Lucky Eight

The vast picture menu at Lucky Eight is proof enough that Cantonese cooking—the basis for most Chinese food in America, thanks to the first waves of immigrants from the coastal city now known as Guangzhou—can still inspire. This long-standing fine-dining favorite in Brooklyn’s Chinatown focuses on seafood, with live eels swimming in tanks, and lobster or whole crabs, done in five different ways. (The menu describes them all, from the sweeter Singaporean style to those dusted in black peppercorns; they’re typically sold by the pound.) There are also salt-and-black-pepper-fried shrimp, served head-on and meant to be eaten shell and all, and a bright dish called Pride of Lucky 8, a wok-tossed mix of scallions, mushrooms, abalone and dried scallops with sesame oil and ginger. There are plenty of traditional plates, like stir-fried lo mein and deep-fried, bone-in pork chops with a sweet-and-sour sauce, but lesser-known options, such as fish necks and dried black olives served with a luscious broth loaded with braised ginger, often pay off.