Cream puffs off the menu as iconic Chinatown venue suddenly closes

Sydneysiders looking for a cream puff fix may be left disappointed as one of Chinatown’s iconic venues fights for its future. Hay Street’s 47-year-old Emperor’s Garden Restaurant, whose takeaway window has long attracted queues of customers seeking piping hot treats, has been shuttered, with a sign appearing on the facade on Sunday stating it had been “legally re-entered and possession taken”.

The repossession is just one in a series of plot twists for the restaurant – a grand dame of Chinatown that has fed generations of Sydneysiders – and the valuable land it sits on. The restaurant’s operators, Stanley Yee and his son Valentine, have vowed to fight the action.

The restaurant operates across three properties on Hay Street (Emperor’s Garden BBQ & Noodles on nearby Thomas Street isn’t affected and remains open). According to Stanley Yee, the Hay Street repossession is complicated by an ownership split of the Hay Street properties with an extended family member. “We don’t know why it happened,” he said. “We’re seeking legal advice.”

Was non-payment of rent behind the move? “That’s what they say,” Valentine Yee said. The law firm listed on the repossession sign as a contact declined to reveal the name of its client.

There are other problems brewing for the restaurant. An application for the winding up of Emperors Garden Pty Ltd was recently commenced by the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation. The matter will be heard in the Federal Court on Friday, August 7.

“We’re working with a solicitor to have [it] dismissed or delayed,” Valentine Yee said. He added a payment arrangement is being sorted with the Australian Taxation Office.

Another twist in the story is a development application lodged with the City of Sydney for 96-100 Hay Street, to redevelop the site of the stalwart Chinese restaurant and bakery with a 16-storey tower that would retain the original shopfront facades. Stanley and Valentine Yee offered no comment on the development.

Emperor’s Garden has been part of the fabric of Chinatown since 1979, after Stanley Yee moved to Australia from China in the 1960s. Nicknamed the “Iron man of Chinatown”, he often worked up to 18 hours a day. In 2007, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to the Chinese community through the hospitality industry, administrative roles in aged care, and support of cancer organisations.

Yee the restaurateur is also a Chinatown survivor in an area that faces increased competition from new neighbouring food precincts, and has seen many of its iconic restaurants close or relocate. BBQ King has long since departed, Marigold and Golden Century restaurants both closed in 2021, with the latter reopening last year at Crown Sydney.

For now, the Yee family is determined to fight for the survival of its Hay Street restaurant, and get their chicken’s feet in black bean sauce, Wagyu beef rolls and detour-worthy 70c cream puffs back into Sydneysiders’ stomachs.

“Our restaurant and bakery are taking a short break. That also means the puffs are deflating for now …” the Emperor’s Garden official Instagram page said. “We’ll be back soon.”