tl;dr: happy boy is funky not only in vibe and atmosphere, but also with the care given to the food. make no mistake, this is some of the highest quality chinese cuisine anywhere in town. all the aspects work to make it so, and this is the place to be seen. you will be treated to some good service, and will want to stay to soak it in even more.
i have this twisted view-point when it comes to what people refer to as "hidden gems", and the places that require a bit of searching for to be found. for one thing, i definitely understand the appeal of how something is off the beaten track a bit, and remains relatively unknown - there is definitely that appeal walking in and only seeing a few people there, solitude and whatnot. on this other hand, any place that opens up - even if i absolutely hate it - i still want to see do well. and that goes to when many times i have found a small or upcoming eatery, many times when i have liked it a lot a common quip is that it deserves to have more love. so in other words, the hidden gems often should not remain hidden gems if they are good enough on their own merit. and that can happen, and the love given in the business gets the pay-off it deserves. such is the case with spring hill's happy boy.
my brother in law was staying in town for a few days, and earlier on in the week had messaged me proposing meeting for dinner somewhere within the city. i did have a busy schedule, but i do manage to fit as much as i can in - especially keeping some time to be social and everything. the preference was for it to be around the city center, and with him being in spring hill way the northern part was the go. after looking at what there was around there, it came down to a coin toss between one of two places (both of which were on my radar). well, this won out and later on i was meeting him.
there is no kidding around when it is saying that happy boy is still relatively hidden, along with substantiating whatever the hell was said at the start of this review. brisbane has really begun to use the lane ways a lot with businesses and eateries but this was possibly the hipster version of that - doing it before it was considered cool (by brisbane standards - this is old hat in melbourne). after going up all the main streets in the city center, and entering camp hill the lights suddenly turn a little low and we are in a residential area. but you can smell the aromas of chinese cooking, and hear a buzz of noise around here. that is the indication that happy boy is nearby.
across from a set of apartments, this building might have been a shed, garage or something, since it is pretty square, has a lot of exposed brick, and is a cosy, warm kind of place. it is packed to the brim with diners, and bookings are frequent; by sheer luck there was an hour or so the two of us could fit in the meal and be done, it was that popular. with so many people there, it is a loud and vibrant atmosphere with so many people having a good time.
when a place is this busy, it provides one of the best opportunities to assess just how good the service is. and the customer service is at a decent level here. the waitstaff are in constant motion, always manage to have such a smile on their face and know the right timing to take things away from the table. not that either of us had anywhere to be, but with the idea of how quickly it would take the food did take a while to arrive at the table. i am a forgiving man, and with so many clients to service a bit of compromise is necessary. still though, the service managed to keep sharp all through the night.
that was readily apparent walking in the door. some tables were being cleared, and soon a spot was going to open - all that was needed was to wait a few minutes, and that was all good. bonus points are something that i have a nose for with customer service, and this one provided a good example. while we waited, the waiter offered us some drinks and one of them was coffee. therefore, it was the usual doppio that i had which was quite nice. i don't know if i caught what the blend was or anything, but regardless of that case it was a strong, and smoothly textured drink that started the night off really well.
it is a pretty specialised cuisine that they have here, going for the star player of chinese cuisine - none other than some good old sichuan cuisine. something about just how vibrant it is, and all the spices, makes for any meal that has it to be one exciting fare. there is something for everyone there, offering seafood, noodles, and some starters among many others. plus, it is one page long but almost each item is as tempting as the last.
starting off with some entrees, each of us got a gua bao along with sharing an order of the duck pancakes and the salt and pepper quail eggs. these were overall a good start for what was to come. maybe a weak spot might have been the duck pancakes, which had nothing wrong with them per se, but they certainly managed to lack the vibrancy of other items ordered. the duck meat was tasty and crispy, the rest of the items were merely good.
better yet was the gua bao, which more or less was like a mini-burger, complete with tender pork that had a crispy crackling, and a kewpie mayonnaise to compliment it. the bun was both tender and crispy, making it all for a delicious starter. these are worth getting. however, the one thing i was looking forward to was trying out their salt and pepper quail eggs. words are hard to use to describe why these work, but put it this way - even after all of the cooking, they were soft like a cloud and were moreish. if anything is to indicate what the chef can do, this is it.
now we get onto the main dishes, and these were the highlights of the night. before coming here, i had heard much about their flash fried lamb and how good it was - and that lives up to (maybe even beyond) the reputation it has. this sucker was a taste sensation. the lamb was crisp fried, and absolutely tender. we are talking about no grungy bits at all in any of the meat. not only that, it was a fiery number that was tangy with plenty of aroma to spare. finally, there is the emperor's breakfast which was a prawn omelet with xo sauce. the contrast between the light, delicate egg was matched with the full-on taste of the xo sauce, and the amount of prawns in the mixture was generous; these were sweet and tasty, which rounded the whole meal off quite well. it was a nice contrast to the lamb dish.
it is safe to say that the food was fantastic, was filling, and that a great night out was had by all members around. the sum of its parts adds up pretty nicely, and there is a very good reason that it has managed to sustain its popularity. in fact, happy boy almost feels like the inner-north side's go-to place in many ways.
there are places out there that live well up to their hype, and this is definitely one of them. it is not only that i can see why people like it - the great food is one aspect - but the sentiments also come from a genuine place. why this place works so well is hard to gauge, but i reckon a lot of it comes down to the overall vibe that it has. too much is it that all the popular eating areas have to be in plain view on a main street; taking itself to one of the back roads makes for a significant part of its vibe and the funky atmosphere and fantastic food are just some additions to how great it really is.
to tie it all together, the fare is all at the hands of a chef who has been trained at michelin-starred restaurants within hong kong, and that is about as good as it could get with chinese cooking. and he knows what he is doing. any semblance of subtlety is done away with and the way is given to some of the most full-on flavour that i have had in quite some time - it is especially good for those who like their food either spicy or smoky. but appropriately for chinese cuisine, the vibe is well suited to the flavour of the food where it is vibrant and full of energy - so i would say it is a match and does it job pretty well.