New Lucky is a half century old stalwart of JB seafood / zhi char restaurants which is very popular with locals and Singaporeans alike. Two of us, we went to try their famous char kway teow and peppery pig stomach soup which enjoy many raving reviews.
Inside the restaurant, decor and furnishings were simple but it was air conditioned and comfortable. It was full house this Saturday evening, so we sat al fresco outside.
No air condition but the courtyard outside was cool in the evening and we liked the ambiance. Traffic outside was congested but we were shielded from noise and fumes by low shrubs ringing the courtyard.
There was no menu card - the dishes were displayed overhead but no prices shown.
Live seafood which we will come back for next time when we have more eating troops.
Avoid the tables nearest to the fish tanks as the water splashes can reach these tables when the fish trash in the net when the staff scoops them out of the tanks.
We had a serving of New Lucky's famous fried kway teow 溪蛤妙粿条. It's quite a good size serving for RM12++.
The kway teow noodles were well fried with a nice caramelised char outside. Neither too wet nor too dry. Good wok hei 鑊氣. I can taste the layers of savouriness from the caramelised soya sauce. There was underlying subtle sweetness and the taste of lard. However, aroma was weak.
The fried kway teow was spiked with pork lard cracklings and they were generous with blood cockles. New Lucky's char kway teow is likeable and reasonably priced.
New Lucky's signature peppery pig stomach soup 豬肚湯 (known as Superior Soup in the menu). Price RM70++.
The cloudy tea colour soup was loaded with lots of ingredients like pig stomach, chicken, mushroom, tiny dried scallop, dried cuttlefish, bits of ham etc.
The peppery taste was assertive and dominant but the heat was not sharp. Combined with underlying savoury flavours from the other ingredients, the peppery soup tasted murky or "chok" 浊. We didn't really enjoy it.
The tender spongy pig stomach tasted flat savoury with its natural flavours either all leached into the peppery soup or there was none to start with (as the pig stomach was frozen? We are not sure).
The stir fried green dragon vegetable 青龍菜 (price RM15++) had a wet savoury layer which effectively masked the subtle green taste of the crunchy chewy vegetable.
Information for you👉 We enjoyed the char kway teow but felt that the Superior Soup was just average. If we come back to try other dishes, we won't order the pig stomach soup again.
What dishes should we order for our next visit to New Lucky Seafood?
Restaurant name: New Lucky Seafood
Address: 1-5 Jalan Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1°29'14.0"N 103°46'02.2"E 🌐 1.487225, 103.767275
Waze: New Lucky Restaurant
Tel: 07 338 3822
Hours: 11:00am - 11:30pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 6 Apr 2019