Happy Lucky Restaurant

This is the only affordable place for hot pot in Manhattan. And it has no line! And it’s sanitary because you get individual pots. This is my go-​to place for hotpot when I don’t feel like going to Flushing. (EDIT: This place recently changed its name to Bamboo Village, and changed their number as well. If you’re trying to call to make a reservation, Google Bamboo Village’s number).

Price as of 01÷04÷16 is now $ 21.99 AYCE, and the restaurant is no longer called Happy Lucky. Service is still pretty much the same, pretty mediocre. Came down to $ 27.50 a person after tax and tip. Definitely very good portions of whatever you ask for.

I rarely write reviews, but felt compelled in this case.
Unless you are (and speak) Chinese, don’t go here! I’ve lived in NYC my entire life. I have worked around Chinatown, and probably have eaten there over 200 times. I also spent some time in Hong Kong, so I’m quite familiar with Chinese food.
The restaurant was referred by the concierge in a hotel a friend was staying at, so we tried it (hopefully they also got a bad review). This was the worst Chinese food I’ve ever had.
Our waiter pretty-​much made up prices for our order on the fly (which we agreed to pay). $ 6.00 extra for «Jumbo» Shrimp — fine. In addition to being relatively scrawny, there were only 2 in the bowl. When we complained, the waiter literally poked around in my friend’s bowl to find the other (apparently they only chose to give 3) shrimp. Then he went back in the kitchen, and reported that the cook said he gave her 3, and refused to give her another.
My Noodle Soup was also not good. The meat was mostly bone– and cartilage. The broth was fine. Overall, unacceptable!
On top of it all, when the check came, they’d added a 20% tip, which I of course refused to pay. Clearly they mistook me for a tourist and tried to take advantage.

Worst service ever! Tried it the first time and the food was ok. Passed by there last night and we decided to have a dinner so we went in. No guest in the restaurant. The waitress was super mean. Poker face with loud voice. She’s giving us an attitude when we are ordering. We decided to leave as we are feeling very uncomfortable. Will never ever go back there agin!

This restaurant deserve no stars.
Came here on a week night around 8pm was seated quickly as we were the second table in a wide opened restaurant. There was only 1 waitress present and we ordered hotpot with about ten selections of veggies, meat, etc. Sat there for an hour and only mushrooms came out while the hotpot is boiling like crazy without rest of the food we ordered. Another half hour goes by and we are already really hangry (hungry + angry). Called the waitress several times asking where’s our food and she just goes into the kitchen and never comes back… wtf!
Not sure if they are trying to close early or don’t want to serve us but the other table looked like they were having the same problem. We were so frustrated we walked out of the restaurant. Never walked out on any restaurants before but we really picked a sh*t one.
Stay away!

I love coming to their all-​you-​can-​eat hot pot. Seriously, I’m offended the waiters and waitresses don’t recognize me and my friends by this point. We come so often and stay for 3 hours. They don’t always bring out everything we asked, but it’s still plenty of food. We do have to remind them multiple times to bring out certain things. They also do this thing where they would bring out all the vegetables at once or all the meat, so you would be stuck eating veggies or meat for a good 30 – 45 min before they bring out the other stuff. It sucks cause I like to have a variety of food at the same time. Their regular food isn’t that great. Pretty mediocre, but for the price of the hot pot in comparison to other places and the deliciousness of the broth, it’s well worth it.

Happy Lucky serves up an all you can eat personal sized hot pot on a quiet stretch of Bowery. While it isn’t a pretty place, there are fewer lines here vs 99 Favors and you’re not rushed to finish eating. However, service can still be hit or miss as items are bound to be forgotten off your giant list of ingredients.
My family sampled various broths, from standard chicken, to Sichuan, to herbal. All of them were tasty. Even the herbal, which I tend to shun, was herby yet mellow. I actually wished the Sichuan was hotter, so maybe ask it for extra spicy? We also had our fill of shrimp, mussels, beef, lamb, chicken, various greens, several kinds of mushrooms, tofu, fish balls, noodles, and so on. All items were fresh and provided in a decent quantity for an AYCE place. The sauces bar is meticulously well labeled and had almost everything you’d want.
We went back to the waitstaff maybe 3 – 4 times for more items. It took a significant amount time for the plate of vegetables to come out — we asked twice for it. You also have to proactively flag down the staff — nobody will check in on you.
I wish the lighting was better and the tables weren’t so squished together. Even the entrance is a bit dingy with poster board notices and dirty doors. The street/​store front isn’t very inviting at all. But for cheap hot pot, it’s good enough.

