Happy valley in York

Not sure where to start, there's not much good to say about this place. First of all, the restaurant is not a nice place to have a meal. It's akin to an old style 'Joe's Café'. It's small, badly needing refurbishment and the toilets leave a lot to be desired. What was most disconcerting was the staff standing in close proximity watching customers have their meals. The quality of the meals was so bad. We were especially disappointed at this due to the price of the meals. Typically, £12 - £13 without rice. This is the first time I have had a black bean sauce with garlic meal where I could barely taste anything. I could just detect the black bean flavour, but otherwise, there was no flavour; no saltiness and no garlic taste. The sizzling prawns meal was also a disgrace. It was mainly onions, minimal, basic, tasteless sauce. The only flavour came from biting into the pieces of ginger. The fried rice was nice. The price of the bottled beer was shocking (no draught). £4.20 for 330 cl of Stella Artois. I am mystified at the good reviews. Maybe the quality used to be good here. Certainly not now. The staff were pleasant, but, as stated, did stand at the side of the small room watching customers. I suppose the size of the room made for an uncomfortable experience here. Suffice to say, we won't be returning.

Siempre volvemos aquí por comida china. La calidad es tan grande como siempre. Mis platos favoritos son arroz frito especial y cerdo asado y pato. Los sabores siempre están presentes, y el personal es muy amable y rápido. Sin duda recomiendo este lugar si estás de humor para algunos chinos sabrosos!

The nice Chinese food I have had salt and pepper squid and special fried rice are excellent, I am looking forward to come back.

I have never had a bad meal at this restaurant and would highly recommend it to anyone. The special fried rice is exceptional.

Enjoyed a couple of meals out here.

Fuimos a cenar el sábado por la noche, después de revisar las críticas. Todo era increíblemente soso, a pesar de que elegimos platos normalmente picantes - como "sopa caliente y agria", "gambas Gun bao king con cacahuetes" (literalmente - un puñado de cacahuetes enteros echados en la parte superior) y "Szechuan char siu con salsa de judías picantes". Ni un ápice de picante en ninguno de ellos. Sin embargo, porciones de buen tamaño para los platos principales, pero no creo que volveríamos.

Me encanta este lugar! La comida es genial y el edificio es tan lindo! Comemos en Happy Valley en cada viaje a York y esperamos nuestra próxima visita en marzo!

Nunca comí algo tan insípido como esto. El pato crujiente no estaba y estaba frío. La carne chispeante era solo carne en salsa y el pollo dulce y agrio, no era dulce y no agrio Y dejó un terrible regusto en la boca durante horas. No podía comerlo. Además estábamos sentados al lado del baño. No higiénico Nunca volveremos

Love, love this place, always fabulous, never ever leave without knowing that we'll be back💕

Great place for a Chinese meal and drinks, as always excellent food, go again, as we always do.

Ordered for takeaway. Food was delivered lukewarm and missing curry sauce. I rang the shop and was told there was nothing they could do. I asked if there was any chance I could have one delivered but would told I’d have to pay an additional delivery fee for this. For was below average and service terrible. Go elsewhere

Visitado por recomendación, muy decepcionado con la calidad de la comida y el sabor. Pollo Satay estaba en una salsa acuosa con poco o ningún maní igual a ningún sabor. Plato principal de carne crujiente de chile dulce sabor muy extraño... .. visita decepcionante pero mirando hacia atrás a las críticas parece un cambio de propietario recientemente.

Firstly cannot fault the food or service only gripe is the serving dishes were cold so the food didn’t stay warm with the added fact there seemed to be no heating on Customers as well as ourselves were sat in their coats on even the staff looked frozen! Please sort your heating out Get a couple of oil filled radiators take the chill off in no time !

