Review Bok Choy Chinese Cuisine - Brighton

Dined with a friend, hoping to share a bottle of exceptional red wine. Booked over the phone, and was told BYO wine only. The lady on the phone said nothing about corkage. When we sat down, the male waiter told us that corkage was $18 per bottle, which although we did not expect, we were prepared to pay. We asked for burgundy glasses for our wine to replace standard cheap wine glasses already at the table, which the waiter refused to give to us, saying that it is only for the wine we buy at the restaurant. What were we paying the corkage for? Then we asked to decant our 14yo bottle of Syrah, to which the waiter replied that it would cost us another $10 for the decanter, because they would have to wash it! When we pointed out that our wine is old and is a special bottle that we wanted to share rather than a cheap bottle of wine, he replied that his wines were even more expensive. We almost walked out. It was insulting to the least. Food is good, but not exceptional, nothing special as far as Asian cuisine goes. Prices are high for the quality of food.

So disappointing. We booked in advance for Mother’s Day dinner and when we turned up they said they were too busy and were cancelling our booking. The guy on the door wasn’t even apologetic - he thought it was exceptionally funny and laughed. Could have called us in advance but didn’t. What a fizzer. Such a shame- won’t be going back.

We have dined at Bok Choy in Brighton on several occasions and on this visit chose their six-course Supreme Banquet rather than Yum Cha that was also an option. We enjoyed the dishes and service, for the most part, was friendly and helpful. Having said that, for a restaurant of this calibre we would expect at least one staff member to have knowledge of their wine list. As it turned out, we consulted Google for information on our choice of wine!

Fabulous food and great service. We ordered the banquet and each course was a generous portion. Highly recommend this place to try out.

Consistently delicious Chinese cuisine and great service.

I love Chinese food, and honestly, this is the best I've found in Melbourne. The food is consistently good and while it's a tad on the pricey side, the service is great and food is yum. I usually get Chicken Fried Rice or some other kind of poultry dish. Everything I've ever had here is fantastic. Even their basic vegetarian spring rolls are really good. The minor downsides are that parking can be tricky and you may need to park a little bit away from here (which is a pain in the butt on a rainy night). Also, yes, a little on the pricey side as I mentioned before. But honestly, if you want good food and good service, then this is definitely worth trying.

One of two go-to Chinese Restaurants in Brighton. Food is of excellent quality, and don't go past the Eye Fillet in Szechuan Sauce - has got that right bit of spice / bite to it, not overpowering but makes you say "well hello".

Great food Excellent service Calimari entree was brilliant Dumplings are fresh and amazing. The lobster San choy bow excellent. Wonderfully quiet for a Chinese restaurant and no rush to finish your meals. Well done all.

Our first time to this restaurant and we were impressed by the service and the food. Incredible menu to choose from. Caters to all tastes. Would highly recommend.

Loved the ambience. The food .The staff. Highly recommend. A perfect lunch.

Excellent service and food. I’ve been here many time, one of the best restaurant in Brighton.

I have been here many times including Chinese New Year last year and loved it. I have to have a Gluten free meal and they cater for it without a fuss, more importantly without getting ill afterwards. Went to Chinese New Year last night and for the first time I was really disappointed with the Gluten free banquet served. What a shame.

Great meal here tonight. Excellent food and good service on a busy Saturday night

Good service and good food. Even gave me a birthday treat of fried ice cream

To be honest, they use the supreme quality ingredients for the dishes. How is that possible to give a bad comment???

11/10, absolutely delicious

Best Peking Duck with the rudest service. We have been regulars for years and yet just poorly run. Sadly won't be returning anymore.

Zomato rating 3.5<br/>We have dined at Bok Choy in Brighton on several occasions and on this visit chose their six-course Supreme Banquet rather than Yum Cha that was also an option. We enjoyed the dishes and service, for the most part, was friendly and helpful. Having said that, for a restaurant of this calibre we would expect at least one staff member to have knowledge of their wine list. As it turned out, we consulted Google for information on our choice of wine!

I love Chinese food, and honestly, this is the best I've found in Melbourne. The food is consistently good and while it's a tad on the pricey side, the service is great and food is yum.<br/><br/>I usually get Chicken Fried Rice or some other kind of poultry dish. Everything I've ever had here is fantastic. Even their basic vegetarian spring rolls are really good.<br/><br/>The minor downsides are that parking can be tricky and you may need to park a little bit away from here (which is a pain in the butt on a rainy night). Also, yes, a little on the pricey side as I mentioned before. But honestly, if you want good food and good service, then this is definitely worth trying.

