Chris Jay
The late Kuam Lim, the iconic and unforgettable owner of Lucky Palace in Bossier City.
Five years ago, I visited Shreveport and Bossier City on a press trip. A lifelong resident of Louisiana who had attended high school just down the road in Natchitoches, this was somehow my first visit to the hub of North Louisiana. Honestly, I simply hadn’t been in any hurry. South Louisianans love to rag on North Louisiana, lump it in with Texas, say that the food and hospitality is inferior to that in the southern part of the state. That weekend, I learned that those folks could not have been more wrong.
On our last night in the area, I joined other journalists, influencers, bloggers, and podcasters in downtown Shreveport to watch the finale of that year’s Louisiana Food Prize. Starving, we had started to eye the nearby food trucks with their too-long lines, when our host Chris Jay approached us. “There’s a really great, hole-in-the-wall Chinese place not far from here,” he said coyly, well aware that our visit to Lucky Palace would be the greatest gem of the jam-packed trip. “How does that sound?”
It didn’t take me long to realize this had been Jay’s plan all along. Dinner at Lucky Palace was the unexpected crown jewel of the tour, and not just because of the expertly-wine-paired international feast we were about to experience—but because we got to meet Lim.
"Lim reminds us that when truly special things exist in unexpected places, it’s not just coincidence. Unexpectedly special things—like a world-class Chinese restaurant in a dingy Bossier City motel, for example—only exist because of the intentions, effort, and love of singularly special people."
Our group pulled up at the Bossier Inn & Suites, a run-down looking motel across the bridge in Bossier City, right by I-20. “Surely this can’t be right,” I’m sure I wasn’t alone in wondering. But after walking past the motel’s fluorescent-lit reception desk, into the doors of Lucky Palace, we found ourselves in another world entirely. We could hardly believe the beautiful dining room, draped in soft gold lighting and Chinese red accents; decorated tastefully-yet-extravagantly with Asian artwork, plants, and tropical fish. We sat down at a large round table equipped with a lazy Susan—where Lucky Palace’s owner Kuan Lim soon greeted us, then much to our delight and surprise, joined us for dinner.
Lim remains the warmest and most gregarious host I have had the pleasure of dining and drinking with. As a journalist, you learn to gauge when someone is just buttering you up for coverage. That wasn’t Lim. He was genuinely excited to meet us, befriend us, feed us, drink wine with us; it was evident that connecting with people in this way was at the very core of his nature.
We pored over his tomes of menus, amazed—one containing delicacies selected by Lim from across the Asian continent (from Thai green curries to thinly-sliced duck breast on scallion pancake, a beloved Lucky Palace signature), another containing an international wine list more varied and extensive than I’d ever seen (the same exquisitely-curated winelist that would land on the semifinalist list for James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Wine Program, year after year). For how extensive the menus were, each dish and bottle had been thoughtfully curated by Lim, who on top of his kindness and hospitality, was a keen tastemaker, self-taught sommelier, and gourmand—always excited to try a new wine, and honing in on the perfect dish to pair it with.
When I wrote about how impressed I was with Shreveport’s food scene for Country Roads that year, I devoted more words to Lucky Palace than any other restaurant. I was captivated with Lim’s story—how he had grown up in Malaysia, and was on his way to open a restaurant in San Antonio when he stopped in Bossier City. He liked the friendly people there so much, he decided to stay. I would evangelize to anyone who happened to be traveling through or to the area to visit Lucky Palace, try the duck on scallion pancake, and say “hi” to my friend Lim for me. They were never disappointed.
On October 4, 2022, Lim passed away after a long battle with osteosarcoma cancer. Even after he lost his right leg and was undergoing treatment, Lim continued to make rounds in the Lucky Palace dining room, visiting his customers who were never just customers, but friends and family.
Lim reminds us that when truly special things exist in unexpected places, it’s not just coincidence. Unexpectedly special things—like a world-class Chinese restaurant in a dingy Bossier City motel, for example—only exist because of the intentions, effort, and love of singularly special people. Lim also reminds us that those special places and people are worth the drive, because they won’t be there forever.
Lim shared his passion and light with his community and all who knew him. And for that, we were the lucky ones.
Visit Lucky Palace for yourself at 750 Diamond Jacks Boulevard Bossier City. Learn more at lucky-palace.com.
