Lucky House

Cheap Chinese food can be a dangerous proposition. You really don't know if you're eating gobs of MSG or fried mystery meat, and if you choose poorly, you'll be paying for it in the morning. If you are looking to avoid the MSG hangover, I can attest that Lucky House in Westerville is a safe option.

The staff is gracious...and seemed to speak little English. They screwed up my dinner order by putting fried rice with it when I ordered steamed rice. Other than that minor detail, the staff was very attentive. I enjoyed the Chinese shorthand written on the table to keep track of who ordered what.

But the food is very good considering its price, and it's MSG-free with a decent number of vegetarian dinner and noodle options. My appetizer was the sesame noodles (pictured above), a Chinese classic noodle dish served at room temperature or slightly chilled in peanut sauce with sesame seeds. The plate is enormous and had to be shared by the whole table.

My dinner was Szechwan tofu, made in the classic spicy brown sauce with green peppers, carrots and onions. It was tasty and also amply portioned.

The decor is pretty classic 1970s Chinese restaurant cheese. The table cloth is paper, and most everything on the walls and ceiling is red. This might explain the massive takeout business done at Lucky House.

It might not be the highest end dining, but you do squeeze a lot of value out of the chow here. Check out the pictures below.

Lucky House