Happy Boy — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Happy Boy Restaurant left me with a rather underwhelming dining experience. Here's a detailed breakdown of my visit:

Ambiance and Seating:

The seating arrangement was cramped, making it difficult to enjoy a relaxed meal. Noise levels were high, which only added to the discomfort. The table we were seated at was wobbly, creating constant instability throughout the meal. Additionally, the cutlery was of poor quality, contributing to a subpar dining environment.

Service:

The service was decent but nothing exceptional. Our waiter attended to us four times during the meal, covering order taking, serving, and follow-ups. While the waiter was prompt, the lack of attentiveness during a critical issue (more on that below) affected the overall service quality.

Food:

We ordered four dishes, each varying in quality and presentation.

Spring Roll Veggies – 3.5/5 The spring rolls arrived quickly, and while they were served piping hot, the temperature made them difficult to enjoy right away. Once cooled down, the taste was pleasant but not particularly memorable.

Veggie Noodles – 3/5 The veggie noodles were disappointing. They were overwhelmingly salty, which masked the other flavors, and overall tasted quite bland. However, the portion size was generous, providing value for those who prefer quantity over quality.

Mushroom Asparagus in Garlic Sauce – 3/5 The mushrooms were soft and well-cooked, adding a nice texture to the dish. Unfortunately, the garlic sauce was excessively salty, which detracted from the fresh flavors of the vegetables. This imbalance made the dish hard to fully appreciate.

Crispy Duck (Half) – 0/5 This was by far the most disappointing dish of the evening. The duck was dry, tough, and had a rubber-like texture, making it inedible. I've never had duck prepared this poorly. When I brought this issue to the waiter's attention, I was met with a dismissive attitude and no attempt was made to accommodate or replace the dish. This left me with an unfinished plate and a bad impression of the restaurant’s customer service.

Service Recovery:

Despite the issues, particularly with the duck, the front-of-house staff made no effort to rectify the situation. The lack of courtesy or willingness to address the problem was disappointing. For a restaurant that aims to provide a positive dining experience, management should take note of how critical service recovery is when issues arise. Not removing the inedible dish from the bill was a missed opportunity to show goodwill to the customer.

Final Thoughts:

In conclusion, my experience at Happy Boy Restaurant was far from satisfactory. While some dishes were passable, the overly salty flavors, combined with the poor quality of the crispy duck, left much to be desired. The inattentiveness of the service, particularly in addressing a major issue with one of the dishes, reflects poorly on the overall management and service ethos of the restaurant.

As a secret diner/reviewer, I would rate my experience at 2.5/5 stars. Improvements in both food preparation and customer service are necessary if this establishment wants to retain customers and build a...

Food was nice - not ground-breaking, but good portion sizes. Most of our meals and drinks came out very promptly, although some were completely forgotten. The restaurant is also noisy, and it is difficult to hold a proper conversation.

Unfortunately, my group of 8 left with a sour taste in our mouth due to unfriendly service. Here's the story: two of us order the little burger entrée. The two burgers came on one plate and were placed in front of me. I assumed it to be my entrée and ate it. A while later, my friend had still not received her entrée. We discovered the mistake.

It was a minor error: the waiter did not explain that both entrées were on the same plate. They even described it as 'the little burger', without pluralising it. It was strange they expected me to realise it was to be shared, as although the restaurant generally has a 'buffet-style' approach, ALL the other entrées were served individually and placed in front of the person who had ordered it, and my friend was sitting on the opposite side to the table to me.

However, this was not the mistake that made me write this review. The mistake is how we were treated afterwards. Instead of apologising for the confusion and providing another entrée for the friend that had not received one, the waitstaff had an unapologetic attitude and insisted my friend would have to buy another entrée if she wanted one. I am not usually a 'Karen' that complains about things. However, this was embarrassing to me, unfair to my friend and terrible customer service.

It is important that businesses, even successful ones like Happy Boy, care about their customers. The overall attitude of the waitstaff was defensive and not accommodating. There were a few hiccups in our dining experience, and this was the final straw.

For an establishment that requires a minimum $20 deposit to even have the privilege of dining there, I expected better service.

Overall, I would not...

For my partner and I, having both worked in hospitality for almost a decade and having been to various Asian-fusion restaurants in Brisbane (it seems like almost all new food in Brisbane is some form of Asian-fusion), we were thoroughly disappointed with the food, the service and the atmosphere of Happy Boy. The interior looks somewhere between a cafeteria and a high-profile gallery space. Polished concrete, plaster walls and high ceilings make for a really noisy space, and could barely hear ourselves, nor our waiter. For some reason it is now perfectly normal to take food orders on an iPhone. Cool idea, bad execution. The waiter could have been texting for all I know, and barely made eye contact with either of use while taking our food and drink orders. For our entree, the duck pancakes were absolutely tiny and expensive. After finishing these, our plates were whisked away, to be replaced by two ordinary mains - a lamb and a chicken dish. For the chicken, the watery marinade barely penetrated the surface of the chicken, and was accompanied by a un-dressed salad. The lamb was extremely dry, screaming out for some sauce, mayo or dressing. Again, piled with salad, indiscriminately mixed in with the lamb. No rice included with either meal. After 45 minutes of eating and drinking, silently amidst the cacophony, we were done. We headed to the counter, paid and left without so much as a 'how was your meal?' or "have a nice evening' from the girl at the counter. Then, we stood outside, wondering 'what the heck was that???' Since when was rice, or flavor such a precious commodity? Since when was it normal practice to be as apathetic to your customers as possible? Why design a food venue which makes it impossible to linger and actually enjoy your meal and your company? Don't make the same mistake we did. If you want more ambiance than a bus-stop and much better food - go get some authentic Chinese fare somewhere else....