Hidden away at a neighbourhood community centre is a trendy vegetarian diner, complete with minimalist tearoom aesthetics. While Lucky Cat bills itself as a “fusion meatless” diner, the menu leans more Japanese. Lucky Cat puts a plant-based spin on the hearty cuisine to create healthier creations that don’t taste, or look, too far from the real deal.
Take the sashimi for instance. Konjac is used to create salmon ($4) sashimi, which comes complete with the fat lines found in typical farm-raised varieties. Firmer and almost fishcake-like, these slices of mock fish provide a fun start to a meal at Lucky Cat.
Other interesting options include the Tofunagi Maki ($12), which uses tofu, fried then glazed with a salty-sweet marinade, to create a rice roll filled with crunch and flavour; and somen served with yuzu ponzu broth ($10). The cold noodle dish is supposed to taste light and refreshing, but the heavy-handed use of the citrus veers the bowl towards dessert territory.
More familiar is the Japanese curry katsu don ($9), where slick curry with chunks of potato and carrot comes ladled over fluffy rice and a meaty soy patty.
Outside of regular mealtimes, Lucky Cat also serves novel bites of shiso or yaki shoyu onigiri ($3.50), toast ($6) topped with yuzu thyme or espresso butter, and shiitake mushrooms finished with cream and cheese ($7). Wash everything down with a cup of coffee (from $3), singe origin tea ($5), or tea-based mocktails (from $5).