I’ve been coming to this place for years with my family, its my local. The owner is always so accomodating and always remembers that my sibling is vegan, she always makes sure to ask if we are ok with garlic and onion (because buddhists don’t eat them), even though we do. The portions are extremely generous. I recommend this place if you are just looking for an uncomplicated meal. My favourite dish is the eggplant with salted fish!
Erin - Gold Code For 20% Off : CATH6386
+5
Went here for lunch and ordered roasted pork fried rice and pork ribs with zhen jiang sauce. I love the pork ribs and the sauce it’s nice with a little bit sour taste from vinegar. Recommend the food and might come back again for another dine or take away
If you are looking for a good and cheap Chinese restaurant then you must try this place. They serve tasty Chinese dishes at a very affordable price with big portion and the staff is very friendly.
Came here every chinese new year's eve. Really nice and hygien restaurant in royal oak. Owner always friendly and moving fast. They cooked the meanest peppersalt pork.
One of my favourite Chinese restaurants in Auckland! The food is good and they are really friendly. I’d recommend the soy sauce chicken, beef black bean and the sizzling beef dishes. Cheap and cheerful and soooo yum
Ordered before I got there. Fast and efficient. Prices are good. Portion is good. Too much rice and needs a little more veges. The cabbage was the stalk only so I didn't even eat it.
The cuts were ok, not the leanest but good enough.
Low cost, high quality Chinese food. Consistently fast service and great tasting dishes. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for Chinese food :)
Okay finally got to dine here as i accidentally walked into rival Kings restaurant almost next door (see my review of them earlier) So had the roasted skin pork/chook on rice and just like any other typical taste of this ever popular dish and to the right crisp too, nice friendly hostess and waitresses working here as well in Royal Oak hub.
Best value Chinese food restaurant.
Their whole chicken is only $15-$18. The dishes are all around $20 only. I like their spicy duck feet and soy chicken.
Deep fried pork cuts are delicious too.
Service: 4/5
Environment: 4/5
Food Quality: 5/5
Food Quantity: 5/5
Presentation: 4.5/5
Price per person: $10-$30
Yummy food and quick friendly service.
We called and reserved a table on Saturday early evening dinner and lucky we did as it was full!
Parking was easy.
We were offered a Chinese tea and water with free refills of the Chinese tea which was lovely.
We had:
spring rolls-deep fried wontons- chicken w cashews - chicken fried rice-bbq pork on rice all tasty and would def recommend.
This will be a new regular place for our Chinese food fix!
The best Chinese restaurant in Royal Oak FOR SURE and definitely in the top 5 in the city fringe suburbs of Auckland.
It has BBQ dishes and rice and noodle dishes. There is a lot of items you wouldn’t find at your generic Chinese restaurant. Some of my favourites are spicy tofu with pork mince, salt & pepper tofu and if you like fried rice but want something with extra flavour the chicken fried rice with salted fish is amazing. Dine in or takeaway - both are great
Great and efficient service, a wonderful place to catch up with a big group of friends or with a friend etc. These guys run things like a well oiled machine, they provide an excellent range of food options that seem to cater to lots of different ethnic groups which is awesome to see. They also take food allergies very seriously here which I always appreciate
Greeted as soon as we stepped in and we were told to choose any table we wanted to sit. There was only another couple there at around 4pm yesterday but more diners started coming in as we finished up. I felt that we were very well looked after, lady kept coming to top up our tea and made sure we had all the utensils and bowls we needed. Didn't have to wait that long for our meals to come. We ordered braised beef soup, combination roast and seafood stir rice. Roast duck and pork were as expected. Loved the braised beef soup but I wouldn't order the seafood stir dish again. Would definitely dine here again.
Its a cheap and cheerful place.
Came in with family members and ordered a roasted pork noodle soup.
Roast pork was good.
Egg noodles just right firmness
Soup is flavourful
For $10 you cant complaint.
Lots of local came in n go while we were there both dine in and takeaway.
Not a bad choice if you are in the neighbourhood.
Best Chinese food we don’t even live in the area but always go out of way to eat there and it’s good value for $$$$ especially for the budget minded diner
Been here several times. Back for lunch recently with a friend.