The lunch deal is a great price with quality food and exceptionally fast service from ordering to being served! The chicken and sweet corn soup is a real treat The style is simple, no nonsense - in the sense you won't have a long chat with your server, but it's to the point and the restaurant is keen and ready to serve hungry customers. If you don't like long waits this is the place for you ❤️ The food was good quality and tasty for a lunchtime meal while the interior has a cosy feel to it

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Visited here many times over the years, really good value and great food. Definitely worth a visit if you fancy a decent Chinese for lunch. We've also been on a night and the place is usually packed!

Feliz valle siempre fue nuestro ir a lo largo del año, pero lamentablemente, últimamente la nueva propiedad ha visto una caída en la calidad absolutamente destripada, ya que era muy popular y la comida de calidad tristemente no más

Increíble comida, las viejas murallas daban un gran ambiente antiguo en el aire. Servicio increíble y una gran variedad de opciones de comida. Definitivamente voy a volver!

Bonito restaurante chino subiendo escaleras. La comida era encantadora necesito más verduras en algunos de los platos y menos cebolla si soy honesto

We orde take away and it was delicious! Super happy with the food

Lovely meal,only one thing let the restaurant down was the waiters watching every mouthful of food you ate actually staring at you, very disappointing..

So we were recommended this place by a friend who lives in York, ordered beef in black pepper and king prawn curry one chips and 1 rice and 2 soups came to £30, now I know it's going to be a bit more expensive than what I'm used to so not too bothered by the price, the food came quite quickly with no issues, free prawn crackers well about 10 of them hardly a bonus, the chips were just as scarce tiny bag with fat soft chips not very appetising, now the main dishes I must say were the blandest Chinese and the worst I've ever had just no taste, the pepper wasn't peppery and curry was weak, soup was pretty much the same, I will not be going back.

Good food but they don't serve buffet, only a la carte option is available . Google misdirected me to them that they serve buffet 😀

Good food and very cheap, I always order Udon noodles there, very delicious, the manager is handsome. Will come back again.

Great little restaurant. Very clean, efficient and friendly!

Good price, kind staff, tasty meal and clean restaurant!

Had the misfortune to stumble across this place. Poor food and even worse customer service, I'm afraid.

Very friendly and helpful. The best Chinese restaurant I have seen in York, unlike others, generous amount of food and good price.

Went tonight, smelt good as we walked in. We were looking forward to the food. Unfortunately it was disappointing. This has got to be the worst Chinese we have had. Food was bland and tasteless. Really disappointed when we were looking forward to it.

Deeeeelicious. First time recently since before lockdown and I'm pleased to say it's not changed. Super friendly staff, awesome service and amazing food. Can't recommend highly enough

Excellent, best chinese in York

Genuine Asian food at a really good price

Very quaint little restaurant. Amazing food. Service was really quick. Highly recommend. Will definitely go back when in York.

food is soo good! not that many vegetarian options, yet they compensate with the taste. had some mixed vegetables with chow mein — really tasty, as well as some stir fried lettuce with garlic sauce. the atmosphere is quite interesting, i loved that this place was different, not in a classic chinese style yet in a rather english one. quite interesting mix of culture! the waitress was really nice, thank you very much

Staff were judgemental and not professional

Had a chicken fried rice takeaway and it was borderline inedible. Rice was dry, chicken didn't taste great. Despite being really hungry I gave up halfway through, because remaining hungry was better than finishing it.

Had this hidden gem recommended to us by a young barmaid in a local establishment and all I can say is thank you very much.If we were not given correct directions we would probably have walked past it and would have missed probably one of the best Chinese meals we have had the pleasure of eating.From staff to actual meal everything was A1 and could find fault in absolutely nothing,even the price was very reasonable considering you were in a city,(compared to most cities who hike up prices as soon as the tourist season starts) yes as you can read we thoroughly enjoyed everything about this hidden gem and look forward to our next visit to both York and this little establishment

The food was very good, tasty, generous portions, I highly recommend it. The service was nice and helpful.

Great Chinese food in a building about 500 years old!

Food was bland not very nice and it was £7.80 for two glasses of coke that was flat wouldnt go again

Great value, great service, and great food. Try the lunchtime deal to test the water!