On reading other reviews I was not sure I was at the same restaurant!  Both the service and food were very ordinary.   It used to be good but not any more.

Great food lovely service highly recommended Peking duck. Order online regularly and food is always of a high standard. Looking forward to dining in more

Lovely Food ( wasabi prawns and scallops - so good ) friendly staff and good feel to the<br/>Restaurant, nice wine list too ... definetly worth five stars

One of the best Chinese restaurant in Brighton. You can get some authentic dishes here as well. Highly recommend the seaside here, especially if u like lobster

This place used to be a go to place to Chinese food. It is now not. Maybe worth going for take away. The service was slow, scales in the steamed barramundi, sweet corn soup (vegetarian) was cold and the only good thing was the wine collection. Staff seemed to stand around and they could not handle a simple table to 6 on a Tuesday night. <br/><br/>Unless you want red wine and dumplings avoid.

Was invited here for a late dinner catchup with a friend who was keen on this place for their signature deep fried ice cream!<br/><br/>The restaurant was pretty quiet around 8:30pm on a Tuesday when we arrived but it was noticeably more of an upmarket styled Chinese restaurant with a beautiful entrance way and a nice spacious dinning area.<br/><br/>The menu is quite extensive with lots of different options, we opted for the spring rolls, San Choy Bow (chicken mince lettuce cups), sweet an sour chicken with veggies and the Korean prawn dish.<br/><br/>The Spring rolls were quite tasty and filled well, the San Choy Bow was so juicy and tasty, it was hard to eat but was on of the best dishes I've tried. The sweet and sour chicken was nice and the Korean prawn was a very small serving size which was disappointing. <br/><br/>It was getting late, around 9:15pm after we had finished mains and the restaurant seemed to be rushing us out which felt quite rude, we still wanted to try the the deep fried ice cream so we ordered it anyway. We shared this dish and it was amazing, great texture combination from the hot, crispy, golden batter to the cold, smooth ice cream. The batter was not oily at all, it was drizzled with a caramel sauce which made it taste even better, definitely worth a shot! <br/><br/>After dessert, the waiter seemed to be rushing us out even more, by cleaning up our table including our glasses of water! The staff need to show more respect to paying customers during the full operational hours listed on the door and not try to rush patrons out because it's late.<br/><br/>Overall, the food was nice, the dessert was a standout but I won't be rushing back anytime soon after that type of service.

Our favourite local for a delicious, friendly, relaxing dinner. Great value for money and the food is clean, light and traditional. No gimicky menu dishes trying to be cool, just great, honest Chinese food. The staff is so friendly, the atmosphere is amazing and the food is always 10/10. Highly recommend!

Really amazing food. The fried rice is cooked with fresh ingredients and the prawn dumplings are very flavoursome. The staff are polite and very on the ball when it comes to ordering and they never leave you waiting. <br/>

I can't comment on the dishes and main menu, but if the value for money is like the yum cha, I would say it's not worth your time. The price of yum cha is a bit above average, the only reason we went was because we had entertainment cards. It's a fairly flashy place, not very large, with decor possessing a dark and modern vibe. Not what you'd expect with a name like 'Bok Choy'. The yum cha menu was a bit limited, they didn't serve some of the usual favourites like the steamed pork roll wrapped in beancurd skin. They had also run out of several things, but yet retained dishes that aren't even real dim sum, like teriyaki chicken skewers. They also don't bring trolleys around, you just order from the menu. Despite this, they still for some reason had to be prompted to bring us the menu, even after we struggled with knowing what to order. Nearly all of the classic yum cha dishes on offer have been placed within the 'dim sim deluxe' category, with each costing $7.80. A bit steep-ish, especially when some of these dishes like the char siu bao only come with two bao! But you're mostly looking at a heap of dumplings with different fillings from this category. The variety seems poor. Oh and get this, 2 pieces of sesame prawn toast for $9.80?! That's just way wrong.<br/>Quality wise, everything tasted fresh but it was nothing standout. Some things were of a decent standard, such as the har gao, prawn and chive dumplings, siu mai, sticky rice and egg tart. The char siu bao was significantly below standard, while the lai wong bao was not bad. The bbq pork pie was even worse than the bao equivalent, having no flavour, and the pastry being very crumbly and soft.<br/>I just found this place odd and off-kilter in a lot of ways, but to put it simply, you just wouldn't come here for yum cha--there's plenty of other places in Melbourne that offer a smoother, familiar and authentic experience.

