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Lucky Three, Bailey's Crossroads - Closed


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I went to Lucky Three with a bunch of coworkers (many of whom are Chinese) for their amazing lunch buffet a couple of weeks ago. I was suitably impressed, and I tried a lot of neat new things because my coworkers were all "Michelle, have you tried this? How about this? And this?"

Anyhow, I have literally been dreaming of dim sum ever since. Lucky Three surpassed Fortune in the glory days (when it was in that location) and Mark's Duck House at its finest. It's like the best NYC dim sum (I personally like HSF in Chinatown). I'm not sure it gets any better than that, honestly. And if you work nearby, the lunch buffet, which includes unlimited dim sum, is $10.

ETA: I am totally in on a NoVA excursion to Lucky Three. I dream of the place now nonstop.

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I used to go frequently (haven't been for several months), and it is a good deal, but does suffer a bit (at lunchtime anyway) from its buffet format. If I understand correctly, it is owned by the folks who own New Fortune in Gaithersburg, and many of the dishes they have are very similar.

I used to pig out on the crabs, and the various steamed dumplings and other steamed things are quite good. The clams are great, but now they charge extra for those. The tofu with ginger syrup for dessert is fab.

For the quantity/quality/price ratio, it's hard to beat.

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The clams are great, but now they charge extra for those.

They charge extra for one item in the buffet? How do they do that?

I love the Lucky Three buffet. It's probably the best buffet I have ever encountered anywhere in my life. Ten bucks! Wow! It's basically a great dim sum selection that you have to go get yourself instead of having it wheeled around on carts, and it's all for ten bucks. I'd just as soon go get it myself anyway, instead of having to wait for the carts to come around. And it's ten dollars. Ten dollars. TEN DOLLARS.

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They charge extra for one item in the buffet? How do they do that?

Again, I haven't been there for several months, but they used to have a guy off to the side who dished them out to you and apparently kept track of who partook. IIRC it was only a $1 upcharge anyway. Whether this is still what's being done I don't know.

They did this to stop the fights which would break out whenever they brought out a new infusion of clams to the buffet table. Diners were getting trampled. Black bean sauce does that to people you know.

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They did this to stop the fights which would break out whenever they brought out a new infusion of clams to the buffet table. Diners were getting trampled. Black bean sauce does that to people you know.

Sort of has a Hemingway-esque feel to it. Not killed running the bulls at Pamplona... but going for the clams at Lucky 3.

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Lucky Three is a favorite lunch destination because it's cheap and the selection is impressive. The main buffet has beef chow fun, sauteed rice noodles, chinese greens and green beans, sweet and sour pork, crab, curry mussels, shrimp stuffed tofu, eggplant and mushrooms, vegetable stir fry, dried tofu in spicy sweet sauce, hot and sour soup, salt and pepper shrimp, shrimp rice noodle, and pork and scallion dumplings. In addition to this, the steam cart has piles of traditional dim sum offerings like haw gao, pork dumplings, spare ribs, tripe, chicken feet, duck and peanut dumplings, bbq pork buns. Then there's a section with roast pork, chicken, duck, steamed fish and fried things. There's also a separate dessert section where you can get sweet bean-filled rice balls, custart tarts, almond jello, fruit. They also offer some vietnamese summer rolls and sides. (Should I be embarrassed that I've memorized their offerings?) It truly is a great deal.

The clams are definitely extra. I'm glad they took this away from the buffet because as soon as they were put out, one or two people would pile their plates with the clams and hog it all. Seriously, the comment about fights breaking out is not an exaggeration. (Bad buffet etiquette in my opinion!)

The caveat is that when it's crowded (which it often is) the pickin's can be slim and the kitchen lags behind on replenishing items. Either get there at 11 when it opens or after the main lunch rush around 1. They also offer takeout from the buffet.

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Sort of has a Hemingway-esque feel to it. Not killed running the bulls at Pamplona... but going for the clams at Lucky 3.

If I must die someday, I would prefer to die in the quest for clams in black bean sauce. Hemingway would approve.

We'd better grab two platters at the dim sum outing. I'd hate to see a riot break out at our table!

What are the lunch buffet hours? I'm thinking about heading there next Tuesday or Wednesday for a test run, and might as well eat as long as I'm there, but won't be able to arrive until 1:30 or so.

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I thought they did a really nice job with the steamed items, as mentioned upthread, especially the seafood items. I've had a lot of dim sum -- even at Tony Cheng's and at Golden Palace back in the day (GP was my favorite) which wasn't as well-seasoned as some of the steamed seafood dishes.

I unfortunately didn't get to try the clams in black bean sauce but [insert Homer-like drool here]. There are a few odd items on the lunch buffet, ostensibly to appeal to a larger crowd. There are definitely a great deal of American-style Chinese favorites (General Tso's Chicken et al.). Ignore those and load up on the dim sum.

