Lulu Modern Chinese — Restaurant in Plano

Soft opening for Lulu chinese

The atmosphere of the restraunt has a very young vibe, everything feels very new and the lighting is great! It honestly felt like I was back in New York it felt very high class, the prices for the food were very reasonable! Along with this our waitress Whitney and Kiana were kind and accommodating, always checking in on us and making sure we were good! Haha I never had to ask them to fill up my water cup Since they were super proactive in attending to our drinks and any other needs. Also we were seated right away thankfully due to us having a reservation ahead of time! (I would recommend making a reservation ahead of time just in case)

The Food We got Sichuan Crispy Chicken medium spicy this was out of this world with FLAVOR!!! It wasn't too spicy to the point where you couldn't taste the chicken. The presentation for it was beautiful 😍 though one small thing I think was there was an abundance of peppers 🌶 perhaps a bit too much? It seemed like there was more of them then chicken haha but regardless it was very good it was white meat so that was nice and didn't have any of those bits of chicken that aren't edible.

The jasmine white rice was excellent cooked just right! It came out piping hot and was able to maintain a good temp throughout the meal!

The kimchi and cheese fried rice was delicious had good flavor and not grainy the cheese combo was excellent.

The cons

Its there soft opening so I understand there are going to be a few hiccups along the way. However one thing I would give feedback on it is really didn't appreciate that I needed to take my phone out and scan a qr code to see the full menu. (Though perhaps thats just there thing? I know somenod restraunt are starting to do this trend) Along with this while the full menu items names are there. There are no descriptions detail what the actual food is or what is inside it nor what it comes with. My mother and I had to take a bit of time trying to figure it out ans needed to ask the waiter to explain them to us. Also I really hope that later on they add pictures to the menu since it would be more helpfully to have a visual aid in what to expect on what I'm about to consume.

Along with this it seemed there was many things that were out of stock not sure if that was just due to it being the soft opening or due to people already ordering those dishes and they ran out that quickly? Though our dinner was for 7:30pm so it seems kinda early to run out of food that early? But hey at least that gives me a chance to look forward to things to eat the next time I come!

Overall I really want this place to succeed its ina wonderful spot right next to the theater and has a wonderful atmosphere I recommend everyone to give it a chance a d come here and try out the...

Full disclosure: this was a apparently a long delayed soft open. So some allowances are considered for this review for why it's 3 stars and not 1. Long wait for the food, no problem. Most menu items not available, no problem. Menu item says available but then kitchen says not available to serve? Still okay, forgiven.

Overall, I sincerely hope this restaurant will be successful. There is a lot of promise, but they seem far from ready.

The Peking duck was dry, very, extraordinarily dry. If you want Peking duck in Dallas, I think Bamboo House will be a better bet even after another year.

The only available dumplings were also dry. Probably the meat blend they chose didn't have enough fat in the mix. At a price point of $18, they should probably re-formulate. Otherwise just eat at Uchi/Uchiko or Shanghai Taste and you'll have better dumplings.

The ugly part of the review: After ordering, the server came back to ask what dish to pair with the Peking duck, gave three options, and explicitly communicated all three dishes were included with the Peking Duck. This is pretty standard for high end Peking Duck. When the check came out, the included item turned out to be $15. I don't think this service gaff gets a pass even for soft opening and I would have expected for a restaurant at this price point management would have step to correct the mistake, but management appeared to be on a long smoke break.

There was a hair strand in the rice, very visible at the top of the bowl. Probably not something that gets a pass even for soft opening at this price point, especially because the hair would have been visible at the pass against the backdrop of the white rice.

The optimistic part: The blend on the Szechuan fried cooking is fantastic. It is good even compared when compared with Chinese restaurants from Asia. So the chef's probably have a good idea of how to get the flavor right, but some of the menu items, again need to be re-thought and redone. Case in in point, they fried basically duck bones and charged $15 for a dish that basically you can't really eat (at least the way it was prepared). They could have at least included the duck leg in the fried portion of the dish. You throw the same seasoning on soft fried tofu, charge a hefty $15, and you have one of the best Chinese dishes anywhere in the US. But the dish that it actually was? Kind of an insult.

So I'm hopeful for them. I'll be back in a year. But hopefully for diners this give a fair sneak peak of what to...

Came here to eat for my birthday. The ambience was very modern, airy and sleek. Seeing the chefs wrap the soup dumplings through the window, I knew this place would be great. We ordered the honey shrimp, mapo tofu, soup dumplings, Peking duck, szechuan chicken and chilled cucumber. Each dish the presentation was eye watering and taste to match. The soup dumplings bursted in your mouth and the honey shrimp was to die for. Peking duck was excellent with the thin wraps over the traditional bao buns. Szechuan chicken was crispy and delicious. The drink I also had was fantastic. Though I did not want alcohol, I ordered a mocktail the ube drink and it was delicious. Will...