Lucky Cat brings Asian fusion fast
Lucky Cat Street Eatery
6322 N. Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, 954-909-5301, toasttab.com/luckycatstreeteatery
The owners of Beg for More in Fort Lauderdale and Beg for More Izakaya in Delray Beach have opened this third venture in the former Sushi 4 Fun.
“We see our restaurants as our children. The closer they are, the easier and better to be taken care of,” says partner Surissada Sothiwanwongse, a Bangkok native known as Suri. “Also, Fort Lauderdale still needed an Asian fusion restaurant.”
Lucky Cat carries the same sushi rolls as the Beg for More locations, but the concept aims to serve dishes faster and offer a broader range of specialties.
“Our partners travel every year to different countries, like Japan, Thailand, Korea and Taiwan, to get new ideas and inspiration,” she says.
Almost half of the menu originates from family recipes, Sothiwanwongse says, such as shumai shrimp and pork dumplings with a soft yet crunchy texture ($6) from her grandmother and mom.
“My favorite part was eating the good food that they cooked,” she says about her childhood in Thailand. “My mom was a restaurant owner in Thailand, too.”
When Sothiwanwongse moved to South Florida from Bangkok a decade ago, she couldn’t find an Asian restaurant to her satisfaction.
“Almost every Asian restaurant in South Florida was old style with the same menu,” she says. “It inspired me to start something new here.”
Lucky Cat highlights include bento boxes for lunch ($12), five renditions of ramen, such as miso or green curry with choice of protein ($12-$14; extra for seafood), spicy tuna or spicy salmon bowl with mango, avocado, seaweed salad, cucumber, masago and rice ($14) and the spicy Taste Like My Ex-Girlfriend sushi roll with tuna, hamachi, asparagus and Thai chili ($16).
“We took classes with different chefs to learn new techniques and recipes to improve our food,” Sothiwanwongse says. “Our recipes are really authentic, but we develop the techniques to enhance the flavors and create layers of taste.”
One of her favorites is tonkatsu ramen with chashu pork ($12). “The broth is creamy and delicious,” she says. “We make our own chashu pork, and the soft-boiled eggs have to marinade for two days. For most ramen in South Florida, they just boil an egg. But here, you can get the authentic taste for a reasonable price — not fast-food with low quality.”
She also prefers Korean kimchi fried rice with Thaistyle wok-fried rice and bacon ($14) and curry don ($12-$14).
“This yellow curry is different from all the curry you get. Not many people cook it,” Sothiwanwongse says. “It’s thick, rich curry with a smell of herbs mixed with potato and carrot, topped with chicken or shrimp katsu [$12-$14].”
Wine, sake and beer are available but no cocktails. Dessert will include a blueberry cream-cheese pie in a cup ($5).
“My mom is very good at making Thai authentic desserts, like mango with sweet sticky rice, peanut ball and sweet egg yolk with blue sticky rice,” she says. “We run out of desserts weekly. That’s why we don’t have it on the menu.”
Lunch and dinner are served daily at tables covered with comic strips. The eatery’s neutral palette is punctuated by a red neon Lucky Cat sign surrounded by faux foliage on a whitewashed brick wall.
“We like to make customers feel comfortable, so we added fun stuff,” Sothiwanwongse
says. “We decorated with a touch of Thai and Japanese styles.”
Lucky cat porcelain figurines — believed to bring good luck — line lit shelves under a blue industrial ceiling with attractive wood slats.
Seating options are at the sushi counter, in booths, banquettes or metal bistro chairs and on the sidewalk.