As a long time frequent customer of their restaurant, I went there because they were the only place with Hot Pot in Chinatown that did all you can eat at a descent price. Though later on that would change. The first time I went the boss made it a point to make small talk with me then the 2^nd to 10^th times I went he would just put down the electronics I own saying how he owns technology brands even better than Samsung and Apple. It was then I knew he was nuts.
After 2 years of not going and because my friend wanted to go, the waitress picked out $ 90 worth of food for the four in my group and I’ll tell you, it wasn’t even worth $ 30. Gratuity is always added to the bill (after taxes) and it was just a reminder of a place I should not go back to.

$ 19.99 all you can eat hot pot, but small sauce bar without bbq sauce!
YAY for reservations too!

After reading the reviews about AYCE hotpot we were going to go to 99 favors, but it was all booked on ²⁄₁₄ so we decided to give Happy Lucky a shot.
we got there around 6:00 and there was no line and we were seated immediately. oh by the way the price went up to $ 19.99 now.
True, they don’t have 100+ ingredient or 10+ soup base, but they have enough to choose from and the quality was decent. The flavor of the soup base is on a lighter side compared to Little Fat lamb or Fukuoka but after you cooked all the meat and veggie it actually had a very good flavor.
The service was good and fast and they brought us a lot of food at first round.
I never been to 99 favors, Hou Yi is really pricey in my opinion, Happy Lucky @ $ 19.99 is a pretty good deal when you are really hungry in a cold winter night.

The AYCE hotpot here is pretty good. The soup flavor tastes good but tends to be on the light side — once they come by and add extra soup base, the specific specialty flavor disappears.

Kind service, okay venue, sub-​par food.
I came here with a large group of 30 people for a birthday celebration so we had the chance to try several dishes. Unfortunately, they were generally not memorable. The ambience here is strictly to eat as they didn’t seem to put much effort in the décor; they still had «Merry Christmas» and Santa Claus decorations in the back in mid-​January. Nevertheless, the staff were kind, provided us with generous servings, were very accommodating and helped us make the best of the birthday celebrations. On a normal day, I’d probably wouldn’t come here.
— — — Food:
— Peking Duck: I enjoyed this dish
— Twin Lobster: Average but satisfying; they did not give us any cutters
— Roast Pork Sauteed Lo Mein: Somewhat bland
— Braised Tofu with Black Mushroom: Decent
— Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce: Okay
— Kung Bo Chicken: Okay

I love me some good hotpot once in awhile, and it’s hard to find in Chinatown! We decided to give this place a shot, and it was just plain bad. Bad service and bad food. I’m not that picky with my food, but you could definitely tell the food was not fresh. My friend’s hotpot was less than half full and they did not give a damn. Most places would refill it without needing to ask, but we asked AND no one came back to refill it. There was a decent number of waiters available, but the service was still horrid. Maybe they don’t care since the tip is automatically added on. Like the other reviewers, some things we ordered never came and they never bothered to tell us they were out of certain things… Ummm ok.
This is why happy lucky is the poor man’s 99 favors/​hou yi hotpot. Do yourself a favor and spend the extra cash on a higher quality hotpot spot!