Good interior, o.k. service ,but lemon chicken looked very lonely in a plate without a piece of vegetable! <br/>What sort of main caurse is that? <br/>$29.00<br/>With so much choices today,we would think twice to come again!!<br/>?<br/> <br/>

A personal favorite of mine. I like their food, the service is always good. A great wine list. Always a good place to have a nice quiet and relaxing meal.

Nice but overpriced for what you get. Service was average and took a while for the food to arrive despite the restaurant being almost empty.

If only I can give a BIG FAT ZERO!! <br/><br/>Way too pretentious!!! $12 for a dumpling??? what a joke!!! ordered 4 baskets and tea.. Bill was $43!!! <br/><br/>was the food good? It was ok but nothing to warrant robbery!! it's all frozen bought from wholesalers! With exception of a few dim sums that is made there. But these days all restaurants don't do this. Cost of a dim sum master to make the yum cha dumplings from scratch is too costly. anyway.. each to there own. I believe in the principle of things. Don't call a frkn prawn dumpling premium just because you've touched it. It's still only $4.50!! unless u add caviar or foie gras then charge $10 for it!! I'm saying it how it is. okok add in overheads and rent... that's why I will not go back..

Good takeaway option for locals. <br/>Recommend the Satay Chicken Curry.<br/>Can't say much for the rest of the menu as I haven't tried. <br/>Thats all she wrote folks

Service was a bit hit and miss depending on which waiter you got. Food was good, but basically suburban Chinese food as slightly high prices. The place was also a bit humid/ muggy. BYO is offered. $200 for 4.

Overall, the restaurant is nice and clean. One of the clean Chinese restaurant in this area. Good environment. Nice decoration. The service was good. The food was above average. However, the Yum Cha was limited choices, there were not many varieties of dishes on yum Cha menu. The mango pudding was nice and the banana fritter was delicious and crunchy.

Lack of hospitality. Had read some reviews and decided to try bok choy for dinner with my guests, food and services was ok. however the old lady manger seemed does not have any interest in hospitality and consider my guests to be irritating nuisances. she was very impatient with us and so grumpy which of course put me in an embarrassing situation. well, not a very good place to invite your friends.

An ever changing Yum cha menu is placed before us, with also an explanation of yum cha specials that the chef designs and hidden off the menu.<br/>Suggestions arranged by our waiter to get us started of Wasabi prawns, Peking duck pancakes and Chinese broccoli in soy were arranged in a blink of an eye. It was pleasing to have faith in the waiter as he arranges items even before you scour over the menu.

...the reasonable wine list and stand out dishes like the barramundi and Peking duck will get me back there again alone. Would recommend to anyone this side of town, but perhaps not quite worth the drive cross town for, then again I guess that's why the clever chaps have Choi's in Hawthorn!

One of the better suburban Chinese. This place is of a better class than the usual suburban Chinese. Food is tasty and fresh. Service was also great. A bit more pricy than some but worth it.

Dont waste your time or money. My family and friends have been going to the Bok Choy Restaurant for several years now! To begin with the service was excellent the food delicious and the restaurant itself had a lovely feel and nice decor! Sadly this is not the case now! My feedback is based on the past 3 recent visits! The décor is looking old and lacks warmth. The wash room and toilet area is dirty and cold, I can only imagine what the kitchen looks like. Either the restaurant has changed owners or there is a new manager who is a grumpy abrupt old woman!! If she is leading the staff I can understand why the staffs don’t smile she barks her orders at them and not a smile to be seen, quite frankly appalling service.... Top this off with just okay food! Don’t waste your time or money going here it is just not worth it!

The best. We went on a Tuesday night and the restaurant was very busy. the service started off slowly but it was well worth the wait. the nice part was that even though we didn't complain they came and apologised for the wait as the busy night was unexpected. <br/>there were 4 adults and a toddler and brought the toddlers food quickly. we had decided on a vegetarian evening and it was to die for.<br/>will definitely be back.