We dined here for dinner. The meals were quite big servings and really nice. We received a bowl of complementary prawn crackers which were delicious and fresh. The staff were really lovely and our meals and drinks were served very quickly. I was so impressed with the old building that the restaurant was in. Just amazing!

I'm a big fan of this restaurant. Great food in a beautiful 14th century building.

I came again with one my friends, we ordered the beef Udon soup, add one fried egg, the big potion, the fresh vegetables, the yummy soup, the lovely staff, everything is good, udon soup is the top in my mind, we will come again 😎

Absolutely terrible food ordered takeaway. Everything was like to had been around for days. Tasted awful and wasted. Beware of fake reviews because possible the worse chinese I've had

Me and my friend always come to eat Udon noodles in happy valley, very good and never disappointed. Udon noodle soup and stir fried udon noodles are both tasty, we usually choose beef with the noodles, beef there is excellent.

Very expensive for OK food. I only had fried rice, sweet and sour, and ribs. I can't speak for the rest in the menu. The meal and one drink cost me under 28. Waitress is aggressively eager to serve and to get me out. I also over heard staff rating customer as cheap or not. It was just uncomfortable.

We didn't book but were immediately invited in and a table found for us. Then the service was fast and efficient. Food was beautiful! A lovely experience overall and I would recommend to anyone visiting York and wanting a bite to eat.

Very old building good food friendly staff

Didn't know this place was here!... It's a hidden gem in York. Food is very tasty and fresh with ample to share. Keep the little places like these open as there are too many chain restaurants appearing on every corner. I have recommended to family and friends to try this when in York. It won't disappoint

Had a takeaway from here, so can’t comment on the atmosphere, but food was really tasty. Only downside was the small number of prawn crackers that came with the meal

Absolutely amazing Chinese restaurant. When I take my mum to town for the day we always go here for lunch, without fail. Highly highly recommended. Fully support them wanting to install a larger sign over their door too.

We had a nice family meal at Happy Valley in Goodramgate last week. The restaurant table seating area is located on the first floor, accessed by a steepish staircase which opens onto a cosy dining area. We had crispy aromatic duck which was very good, followed by steamed dumplings, seaweed, char siu chow mein, sizzling beef in black bean sauce, chicken with cashewnuts and vegetables. Everything was cooked well with good flavour and the service was attentive and efficient.

As I stood outside a leaving customer told me this was the best Chinese restaurant in the land...it's average. We had many generous plates of food with the £30 banquet all delivered to the table at a relentless pace. The flavourings and quality were unspectacular. It was busy so they must make a lot of profit as it is not cheap particularly the drinks which was just under £5 for a small bottle of lager and £4 for a coke which was poured from large bottles piled up on the floor.

I have been going to this restaurant for years, it's my number one go to spot for Chinese food and I always recommend it to anyone I meet. The owner and the staff are always so kind and chatty, the food is divine and not too greasy as many (Western) Chinese restaurants can be. Have just seen an article about a protest against their signage which they put up to attract more customers since their insurance bill quadrupled and I am protesting against that protest. People need to make a living. Love Happy Valley! Fully behind you, Junyue Tan.

Gorgeous food. Hot and tasty. We all loved it. One of the best meals in York.

Friendly staff and very helpful

Food and service was good but was cold inside and could do with a bit of a refurb

Pretty ropey food. Only Mr Happy on Blossom Street beats it on poor quality. Hmmm, same owner? Happy we were not.

the location is so…convenient, my friend recommended me to come, the hotpot is so amazing, I like it so much!!! especially meat and vegetables … too much. the value of the quality is higher, we also find the set menu for lunch, the price is nice, we will try next time ~

We love this cute little restaurant! Authentic!

Brilliant food, Brilliant service. Red wine should be served at a better temperature, not ice cold. Other than that lovely.