It was just a normal Chinese restaurant but spacious and pleasant.
Service was as expected. The food was tasty and we enjoyed it.
If you are looking for some simple Chinese food, you should try this place.
This is one of favourite Chinese restaurants. It's mainly Hong Kong/ Cantonese style. Service is always prompt and courteous. The food is always fresh & tasty & promptly served. Not a lot of ambiance but it's always nice and clean. As the place is part of Royal Oak Mall there is plentiful parking nearby.
2018.03.18 lunch time, we come to try:
干炒牛河 Beef stir fried rice noodle
扬州炒饭 Yang Zhou fried rice
I said taste good. Husband said too salty.
2018.03.25 lunch have here
炒贵刁 Malaysian style fried rice noodle
My husband said : too much oil.
豉汁排骨饭 pork rib with black bean sauce on rice
Sauce taste good. 我不喜欢芦笋的味道而已.
15/7/2018,lunch time,
I order seafood fried noodles, taste ok, but not enough dry. 没锅气。
24 July 2018, I ordered Stir-fried rice noodles with gravy egg and shrimp(滑蛋河）It Tastefully.
2/9/2018, lunch time we try order Shanghai fried thick noodles 上海粗炒面，
For the first time, my husband love it, he might order it again next time. But not for me, haha! I don't like thick noodles, but I like they have mushrooms.
Although it looked tiny, it’s actually a spacious little restaurant. The servers were very nice and could speak acceptable English. There were many options on the menu, the plates were massive and the food was pretty delicious. Will be a regular here.
Reasonable price with definitely friendly services, easy to park, especially u can park in the pack n save supermarket car park. The bbq pork dish was so amazing that I ordered every time when I went there
This is our local go-to restaurant. Never fails to satisfy the cravings. Can't beat the roast pork and tofu casserole, or the tofu combination casserole!
My family are regular customers here since I can't remember when. Food here are delicious and cheap, plus you have variety of dishes to choose from! Service is good and fast. Location is also good as there are heaps of parking around. Our fave dishes are: roast duck, salt & pepper ribs and chicken & salted fish fried rice.
Great cheap and cheerful CHINESE food. Never disappoints if you can live with the noisey cafe atmosphere with tired decor. Great flavours, generous portions and owner Bonnie always goes the extra mile. Not to be missed!
Very noisy and busy place - don't come here if you want a quiet night ! Staff are really quick from the moment they pour your tea to taking and serving your order and providing the takeaway cartons at the end. The portions are generous and the menu is extensive. One of my favourites is the salt and pepper squid. I love this place.
Nice restaurant for Canton style Chinese cuisine. Dishes are large in size and the tasty. The decor and ambience is subpar but most Chinese restaurants focus more on their prices and food.
Staff are good. The owner is very nice and not pushy like other places that force you to order more lol.
Top picks:
Any meat on sizzling plate
Honey pork chops
Four seasons beans
Sweet and sour pork
They do have a private room for a medium sized party. It is a semi store room so don't expect anything too flash lol.
Have always come here for dinner and it was always nice to have the seafood combination and tofu and their beef brisket casserole. I also went to this restaurant for my birthday this year which I loved! I have tried their sizzling fillet beef and lamb rib which wasn't that good but it's nice trying new things! My favourite thing about the restaurant is that it is close the Pak N Save so I always go after dinner the buy food.
Happy cafe is definitely my take away place when craving for Chinese. As it is, Chinese cuisine is so comforting that you just have to have a taste of that flavour "more than just once in awhile". Happy Cafe is cheap yet very tasty. The serving is more than enough to satisfy that craving. The service is quick and the place is clean and tidy. The location and parking are not one of their worthy characteristics but the food and its variety(for a very affordable price) are the major factors on why they must have patrons such as me.
My fiance and I would get take away from here every now and then, last night we were in the area so decided to sitdown and have a bite. The portion size is great for sharing, we ended up with fried wontons which were a little greasy for me, kung pow chicken and roast pork fried rice. All in all the food was tasty and seasoned well.
If you don't know where this place is, it would be easily missed! We stopped here for dinner and were quite impressed with the service for a Asian place. We were greeted and offered tea as soon as we talked in and were seated. The service was very good compare to other Asian places we have visited.
