Dining with Josie

Restaurant review: Frederick's Lucky Corner

Frederick has a little gem of a Vietnamese restaurant within walking distance of Hood College. The restaurant is “Lucky Corner.” It is located on the other side of Frederick Memorial Hospital about a half-mile from campus. The Lucky Corner has a varied menu of authentic style at reasonable prices.

I went to the Lucky Corner about 4 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon. Tables and chairs for outdoor dining were in the front of the restaurant, but I chose to dine inside. A small tea shrine is placed on the floor just inside the door. Icons of Vietnamese culture are visible everywhere inside. The dining room is small but appears roomy. Vietnamese pictures decorate the walls. Vases of attractive blossoms are on each table. A golden Buddha faces the dining room. A light, pleasant aroma of food, seasonings and spices, fills the air. Vietnamese music plays softly in the background.

The Vietnamese waiter greeted me and invited me to sit wherever I chose. He was polite and friendly. I sat near a window. He brought my menu and a napkin carefully folded around a fork and chopsticks. I ordered tea and read the menu. All of the items were in English and Vietnamese. Each meal included an English description. The selections were well-ordered and easy to understand. Everything looked good: appetizers, salad, poultry, beef, chef’s specialties, pork, , pho (traditional Vietnamese noodle ), noodles and rice, seafood and . The menu had a full page of vegetarian specials, too. Besides tea, there were soft drinks, coffee, domestic and imported beer, Perrier and bottled water. Some more exotic selections were also available: French coffee ($2.50), Thai iced tea ($2.50), young juice ($2.00) and soybean milk ($1.95).

I began my meal with an appetizer. I ordered the Crispy Spring Roll – Cha Gio ($3.95.) The menu describes these as “Crispy golden brown rice paper wrapped around a mixture of ground pork, shrimp, carrot, and cellophane noodles.” The two rolls were served with Vietnamese dipping sauce - Nuoc Mam. I received two small dishes; one duck sauce, the other, a honey-flavored sweet sauce.

I sipped my Stassen Pure Ceylon Jasmine Green tea and tried to decide what to order. I asked the waiter which meals were the most popular with his patrons. He suggested several dishes. I chose the Caramelized Pork in Hot Pot – Heo To ($8.95). The dish is sliced pork, simmered with garlic and caramel sauce and topped with black pepper. It was served in a cast pot with wooden handle and lid, a large bowl of white rice and a plate of steamed vegetables. The vegetables were snap peas, miniature ears of corn, sliced carrots, sliced red sweet pepper, cauliflower, broccoli, and bok choy. The vegetables were all very fresh.

My meal was visually attractive. The snow-white rice, the colors of the mixed vegetables, the pot which had obviously served many meals before mine, all signaled an enjoyable dining experience would follow.

The caramelized pork was delicious. The meat had been cut into bite-size portions in the kitchen before being cooked. (Asian chefs believe that meat should be butchered in the kitchen, not at the table.) The vegetables were steamed to the right amount of firmness and the rice had the correct “stickiness” for chopsticks.

The menu had several interesting desserts: Corn - Che Bap ($2.95), Pudding - Che Khoai ($2.95), Caramelized Flan - Banh Flan ($3.95), and Fried ($3.95). I decided on the Fried Banana. This is a peeled banana that has been sliced lengthwise, cut in half, wrapped in thin rice paper and then deep fried. It’s served very hot with a dish of coconut dipping sauce and a dish of a sweet dipping sauce. There was nothing unusual about its flavor. It tasted exactly like a hot deep-fried banana!

The bill for the appetizer, main meal and was $16.85. With tax and tip, the total was under $21. This is a modest price for an enjoyable meal, a unique dining experience and a complimentary fortune cookie! I did not leave the restaurant hungry! I give this restaurant a very high rating.

The Lucky Corner provides both carry-out and dining-in. Catering is also available for special occasions. For more information, please visit their website: http://luckycornerrestaurant.com.

The Lucky Corner 700 N Market St Frederick, MD 21701 (301) 624-1005 A word of caution, Asian restaurants sometimes use oil for cooking and some Asian dishes are made with . Anyone with food allergies should always check with the kitchen before eating food with which they are not accustomed.