Lu Lu’s Chinese Cuisine — Restaurant in Santa Fe

Based on the average recent reviews being pretty good we decided to take a chance on Lu Lu's. There are few things as enjoyable as a really good Chinese meal, so we were pretty excited.

I called in our largish order (three different entrees, three appetizers, soup, and rice) and it was ready in 20 minutes as they had told me it would be. So that was good! The restaurant itself had a classic American-style Chinese restaurant vibe which reminded me of this restaurant my childhood best-friend's family owned that I loved. Nostalgia star!

The food!!! So... My kid said the food wasn't the best he's ever had, but he'd be okay if he were forced to eat it every day. I guess that's almost a compliment.For the record, the kid is normally a vacuum for Asian food, especially anything in a dumpling or potsticker genre... This is the first time I've seen him only eat one potsticker. He said the beef cho cho was the best option from what we ordered and that's just a beef skewer appetizer...

My wife said the food was "soulless" and I'm inclined to agree. The hot and sour soup was neither hot nor sour and that's coming from my wife who only likes her food mild (yeah, that means no green chile). It was earthy and otherwise a very neutral flavor. Just a thick, bland, mushroomy soup that was desperately in need of some seasoning. Even a pinch of salt would have elevated it to something worth eating. Whoever made it either has no taste buds or never bothered to taste it. The potstickers tasted like the frozen ones you get at the grocery store and had a very greasy and overly mushy texture - just meh. The skewers were overcooked and dried out like they walked their little sticks from ABQ to Santa Fe in August (remember, my kid says the skewers were the best thing...).

The entrees were all unloved. They kept the sauces separate from breaded items which is a nice touch, but... The sweet and sour chicken was just some fried chunks of meat with raw veggies. Straight up uncooked veggies. Not lightly sauteed. Uncooked and cold. A second entree was sauteed meat and veggies with - want to guess? - no seasoning! A third was an overcooked cutlet. The two entrees that came with sauce were the absolute bottom of the barrel, artificial, straight out the jar sauces. On a scale of 1 to Panda Express, these were a solid 1 (Panda Express being the good option in this terrible example). The entree without a sauce was seasoned with my tears of frustration.

The rice was good. One star for that because rice is life.

If this were a real city, this would get maybe a one star. But there's not a lot of Chinese options here in Santa Fe so I'll rank it in relation to the culinary desert we live in. There are still better places here in...

Ordered over $100 worth of take out yesterday for our family. Wanted to try a new place out and unfortunately made the wrong choice. Food was obviously old.. I'd say 3 days at the very least. The shrimp in the stale fried rice was definitely rotten.. they were gray and smelled of decay after heating up. Egg rolls had a mushy slime consistency and were also old. Ordered the Pupu variety platter and all items included were again very stale. Meats were rock hard, dry, and really just didn't taste like meat at all. Breaded jumbo shrimp didn't taste like shrimp but more like old raw dough and old oil.

The owners of this establishment are essentially stealing your money. Prices are steep and what you receive is stale, rotten food. I feel thoroughly ripped off. Really don't know how these people sleep at night knowing theyre taking your money in exchange for their disgusting excuse for food. It's just plain robbery and someone is going to get hurt because of their negligence and incredibly low standard.

They need a thorough checkup from a food safety inspector. No doubt their doors would close. This was such an offensive dinning experience and the establishment should be ashamed of itself. If you're reading this, do yourself a favor and run the other way.

Edit: I own a small business and it pains me to leave this review but the product their putting out is just wrong and needs to be called out. Keep in mind that the 4 stars are from reviews...

Lulu's is a treat when desiring Chinese Cuisine. It's knowing what to order and how to order that will make your eating experience tasty and satisfying.

The biggest mistake when people order Asian food is not having a complete understanding of the complexities involved in it's preparation. It's not as if your ordering from Panda Express which is the Asian McDonald's of fast food. They serve Chinese food that's completely Americanized.

It may taste good to alot of people but not authenticly prepared like when eating out at Lulu's. it's not about ordering one dish but several in order gain the full benefit of enjoying a culmination of differently prepared food dishes and tastes when brought together.

It's a cultural cross sharing of food not to be individualized to just one dish each. Only then can people truly understand and enjoy an Asian meal of togetherness. It will tantalize the pallets of even the most discerning conosors. Lulu's is all that and more when eating at her restaurant.

A kaleidoscope menu of Asian Cuisine provided to choose from that's sure to satisfy. It's not just bringing yourself it's about family and friends coming together each ordering their favorites and sharing with one another to aquire the full benefit of tradition when eating Asian Chinese food prepared at Lulu's of Santa Fe NM:)

P.S. Great place for parties and gatherings of every kind having a full bar to order...