The vegetarian delight was tasty and fresh - the portion was generous. We enjoyed the Vegetarian fried noodles, crispy noodles and lots of vegetables.
The restaurant itself isn't flash but would do well for groups or a casual dine in. The dishes are really well portioned and at a reasonable price.
The Happy Cafe was recommended to me by Chef buddy of mine and I'm glad I went!
Typical Chinese style restaurant. Nice friendly staff who take pride in their work. Very welcoming.
You're welcomed with green tea which is always nice. It sets the tone for the meal. The meals are very tasty and the portions quite large.
I ordered the BBQ Pork Noodles, Spring Rolls, Wonton Soup and braised Beef with rice and Pak Choy. Obviously I ordered way too much food for myself. That would've been enough to feed five people, but as this visit was for research purposes, the justification seemed valid.
Verdict = 👌🏽 #fuckthatsdelicious the broth in the soups were delicious! They even offer takeaways too. Also they are open very late so when if mosh working in my kitchen this is where I can stop to get my dinner at 10.30pm!
We have been here on several occasions, both for dine in and takeaways. Food is outstanding! Staff friendly and attentive and even when the place is full, which is regularly like that the food arrives quickly and efficiently. The decor is OK as this is not fine dining, but for a good noisy night out with friends, highly recommended.
Attended this local joint for a late brunch. Service was quick and food came out in a timely manner. Waitress was able to converse and understand fully our requests. Food was ok, not the best we have had but far from the worse. High ligers were the deep fried squid entree & sauce and the roast pork & duck with accompanied sauces. Big let downs would be the won tons which had hardly any filling at all & the spring rolls which appeared to be over fried and had a hardened exterior. The filling of the spring roll was surprisingly fresh still. Would recommend to others but just the 2/3 of the entree meals need to be worked on or avoid purchasing.
Good food. Service is a little slow but when the food comes out it's definitely worth the wait. Deep fried squid and fish claypot is my favourite. The scallop dish is worth a try too. Parking is a bit hard as there's not many carpark spaces available.
My family and I use to be a regular a few years back before we moved. The staff were very friendly with smiling face all the time. They are also very polite. The Chinese food is quite good and even now my family buys our lunch from there.
Hey I was pretty impressed their food cost per dish is very reasonable and the standatd was good. Sure I've eaten better of all three dishes but Happy I was. Fried rice was seafood not too much ingredients but it was dry and healthy tasting fried rice 4/5;
Beef brisket on rice this has to be tender and ideally not too fatty all pass but flavour was watered down 3/5; and roast duck with fine rice noodles ample serving of duck pieces and faultless 5/5.
Went back for dinner this weekend so tried a couple of new dishes including a favourite of mine flat rice noodles with shrimp and egg gravy. 3.5/5 my partner said it was very good isaid its ok. Had better and taste was a good pass mark at a reasonable price. The second dish was roast pork fried rice. Big pieces of pork but the pork tasted a little old. Maybe recycled from a previous days unsold hanging roast pork. 3/5
I have been coming to this place for a long time just because it is very near my work. I like the quick service, the complimentary hot tea while you wait, and of course, the great food. The barbecue pork/roast duck/ and roast pork on rice is great when you don't have a long lunch break. I love the salt and pepper squid and the salted fish and chicken fried rice. Hits the spot every time. Their prices are reasonable and the serving sizes are more than adequate. Overall a good place to go!
Yes I like the Happy Cafe because the food is delicious, you don't have to wait very long, my favorites are Roast Duck, Roast Pork just to name a few. The owner is very friendly and the service is excellent :-)
We ordered from Happy Cafe all the times. On a weekly basis I would say. The owner is really friendly and the service is excellent. Our usual includes stir fry bean with minced meat, Mapo taufu, salted pepper pork chop, lemon chicken and fried rice. Roast pork rice is another dish we like when we are in hurry.
Walked passed a trillion times and finally went in. Food ok less salty. Price average. Service was tremendous! The business was very good as the crispy pork sold out while we ate
Been coming here occasionally for the past few years and they've never changed. In a good way! I recommend their pork rib in black bean sauce, delicious :)
Super cheap & great service. Would t rave about the food, although certainly bang for your buck !
