Fook Shing — Restaurant in Kyneton

We had never been to Fook Shing before but after reading the reviews, decided to give it a go for my daughter's birthday, and with 2 children under 14, we booked an early meal for 5 people at 6:30pm so we could get home and into bed at a reasonable hour.

We walked in the door and were suitably impressed by the decor. We were seated quickly and our drinks order taken followed by our food order. Two people in our party were unable to cope with a lot of chilli so we asked if they were able to remove it and were told no, that the meals come as they are. My 12 year old has a relatively plain palette so we asked if she could have the flat rice noodle without any spice, just plain noodles with soy sauce. The waitress went to check with the chef and confirmed that they wouldn't do that either. We ended up ordering a couple of appetisers, an entree and 4 mains (their menu has small (appetisers), medium (entrees) and large (mains) meal offerings), requesting that everything come out together so we could all eat together as a family. The waitress confirmed that the "food comes out as it's prepared" so we acknowledged this, completely unaware of the wait we had ahead of us.

The appetisers arrived, followed by the entree, food that was ordered by 1 adult and 1 child in our party. We were left 1 hour and 20 mins before the rest of the food arrived, leaving 2 adults and 1 child waiting until 8:15pm before receiving any food at all.

The fried fish was dry and when asked how the food was, this was pointed out to our waiter who was surprised, saying that "they had not received any other complaints that evening about it". As we had not eaten since lunchtime that day, and waited an hour and 20 mins for dinner, we added the juices from the Asian greens to the fish and ate it, knowing that it would be an even longer wait to send it back at 8:15pm with the view to getting a replacement.

The waiter returned at the end of the meal and pointed out that the fish had been consumed, despite our comments, dismissing our feedback, and when questioned on the long wait times, confirmed that the restaurant prepares and serves dishes in accordance with their small, medium and large options. We confirmed that we had not been made aware of this at the time of ordering, when we asked our waitress if we could be served our meals together; we were simply told that the "food comes out as it's prepared".

Our overall experience was a disappointing one, our feedback was dismissed by the waiter, and as a result, we will not be recommending nor returning...

Hard to review this place. Perhaps see this less of a review and more as feedback, as I didn't dislike my experience but Fook Shing needs work.

Food was great although the Pork Belly had no crackle and the fish curry was somewhat lacking, but overall I thought the food was lovely. That half chicken tho!!! Amazing.

Service was lacking in all areas. I can only assume the staff are inexperienced or in need of training.

When asking a server how far away a dish was we received a response along the lines of "it'll be done when it's done". I get it, you don't know, but at least lie to me and tell me you'll ask the kitchen. I also get that it was a Saturday on a long weekend and things get busy, so tell me that. A dish was forgotten to be ordered and when I went to pay the bill drinks that were out of stock and not served were still on the bill, meaning I had to request their removal. Again, no real issue and they sorted it quickly but it's something that I think would be overcome with experience, training and support from management.

As for the atmosphere, I didn't realise just how physically big this place was. It's massive. It's an old school pub sized venue, which is actually quite impressive. The decor is a bit dated and sparse in places and for a 'pub sized venue' there was no accommodation for children. (I get it, kids are the worst etc, but I have em so my review reflects that need).

Overall, this place came HIGHLY recommended to me as a great place to go for a large family meal, and to be honest it didn't hit the mark. The food does shine here and the kitchen staff should be proud, but the wait staff and management are letting...

Don’t be fooled by the outer skin of this restaurant. You may think the interior will match the pub-like exterior… but you’d be wrong. As soon as you step through the doors you are welcomed by an amazing portrait of the man whom this restaurant is named after “Fook Shing”, a Chinese Australian community leader in colonial Victoria who later became a Detective for Victoria Police, interesting piece of history 👌 We were greeted by a friendly face as soon as we arrived and knew this would be a good experience. The atmosphere was inviting and the decor was well thought out, reflecting a modern day Asian/Chinese influence. Birthday tables are decorated with a Happy Birthday banner 😂 which is cool. I think the food we ate can be better explained by the photos I have attached. Every single bite of every dish just bursts with so much flavour, we couldn’t pick a favourite as they all tasted delicious 😋 Share plates are the way to go here or Banquets are on offer. We shared Bao buns (crispy chicken), Pork Belly (Melt in your mouth), Son-in-law eggs (best I’ve ever had), Prawn & Sausage with Flat Rice Noodle dish (flavour, flavour, flavour), Jasmine Steamed Rice and Half Crispy Chicken (because we love chicken done right 👏) Also just to make it a memorable birthday we ordered a Shing Sling cocktail 🍸 😂 Their version of a Singapore Sling 👌 Service was just as amazing. Will we be back? Damn right we will! Thank You for looking after us and see you...