Review Happy & Lucky Family Chinese Restaurant - Doncaster East

Their food is in the mediocre to good region, as far as Chinese food goes. It's certainly nothing to write home about but it's adequate for a family dinner. Very unimpressed with the service here. The last few times we ordered 4 dishes and they took over 45 minutes to bring them to our table. Furthermore, the servings were brought out so far apart that by the time the last dish arrived, the first one was cold. Definitely below standard. Prices also aren't cheap by any means. Expect to spend around $30 per person - not as much as the upper tier of restaurants, but also far too high for a quick bite type of deal. Overall, would not recommend this place

After changing hands many times, the place is currently better than it has ever been. Wait staff are friendly and attentive. Food is great and competitively priced (if coming with a group for dinner, get the "select 4 dishes" banquet). Oh, and its spacious in there so it doesn't get too noisy or crowded.

It has changed hands a few times, so is the kitchen team and it's not getting better. The thing with Chinese restaurants is one kitchen & floor team team moved out and another comes in, like a revolving door, so is the case of this restaurant. The last time we were dining there, we've noticed a few familiar faces from another Chinese restaurant in the area. Food wise, mostly just okay, depending on which "team" is working there at any given time, I would say the new owner got no clue in running this restaurant, just an investor. Price wise, can be shocking if you order their live seafood.

This place has gone down hill in regards to yum cha. A few of the dishes tasted like they were store bought frozen. They don't serve kupie mayo, or Cheong Fun. Service is great through.

Very enjoyable atmosphere.food was excellent and price was reaonable.will certainly be going back.think i found our new regulat

Their food is delicious and their service great! While waiting for our takeaway they served us prawn crackers and red tea.

Fresh tasty food. Family friendly. Great people. Good value. We'll be back!

I've never had better Chinese food anywhere! Friendly staff also. The interior needs an upgrade but the food makes up for it.

Came on Easter holiday for Yum Cha. Very disappointed with poor service and waited for more than one hour to have all my yum cha dishes. Not recommend.

It looks plain but the food is fresh and very good tasting. Absolutely worth visiting and buying from. Service is also very friendly. What else is there to say? Good prices.

We had dinner with a group of 11 people. The service here is appalling. We waited 20 minutes to order and 30 minutes after our order was taken, we were told they had lost our order. Question is how the hell do you lose an entire order slip?! <br/>Anyway, first and last time dining here.

Came here for a big family dinner and glad we chose this restaurant. Food was very satisfying. Standout was the mud crab in ginger sauce with noodles (great flavour with lots of tasty sauce and quality crab) and snow sprouts with garlic (simply dish cooked to perfection, best I've had). All dishes were of decent serving. Service was attentive and friendly. Already thinking of coming back for more.

I was pleasantly surprised! The food was good and the special banquet where you choose 4 mains was exceptional value for $98 (including soup, rice, fruit and sweet soup for dessert). Service was friendly and the food was quick to arrive. Don't believe all the bad reviews.

There is all sorts of Chinese food of course: Szechuan, Hokkien, etc. This restaurant is in the "Hong Kong" style, and I am assured by my Malaysian-Chinese family that it was very "traditional" in this style, as opposed, perhaps, to contemporary HK-style variations. Well, I don't much care for this style at all I'm afraid. It seemed under-cooked to me and the large cuts of meat seemed coarse to taste, somewhat slimy, and left an unpleasant aftertaste. Even the steamed fish--normally well-done in Chinese restaurants--was rough and tasteless. The soup was OK. Of course, food preferences  are all very subjective. My family enjoyed it; I did not. Give me Thai, Malaysian and something with chilli any day. Service was fine: quick and responsive. They cut our birthday cake and lit the candles, they greeted us on the way out. But it all about the food, and it wasn't for me.

