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AVP
09-04-2009, 02:27 PM
I stopped into DCA today to try the new Lucky Fortune Cookery. The counter-service restaurant has relocated into the former Cucina Cucamonga space, and offers a very limited menu featuring "Asian Rice Bowls."

I ordered a chicken rice bowl, but could not decide on a sauce. The cast members couldn't answer a question I had about the sauces, and so suggested that I order two on the side. (You can also order your meal prepared with one sauce and request one additional sauce on the side at no charge.) I also ordered a side of edamame.

http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/ggk40.jpg (http://twitpic.com/ggk40)

The rice bowl is served in a Chinese take-out style container, and the contents are layered. Rice filled about 70% of the bowl, followed by a layer of "Asian" vegetables (onion, bell pepper and carrots), and then topped with the selected protein. The edamame was presented in a covered cup, which is handy for those who like to toss their edamame in soy sauce before eating. My two sauces were served on the side.

My chicken had a great flavor, and I really liked the mandarin orange sauce. It had a nice flavor of ginger and spice, and was very tasty. The requested "spicy Korean sauce" was not at all spicy and seemed rather bland. I actually think they gave me teriyaki sauce instead of the spicy Korean sauce.

My biggest complaint is with the rice. My portion was mushy and not appetizing, and you have to dig through the top layers to get a bite of rice with your chicken and veggies. The take-out box is a clever presentation, but I was wishing for a plate so I could empty the container and better mix the ingredients.

The edemame is my new favorite DCA snack, and the price is quite good for the portion. The sliced fresh mango is the prepackaged type you can buy at your local grocery store.

Menu as of 9/4/2009

Asian Rice Bowl - $9.49
Each bowl contains steamed rice and seared Asian vegetables.

Choose one protein:
Chicken
Beef
Tofu

Choose one sauce:
Mandarin Orange
Spicy Korean
Thai Coconut Curry
Teriyaki

Munch, Inc. (Kids meal)

Teriyaki chicken and rice - $6.49
Served with a fruit cup a choice of small low-fat milk, Minute Maid juice box or Dasani water.

Sides

Edamame - $2.99
Lightly salted and served chilled

Fresh Mango Slices -$3.49

Beverages

Fountain drinks - Small $2.79 / Large $3.29 / Souvenir Sipper $8.99
Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta Orange, Light Lemonade

Bottled Water - $2.79
Apple or Orange Juice - $1.59
Chocolate Milk - $2.69
Hot Cocoa - $2.79
Coffee (regular or decaf) - $2.79
Hot Tea - $2.79
Low Fat Milk - $1.59
Sapporo - $6.50

houseofmouse
09-04-2009, 02:30 PM
Sounds good but mushy rice is gross!! Kids meal sounds good too.

cstephens
09-04-2009, 02:44 PM
Edamame in soy sauce? Ewwwww....

AVP
09-04-2009, 02:55 PM
Edamame in soy sauce? Ewwwww....I know people who take edamame and toss it in soy sauce before eating. I don't get it (tomatoes in ketchup, anyone?), but to each their own.

AVP

kfreak
09-04-2009, 02:56 PM
Having lived in Japan I love the food, but never had a taste for Edamame at all. ewwwwwwww

mechurchlady
09-04-2009, 03:26 PM
Can I assume this will not offer gluten free and soy free options?
Yoshinoya is a local chain that does the bowls and it has been 5 years probably but they had good bowls.

I love white rices and this sounds good but I agree with the wanting to dump the stuff in a plate and mix the stuff up. AVP maybe you should add to the restaurant info the following: bring own plate.

olegc
09-04-2009, 04:53 PM
I know people who take edamame and toss it in soy sauce before eating. I don't get it (tomatoes in ketchup, anyone?), but to each their own.

AVP

at some point it's more salt than anything else, right?

Wenderbell
09-05-2009, 02:35 PM
We spent the morning in California Adventure and popped in to the Fortune Cookery for lunch.