This is a great hot pot place to go to when 99 favors and Hou Yi are packed. The price for AYCE has increased over the years as it becomes more and more popular. Currently it’s 18.99/person which isn’t bad considering it is all you can eat! It gets super busy during the night time.
The service wasn’t the best since after we got our meats and veggies, the staff never checked up on us again. We also never got some of the things that we requested for.
The meat and vegetables are pretty fresh. There is a wide variety of options that you can get. The herbal broth was bland and didn’t taste like anything. For the price, this is a pretty decent hot pot restaurant with variety and freshness.
Check out my post on Happy Lucky Restaurant at

Stay away! Probably one of the worst service and food I’ve ever experienced in Chinatown. Everything was frozen and they didn’t bring us half the stuff we ordered. The only time we got service is when they were trying rush us out.
Beware of the mandatory 15% gratuity that’s hidden at the bottom of the bill. To add insult to the horrible service, it’s cash only, which isn’t well displayed.

Happy lucky is a great all you can eat hot pot place. The place looks a bit run down and you may have to flail your hands to flag down a server. However, you really can’t beat the $ 18.99/person price. I enjoyed the beef, fish balls, and taro on a cold winter night. We didn’t have to wait for a table (we came at 7pm on a saturday night), but the line quickly grew after 7pm.

We came in on a Saturday afternoon around 2pm I think, and it wasn’t that busy. The service was fine, and the food was really good. We got a variety of dishes — sea cucumber, lobster, a fish and green beans dish, fried chicken wings, fish congee, and noodles. Everything was really good.
I heard the hotpot here isn’t bad so I might try it some time considering 99 Favor Taste and Flaming Kitchen are always super busy, especially with the weather getting colder and colder. There seems to be good reviews on the hotpot here as well.

Walking in last night I have no idea why the low rating for this place. We were in the mood for hot pot and I’m glad we picked this place. I guess Haters are gonna hate because I left feeling I robbed the place after eating so much. Me and my friend probably ordered everything they had twice. A few items were not available like the king mushrooms, spinach, and tofu skins but the menu of raw stuff for you to cook for your individual hotpot is plentiful. I do like that you get your own soup pot for the germophobs.
I really enjoyed the seafood tofu the best. That’s one of my favorite items boiled or grilled. I didn’t like the fried tofu. We got 2 plates of sliced beef, squid, pumpkin, taro, yu choy, wontons, fish balls, pig blood, and a few other items I can’t remember. I didn’t like the sauce counter. It doesn’t get checked on much. The cilantro was empty every time I was done with it.
The Bathroom was very clean for a Chinatown place.
The damage was $ 25 of each of us. Tip is included which is OK since they need a way to sort of balance out the inventory they are losing from gluttons like me. Yes, cash only. I suspect the people that gave this place a low rating is because you’re a cheapo expecting to boil king Neptune’s army or entire cow. Enjoy some veggies and clean out your system your colon will thank you. Service is an issue but it helps if you know Cantonese. Luckily, I can get by and they were able to hook me up.

Came here to try the hot pot. The waiters were friendly. They even offered to change our tables which was good because our original seats were close to the door. (Not good on a cold winter night). The broth I got was okay — a lil bland. The food was not too bad. I think we liked the beef the most.
Overall it was a fun experience and we will be back to try out other stuff
But here’s a quick tip/​warning (according to my friend gabby) — STAY AWAY FROM THE QUAILEGGS!!!

If you are ever craving hot pot on a cold winter night. And you dont want to trek to Queens or Brooklyn. Then I suggest going to this Chinatown hidden gem of a hot pot restaurant. It’s not the traditional communal pot but rather the individual pots. Which bodes well for the germaphobes out there. Anyways, I do suggest bringing someone with a good comprehension of Cantonese. As it makes things a lot smoother. For some odd reason they are a lot more friendlier when someone speaks their native tongue. Probably a sense of relief of trying to speak a language they do not fully grasp. Another caution is to try to finish your meal before they close at 11pm. Cause they seem to be in a hurry to go home.
As for the food, I’m just glad its AYCE at 18.95 a person! Whatever you want you can choose on their hot pot menu. The quality might be a little lacking. But for the price and location. I really didn’t mind. Hot pot in Chinatown has become a rare sight these days unlike back in the day when hot pot restaurants were very popular in Chinatown and now see better days in the outer boroughs.
Eat to your hearts content, don’t assume too much service. Just enjoy your hot pot in peace.