It’s a typical morning at Golden Century Seafood Restaurant as vans park outside to deliver live seafood and trolleys of fresh produce are pulled from a dumbwaiter.
The start to today resembles every morning since 1989 - the year Eric and his wife Linda Wong left Hong Kong in search of better opportunities for their young family.
“At that moment it was a very, very, very difficult time for us with little English, no friends and no relationships, and everything was new,” Linda Wong said.
Within two weeks of arriving, they found themselves owning the run-down restaurant, adding to the challenges and stress of culture shock.
The Wongs moved to Australia to pursue a happier life and seek greater oppportunities their home couldn't give them. Source: Supplied
The restaurant was so old, everything was breaking and the roof constantly leaked.
“When outside is big raining, inside is more raining, so everywhere is leaking (sic),” Eric said laughing.
Linda said: “You can imagine what it looked like, but the people were very happy to use an umbrella and still eat in the restaurant."
From day one, their goal was to serve the best and freshest dishes with an idea to offer fresh seafood, as was the norm in Hong Kong.
“Australian seafood is so good, so we first had an idea to keep the seafood live and let customers try and see how much better it is to frozen ones,” Linda said.
XO pippies have become the restaurant's signature dish. Source: Supplied
It was a bold move with less competition and opportunities to redefine the local market were sprouting.
With critics saying it wouldn’t work, half their staff leaving and fishermen being reluctant to give it a go, the Wong’s had to negotiate and compromise.
“I told suppliers I’d pay them twice as much for live seafood,” Eric said.
There were initial problems in transporting prawns because their heads would poke holes through bags and arrive dead, prompting suppliers to stop delivering.
An underground car park was converted into an aquarium to house more stock, such as this huge crab. Source: Supplied
“But to negotiate I said, ‘don’t worry, I’ll give you a good price for the live ones and half price for the dead ones’.”
Soon their stock increased and delivery methods changed. Customers would wait to dine, realising fresh seafood would arrive at midnight.
“At that moment, everything came from the fridge so customers had nothing to compare,” he said.
With a key staff member they describe as the “foundation” of Golden Century, the Wong’s were able to naturally expand the business.
“Mr Lee helped us settle down, find staff, help as a kitchenhand or waiter, manage staff and even train our team in the kitchen,” Linda said.
After recruiting more staff they moved to a new premise in 1990, which pushed their seating capacity from 180 to 450.
The Wongs have 24 fish tanks on the restaurant floor holding live seafood. Source: Supplied
The Wongs say consistency and a strong sense of identity have been fundamental ingredients to their success.
Eric says food standards are a crucial contributor to building success, and he’s ensured all staff are trained to maintain the same level of consistency if the executive chef or another team member is away.
With 20 years of trading under their belt, the Wongs are grateful for earning the trust of customers via word of mouth to serve locals to the presidents, royal families and some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
Watch this story at the top of the page, or catch the full episode on SBS On Demand.
