Lucky House Cantonese Private Kitchen 陶然居

My first experience at this private dining by chef Sam Wong left me generally wondering what the hype was all about. The first two duck dishes - soup with dark sugar cane and roast duck were delicious. Soup was rich in flavour with black sugar cane and kidney beans boiled over a charcoal fire for many hours. Also impressive was their signature roast duck, charcoal grilled and with deep smoky undertones. His “Marine Parade caught” live prawns had a just right texture. The huge white pomfret fish and the steamed chicken with liver Chinese sausages were reasonably tasty but not outstanding while the green veggies dish was cooked “just right”. Sam’s signature cray fish hor fun was disappointing. The cray fish wasn’t particularly fresh while the hor fun was much too sweet and lacking in wok hei. Most underwhelming dish was the fu yook dessert which was watery and of hawker stall standard! At $140 per head, Sam should take more pains with the crockery and the surroundings. Glasses for water were an assortment of SIA items and others of dissimilar shapes and sizes. The wine opener should have been assigned to the scrap heap years ago and replaced with something decent! Lucky House private dining felt more like a commercial eating house experience rather than an intimate and personal one.

Super delicious food. The starting soup really warmed me up. Left the place feeling so full and satisfied. The chef serves quite a lot of uncommon dishes like the quail. The soup was so good that we took the left over home, put in hot water the next day and boiled it and it tasted just as good.

I had been looking forward to dining here after hearing so many glowing reviews, especially since there’s a long 2-year waitlist. I was fortunate to secure a reservation through a friend who had previously raved about his experience. Unfortunately, my visit didn’t quite live up to expectations. The private dining room we were placed in felt rather cramped and stuffy for 8 people, which made the setting less comfortable. Small details like being provided with toilet paper instead of proper napkins also felt out of place for a $130-per-head experience. As for the food, it was decent but not particularly memorable. For example, the chicken tasted more frozen than fresh. Service was mixed – the uncle who attended to us was warm and friendly, but his nephew seemed less engaged. What stood out most was the difference in standards compared to older photos and reviews. The presentation, variety, and overall quality appeared to have declined over the years. On our way out, we noticed another room that looked more spacious and inviting, which made our own setup feel even more underwhelming. I truly hope the restaurant can maintain the high standards it was once known for, as the concept and reputation clearly have great potential.

I enjoyed every course at this home based Cantonese restaurant, especially the roast duck and wanton noodles, which really stood out for being very tender and flavourful. Uncle Sam was very friendly and generous with the portions, and the nostalgic home setting was warm and inviting, making the dinner feel even more authentic. He also showed us around the kitchen where all the food was prepared, which added a nice personal touch and made the experience even more special.

Very Authentic type of cooking, can see the chef put in a lot of effort. Feel like eating at home. The decor here feel like in 70s time The only thing is floor abit sticky maybe part of the experience to back in time 🤣 Aircon very powerful.

1 year waitlist at this private dining finally came on a friend’s recommendation. A few dishes wow’ed like the duck, soup and fish. Maybe a year is too long to wait… a little pricey. >$100 head

Take your time and money elsewhere. I really don’t enjoy leaving negative reviews, but it’s a different case if businesses don’t take pride in what they do and don’t respect the customers’ standards enough to serve something that is deserving of what they are charging. Gone are its glory days. Chef was passionate and engaging back then and the food really blew us away. This time it felt like a mass-production home dining with multiple groups of guests in randomly partitioned rooms, little warmth, in a dirty and dusty house (and bathroom). The signature hor fun no longer had wok hei, steamed cod was overcooked, other dishes were also nothing to shout about for a “private dining”. No unique or premium ingredients, basic cooking techniques, zero flair. Nothing you can’t find elsewhere. I no longer felt like taking photos by the third dish. All in all, one of the most underwhelming meals I had in a long while. It felt almost insulting to pay this amount for what we got. I can take one per head spending and have a much better meal for four at a coffee shop tze char. If I rated them strictly as a private dining spot against other private dining spots, 1 out of 5 stars would be generous.

I learned about Lucky House during covid and managed to get their delivery in May 2021, as the 2 year wait list was really insane. By some chance, we decided to make a booking for Jun 2025 around Dec 2023 and here we were. We got the big room that could sit up to 16 but the space was still a little tight for me. It's quite a special feeling to be eating in a room full of antiques. Food wise, I thought it was generally good and memorable; I don't think food of this standard is easily available out in the market. I also learned that the wait-list has shortened - it has now reduced to 9 months. I would say to give this place a try if you want an environment to have nice food and chit chat.