The food memories of the Wong family’s beloved Cantonese restaurant run deep. For people of all stripes, from all over Sydney, Golden Century is synonymous with XO pippies, boisterous late-night dining or a yum cha service crowded with families. After the Sussex Street mainstay’s shock closure in 2021, the family team (Eric and Linda Wong, and their son Billy) is back: moving into a level-three space at Crown Sydney.
When the Broadsheet team visited yesterday for the debut yum cha service, excitement was high. The return of the buzz and bustle; orders called out from all corners of the table; the need to keep elbows out of the way of steaming trolleys; lazy Susans spinning; and ever-shuffling plates.
Golden Century, however, has switched it up.
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SIGN UP“We wanted to still relate to the OG Golden Century,” Billy tells Broadsheet. “The character, the atmosphere, the people around that. But at the same time be aligned to the new Golden Century, within the Crown.”
The restaurant joins lauded fine diner Oncore by Clare Smyth, Alessandro Pavoni’s A’Mare, the fire-powered Woodcut and Maurice Terzini’s Icebergs evolution. “We’re not a luxury restaurant as such,” Billy says. “We still want it to be accessible, we still want people to come with the families on a regular basis and have yum cha.”
Perhaps the first thing you’ll notice is the natural light: floor-to-ceiling windows face all directions, locking in water views that bring Golden Century closer to Hong Kong’s Victoria Bay than Sydney’s Chinatown. The ordering’s à la carte, with everything cooked to order – which means no rolling trolleys. Lazy Susans are for the eight private dining rooms only. But the over-80-count dim sum menu is the longest the family’s put up.
Your table is primed to be crowded with the same baskets of delicate prawn gow gee, scallop siu mai and fluffy pork buns, plus plates of braised beef tripe and stacks of crispy fried radish cake. The silky sheets of steamed rice cakes – wrapping dried shrimp and shallots, or sticky barbeque pork and egg – are drenched in house-made soy sauce.
There’s congee and a collection of pickles, plates of salt-and-pepper squid and bright-green piles of Chinese broccoli, glossy with oyster sauce. “[There are] very classic dim sum dishes that you don’t usually find in Sydney, too.”
Whatever your favourite Golden Century dish is, it’s still on the menu. “I’ve grown up in the restaurant, and a lot of people I’ve spoken to – my friends, people that’ve grown up in Sydney – one way or another, they always have a story about Golden Century. Whether it’s the family, a night out or birthday or graduation. It’s these memories that keep coming back. Reopening lets people relive a lot of that, which is why we kept the menu the same.”
The renowned live seafood tanks will be installed and filled in time for the official grand opening on February 6.
“Mum and Dad have been really involved from day one … so many people have reached out. They love what they do, which is what makes Golden Century what it is. It is a family-run operation, but a lot of our customers will see a lot of familiar faces around our managers and chefs and floor staff – it’s an extended family operation.”
Golden Century
Level 3, Crown Sydney, 1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo
Hours:
Daily 11am–11pm
Yum cha 11am–5pm
Last orders 10.30pm
crownsydney.com.au/restaurants/golden-century
@goldencenturygroup