High-class Cafe Lucky Noodle proves lucky find
Cafe Lucky Noodle carries
an interesting, although
rather pricey, mix of cuisines
By Natasha Chilingerian
and Carl Sundberg
Pulse Writers
We recently spent an evening at
Cafe Lucky Noodle, located at 207 E.
5th Ave. After nearly three hours of
drinking and dining, we discussed our
feelings about the restaurant and eval
uated it on price, taste, drinks, atmos
phere and service.
Nat: From the minute I walked in
side Cafe Lucky Noodle's sleek doors,
I was pleasantly surprised. At first, the
name "Cafe Lucky Noodle" conjured
up images of soy sauce-drenched Chi
nese food with counter service and
plastic chairs. After driving up and
down Fifth Avenue searching for a
boldly-lettered "Cafe Lucky Noodle"
sign, I finally discovered the cursive
"LN" sitting above a dimly-lit corner
restaurant with the neon words
"espresso" and "gelato" in the win
dow. Oh, right! LN — Lucky Noodle.
I didn't expect such a class act.
Carl: Well, since it was located in
the Fifth Street Market area, 1 figured
it would be a little more high-end,
and it was. My first impressions were
mixed; I'm more of a buffalo wings
and beer kinda guy, so initially I was
intimidated. But the place was com
fortable, the host was friendly and
the lighting was darker than many
restaurants, which I like. I also en
joyed the fact that The Postal Service
was playing in the background —
not the typical Eugene sound for
such a peculiar restaurant.
Nat: I guess you could call me an
upscale dining gal, so I felt right at
home in the restaurant. It was full of
fancily dressed guests, and the wait
ers were attentive and professional.
The seats circling the bar could ei
ther resemble African drums or
champagne corks; the ambiance felt
cozy and romantic. I presumed that
the menu would adhere strictly to
pasta, but I was impressed to find a
few meat dishes sprinkled in with
the noodle entrees. I appreciated the
presentation of the bread, which ar
rived with an olive oil and balsamic
vinaigrette dressing with a dash of
diced tomatoes for dipping. And the
cocktail you ordered was the perfect
appetizer!
Carl: Yes, the "Venus" — which
had Southern Comfort, raspberry
liqueur, cranberry and orange juice
— was good. As was the second one.
A third one would have been even
better, but they were six bucks a
pop. I had reached my student-im
posed budget limit. After looking
over the menu, 1 noticed that the
dishes fell into two categories: Ital
ian entrees and Thai entrees. I
thought this was a pretty cool com
bination and very creative. I decid
ed on a dish called Khi Mao, which
they called "drunken noodles." I
thought this was a funny name, and
was ranked in the middle among
their spicy dishes. I would have or
dered the spiciest plate, but they
were also the most expensive, run
ning around $14. Like I said, I was
approaching my budget.
Nat: I chose the Pesto Ceppo be
cause 1 was intrigued by their descrip
tion of the pasta, which was said to be
"shaped like cinnamon sticks." The
waiter convinced me to order the dish
with prawns, and I was glad I did. The
rolled cylinders of pasta lived up to
their description and came drenched
in a strong, poignant pesto, which
complemented the seafood perfectly.
The only unnecessary aspects of this
dish were two hard, dry, inedible
breadsticks that came on the plate.
I'm glad I left room for the dessert we
shared. That was a little slice of heav
en, wasn't it?
Carl: Not bad. It was called Zuc
cotto, and it was a super-rich slice of
cake with four dimensions: a near
solid chocolate rim, followed by
rum-soaked sponge cake, chocolate
mousse and thick whipped cream. It
was gracefully accompanied by a
Erik Bishoff Photographer
Waiter Ramin Rezvani tends to customers at Cafe Lucky Noodle Wednesday morning.
scoop of orange-vanilla ice cream, a
sprig of mint leaves and a decorative
cocoa powder stenciling of their sig
nature "LN" logo. Overall, I would
say this restaurant is the type of place
you don't go to before a ball game,
but more the type of place you
would go to feel important or to im
press someone. On a scale of 1 to 10,
I'd give it a 9 for quality, a 3 for price
(we spent about $43 total), and a 9
for atmosphere.