It has changed hands a few times, so is the kitchen team and it's not getting better.<br/><br/>The thing with Chinese restaurants is one kitchen & floor team team moved out and another comes in, like a revolving door, so is the case of this restaurant. The last time we were dining there, we've noticed a few familiar faces from another Chinese restaurant in the area.<br/><br/>Food wise, mostly just okay, depending on which "team" is working there at any given time, I would say the new owner got no clue in running this restaurant, just an investor.<br/><br/>Price wise, can be shocking if you order their live seafood.

Staff were lovely but the price you pay for something that isn't that high quality is a bit ridiculous. I think this place needs to review its pricing on its menus to get more people through the door when there is just so much competition around.

very very ordinary yum cha (and that's being polite).  The empty car park at 12.20pm should've screamed at us "turn around - go elsewhere".  It's a make-to-order place, though I think it's more a take-out-of-the-freezer when you order.  The wu gwok was just plain wrong.  It didn't have the lacey fried outside, and it wasn't just our table.  The others (when they arrived yawning at 1pm) received the same.  My final dislike was the lack of items on offer.  If you want har gow, sui mai etc, then they have it (with awful wrappers, and dense gristly filling).  Maybe we should've ordered from the main menu instead.

GROSS. Food was once average and we dined here quite often. However it was a shocker the last time we were here because everyone sat waiting for food and no food came out for yum Cha. Instead, we were greeted with rude, inexperienced staff rushing you to eat faster. Overall, very poor because the service felt forced.

I used to love the food here, it was tasty and affordable however it seems to have changed dramatically. The quality of the food has gone down a lot, portions have decreased and prices have increased. The food is slow to arrive and very disappointing.

Decent Yum Cha place with friendly staff. A good selection of dim sum for lunch, food is ok but not great. Reasonable price for the good service and conducive dining atmosphere.

Made a reservation at the last minute using a groupon deal.<br/>When we turned up the reception was warm and friendly and by the time we were shown to our table, the food wasn't far away. The waiters were really sweet and vigilant, and the food was amazing and seemed to be quite traditional. <br/>The outside of the restaurant is built similar to a modern Chinese temple which is lit up with fairy lights, whereas the inside is decorated well with traditional Chinese relics and symbols. <br/>Though we got the deal cheap on groupon, the food is typically around $60-$80 for 2 people with drinks. <br/>The red bean deep fried pancakes are AMAZING though, so its worth a visit.

Have been here numerous times. Used to be pretty good. Decent portions at reasonable prices and good friendly service. There was also a lunch special with yum cha. There were lots of choices. However it seems to have gone through a management change. The food selection is minimal and takes forever to arrive. The new, young staff require training - cannot compare to the previous team.

New renovation. This restaurant was closed for renovation and just re-opened in Mid-May 2015. Dining area has improved a lot than before. All waiters are changed and are providing very good service.<br/><br/>They have introduced Hot Pot/Steamed Boat, which is great during winter. New special entrees are very yummy too.<br/><br/>Yum Cha is serving by order now, dim sim are hot and fresh and we get what we want very quick. Special fried noodles are on special for yum cha. The prices are very reasonable.<br/><br/>Free Wi-Fi is available in the restaurant too.

Give this place a miss. I cannot figure out how this place has a rating of 70%. I've been here at least 5 times in the last few months and it has been consistently bad. Horrible service when/if you can get it. There must be one person cooking as it takes over an hour for dishes to arrive at dinner. Never have I come here and not had a decent dining experience.

Tried Happy & Lucky Family Yum Cha for the first time with my family. One of the worst Yum Cha experiences we have ever had. The restaurant was full and there was one trolley going around. We were served one dish in 45 minutes. The lady with the trolley only stopped at those closest to the kitchen. They did not think to spread the food around (well what they had on one trolley). We were given no choice but to leave. Other irate customers were feeling our frustration.

Happy Lucky Family- Lucky i.... Happy Lucky Family-<br/>Lucky if you get service.

