The Joy Luck-Highlands

Terrible social media presence and terrible conflict management. Would never visit this place.

This was our first visit and it will definitely not be our last!!!
The food, atmosphere, and service was outstanding!
I will recommend Joy Luck to all my friends and family!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

First off I used to love this place . Something’s changed and the place doesn’t get the business it used too. We sat outside on a weekday with only 1 other couple inside ordering .
Male server was very slow to come out to balcony area after we told him that’s where we like to sit and he handed us drink special menus .
We got no refills unless we went inside and asked for them .
The food itself was mediocre, not good but not awful .
For the prices the quality and flavors of meals could be better !
Overall we just felt the meal underwhelmed us .
My fried rice was just dry rice with 0 flavor , no egg,or seasoning .

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 3

Ordered from The Joy Luck - East End and it was terrible! Soup tasted burned, rice was dry and had the consistency of gravel. Both were inedible. Portions of entree were also small proteins were dry. This was food ordered around 6 pm on a Sunday. No wonder the restaurant was empty when we picked up the food.

As someone who hadn’t been here in 20 years, this place was a complete breath of fresh air. Delicious! Every single dish was divine. Every appetizer was awesome. And the atmosphere is certainly cool as can be, inside and out! Thanks for a great meal!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Szechuan Chicken, Fried Pork Dumplings, Cantonese Roast Duck, Spicy Wonton Soup, Soup

Nice cafevin the Highlands. Good fusion food. Tasty dishes. Relaxed atmosphere. Plenty of parking around.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Vegetable Spring Roll, Egg Drop Soup, Soup

The waiter we had, who also seems to be the owner, decided to take it upon himself to tip 25% without us knowing when he took our payment. We didn't realize until after it was already charged.

On top of that, the food was pretty subpar. Very little seasoning for the most part, I had ordered chicken but got beef, which I still ate anyway cuz I didn't mind. Neither of these things were very important, it wasn't a great meal especially for the price, but it wasn't terrible. But for paying $50 and then the waiter/owner tipping himself without our knowledge or consent, definite pass. Older reviews also show him being very snarky and rude to other customers who have had issues here as well. Would definitely recommend avoiding.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 1

The szechuan chicken was amazing! I love spicy food and it was just that. Also the fried pork dumplings were cooked perfectly. The rice was amazing as well. Great first experience for me. Plus they have a pop version of Goku on the wall.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Pork Soup Dumplings, Szechuan Chicken, Pad Thai, Fried Rice

We were the only ones in the restaurant when we got there around 5. Once greeted by our server, we got incredibly strange vibes and were genuinely uncomfortable because of how awkward he was being. He kept lurking around our table and was generally unsettling, not someone that should be a server. The restaurant was completely silent when we walked in despite it being dinner time too. The steamed pork dumplings were very good but the portion was soooo small for the price. Our fried rice was good but definitely a bit a dry and lacking some kind of binder or ANY kind of moisture. Would come back for the food but won’t because of the atmosphere. Please consider how awkward of a meal you’d like before choosing this restaurant ? since the owner wanted specifics, here you go.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 2

Service: 1

Best kung pao and pork buns ever - and really fresh!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Vegetable Spring Roll, Egg Drop Soup

Food is not good and way OVERPRICED!!! It was ready in 5 minutes, so it can't be freshly made. The shrimp, which was supposed to be crispy was soft and mushy, the duck and corn rangoon wasn't crispy either. I waisted $40 for this terrible mess. I won't return.

My 1st going today 5/1/24 I ordered chicken and broccoli and my meal tasted like fish. So much so I had to question myself if they gave me fish not chicken! It was really expensive for the small portions size and tasted just plan bad if I wanted fish I would have ordered it and The wonton soup that came with the meal only came with 1 single wonton in it. I was very disappointed and will not be returning. The staff was nice. But that’s all I can say about that.

Until today this place was my absolute favorite asian restaurant. I hate giving a bad review because the people there are extremely nice. My lunch today was not up to Par. The egg rolls were very dry and over cooked. The Chicken & broccoli had a VERY strong fish taste, so my coworker and i shared my lunch Entree, and she ate the soup. The Crab Rangoon was missing the sauce. Plus after looking at my receipt I realized they charged me a fee to come and get it which was very pricy. Overall $53 for lunch for 2 people is very expensive especially when $20 of food wasn't good enough to eat and $5 was fees for picking it up.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 4

Food was edible, but incredibly overpriced. We got chicken pad thai, I paid $4.50 extra to add broccoli and cabbage. There were 6-8 of the tiniest pieces of broccoli and I did not notice any cabbage at all. $5.00 for a side of steamed veggies that amounted to maybe a quarter cup. The fried rice was gross. The duck and corn Rangoon was fine but $12 for 4? The general tso’s was decent. They also charged a 10% service charge on top of the $70 togo order without telling me, which is fine, but I would not have tipped as much as I did on top of the service charge if I had known 10% was automatically on the check.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 4

the food is good but severely overpriced. $25 for 8 shrimp? ?? lowkey a scam. i tried the duck & corn rangoon which was good but not great. definitely wasn’t worth $13. everything came out suspiciously quick- within about 5 minutes from ordering. their speediness in preparing 3 dishes makes me believe everything is premade/reheated ?we decided to sit outside since it was such a nice evening, but bardstown road can get hectic. obviously the restaurant has no control over what people do outside, but 4 bikers parked their motorcycles in the space directly in front of the restaurant for the entirety of our meal playing loud explicit music, revving engines, & catcalling women. i’d try this place again but will order something different (& less expensive) in the future since what i got was no where near an appropriate portion size

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 4

Service: 5