‘Everyone knows that's where you get your barbecue meats': The Good Food guide to Hurstville

Sydney Morning Herald

17-07-2025

Speak to someone who grew up in Hurstville and they'll tell you that in the '90s, the library was just about the only high-rise in town. Today, the streetscape looks different, with more apartment blocks, more chain restaurants and a Westfield right in the centre. But among the new, there's still plenty to remind you that this southern Sydney suburb lives and breathes, with stories behind every shopfront.
One of those stories belongs to David Chan, whose father, Tak Ming, and 'uncle' Chi Sun-cheng founded Sun Ming Restaurant on Forest Road in 1995 after emigrating from Hong Kong. Chan, who grew up among the clatter of woks, runs Sun Ming today, offering classic Hong Kong cafe dishes to multiple generations of diners, each finding different layers of meaning in plates of pork chops over rice or stir-fried beef noodles.
Chan has seen Hurstville change dramatically over his lifetime. During his childhood, he recalls many of the shops reflecting the historical British and Irish roots of the community, along with Italian and Greek. The 1990s brought a shift as Hurstville became the centre of the Hong Kong diaspora, before more migration from mainland China made it home to one of Sydney's largest Chinese communities.
'There were only a few Chinese restaurants when we first started,' says Chan. 'But now there are a lot of different Chinese restaurants, and not just Cantonese restaurants anymore – the variety is a lot better than it was 30 years ago.'
Walk down Forest Road and the signage might point to restaurants with roots in Taiwan, Sichuan, Hubei, Shanghai or Xinjiang, while those remaining Cantonese restaurants are now institutions, from Hurstville Chinese Restaurant to Canton Noodle House.