My sister Amy had the Orange Chicken and didn't like it at all. Same problem as the above reviewer - the rice was mushy, but she also found the sauce way too hot. I had the kids meal and was amazed at how tiny the portions were. There was about three bites of rice and four tiny pieces of chicken. No veggies. Again, same problem with the rice - very mushy. I actually took a picture next to my phone - to show how little the meal was.

spectromen
09-06-2009, 09:19 AM
The one item I remember from the original menu that was excellent were the huge egg rolls - wonder why they didn't make the cut this time. :crying:

cstephens
09-06-2009, 09:35 AM
The one item I remember from the original menu that was excellent were the huge egg rolls - wonder why they didn't make the cut this time. :crying:

That was back when they were actually serving Chinese food. Not so much with the new menu.

mechurchlady
09-06-2009, 03:06 PM
The one item I remember from the original menu that was excellent were the huge egg rolls - wonder why they didn't make the cut this time. :crying:
They are in a much smaller place now and it is easier for them to assembly line the food. It would have been nice to have real Chinese food instead of Yoshinoya. How hard would it be to make even the Western version of Chinese cooking.

Drince88
09-06-2009, 06:12 PM
I think you're right (and the others agree) that you may have gotten teriyaki instead of the Spicy Korean.

candles71
09-06-2009, 10:18 PM
I can rule out the other 3 sauces, does the spicy Korean have ginger?

And-- are you sure you didn't get the toddler meal (which is a very small cup of rice and chicken all over the resort) rather than a kids meal?

AVP
09-07-2009, 07:23 AM
I can rule out the other 3 sauces, does the spicy Korean have ginger?That's actually how I ended up with two sauces - the CM couldn't explain to me what was in the spicy Korean sauce, so she suggested I get two. I know the one with ginger was the orange sauce, because it had pieces of mandarin orange in it. I'm allergic to coconut so I couldn't get the Thai sauce, so the mystery sauce was either not-even-remotely-spicy-Korean sauce, or teriyaki.


And-- are you sure you didn't get the toddler meal (which is a very small cup of rice and chicken all over the resort) rather than a kids meal? Positive - I saw another family order that, and the serving container was much smaller.

AVP

DizneyMommy
09-07-2009, 07:27 AM
I can rule out the other 3 sauces, does the spicy Korean have ginger?

And-- are you sure you didn't get the toddler meal (which is a very small cup of rice and chicken all over the resort) rather than a kids meal?

The Toddler Meal comes in the same size container all over the park, it's a little clear round sample size looking cup - like something you'd get your dressing in on the side. It is TINY -hard to mistake a real kids meal for a toddler meal.

Boo's Mommy
09-07-2009, 08:28 AM
It would have been nice to have real Chinese food instead of Yoshinoya. How hard would it be to make even the Western version of Chinese cooking.

I wouldn't characterize them as Yoshinoya. The real Yoshinoya is simply the onion and thinly sliced beef with broth, no sauces (the thick ones like these shown).

candles71
09-07-2009, 08:36 AM
That's actually how I ended up with two sauces - the CM couldn't explain to me what was in the spicy Korean sauce, so she suggested I get two. I know the one with ginger was the orange sauce, because it had pieces of mandarin orange in it. I'm allergic to coconut so I couldn't get the Thai sauce, so the mystery sauce was either not-even-remotely-spicy-Korean sauce, or teriyaki.

Positive - I saw another family order that, and the serving container was much smaller.

AVP
Most Teriyaki (this is why I make my own) sauces have ginger as do currys (not all but I'm not familiar enough to chance it)so that is how I could rule the others out. And the toddler meal question was to Wenderbell.

mechurchlady
09-07-2009, 02:30 PM
AVP you should have asked for the chef or manager since you are allergic to coconut. Coconut oil is used in a lot of foods and they should have made sure you got what you asked for. I am always reading labels it seems.

I wonder what the ingredients are on the sauces.

Drince88
09-07-2009, 08:59 PM
Mom and I both got food at the Lucky Fortune Cookery today for lunch (my sister got soup in a bread bowl). We both got the mandarin orange sauce, she got chicken, I got beef, and she got her sauce on the side. The rice wasn't bad to us - Mom said it reminded her some of Hawaiian rice (but it's been a few years since she lived there - they moved back to Oregon when I was 5 months old!) The beef was decent - fairly thinly sliced and tasty.