We ordered wanton soup and beef fried rice. It's our first meal in NZ since we arrived by flight in the morning!
We could already smell the aroma of the beef fried rice from the kitchen while the chef was cooking!
The beef fried rice was superbly good! The beef was juicy and tender and the fried rice was fragrant and flavourful!
The wontona were huge and full of meat!
The toddlers and the wife loved the food tremendously! It was a pleasant way to start our road trip in NZ! We'll definitely visit this eatery when we come back next time!
You can tell when Asian food is authentic when the place is busy with Asian cliental!
Ever wondered who decided to hang ducks - heads on and roasted, BBQ pork with the reddish/pink tinge and other mouth watering meats in a row by the restaurant window; don’t have the answer to that, but it was sure a master stroke of marketing❗️Visited this humble eatery in Royal Oak with family recently and recommend it to those who are after some affordable and delicious Cantonese food that come in large portions.
My highlight of the night was the Steamed Whole Fish🐟, with a small amount of soy sauce, ginger and spring onion added - the light seasoning brings out the sweetness of the fish & this is how you best cook fresh seafood and let the flavours of the primary ingredient shine 👏👏.
Had dinner with 8 friends @ Happy Cafe on Sat nite food was choice & portion size was good the place was busy but they coped well excellent services.
Good food for money in central Auckland. Boycott places that overcharge and come here. Good people.
Every dish here is highly standardised and executed with robotic precision that has remained unchanged since they first opened around 15 years ago. The shop is always open and very reliable for those busy days when you are too tired to cook.
Great for large gatherings.
Love their BBQ Pork and Sizzling Beef
Very happy with Happy Cafe!
Hidden gem in Royal oak. Food quality is top notch and service is awesome. Definitely, will go back, and back, and repeat.
What a great little cafe tucked on the outside of Royal Oak Mall! We ordered 9 dishes to share amongst 8 of us. The portions were generous-sized, service was quick and the one lady looking after all the diners was friendly and did an amazing job keeping everything running smoothly. Pricing is very good and the menu has a lot to offer. The place to go for a decent Chinese meal!
I guess you can say it's one of those hidden gems in the suburbs. Nothing pretentious about it but just good Cantonese cuisine at reasonable prices. Service is extremely fast particularly if you had ordered the various BBQ meat on rice dishes (in a flash, it's there on your table). The Wontons (in soup) are extremely succulent and just melt in your palate.
This small family owned business has been there for many years and although you would say is not in the traditional mould of a more upmarket Chinese Restaurant it does cater well for it's locals and not as many as it's nationals. However, if you're looking for a good honest quick and reasonably priced Asian meal, you can't go wrong with Happy Cafe.
This is quickly becoming our go2 Chinese restaurant for main dishes (e.g. pork belly, steamed greens etc.). The lady who takes your order is very efficient and moves things along quickly. I've never eaten in but every time we order we have not been disappointed. If you're in Royal Oak you should check them out.
Nice quiet, small place. Food is great as it doesn't have a lot of oil in the cooking, which makes it easier to eat.
Good food, reasonable price and large portions. I recommend you come here starved in order to be able to finish the soup. :)
Kamla took Maya and me to this restaurant today, for lunch, that is. The food was just yummy, and the service, very high quality and it is a friendly place as well. We ordered chicken dishes and enjoyed the flavors and the meat was soft and there was ample vegs and variety too. The chicken & salted fish fried rice was perfect. Go for it.
Wesley Nevalagi - Talagi
+5
Found this gem via Google. Not sure if it was because it was mid-day Sunday or it was just a quiet day. But don't be fooled if you walk in and this place ain't buzzing. You'd be surprised at the service and quality of food.
From the start we were greeted and seated. Hot Chinese tea was offered straight away, which warmed the spot on that overcast day and lined the stomach ready for some delicious Chinese cuisine.
BBQ and roast pork
Beef brisket noodle soup
Soy chicken on rice
Combination deep fried entre.
Food was ordered, prepared and at our table within 10-15mins. Food was hot and tasty.
Good service. Good food. Truly a Testament to it's name. 5/5
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