Happy Dragon

Happy Dragon is a small Chinese takeaway on Perry Street, the busy north-Gravesend shopping strip that runs through the residential streets between the town centre and the Northfleet boundary. It is a no-dine-in counter-service operation, focused entirely on collection and delivery, and trades on the early-evening to late-night window rather than the daytime trade.

The kitchen runs the standard British-Chinese list — set meals scaled for one through to four, sweet and sour, curry sauce, black bean and Cantonese-style mains, a long noodle and rice section and a small chef's specials list. Pricing sits in the standard local-Chinese bracket. Service runs from five o'clock through to ten in the evening Tuesday through Sunday, with Monday a fixed closing day — the shop has held to that schedule for years and the regulars use it as a fixed point in the week.

Reviews across Tripadvisor, Restaurant Guru and Yell run mixed in the way most volume British-Chinese takeaways do — speed of cooking and portion size are the consistent positives, while the inconsistency that comes with very fast turnover is what shows up on the negative side. It is a working neighbourhood Chinese rather than a destination, but holds the late-night trade in its pocket of Perry Street.