Due to seeing AVP with the edamame, we had to order a cup, too. It was a really nice option. Also, upon closer inspection, I decided it wasn't a true false bottom on the container, it was more a necessity of manufacturing, since the bottom is a different piece than the sides, like most fountain drink cups have.

They did have the kids meal container near the ordering window - it was really quite small.

Oh, and the line was REALLY short (I think we had to wait for one person ahead of us), while the line at the bread bowl place was quite long. I didn't pay attention to how long the lines were at the Mexican food place, though. This was near 1:00 pm on Labor Day.

me2
09-08-2009, 10:50 AM
The rice wasn't bad to us - Mom said it reminded her some of Hawaiian rice (but it's been a few years since she lived there - they moved back to Oregon when I was 5 months old!) .

Yum! Now I know where to go for a taste of home. We just can't get used to the Uncle Ben's fall apart stuff.

cynthia312
09-08-2009, 10:55 AM
Almost $10 for a small portion? Hmmm...I was looking forward to trying this but I doubt I'll go there anytime soon now. And I thought $6.79 for a one item Panda Express was pricey.

The old man
09-08-2009, 11:45 AM
I hoping the throughput is better than the Mexican place. I've waited in that line long enough to read War And Peace cover to cover.

Mr.Abominable
09-09-2009, 12:07 AM
We were not all that impressed with Lucky Fortune this weekend, mostly with the sauces. Thought the Orange was extremely orangy!:D so much so that I did not want to eat it. The korean was not very spicy at all and the teriyaki was unbelievably salty (More that it should be). We did not try the Thai which apparantly was the best one, maybe next week (Maybe not). Edamame was good as were the fortune cookies but its not too hard not to mess those up. Hopefully they will re-evaluate the sauces and fix the mushy rice because it could be a nice new dining option to have for those of us who have to eat there every week! ;)

bennette
09-11-2009, 07:29 PM
Well, while all the regular D23 expo goers were enjoying Johnny Depp, et al, today, those of us staffing the MousePlanet lounge had other interesting experiences, like this one.

I met a really dedicated and enthusiastic CM who works at the Lucky Fortune Cookery and I shared some of the comments we were hearing at the site. Here are some responses. Remember not to shoot the messenger.

"The rice is too sticky."

It's SUPPOSED to be sticky. That's how asian rice is served. They cook it in a special rice cooker to get it that way.

"It's overpriced."

Are you kidding? It's over a pound of food for the price. It compares well to over value/price points in the park.

"The sauces seem off."

They are still adjusting them and indeed, some of the CM's are still learning which sauce is which. Want to be sure you are getting the right sauce? Check your garnish. They are as follows:

Mandarin Orang-mandarin orange segment
Spicy Korean-sesame seeds
Thai Coconut Curry-fresh cilantro
Teriyaki-diced green onion

"The kid's meal is too small."

Um, it's a kid's meal. It's not supposed to feed a grown up.

More rice bowl tips

The rice is a mixture of white and brown rice. While it's mostly white rice, some brown is apparently included as a "stealth health" measure.

The vegetable mixture is usually some combination of baby bok choy, white onions, celery, carrots, red peppers, and perhaps some snap peas; all garnished with green onions.

The tofu is prepared with a marinade of sesame seed oil, sesame seeds, salt, and Szechuan peppers, then baked.

Most everything is pre-mixed so you can't get many adjustments but you might be able to get tofu on a kids meal. His suggestion, however, was to try the adult tofu meal first to see what you think about the spice level.

And yes, everybody's loving the edamame.

cstephens
09-11-2009, 08:23 PM
"The rice is too sticky."

It's SUPPOSED to be sticky. That's how asian rice is served. They cook it in a special rice cooker to get it that way.

It's not really about how it's cooked, though, yes, putting in too much water makes it sticky - it's about the rice itself. And it's usually Japanese rice that's stickier - Chinese rice isn't - so "asian rice" doesn't really work. And even with Japanese rice, while it's stickier than regular rice, it's still not supposed to be mushy, which is different than sticky.

Not shooting the messenger - just adding my thoughts.