Lucky 7 — Restaurant in Gresham

This place is a hidden gem. It's unassuming, presenting like just a little Lotto deli. Once you get a look at the food though, it stands out tremendously. I've been eating there since they opened, and I have yet to order a "miss" from their menu. Among my favorites are their truly orange flavored orange chicken (you can never untaste the superiority to the national chain version), chicken subgum chowmein, and, a dish with no equal, Hong Kong style crispy noodles.

And, let me tell you about the Hong Kong style crispy noodles. I will always remember my life in two acts: everything before Hong Kong crispy noodles, and everything after my first bite of it. The sauce is deep and rich with umame that suggests they use something akin to oyster sauce, along with some chicken broth as the base. The crispy noodles on the bottom are a crunchy divine on the edges, yet soft and chewy in the center, having soaked up the delicious sauce. It has broccoli, carrots, onions and zucchini in it, which are done nicely, but still firm and crunchy. It has chicken, beef, shrimp, and their barbecue pork for the meats. This thing is a single dish with a radical range of experiences, throughout.

If you want a soda, it will come from a can. If you want a beer, it's just Budweiser and Bud Lite. But that isn't why you go there. The food needs nothing from the beverage department to offer a complete experience. Just get ice water and hot tea.

The family that runs this restaurant are some of the kindest and gentlest humans I have ever met. They are good people making great food...just the kind of people that Gresham, and our...

I wish there were the ability to give a place 4.5 stars, but it feels more honest to give this a 5 over a 4.

My single knock on them for the food is that I feel that the hot and sour soup and the egg drop soup lacked some depth of flavor. However, the combinations my sweetie and I ordered were delicious, well prepared and ridiculously plentiful for the price paid. The fried shrimp was fluffy but firm, and it had been deveined! That is an absolute exception to most places of it's class. The fried things had a crispy, crunchy exterior, without being hard or greasy, and the chicken for the sweet and sour chicken was all white meat. The kung pao chicken was spicy, but on the mild side. The flavors were good, and the zucchini was cooked enough to get rid of the "dirt" flavor you'd find in Panda Express's iteration of the dish, but it's still firm.

The tea here is a wonderfully full-bodied oolong that is nutty and robust in flavor, but has no astringent notes. It is so smooth, you will want to curl up inside your cup and take a nap.

The beer list here consists of Bud, Bud Light and Coors Light, so if you want a beer, glass of wine or cocktail, this isn't really your place. But, It's old school American-Sino cuisine, so who's really concerned about the beer?

The chairs/tables are comfortable. The design of the interior space is nothing to write home about. It is open, all tile floors and lots of windows, so bring your jacket if it's chilly outside.

We have a couple of other Chinese restaurants in the area we frequent, but not anymore. This is going to be our spot...

Have to say it's probably one of my favorite little "hole in the wall" places to go be able to relax and play some video poker especially since there's almost always not that many people like overcrowding the spot. Haven't tried their food yet, but I've heard it's pretty good. Customer service and overall performance done by the establishment's employees is also pretty good, the employees for the most part have always been very respectful and kind to me and my friends. I think there was only one incident that I can think of really that would have came off as unpleasant but other than that it's still an establishment that I decide to visit rather than others around in the immediate area when I'm looking for a spot to wind down and relax, maybe win a couple bucks...