Lucky Dragon Café Chinese Restaurant

Ok, so Lucky Dragon is not in Eureka Springs, but if you want Chinese food you have no choice but to make the short trip to Berryville. Trust me it's well worth the 12 mile drive or the 15 minutes, however you want to look at it that it takes to get there.

Offering dine in or carry out every day except Sundays from 11:00am to 2:00pm. and after a short afternoon break again from 5:00pm to 9:00pm.

I usually start my meal with a cup of hot and sour soup, loaded down with ingredients such as onions, shitake mushrooms, carrots and red peppers this soup definitely lives up to it's name. In the winter when I have a cold there is nothing that makes me feel better like a steaming hot bowl of it. If you prefer something not as spicy hot they also offer the classic egg drop soup.

Appetizer choices include vegetable egg rolls, stuffed with rice sticks, cabbage and carrots and Lucky Dragon egg rolls which adds ground pork and beef to the fillings. Cantonese style fried won tons, a half dozen crab rangoon and an appetizer platter that gives you a taste of egg rolls, the deep fried won tons and crab rangoon.

The entree choices feature beef, poultry, sea food, pork and vegetable with selections of the popular styles such as Canton, Hunan, Peking, Shanghai and Szechwan, in honor of the province, region or city from which the style originated.

From the beef choices my personal favorites are Pepper Steak, green pepper, onion and tomatoes in brown sauce or the Beef & Broccoli that adds onion, carrots and water chestnuts to it's namesake ingredients.

Poultry dishes are varied offerings as are all categories, but to me the real stand outs are the Cashew Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken and Princess Chicken. Diced chicken, green pepper, onion, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and cashew nuts make up the Cashew Chicken. For the hot and spicy cravings go for the Kung Pao Chicken, stir fried chicken, hot peppers and fresh toasted peanuts. Diced chicken cooked with bell pepper, onion, water chestnuts, carrots, mushrooms and peanuts in a rich brown sauce makes up the Princess Chicken.

The sea food and pork choices as well as the beef and chicken choices all have some items that are the same dish with just a different meat choice, such as Hunan Beef, Chicken, Pork or Seafood and each has it's own unique items as well. This is not a shortcoming of Lucky Dragon, it's one of the beauties of Chinese cuisine, even though the dishes are basically the same other than the meat used, each has it's own distinct flavors as meat in Chinese cooking is used as a flavoring ingredient, unlike our own native dishes where the meat is the central focus of the meal.

Other dish that have duplicates are Sweet & Sour, Pork or Chicken and Hot & Sour, again with Pork or Chicken.

Garlic Chicken, Garlic Pork or Shrimp with Garlic Sauce are always an excellent choice. Don't let the garlic scare you, it's not overpowering to you or the other diners in your party.

Also available are fried noodles with your choice of beef, chicken or pork and one worthy of it's elegant title of Grand Combination Fried Noodles, combines beef, chicken and shrimp with the other ingredients.

Fried rice is offered as a main dish with the above meat choices or the combination. Pork Fried Rice is my usual choice here. Along with the expected ingredients of rice, pork and egg is an amazing combination of purple cabbage, zucchini, broccoli, bean sprouts, cabbage, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, onions, carrots and topped with green onions.

A special dish Luck Dragon provides make for a great summer meal. Although not a traditional dish, the Oriental Chicken Salad takes it's inspiration from typical Chinese ingredients. Lettuce, tomato and red onion topped with grilled chicken and sprinkled with sesame seeds comes to your table piled high in a bowl with a delightful sesame based dressing.

Daily lunch specials are served from 11-2 giving you several entree choices combined with fried rice and fortune cookies for $4.95.

We have never been disappointed with any meal we've had at the Lucky Dragon and find it to be a real dining pleasure. Judging by the 1998 and 1999 Arkansas Times Readers Choice Awards for Best Chinese Food, we are obviously not the only ones that feel this way.

The staff is always pleasant, friendly and competent. The dining room clean. The outstanding food is brought to your table piping hot and the occasional short wait due to the tables all being taken, are sure signs that this is your lucky day for a great Chinese meal.