Best place for Chinese in Brighton.<br/>Excellent Food and Service. Price is Ok.<br/>Only bad thing is the seats are hard.

Just because the waiters didn't kiss your ass doesn't mean it's a horrible restaurant. Food delicious and as expected. Good atmosphere

Elegant Dining. Bok Choy Chinese Restaurant in a fine dining restaurant with a great ambience. The food is delicious and the staff are very friendly and also highly professional. Highly recommended.

Tried to book, no table, hung up!. Gee, always loved this restaurant but reading the other service reviews and todays experience and I'm wondering what on earth is going on. We didn't even get to eat. I called to book for yum cha, was told no vacancy and she hung up before I could even ask for another time or day!! She didn't even say sorry or good bye.<br/><br/>something must be brewing behind the scenes. Has the halmark signs of a business going under or about to be sold.

Deathly service. Went to Bok Choy on one Saturday night. I used to go here a lot, but my visits have become less frequent as satisfaction has dropped quite a lot in recent time. Food quality is still reasonable, prices are a bit expensive, the serving sizes are acceptable. Although they have lots of people, service is also poor and unresponsive. Throughout the night not one waiter/waitress smiled or asked if we needed anything or if our meals were okay. It will be a very long time before I go again. They have lost me.

The food is very good as it were in china, the amount of dishes are big enough comparing with some others. Good interior environment and beautiful picture.

We booked here as it was in the entertainment book. <br/>The surrounds and decor and fantastic. Very contempory and inviting. I will wrap this review up quickly. The food is really good, the service is poor. Unfriendly staff. There is plenty of them, however their demeanour is poor and unwelcoming. I did not see one smile from any of the staff. The main head waitress was more content helping herself to a glass of red wine than focusing on the restaurant. Other staff seemed dis interested and bored. <br/>When I asked for a tax invoice it was thrown at me without any acknowledgment. I am no restraunter, however if I saw new people in my restaurant I would be courteous on arrival and would acknowledge their departure witha thank you and please come again. Sadly we were ignored as soon as the bill was payed. We won't be back. Shame as the food was good.

A Flat Affair. Food was ordinary and overpriced. Also when we asked for champagne glasses for our byo bottle, we were told the glasses were only for in house purchases. Our champagne was poured into wine glasses, which of course went flat, as did our dining experience at this restaurant.

What an disappointment! For those new like myself who is Chinese and just moved to Brighton, first time try the Chinese food in the area- bad service and very ordinary food with ridiculous price for simple fried vege! Later on tried Brighton China in Church street, more simple touch of food, taste much better.

Ms Jan Berger. This restaurant is truly amazing...the fresh flowers and the interior design...as well as the food and presentation of it.<br/>Our delicious spring rolls came served in a tall glass!<br/>Our lobster dish had tasty noodles and even snow peas with it!<br/>The sliced prawn cake with Chinese broccoli , sweet and sour fish and pork, tofu dish were all excellent.<br/>I highly recommend this restaurant for its excellent and friendly service besides the amazing dishes!<br/>Bon appetite!

OMG! Just discovered this place and I love everything about it! It is beautifully decorated, the service was fantastic, they give you peanuts instead if the standard prawn crackers (which I don't eat), the vegetarian options were so many and excellent! The fried tofu was AMAZING! My husbands chicken and fish looked excellent! The wine was incredible, they offered a doggy bag for the leftovers (wasn't going to ask!) and they made no issue at all of us using an entertainment book voucher. They said they would even do a banquet next time that was half vegie and half meat if we wanted it! So impressed by this place! 5 star rating!

Loved it!. Went here New Years Eve, was very impressed and the service was impeccable. Would recommend it to anyone! Best Chinese food I have ever had.

