Sun Luck Garden

Chef Annie Chiu's Sun Luck Garden has been on my radar for a while now, but I never seemed to make it over to Cleveland Heights to taste what some claim is the "best Chinese food" in the city. So, this year, I made it one of my Top 10 To Dine restaurants for 2012. That would be some motivation to finally make the trip east. Recently, I did just that.

It is nothing to look at from the outside, but there is plenty of free parking in the lot connected to the small strip mall off Taylor Road. There was only a handful of other diners there during our meal, so service was attentive and the atmosphere was quiet and easy for conversation. We all started with an Egg Roll ($1.75) and Wonton Soup.

Their Wonton Soup ($1.75) had a sweetness to it, unlike many others. It was still light in flavor, and the dumplings were delicious and easy to cut into. "R" and I split both of these items, and wanted to share our main course as well. For variety, we went with the Mu Shu Pork with shredded pork sauteed with traditional Chinese vegetables served with four Mandarin thin pancakes with Hoisin sauce ($11.95).

Looks good, right? But, what the heck...

They were served with...tortillas. This was not quite the "Mandarin thin pancakes" that I was expecting. I thought it would be more of a crepe, or thin steam bun texture. Overall, the flavor was only okay and the portion of pork in the dish was minimal. I didn't like it paired with the tortilla, and enjoyed the small serving that I took without one a little bit more.

Per Michelle's suggestion, our other main dish was the Fresh Pineapple Stirfry special. We selected beef as our protein, and it comes with fresh pineapple in a ginger sauce with Adobo pepper. The Adobo and ginger gave this dish a little kick, even at the Medium level that we ordered it at.

I would order this dish again, but at a higher heat level for my personal taste. We scraped this dish clean.

Even though Annie is known for her delicious desserts as well, we were stuffed and had to pass.
 
Best Chinese in town? I'm not sure. Chinese cuisine is not my favorite, so I can't be the judge, but we did enjoy our meal overall and I'd go back. She is offering a nice variety of dishes, and some of them are quite unusual that you won't find in other restaurants. The prices are also very reasonable for what you receive in portions and quality.
 
So, I can cross another one off my list! I'm slowly getting there, but I have a lot of ground to cover before January 1st.
 
Sun Luck Garden
1901 South Taylor Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
216-397-7676