A Hong Kong cafe menu can seem almost chaotic at first glance. Condensed-milk-soaked French toast sits alongside baked pork chop spaghetti, bubbling hotpots and egg-filled brekkie sandwiches. Milk tea is served as strong as an espresso and there’s a rainbow of shaved ices. These cafes – or cha chaan teng (tea restaurants) – are born from Hong Kong’s layered history, shaped by British and Portuguese rule and local Cantonese traditions. And Sun Ming claims to be Sydney’s oldest.

The all-day restaurant can be found in Parramatta and Hurstville, and has been serving this style of food for the last three decades. “A Hong Kong cafe to me is soul food,” David Chan, who now runs Sun Ming, tells Broadsheet. “It’s not the healthiest food, but what soul food is healthy? It’s Chinese food soul food.”

Sun Ming was started in 1993 by David’s father Tak Ming Chan and his “Uncle Sun”, Chi Sun-cheng. The two chefs opened the original in Parramatta before relocating to its current, larger site in 1996, and the Hurstville dining room arrived in 1995. Since then, Sun Ming has been a constant for those craving home-style Hong Kong cooking.

We think you might like Access. For $12 a month, join our membership program to stay in the know.

SIGN UP

When Broadsheet visits the Hurstville location, families both young and old are sharing comforting plates in a setting that feels familiar and lived-in: handwritten Chinese menu items are stuck on the wall, live lobsters crawl and barramundi swim lazily in fish tanks, and a steady clattering of chopsticks against bowls echoes through the restaurant.

When the restaurant first opened, the menu wasn’t as extensive as it is today. “A traditional Hong Kong cafe has a lot of baked goods,” David says. “So way back when I was a kid, I remember we had these self-serve counters at the front with baked goods. There was toast and some rice dishes, but not as extensive as it is now. We’ve evolved from what it was.”

Even with its evolution, Sun Ming still sells sunny pineapple buns – and remains rooted in family traditions. Many staples on the menu stem from Tak Ming’s self-taught recipes, including sticky fried rice dotted with dried shrimp, Chinese sausage and shiitake mushroom, and beef stir-fried noodles riding high on the smoky flavours of wok hei. These dishes are the same ones Tak Ming once cooked and sold alongside David’s grandmother when they ran a street food cart by Fisherman’s Wharf in Hong Kong.

Mastering these signature dishes over the wok takes skill, and it’s something David mastered under his father’s guidance. “It took me years. You have to feel the fire, control the temperature, and know exactly when to move everything. Dad would say, ‘If you can cook in front of me, you can cook in front of anyone’.”

Despite Sun Ming’s longevity, Chan notes that Hong Kong cafes like his are becoming rarer. “There aren’t many places like this anymore, where they serve everything. Some say it’s not a good thing, but people like variety. You know what you’re going to get here. How a Hong Kong cafe runs is you have breakfast, you have lunch, you have afternoon tea and dinner. The only thing you’re missing is supper.”

Sun Ming Hurstville
173A Forest Road, Hurstville
(02) 9585 2772

Hours:
Mon to Fri 10am–10pm
Sat & Sun 9am–10pm

@sun_ming_hurstville

Sun Ming Parramatta
145-149 Church Street, Parramatta
(02) 9689 2178

Hours:
Tue to Sun 11am–9.30pm