End of an era as Emperor Court Chinese Restaurant closes

After 36 years of serving food in Yarralumla, the Ho family is closing the doors at Emperor Court Chinese Restaurant.

Stanley and Agnes Ho took over the space in 1988, and they believe they are the second oldest, continuously family-owned Chinese restaurant in Canberra, behind Happy’s in Garema Place.

The Ho family raised their children Anita and Leslie in the restaurant, with both kids taking turns managing the space when they got older. Region spoke with Anita Ho who describes what a special place it is.

“I have a lot of memories with customers who have been coming back for such a long time,” she explained.

“So we’ll definitely miss everybody. It’s bittersweet that the restaurant won’t be here anymore.”

After well over 30 years in the business, Agnes and Stanley will be taking a well-earned break. Anita explained that her parents are getting older, and they felt that the time was right to finish up. Business has been much harder following COVID and it’s been hard to find staff.

With its iconic red and green entrance and retro interior, Emperor Court is a classic example of a suburban Chinese Australian restaurant. These institutions bring back fond memories of sweet and sour pork, fried rice and lemon chicken. For many Anglo and European Australians, these restaurants were an introduction to a whole new world of Asian cuisine. In more recent years, people from other cultures have brought their food to Canberra as well.

“I think suburban restaurants are changing,” Anita said.

“You see a lot of other cuisines now, like Korean, Japanese and Indian. There are so many choices available now, which is great. But there’s only a handful of these Chinese restaurants with long histories left.”

Over time, the preferences of customers have changed from sweet and sour pork – what Anita laughingly calls ‘white people Chinese food’ – to dishes like shantung chicken. But Stanley’s cooking has kept people coming back for more.

While Yarralumla shops will lose some history once Emperor Court closes, there’s a little bit of history repeating around the corner.

A new restaurant called Mínima is opening at the shops in July. Mínima is a new venue by Benn and Mork Ratanakosol (formerly of Morks), whose parents used to run a Thai restaurant at Yarralumla shops many years ago. Anita says when they were all kids, she and her brother Leslie would play with Benn and Mork while their parents were busy at the two restaurants.

While the Ho family is sorry to be saying goodbye, they wanted to take the opportunity to thank all the customers who have supported them over the years, from those who drop in occasionally to others who have been coming back for years.

“The family would love to thank all our patrons. We really appreciate and value their support: we wouldn’t have been here for so long without you all.”

Emperor Court Chinese Restaurant will close for the last time on Sunday, 30 June.

Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Riotact.