By Brian Denitzio
News Editor

Two new eateries opened on the Avenue last month, each with a distinctly eastern flavor that together make for a nice one-two punch if you're looking for a meal and dessert.

For dinner or lunch, stop by the Lucky Café on Dorchester Avenue, which opened March 15 at 1107 Dorchester Ave. The owners and chefs worked previously at the Chinatown Café on Harrison Ave., and hope to bring that same flavor to Dorchester.

"It's just like Chinatown," says Brian Luc, son of owner and chef Duong Luc.

The menu boasts many of the staples one would expect at a Chinese food restaurant such as General Gau's Chicken for $7.95, and some more exotic dishes like Roast Pig Belly for $5.75.

The specialty, says Luc, is the Chinese barbecue. His personal favorite, and the menu's most popular item is the Roast Duck, Pork, and Chicken, served with white rice. The portion is massive, with huge pieces of all three meats served over a healthy amount of white rice. The meets are flavorful and succulent, and for just $6.75, it would be a bargain at twice the price.

"It'll fill you up good," says Luc.

If you have some room left for dessert, burn off some calories by walking up the Avenue about a block to the Bubble T Zone. Also opened last month, the Bubble T Zone's brightly colored décor invites passersby in to sample a smoothie, slush, or shake.

Co-owner Lila Nguyen opened the shop late last month with her brother and her sister-in-law. She says the fresh ingredients she uses sets Bubble T Zone apart from other ice cream and shake joints.

"Everything in here, I do fresh," says Nguyen. That includes using fresh fruit in the smoothies. And it also includes every morning cooking up pearls of tapioca, the ingredient that sets a Bubble T Zone drink apart from your average shake.

The pearls, black in color and the size of a large marble, are cooked each morning in a crock pot then soaked in honey. Nguyen spoons them into the bottom of each drink, necessitating the use of an extra-thick straw to suck up both the drink and the pearls. The pearls have a chewy consistency and a sweet taste that doesn't overpower the flavor of the drink itself. For the curious, they're definitely worth a try, but if you're not up to it, drinks are available without pearls.

The menu boasts a wide variety of flavors, from strawberry and mango to green tea and avocado. Also available are authentic Vietnamese coffee and tea, served both hot and cold. Nguyen says she's thinking about bringing in ice cream at some point, but that the various drinks are selling well for now.

Eleven-year old Danny Pham of Fields Corner stops by the Bubble T Zone whenever he visits his grandmother in Savin Hill. He's been in a few times since it opened, and will keep coming back.

"The drinks are good, it's not like other smoothie places," he says after ordering a Thai Tea slush. "I'm aiming to try everything on the menu."

Lucky Café is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Bubble T Zone is open Mon, Wed-Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit them on the web at bubbletzone.com