Lualu Kitchen: Spicy Chinese food in Burnaby

Lualu Kitchen is a small and local Chinese restaurant in Burnaby. They serve a limited menu of different noodles, dumplings and stuffed chicken wings. It’s got a very mom and pops type of feel.

This review is based on a takeout order.

Food

For lunch, we order 2 different types of noodles and a dessert/snack.

Chongqing Style Noodle ($10)

Chongqing Style Noodles originates from – surprise – Chongqing, a region in southwest China. It is still a spicy noodle dish as it uses a Szechuan style red oil made with red pepper powder and lots of popular Chinese spices. 

I’m not a big spicy eater, but I was able to eat these noodles just fine. The consistency of the noodle is not a soup noodle, but also not a dry noodle so it’s kind of in between. This noodle dish only has a few minced meat that quickly disappears once you start mixing it. Generally, the noodle has vegetables, ginger, peanuts, onion and some bok choy.

The portion size is large for me but it is mostly noodles. Noodles were not soggy and did not leak through the takeout container.

Spicy beef noodle in soup ($14)

The spicy beef noodle in soup is very spicy. I would not be able to finish a bowl by myself (I only had a few bites to taste). The slices of beef are tender but the flavour is heavily masked by the spiciness of the chili oil.

Again, they include a bok choy. I feel like bok choy is often in spicy Sichuan dishes. I usually don’t like bok choy but since the noodles were too spicy for me, my tongue welcomed the vegetable that cut through the spiciness.

Snow crisps ($12)

This is a dessert/snack and it comes in a little bowl with little chunks wrapped around edible paper (like the white rabbit candy). These snacks are very similar to nougats, but much softer and chewier.

They are clusters of biscuit/crackers, marshmallow, dried fruits and nuts and they are not too sweet – a very nice balance with a great texture. We often purchase these as little gifts for our family and friends.

Final thoughts

Lualu Kitchen is a nice little lunch spot for spicy food lovers. Prices are reasonable and so are portion sizes. Unfortunately, since I am not a big spicy eater, I find the menu quite limited in things I would actually want to order again and again.

The snow crisps I re-purchased several times, until my mom decided to learn how to make them herself on Youtube so now I may also stop buying these as well.

Sincerely, Loewe