the while serving the kind of food you'd find curbside throughout Asia. That's where the second current--fusion--comes in. I remember a moment when a customer in a aJapanese restaurant complained that Chinese background music was being played. Nobody cares (or should) about ethnic purity now. Hardly a country east of India is unrepresented at Lucky Rooster, the influences meeting and mating. This is also true of the customers, who range from office workers to families pushing strollers to hip twenty-somethings. The latter may appreciate touches like the need to download a special font pack so you can see the Rooster's online menu. [caption id="attachment_41895" align="alignnone" width="320"]Lucky Rooster. Lucky Rooster.[/caption]

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY New Orleanians who like the Asian styles of cooking have had an interesting journey in the past four decades, as we moved from Americanized Chinese food to Szechuan Chinese, then to Japanese sushi bars, Vietnamese pho shops, Thai cafes and Korean grills. The Lucky Rooster embraces all of it, the far-flung flavors blending in a mix-and-match hodgepodge of big tastes. [caption id="attachment_41900" align="alignnone" width="480"]Pork bahn mi. Pork bahn mi.[/caption]

WHAT'S GOOD Most of the menu offers appetizer-size hand food and soups, with only a smattering of full entrees. Unless you have problems with picking up sauce-covered bones and nibbling the meat from them, all of this is enjoyable ate several levels. It often seems that no two consecutive bites of a given dish taste the same. [caption id="attachment_41899" align="alignnone" width="480"]Mussels Thai style. Mussels Thai style.[/caption]

BACKSTORY The Lucky Rooster is the third concept from the minds of Warren Chapote and Jay Morris, who also own Juan's Flying Burrito and Slice Pizzeria. It opened in 2012 after a lengthy, expensive renovation of two old CBD buildings. The entire story of this is told in long, heavily-photographed, amazing blog at luckyroosternola.wordpress.com.

DINING ROOM
Although the reconstruction here went very deep, there's a certain starkness in the dining areas that seems to go perfectly with the food. Tables on the sidewalk attest to the increasingly residential quality of this part of the CBD. The servers are in a league with the ones you know from the Marigny or other local bohemias.

ONLINE MENU LOCATION

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Starters »Sesame pork dumplings Crispy shiitake imperial rolls »Crunchy shrimp spring rolls »Lacquered grilled pork ribs »Korean fried chicken, sweet chile garlic sauce Banh Mi (Vietnamese Poor Boys) »Smoky five-spice pork barbecue Samurai steak, hoisin beef debris Grilled shiitake mushrooms Korean Bao (Saucy meats/seafood on steam buns) »Red ginger shrimp, mango, coconut Star anise-caramelized pork belly, Thai salsa, aioli Korean sticky beef, spicy kimchi slaw Malaysian chicken, pineapple basil grilled Salads Jade Caesar, lychee-scallion dressing »Green Mandarin (avocado, wontons, arugula, citrus vinaigrette) »Vietnamese vermicelli bowl Soups »Ginger chicken, won ton dumplings, wok vegetables »»Enchanting Mermaids (ginger shrimp, crab claws, corn, bok choy, Thai coconut broth »Tokyo ramen bowl, pork loin, Szechaun sausage Dragon Warrior (smoked tofu, bean-shiitake stir fry Entrees »Four-piece Korean fried chicken, wok vegetables, coconut rice »Citrus-laquered baby back ribs, vegetable fried rice Cashew kung pao beef, lo mein noodles, sweet pepper stir fry »Chef’s fried rice (Szechuan sausage, shrimp, spice chicken) Buddha’s fried rice (sweet corn, broccoli, mushrooms, snap peas) Desserts Fortunate cookie (oversize, sauced fortune cookie) »Coconut creme bruûléee »Snappy ginger lemon bar, ginger shortbread »Chef Neal Swidler's Popstars icicle treats Kung pao cocoa pot (peanut butter mousse, chocolate cookie

FOR BEST RESULTS
There is a lot of tongue-in-cheek food here. For example, consider the "Fortunate Cookie: astrologically correct, super-sized. . . obtuse (I think they meant "abstruse")poetry included." Go with the laughs and you will eat well too.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
Although linen napkins are usually preferable, so many of the Rooster's dishes are such a mess to eat that a pile of thick paper napkins would be more useful.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

  • Dining Environment +1
  • Consistency +1
  • Service+1
  • Value +2
  • Attitude +1
  • Wine & Bar +2
  • Hipness +3
  • Local Color +2

 

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
  • Sidewalk tables
  • Early-evening specials
  • Open Monday lunch and dinner
  • Open till midnight TH FR SA
  • Open all afternoon
  • Quick, good meal
  • Good for children
  • Easy, nearby parking
  • No reservations