Good Luck Eating House — Restaurant in Sydney

As a fan of many Merivale restaurants, I had high hopes for Good Luck, but unfortunately, my experience left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. While there was a lot to like, there were also several notable misses that make it hard to wholeheartedly recommend, especially when there are so many other excellent dining options in the area.

First off, the fit-out is fantastic—fun, kitsch, and with a great vibe that sets the tone for the meal. The restaurant clearly has a lot of energy, and that’s something I really appreciated. We opted for the $115 banquet menu, which, for the most part, seemed like a decent deal. The only real difference between the banquet options was the lobster, which, to be honest, none of us were particularly excited about.

When the dishes arrived, however, things started to feel a little bit confused. While some items hit the mark—like the ginger shallot linguine, which was fresh and flavorful, and the sambal peanuts, which had a nice kick—the rest of the dishes were a bit hit-or-miss. The smoked pork rolls, for example, were a major disappointment. They felt like a poor imitation of Ms Gee’s iconic cheeseburger spring rolls—something I’ve raved about before—and didn't quite deliver on the texture or flavor.

The prawns, which should have been a highlight, were unpopular at our table. The taste was fine, but the prawns were frustratingly difficult to eat. The shells were stubbornly stuck to the prawn, and with the crispy chicken skin topping, it became a bit of a messy, awkward experience. There were no bowls to dispose of the shells, and the small plates made it tricky to manage the cleanup. This, unfortunately, took away from the enjoyment of the dish.

The corn and green garlic dish also fell flat. It felt like an out-of-place side, with little to elevate the meal. But the BBQ short ribs were a definite standout—tender, flavorful, and definitely worth ordering again.

Service was a bit of a mixed bag as well. While some aspects were great, such as friendly staff and a generally welcoming atmosphere, we did experience a few hiccups. We had to ask three times for beers during one of the drink rounds, which was a bit frustrating. Additionally, many of the dishes arrived without serveware, so we had to request extra forks and bowls. With a shared-menu style, it’s essential to have the right tools to make the experience smooth and enjoyable, and unfortunately, this was lacking.

Overall, the food was good but not consistently great, and the service, while friendly, could use some fine-tuning. For a menu designed around sharing, it just didn’t feel particularly well-suited to large groups, especially for a more formal or client-based setting where you’d expect a bit more finesse.

Given the many other fantastic restaurants in the area, I’m unlikely to return to Good Luck anytime soon, though I do think it could be a fun option for a more casual outing with friends who are less concerned with perfect execution. Hopefully, with a bit of refinement, it can live up to the promise that its...

Be careful of wearing heels, I slipped over & none of the staff helped me up… just sat there on the bar stool as her shift had ended. She asked if I was ok once I stood up, I was in shock & in the moment said I was fine.

Floor is a lawsuit waiting to happen & I reiterated this to the staff.

The staff said I was the first person to fall however upon reading reviews, someone also had an issue 3 months ago.

I was wearing kitten heels (small height) & the flooring is not heel friendly. I had one wine and wasn’t drinking much. It’s a slippery surface with an expoxy type coating on the floor.

But on Google reviews when I returned home another lady fell 3 months ago, this made me disappointed as it was an accident that could have been prevented. I felt embarrassed at the time and didn’t want to ruin dinner but it was a very strange experience.

Disappointed that they’ve known about the floor issue for 3 months and haven’t fixed it. A simple pot of instant concrete from bunnings will do the trick to resolve the issue & create a safe matte texture to walk on.

My friend sitting opposite me is a lawyer & I didn’t want to spoil the evening. I know if he knew, he would have done and documented the whole space.

I frequent other merivale venues and have for the past 20 years but this has tainted my love of the brand.

We had a group of 9 so it was a little bit awkward & I kept a smile on my face through the dinner.

Now for other basic issues…

No hand wipes for the crab and everyone had to go to the bathroom to wash hands. It was weird using cutlery without having something for hand washing or wiping. Every crab restaurant has wipes from low end to Michelin starred.

Only given one food menu and drink menu for 9 people, we had to put hand up for menus and no one came. It was a quiet night so I found this very odd.

Staff took our napkins away after mains and we had no napkins for dessert, felt like we weren’t welcome & had no napkin replaced for the dessert course. Felt like we were being rushed out, again a Sunday & it was dead.

I’ve never experienced such an overall bad dining experience in other venues or Merivale venues.

It felt like the staff were doing us a chore by serving us & just didn’t feel attentive or welcome.

One server was nice & polite, I felt like he was genuinely concerned I slipped over but the others; Justin please toss them to the curb & hire passionate staff who actually want to be there & be hospitable.

Overall the service lacked, it felt lazy and not attentive.

The food was ok but again very disjoined and random. Sauces labelled by colours like red, green, and white.

I hate leaving a bad review for a parent company I’ve loved for 20 years but hoping this will save someone slipping over & injuring themselves.

This place had so much potential but it’s lacking in so many areas. We were so hungry when we got home, we only spent 1.2k on dinner & I’m sure if we all had been given menus then we would have...

So this is a tough one. Came during the day for lunch, saw this on Instagram so you know the hype is all over this place. Design, service was top notch… as you would expect from Merivale. That is there USP… not the food. Now I get the idea of doing Canto with a twist.. in a kitsch way. I totally get it. But there was some fundamental issues the kitchen needs to get a check on. The rice- was like it came from a drain pipe in sth East Asia. It stank so bad, nobody could it Eat it. We raised this with the staff… and one of them said the same thing. The message from the kitchen was that it was the type of rice… really? My god.. I’ve eaten, traveled all over Asia and had rice pretty much every day of my 40 plus years .. and never had anything so bad. My son spat it out literally.. into his napkin. Lols… was almost laughable. Ok enough said on something so basic. Then on to the thick beef ‘pasta noodles’ - looked and presented well.. but zero flavour. Message to the kitchen - check and check again the flavours at the pass. Apart from pilling on chilli sauce to bring some sort of depth… at least it was better than the steamed rice. The rest of the other dishes, the deep fried egg dish and shallots and broccoli was excellent and would even try making it at home. Really good.

So overall it was hit and miss… but hey it’s Merivale and respect on doing something very concept and creatively driven.. it’s not easy trying to pull off something like this. Just tell that chef he needs some reality check on what steamed rice should be… or get Dan Hong back in to fix the most...