Happy Lok Diner
When asked what my favourite cuisine is, I often struggle to provide an answer. I love all kinds of foods and cultures (many of which I have yet to discover), therefore I find it extraordinarily difficult to narrow them all down to a favourite. However, if I absolutely had to choose, Asian food specifically of the Chinese, Japanese, Thai & Malaysian origin would certainly be right in the mix. I appreciate that each are unique of each other, but I love the contrast of spice, sweetness, complexity, and simplicity within their make-up.
Matsudai Ramen stands out as a wonderful Japanese eatery in Cardiff, so too Moo Moo Thai Tapas for Thai food. Whereas if anybody asked me for advice on Chinese/Malaysian cuisines, I would be left scratching my head. The only venue which springs to mind is Summer Palace in Llandaff. I regularly ordered from here whilst residing in Llandaff during university, and working part-time at Porro located only a few doors down.
I recently saw a post on Instagram by @foodspottin & @cardiff.foodguide and liked the look of Happy Lok. I worked from the office on Friday and headed over there in the evening to check it out.
Happy Lok offer authentic Chinese & Malaysian cuisine amongst the hustle and bustle of Crwys Road in Cathays. I love this area of Cardiff - it’s student heavy and vibrant. The building is slick & welcoming, even more so when walking along a street with some real eye sores.
The interior of the restaurant is nicely laid out, plenty of space, intimate tables, and some decorative hangings; including a framed Cardiff City shirt and a plaque from the 2022 Welsh Restaurant Awards (congrats!).
There is so much to choose from on the menu, including some of my classic favourites: sweet & sour chicken (£8.50), roast duck & rice (£9.50), crispy shredded beef (£9.50), whole sea bass (£15.80) and others which I’m not so familiar with, yet intrigued by: Assam Laksa (a fish based soupy noodle dish, £9.50), Bak Kut Teh (broth with pork ribs, £10.50).
We ended up going for a set menu for two at the price of £45. There was a variety of dishes and we fancied to pick at different bits.
Starters: Prawn crackers, Japanese fried chicken with sweet chilli sauce, satay chicken, roti canai (flatbread) with curry sauce.
Mains: Malaysian chicken curry, crispy shredded beef, sesame chicken, egg fried rice, stir fried lettuce.
The full menu is available here.
Up first was a basket of prawn crackers, accompanied with a superb sweet chilli dip which contained lashings of punchy garlic, and a hint of coriander. Prawn crackers are moreish at the best of times, but we couldn’t stop slathering them with this sauce.
Great start, but simple enough. Next came our starters, all served together on one plate. I couldn’t find a single fault with them.
The satay chicken was moist with a heavy satay coating, roti were deliciously flaky and elevated further by the curry sauce, the Japanese fried chicken looked dry, though it was anything but. Juicy on the inside and we were treated to even more of that sweet chilli sauce to dip them into! I knew at this point my breath was going to hum of garlic for the next 12 hours (it did), alas, I could not care less.
A wonderful start, and now came the mains.
I’ll start with the good things, of which there was plenty.
The Malaysian curry contained chicken & potatoes, the potatoes were soft and the curry possessed mild heat. Delightful, the type of warming curry you want when it’s 0°C outside.
The sesame chicken was surrounded by a thin batter and a sweet & sour sesame sauce, topped with fresh cucumber and carrots. The taste was reminiscent of sweet & sour chicken balls, but a much cleaner & lighter version - I often feel sick after eating three or four chicken balls due to the dense, greasy batter. I could have eaten two portions of this.
The egg fried rice was fresh and the perfect accompaniment for the Malaysian curry/sesame chicken.
And now, the not so good. The crispy shredded beef lacked any body and I could not taste any beef, it was akin to only eating crunchy batter. There was barely any sauce and no spicy heat from the dish either. Dissapointed!
The stir fried lettuce with oyster sauce wasn’t to my taste. Warm lettuce in a fishy sauce wasn’t for me but I think this is more my issue/palette and not the quality of what was produced.
Overall, this was a thoroughly enjoyable meal and I would return to Happy Lok without hesitation, there was a minor blip with the standard of the crispy shredded beef, which can be excused due to the quality of everything else.
There’s so much on their menu which appeals, at more than affordable prices. We saw a couple of tables being served whole sea bass, which looked fantastic. The young lad that served us was lovely!
I now have a Chinese/Malaysian restaurant in Cardiff that I am able to recommend with a degree of confidence! I lived in the Welsh capital for seven years until September of 2022, when I temporarily moved back to Abergavenny. Simple nights like this on Crwys Road remind me of why I cannot wait to return towards the end of 2023.