Nat: The menu was a little pricey,
but you didn't have to order two
drinks! I'd say the price was about
right for a special-occasion
restaurant. I would recommend Cafe
Lucky Noodle for anyone planning a
nice birthday celebration or roman
tic date. The service was top-notch,
the atmosphere was appealing and
the food was flavorful and beautiful
ly presented. Now if only the name
were as sophisticated ...
Contact the Pulse writers at
natashachilingerian@dailyemerald.com
and carlsundberg@dailyemerald.com.
NOTES
continued from page 8
father to your children ... When I lost
you I lost my family."
A few more songs round out the
list. The Ramones cover of "Needles
and Pins" is slightly more upbeat than
the Smog song, but still not at the
usual punk tempo.
I imagine that writing about a
breakup is a hard process, and that it's
even harder when the person you're
breaking up with is in the band, as is
the case with Sleater-Kinney's "One
More Hour." And this list couldn't be
complete without the bluesy and
soulful "Good Morning Heartache,"
sung by Ella Fitzgerald.
Finally, I'm also fond of listening
to PJ Harvey when in a gloomy mood.
Although most of her songs aren't
necessarily about ended relationships,
her music is dark and strong, raw and
passionate, like a car accident you
can't help but gape at or a lightning
storm that keeps you in the rain, even
though the safe, smart thing to do is
go inside.
Contact the Pulse columnist at
helenschumacher@dailyemerald.com.
Her opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
SUNDBERG
continued from page 8
flaccid penises and beer commer
cials with farting horses, is a split-sec
ond of teat really bringing us down
the path of full-scale corruption?
I find it hilarious that an enter
tainer can go right up to the line of
acceptability and FCC-regulated
taste, but if you even wave your foot
(or in this case, your boob) over that
line, you are shunned.
One argument for the FCC is that
the breast flopped out during a time
when children were present. I asked
my 4-year-old niece what she thought
of it, and she replied, "She's pretty."
There you have it No corruption there
Maybe we should look to our Eu
ropean brothers and sisters. Over
there, the naked human form is not
only accepted, it is praised for the
beauty that it is. Had the Super Bowl
been a French game show, I doubt
anyone would have thought any
thing of it. But in the good ol' United
States, breasts in public are horrific
and should be kept locked away —
at least in the eyes of network media
and the FCC.
Wars rage, violence is praised, yet
still in our barbarian culture a breast
is more shocking than seeing a fist
fight in the dogpiles of a Super Bowl
brawl, or civilians running for their
lives while being fired upon by sol
diers. Our Pavlovian conditioning
over the years has trained us to tune
out the violence, I guess.
What this says to me is that our
country, despite being one of great
accomplishments and beauty, is still
in its adolescent phase, like a bunch
of bullies on a national playground,
beating people up and getting flus
tered and annoyed at the girls for try
ing to make us grow up.
Contact the Pulse columnist
at carlsundberg@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
LEATHER
FEATHERS
DRUGS
REALITY
TELEVISION
SHOPPING
COFFEE
PIMPING & PEEPING
COCKTAILS
LATEX
RED MEAT
GAMBLING
CHOCOLATE
SMOKING
I OR WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON.
AT LAST, THE 2004 VICE ISSUE RETURNS
Wednesday, February 25th
WHAT’S YOUR
vice?
We'll look at the lighter
side of vices on campus.
This special issue is guaranteed to
titillate, stimulate, activate, arouse,
provoke, intrigue or tickle your fancy in
one way or another.
Oregon Daily Emerald
The campus newspaper for the University of Oregon Community
time
BOOK
VOUR
TRIP
nouu!
/PRIflG BRGAH '04 PACHflGG/ J
AIR + HOTEL package prices starting at
> LONDON $428 *
> MIAMI $336 ,
> ROME $627 !
> AND MORE!
Airfare is departure from Portland. Hotel accommodations.based
on 9. nights (7 for Rome), dorm occupancy. Fare good for
students to 34 (33 for Rome), youths, teachers and spouses with
valid ID card. Price is per person, is subject to availability and
taxes are not included Blackouts and restrictions apply.
877 1/2 East 13th St
(541)344.2263
exciting things are happening @
www.stadnavel.com
STA
TRAVEL
WE VE BEEN THERE.
online » on the phooe » on cumpu/ » on the /treet
El 13 HIS El Cl ■ 13 Q D 19 El ■ IIISI IB 13 D 19 El
BBDBanBimBa
Find fun stuff in the ODE Classifieds: Comics, your daily horoscope, and, of course, the crossword.