Extremely dissatisfied! Service was disrespectful. When asking for water the waiter replied with "I don't speak English" when he was conversing with in English for the entire lunch. <br/><br/>The food was fine but took forever to come out for example we didn't receive service for the first 30 minutes after numerous times of being ignored we finally got service.<br/><br/>Happy Lucky... More like Happy Lucky to receive food.

One of the best yum cha spot in melbourne. Their yum cha menu isn't extravagant but i guarantee you everything is delicious and made fresh on site. The fried beef noodles (干炒牛河) beats the greasy stuff you find in Papparich. It's gradually becoming my family's dining room we are there almost every week.

Yuk cha. Purely on a Yum Cha level, this restaurant is to be avoided at all cost! While making the booking we were told Yum Cha was served between 11.30 am - 3.30 pm (Sundays). We arrived at 12 and the service was fine for the first half hour (the waiters continuously filling the water glasses and Chinese teacups has to be seen to be believed...almost!) We were treated to above-average spring rolls (virtually oil free) and prawn dumplings but inedible dim sims. We looked forward to further prawn dumplings (and scalloped dumpllngs too) but none made a return appearance. After twenty-five minutes of not being served by anyone, we requested more food only to be told there would be no more Yum Cha and would have to order off the regular menu. We asked for an explanation for this but no one seemed to understand what we were asking as virtually no one here speaks or understands English. There are so many better options in Melbourne.

Good food @ yum cha (esp calamari) when we arrived but then waited 30 min for trolley to return even after 2 requests. Left hungry.

Went for yum cha today. Standard yum cha fare such as prawn crystal dumplings, shui mai pork dumplings, chicken feet, pork spare ribs offered all very well executed. Favourite was the fried taro parcels - not greasy at all. Staff very cheerful and accommodating. Prices very reasonable for the quality.

Over priced. It seems the good food is not listed on the english menu and is over priced for the quantity.

An unenjoyable lunch. Went for yum cha. The service was very poor. Yes they were busy but couldn't even put soy sauce on the table without having to ask multiple times. This also applied to steamed rice and water. This poor service really detracted from the meal. The food was standard.

Fantastic food. Some of the best Chinese I've had in ages. Sweet and sour pork was crispy and eggplant hot pot was divine. Would definitely return.

Classic Yum Cha - Excellent. The yum cha is excellent. They have a good variety of the classic yum cha dishes and they do them excellently. If you're after traditional , proper yum cha, then try this place to go, full of local Chinese customers. Good service and great food but don't expect the Flower Drum.

The food here is really impressive. Serves are impressive and the service is great! The waiters changed our dishes throughout the night and attended to our requests with a smile. We had a whole Morwong which was cooked to perfection and the flesh of the fish was beautiful and tender. Although I didn't have the fried oysters or the whole lobster and noodles others at the table informed me that it was delicious. The salted chicken was absolutely cooked to perfection too, I almost ate half of the dish! Complementary prawn crackers and soup were served for free at the beginning of the meal and complementary jelly cubes of all sorts, fruit (watermelon) and saigon red bean pudding was served for free as dessert. Needless to say, this place is amazing!

It's recently changed ownership so tried Yum Cha . Superb ! Excellent selection of dumplings and tofu dishes ; great service . Reasonably priced

Very poor service, waited for Chinese tea for so long..I think they went to China to pick the tea leaves..they also had snake soup, which apparently only available for Asian customers. Apart from that good was great.

I have been there quite frequently and have never been disappointed. Delicious yum cha lunch offers a wide range of variety. Beef fried rice is also my favorite. Very friendly staff.

Overall, the food here is decent, and service is extremely fast. Constantly busy, the restaurant popular with local families with the occasional table occupied by those who've had to travel a considerable distance. Come here with the family or a large group of friends (Chinese restaurants like these are usually a no-no for couples) to have a decent meal, and some good times. As the name says, it's all about a Happy & Lucky Family.