Recently opened restaurant Lucky 79 is offering a “volcanic” taste of Asian fusion, and you’d be lucky to get a taste.
The restaurant, launched in June, is a rebrand of Azabu, and it remains under the ownership of TaeShik Kim. Unlike its previous upscale identity, Kim aimed to make Lucky79 more approachable, family-friendly, and suitable for daily dining with young children. Leveraging his international culinary expertise, the restaurant now offers a diverse and affordable menu, featuring street food inspired by various Asian cuisines, including Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, and China.
To cater to Torontonians’ love for patio season, the interior design of the restaurant resembles a modern, sleek year-round patio, featuring plants positioned between tables and foliage gracefully hanging from the ceiling.
“Our focus is to really provide the ambience as well as the quality of food to the customer and build the relationship,” says Kim. “I think it’s very important for restaurants, especially in the suburban residential area, to have that level of engagement with the customers.”
The signature dish on the menu is the Pork Volcano (also called Leng Saap), a relatively new street food sold at night markets in Thailand. It consists of a mountain of braised pork bones in a 12-hour broth brewed with spicy Thai chilies served with either noodles or rice.
Guests are also free to customize the heat of their leng saap with Lucky 79’s spice station, which they will find peppers, herbs and coriander.
“One thing we learned is that you can never make the food too spicy for some people, and you can never make the food spicy enough for others,”Kim explains. “This way, they can make the adjustment based on their liking.”
On the “snack” menu, everything is under $10. The soft shell crabs are a beer-battered delight, with a bed of shrimp chips and a red thei curry dip on the side. The Tteokbokki, a simmered Korean rice cake, is another popular dish, while the Thai ice tea and thai milk tea are both the go-to drinks on the menu.
Kim plans to keep things fresh and exciting by regularly updating the menu with new dishes every two to three months, ensuring a constantly changing culinary experience for guests.
At Lucky79, you might just be in for some good luck! After each meal, diners will receive a scratch-and-win card with a chance to win a free drink or dessert.
“We’re trying to make it fun for our customers,” says Kim. “And people have a lot of fun with that towards the end of their dining.”
Lucky79 is located at 5 Glen Cameron Rd., Unit 23A in Thornhill.
