Lulu Modern Chinese Brings a Big-City Edge to Plano

Photos & Article by Joey Stewart

At Lulu Modern Chinese, the room hits you first. A long bar runs the length of the space, stacked floor to ceiling with bottles and softly backlit like a display case, with three large TVs above it. It feels polished without feeling stiff. You can sit there and not feel pushed out.

The dining room opens up from there with curved banquettes, marble tables, and a ceiling full of geometric panels and hanging lights that give the space some movement. Booths line the windows, while the center of the room carries a little more energy. It’s modern and clearly thought through, but not overdesigned.

Owner Sunny Chang brings a New York restaurant background into the mix, and it shows. After years working in major restaurant groups and opening his own place in Denver, Lulu feels like a more personal swing.

The Braised Rice with Black Truffle and Mushroom comes out as a tight dome of wok-fried egg rice, fully coated in a deep, glossy sauce that leans into truffle and umami. The texture sits somewhere between fried rice and risotto, with just enough wok character underneath to keep it grounded. The truffle is upfront, layered with mushroom and finished with a richness from the cheese that pulls it together. It’s earthy and a little indulgent.

The Wagyu XLB come in a bamboo steamer, four dumplings, neatly pleated and holding a lot inside. The broth is the point here. Rich pork stock with wagyu and mushroom adds extra depth, giving you that first hit of hot soup before the filling follows. A little vinegar and ginger sharpens it up, but they don’t really need the help.

Lulu’s Tiger Prawns are easy to like. Six pieces, lightly battered, coated in a warm honey glaze that clings without weighing them down. You get a clean crisp on the outside, then a soft, properly cooked prawn underneath. The sauce leans sweet, but stays balanced enough to keep you going back for another one.

The Cumin Lamb comes out hot on an iron plate and gets a quick tableside flame before settling in. Thin slices of lamb, tender but still holding texture, tossed with cumin, peppers, and onions. The cumin leads, giving it that dry, aromatic edge, while everything else stays in support.

The menu covers a lot, but it never feels all over the place. You’ve got dumplings, wok-fired dishes, seafood, wagyu, and some heavier plates like the truffle rice, but it all fits. It’s not trying to be everything. It’s just taking familiar dishes and giving them a little more attention than you usually see around here.

The one dish that leans into the full experience is the Whole Peking Duck. You need to order it ahead, and it’s worth it. It comes out crisp, gets a quick tableside flame, then carved right there and served with pancakes and condiments. From there, you can keep it going with additional courses using the rest of the duck.

What Lulu does well is keep things in balance. There’s some flash, especially with the tableside moments, but it never replaces the food. The menu leans modern, but it still respects where it’s coming from. In a part of town where a lot of places play it safe, this one doesn’t feel like it’s trying to. It just knows what it is and runs with it.

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