We ordered a take away through uber eats. After waiting for an hour and half after the started delivery time of 6.30pm I rang the restaurant to be told that it was nothing to do with them as the order had been collected and was out for delivery and to contact uber eats . I asked them for a contact number and they said they didn't have one . I finally managed to find a number for uber and after they looked into it they said that the restaurant themselves had cancelled the order as they couldn't fulfill it due to being busy and demand of other orders and they cancelled the order at 5.45pm. Needless to say i won't be ordering from this restaurant again.

We visited the restaurant on 29th of December. Food that is served in a restaurant is not very good, actually it is below the standard that I am ready to tolerate as a professional. When cooking noodles or rice, chef is using too much sauce and oil and there is way too much salt in the food. It was just to greasy and too salty. Furthermore, the staff that serves (waitress in paticular) was yawing the whole time we were in a restaurant. This is very unprofessional, non hygienic and unpolite. As a matter of drinks, tea cups could be washed better and when serving DO NOT TOUCH with your fingers area where one's lips would go. Coca-Cola that was served was a typical fraud. Loaded with mineral water just to fake it. I am very disappointed with the level of service in this restaurant and I would NOT recommend it.

Staying in York for a few days and gave this takeaway a try. We wasn’t left disappointed-the food was absolutely delicious and would recommend the special chow mein, it is absolutely stunning!

Food OK but it was cold in there people sat with coats on

Ate her on Monday evening . Was pleasantly busy . Lovely food , good service. Great value for money. Will definitely visit again.

Arrived here after being let down by another restaurant. We were seen to right away and the service was very attentive. The only downside is I felt like I was being watched constantly while eating. The dumpling skin was so doughy and thick. I recommend this ‘restaurant’ if you’re looking for takeaway food.

Lovely place, food is lovely, god knows why some people have given reviews they must have no taste buds! The place is small and cosy

Excellent food. Attentive service

Nice place but the food quantity is very less for the price

Extremely good food and extremely excellent service

Having spent the last 4 days here in York such a lovely town all food up till tonight was great it’s likely to be the worst takeaway Chinese we have ever had and we have certainly had a few we were only staying opposite the restaurant above a shop in a flat but can not say we enjoyed 1 dish out of 9 Sad as it was our last meal of the trip .

Not good value for money . Family spent £179 and was shocked at portions.

Average food and expensive. It was a very large order though and there was no mistakes so can't complain too much.

Just an average takeaway and a bit over priced at that with it costing £175 for a group of eleven people. As for the food it was ok spring roles filo was cooked perfectly but there was only carrot in it when its ment to have meat and the sweet and sour was mosty sour and not that sweet at all but apart from that the food was fine and the delivery was good.

Just visited this restaurant and the service was brilliant nothing was a bother to Tan and the food was delicious will definitely visit again

Food was lacking in flavour! Quite bland. Never seen green peppers in a chicken curry before. Prawn crackers in a colander/sieve. Curry sauce gloopy. Staff bit awkward lurking around whilst trying to relax and eat. Seemed a bit chaotic. Forgettable experience

While this may be the best Chinese in York, it is really quite poor. We will not return and cannot recommend

Had a great meal as a family of 6. There were a few language barriers but service overall was very good. Food was excellent, hot and tasty. Soups maybe a little too hot!! Enjoyed the meal very much

We go here every time we go to York, I would give it more than 5 stars if I could, food amazing, staff happy and smiling, I can't wait to go again

I travelled to York to do a house viewing and decided to go for a Chinese for my tea iv been to a lot of Chinese restaurants in my time but this one has to rank up their as one of the Very best the service was superb and the food was a strong 9 out of 10 I would recommend this place to any one Superb

Very different atmosphere here given that this little restaurant is within an old house build in 1316. Food was good.

I enjoyed the food here, it was certainly a reasonable price, but I won't be rushing back. The interior of the restaurant has the feel of a cheap cafe to it, the ambience is zero! With regards to the service, it was exceptionally quick, almost rushed, they brought the starter and main out together, a waiter stood by us while we were eating, I didn't like that!