Best | Chinese | Ever

Saturday night at Bok Choy. I took a group of Chinese friends to Bok Choy as they were visiting Australia and were looking for a nice Chinese dining experience. It was reasonably short notice so the Flower Drum was booked out. I booked at Bok Choy.<br/><br/>Whilst the food was acceptable, not outstanding and the wine list was very good the service left a good deal to be desired. Have you ever been to one of those mid range restaurants that has been in business for some time in a good area and gets local patronage because its local regular diners continue dining there? I suspect this is the case at Bok Choy.<br/><br/>The manager spoke a reasonable range or Mandarin but struggled. She persevered notwithstanding other waiters could have done a better job, and later during the meal did so. We round and round and arrived at an order with much more effort than was required. The wine list was very good and served well. Tick.<br/><br/>Whilst I might go back because it is convenient, I would not take Chinese diners there as they were made to feel unwelcome and the service was just passable. I suspect if this restaurant was located where there were similar restaurants competing for business it would be gone within a short period of time. <br/><br/>Service makes the dining experience worthwhile and that was the missing ingredient at Bok Choy.

Excellent food and service would definitely recommend this restaurant. And will be returning for more good food

Great food and service. Have been there several times and the food was fantastic and the staff are amazing. Would recommend this restaurant to anyone. The wasabi prawns are absolutely delicious and amazing value too!!

The food is excellent, but we no longer eat here because the manager is rude and unpleasant. (The other staff are ok.) When we eat there we really feel as if they are doing us a favor and almost apologetic if we ask for a slight variation to a banquet. We do miss the excellent food, and it is a shame that the service is so off putting.

The food was quite nice but the customer service left a lot to be desired. My wife had a glass of wine split on her and all they did was giggle and try and apologize without really being genuine about it. They didn't even offer us a free drink or anything, left a sour taste in our mouths that's for.

Great banquet with colleagues.. . Would return in a heart beat!! A+++

Fantastic!. Went to Bok Choy for the Chinese New Year Banquet & I couldn't say a bad thing about it! They were informed ahead of time of my dietary requirements and catered to them beautifully! Even some of the meat-eaters preferred my dishes! Beautiful fresh food (the tofu was the best I'd ever had!) and fantastic service. I really was impressed and will definitely be recommending Bok Choy for great Chinese cuisine!

Huge selection of dishes so having finally decided on a selection we were v pleased with everything we ordered-fantastic flavours.will definitely be going back again.

Best Chinese around, I get take away from here 3-4 times a week and love the place recommend it to anyone

Staff are rude. Cutlery are dirty and disgusting. Had to ask for new plate/cup/cutlery multiple times. Food is salty. Won't be coming back here anymore.

NOT HAPPY. The staff are rude, disinterested and it feels like your imposing on them when you place your order. I'm a regular and usually get take away but am fed up with the service standard of a Brighton restaurant, especially for the prices of their food! Won't be coming back again, there are better places out there and cheaper for an Asian cuisine.

Loved it. Good service, nice food, simple. Lobster San Chou bow was a hit. Peking duck was superb. Even the daiquiris were lovely.

I want more wasabi prawns. A sunny sunday and a drive lead us to the doors of Bok Choy where we gorged ourselves silly on their magnificent yum cha.<br/><br/>Inspiring sweetly coated wasabi may prawns from the chef special set up us to what was going to be an explosion of food headed our way. Tender juicy succulent prawns were coated in a mellow creamy wasabi mayo and hinted with some sweet chilli. every mouthful was amazing, and wanted more and more of these, was a shame is wasn't an endless supply.<br/><br/>Treasure bite sized dumplings of scollop, pork and shark fin were enjoyable accompanies with some fresh Chinese broccoli in soy.<br/><br/>Peking duck pancakes, sugar cane prawns and sesame toast were only moments away from being delights to the taste buds.<br/><br/>Each mouthful and each flavour were fantastic and service along side of that was great.<br/><br/>We were welcomed and served upon perfectly with our waiter making vast suggestions to the yum cha choices even before we had looked at the menu. Trusting him all the way we were never disappointed.<br/><br/>A great lunch and can't wait to go back with family and friends and choose from their large a'la carte menu.

Excellent wine list, a definite treat if you like the odd exotic bottle. We had the deluxe banquet, oddly that's the least expensive of the two banquet menus. This was filling and served in 5 courses, and this was a little strange, we would have expected the prawn and steak dishes to arrive at the same time with the rice. Dessert was fried ice cream. New to the Entertainment Book with 25% off, but not apparently for the banquets !?. Very nice for a special dinner, again the wine list sparkles.

Mobile review. Went to Bok Bok for lunch today and had the chicken rice paper roll with the spicy dipping sauce. would recommend it for a quick and cheap lunch.