I did, however, have some greens, sticky rice, and seafood stuffed mushrooms and eggplant from the buffet, which where interesting and tasty.

I really enjoyed the delightful tofu with the syrup. According to my coworkers, that's a traditional breakfast in China. It was surprisingly rich and creamy. It actually reminded me quite a bit of a childhood comfort food from my own cultural background -- the Greek pastry known as Galatoboureko (milk pie).

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Went with the NOVA Dim Sum Sunday group. Arrived late (just over slept not lost in the Bermuda septagon, nary a sight of Bailey's Crossroads except on a road sign!!!) and sat with the kids table. Danilk Kay and Scott were there with several voracious eating machines of various sizes and flavors (otherwise known as well behaved children).

The food was quite excellent (with a couple of duds). I think my favorites were:

Water Chestnut Jelly

Cuttlefish

Black Bean Spareribs

Jellyfish

Tripe (although it did not look appetizing in the bowl).

Greens

BBQ pork

Lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice

Duds:

Clams

Green pepper stuffed with shrimp

Good fun as always!

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I forgot to grab spareribs for our table! That was a major oversight. Things we tried that the kids' table didn't included fried banana and shrimp rolls, triangular pastries filled with sweet BBQ pork, and scallop dumplings. My absolute favorite was the water chestnut jelly, which was lightly sweet with a wonderful crunch from the chunks of water chestnut. BBQ pork was on par with New Fortune's, as one would assume.

Alas, I must agree with Dean about those fabled clams in black bean sauce. I think the sauce was thickened too quickly and heavily - there was a definite flavor of uncooked cornstarch that was unpleasant. The two tables shared the same plate of clams, so maybe we just got a subpar batch.

The warm soy milk was lightly sweet and not too beany. I should have tackled the cart lady again for a second glass. I had no idea that was cuttlefish until Daniel brought the platter to our table. It looked like slices of Japanese fish cake - pale with deep pink edges.

The dessert selection looked pretty standard, so Hollywood East On The Boulevard continues as the clear winner in that respect.

I think this was the best dim sum we had in NoVa. Of course, we need to try Fortune and Mark's Duck House again just to verify this. :)

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I agree with Dean's assesment of the Dim Sum. I enjoyed the roast pork and Katie said the shrimp purses were wonderful. I do take exception to the "kids table"! Katie is at home with a full table and there is no need to hide from her. The tripe was wonderful! I am looking forwarded to compare this to Hollowood East.

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I'll throw in a bit of a dig on the kids table note as well. When I arrived (about 90 seconds after the 12 noon time), everyone except Scott and Katie had settled into one table. Not wanting to leave Scott sitting alone (and only seeing 2 seats at the other table), I sat with my 2 kids at Scott's table. The next 2 people to arrive filled the two spots at the other table. So until Dean arrived near 12:30 (Dean, thank you for sharing our table), it was just myself and Scott ordering for our table. That left us very very short on variety.

All of the children that have attended the Dim Sundays (mine, Scott's, Heather's by my recollection) have been exceptionally well behaved, so there aren't issues there. I urge people, when we are doing multiple tables for these events, to please split the seating more equitably. Without exaggeration, we were able to sample less than half of the dishes as the other table, since we were ordering for just 2 (later 3) adults.

<end soapbox>

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Hey, I didn't mean any slander on the children! I know from experience that Daniel and Scott's kids are wonderfully behaved, and I have happily shared tables with them before. I'd hoped the kids would be able to sit together (our group was too large for a single table) so they wouldn't be stuck listening to boring adult talk.

Next time we'll make sure that the tables are more evenly populated with adults, and that we trade dishes back and forth more. The alternative is limiting our group size to one that can fit at a single table - this is the first time we've had such a large group.

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This could be the first time I ever sat at a table referred to in any way as the adult's table. In any case, I think it's a good point that we should make sure the tables are evenly populated. I got to Lucky Three on the early side, and I must confess I was too busy eating to pay close attention to the seating. But if we ever end up with uneven tables again, I'll be happy to move to the less populated table, which as you well know, will make it much easier for that table to taste many, many more dishes.

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I thought I read/heard that Lucky 3 no longer did dim sum and was now a buffet?
I was there for a weekday lunch a few months back and that was the setup. They did have a wide selection of typical dim sum items on the buffet, including steamer baskets of various dumplings and buns. It wasn't bad given the variety and inclusion of things like clams and other seafood. I'm not sure if they bring out the carts on the weekends anymore.
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I drove down Leesburg Pike tonight on the way to Hong Kong Palace, and it looked like there were "For Rent" signs in the Lucky Three location.

ETA 10/31/08 9:42 AM: Phone is giving a ambiguous "your call cannot be completed at this time" message.

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