Absolutely horrible. Was given prawn crackers that were on someone else’s table before🤮. The food was bland and very tasteless. Ordered salt and pepper chips but came as normal chips with a few onions on them. Don’t recommend staff are very rude and speak little English. As well as this I asked for a glass of water and was given a glass of water with floaters in it. Definitely wouldn’t recommend. Was very underwhelmed after all the nice comments on here.

Great Udon noodle soup, the food was great, staff were friendly and service was great, would eat here again

Very nice food in a lovely restaurant.

Popped into this little Chinese restaurant on the 10th of September ,went upstairs,ordered beef and mushroom curry rice and chips plus chicken and black bean sauce and mini spring rolls,all the food was excellent and piping hot and lots of it ! Great little restaurant,come back? Definitely when we come back to York !

The best Chinese in York, without exception. The food is delicious, and the quality of the food is top notch. The prawns are deveined which is a massive plus, as who wants to eat prawn excrement? The same cannot be said for 99.9% of every other Chinese in York. All the ingredients are fresh, no tinned mushrooms, or stale and chewy pork. Onto the service, the chap who does the takeaway orders is lovely, and has amazing customer service. He can have a laugh, but he also works incredibly hard to make sure all the food is prepared in a timely manner. It would be nice if they did delivery, however, I can appreciate from a business perspective why they would choose not to. The extortionate cuts Deliveroo, JustEat and UberEats would take would either lead to higher prices for us, or lower quality in order to keep the prices the same. I am perfectly happy to take a stroll in to town with an insulated bag to pickup my Chinese made fresh, and be able to have a nice chat with those working in there. Overall, 100/10.

Brilliant food, really helpful staff

Lovely meal , I have been here for few times , Udon noodles and the duck dishes are my favorites. Like to come back soon.

This is my third time I had my meal here never disappointed, If you have no idea what to eat the staffs are help. My favorite restaurant.

We had 3 different main courses. All of them were either very greasy and/or without any taste. Nobody of us finished the meal. The staff was friendly and it's a nice litte place to sit. Also everything was clean. This also made me to rate it with 2 and not only with 1. But unfortunately over all for us a very disappointing experience especially after reading quite a few good comments. We saw that the people from the neighbour tables were eating all of it so I guess it was our very personal taste which was not met, however we would not go there again.

Really disappointed, I don't often visit York but have been here many times over many years, this time however the food quality has slipped massively. We shared s&p chicken, fried rice s&s chicken, chips and spring rolls. I've had better with the supermarket meal deals aside the fried rice. The service was fine albeit the staff running round like headless chickens. Lunch on a Thursday, busy already at 12pm. All I can think is changed hands since my last visit which must be pre COVID but never previously had any issues since 2007. I wouldn't return without seeing multiple recent decent reviews, maybe I should have checked trip advisor first before this visit rather than relying on past experience. 😪

Great place food very good staff very friendly

The food was awful tasteless and over fried in very overused fat chicken slimy and tasteless satay was just onions and chicken nothing else beef curry just beef in poor curry sauce like gravy granules more than double price it used to be when it was good , guess they have to overcharge because its always empty , thankfully was very ill to get rid of shorty after but spoilt a good day out never again please be warned

December rush time, but Happy Valley is a great meal (Veg Chow Mein & Broccoli garlic dishes, delicious!) for a good value price in a great, great location. Super central, clean, and friendly service. Highly recommend!

The food was good, but a bit expensive for the quantity. The servers were very nice. It was very busy the night we ate here, and our main courses did take quite a while to arrive, but I assume that was because every table was full. I would have given a higher rating, but they need to update the menu posted outside of the restaurant. I'm not sure how old the menu is, but once you are seated upstairs and handed "a new menu" you will notice that the prices across the board are 25-30% higher than on the menu posted outside. This is a very simple fix and can be done in one day. Otherwise, this is just poor advertising for the restaurant.

Great Chinese food, nice atmosphere, attentive service.

Very impolite and unhelpful when I asked for takeaway 30 minutes before published closing time and you said you were already closed. Please don't mislead customers with your opening times as not good for your business.