Friendly and Fresh. We went a few weeks ago with a voucher bought through living social. The staff greeted us in a friendly manner and the first course arrived not long after we had sat down. The spring rolls were delicious and very well presented, as was all of the food. There was a bit too much sauce (which I didn't like) with the prawns. The Peking duck rolls were made in front of us and were delicious. The staff were very friendly and interested in us so we will definitely be back!

We went a few nights ago to use a banquet voucher bought through living social, so I was a little dubious. but the food was ex good, best Chinese I've had in years. Beautiful home made spring rolls, delic Peking duck rolls, whiting (kindly substituted for the prawns at the last minute as I am not a prawn fan, great ESP as not part of the purchased voucher) then fillet steak. All very tasty and ex quality. Very attentive service too. Will be back.

Dreadful experience. We made a booking two weeks in advance for father's day, confirmed the week before and they called on the day to confirm. You could imagine the shock when we arrived only to find they had given our table away and offered to seat us in the back yard. Heart breaking for my Dad and family on father's day. Everything else in the area was booked out. The host of the restaurant could not have cared less and told us to leave. We will never go there again and neither will our friends.

Fabulous service, always reliable, one of the best Chinese restaurants in bayside area - and the only one we trust!

Love It. This is the best Chinese in Brighton. The food and service are fantastic - I love the Peking Duck the best. The restaurant looks great and the wine cellar extensive. It costs a bit but well worth going to.

Andrew. I recently was invited to Bok Choy . I had not visit this restaurant before. Upon my entrance, we were greeted and seated. The waiter was very efficient and service throughtout the night was good. One disappointment was the dessert list (as with most chinese restaurant). Overall expericence was good food & good service. Well worth a try.

Bitterly Disappointed. We dined at Bok Choy having been recommended to do so by some members of our family. I have to admit I was bitterly disappointed with the service. From the moment we walked in the door we felt as if we were imposing. We booked the table confirming the use of a high chair, upon arrival; they had no high chair available and said they would see what they could do. After not attending to the situation, we had to make do with a 1.5 year old child sitting unrestrained on a chair. After other diners left the restaurant we had to source the high chair ourselves, which was not ideal. We had to constantly wave waiters down to order drinks, waiters would not take the full tables order and drinks would take 30-40mins to arrive...disappointing. Overall the food was good, but the service heavily outweighed our opinion of this restaurant. I have never posted a review on a site like this before, but my experience at Bok Choy compelled me to make the effort to do so...Very disappointed....

Disappointing. We we're recommended to Bok Choy and thought we would spoil our mothers on mothers day! What a shame and disappointment!<br/><br/>Service is to be desired, the food is ok, but the service experience out weighted the food and it took far to long to be served?<br/><br/>The number one no no in a restaurant of this price range is the service need to be of high standard and waiting staff should not be moving tables around when you are in the middle of your dinner, we couldn't believe it.<br/><br/>The list goes on....... I hope Bok Choy has the sense to hire a media monitor, it will do the world of good for their business!

Service Please??????. We went to Bok Choy for Mother's Day Dinner. From the moment we walked in the staff were rude and disinterested. We waited over one hour for our entrees and had to tell them to bring the mains as the children were starving. The food was good however this was marred by the lack of service. For the price we paid I would expect exceptional service and an overall fine dining experience, however this was definitely not the case and we left with a very sour taste in our mouths - will not be returning!

There's rare and there's raw! Just ordered the chilli beef and it was raw gristle. Had to bin it and order pizza!

We went there at the end of November for Sunday yum cha. Food and serviced had declined considerably from our last visits, about a year before. It was expensive for what it was and we won't be rushing back

Yum cha. Sunday lunch yum cha with a difference--hardly anybody around, and no waitresses pushing trolleys around and flogging their fare. Wait staff aren't on your case all the time and don't seem to be hurrying you along unlike in some other places. Enjoyed the peking duck pancakes and lobster in garlic and butter. Good wine list to boot!

Great quality. Service was great and the quality is fantastic, we had a stand out dish of eye fillet beef that was melt in your mouth good. Well worth a try

This is a regular Friday/Saturday haunt for many Baysiders. Food is good quality and they seem to change their cooking style every so often - which is great if you are a regular. Staff are also very welcoming. Represents good value for money. Do yourself a favour and order the lightly battered lobster inspicy salt and pepper- in fact order 2 servings!