The institution’s original owners have returned to the Chinatown site with new dishes, old favourites and more seats.
Fans of Chinese Noodle House’s handmade noodles and braised eggplant can relax. The Chinatown institution is reopening on Sunday, February 1, with the venue’s original owners at the helm.
The modest Thomas Street eatery closed last year after a statement was posted in the window: “Chinese Noodle House will officially come to an end in December. It has been our honour and pleasure to serve you, and we are deeply grateful for your companionship along the way.”
Long queues ensued for a final visit to the store run by Eric Zhang and his mother-in-law Jin Hua Wang for the past 10 years. “If the world is against Chinese Noodle House, then I am against the world,” one Instagram user wrote. “What’s the point of anything?” asked another.
But now husband-and-wife restaurateurs Xinjiang Sun and Susanna Chen are returning to the Quay Street restaurant a decade after they sold the business, while remaining landlords of the site.
“We’re calling it Chinese Noodle House TG2,” Chen said. TG2 is the shop number, which they’ve added to the name to distinguish it from the plethora of similarly named noodle houses across Sydney.
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Chinese Noodle House is most often confused with Chinese Noodle Restaurant, which is only a few doors away. Both are commonly referred to as the “grapes-on-the-ceiling place” (the hanging plastic fruit is a traditional indicator of owners from North-West China) and both offer similar menus.
The two locations are linked by family, too. Xiao Tang Qin, a Chinese concert violinist who also pulled noodles by hand, and his wife Helen Sun opened Chinese Noodle House in 2007 as a spin-off to their Chinese Noodle Restaurant.
“Helen is the aunty to my husband, Xinjiang,” Susanna Chen explained. “Xinjiang worked at Chinese Noodle House when it opened and we took over in 2008. We ran it until we sold it in 2016.”
Chen and her husband, who also run Newtown’s Chinese Dumpling Master, purchased the TG2 property in 2010, and when the current lease was up for renewal last year, they opted to return to the site and operate Chinese Noodle House themselves.
The couple have spruced up the interior with fresh paint, and new tables and chairs are en route (guests can expect borrowed mismatched furniture in the meantime). Importantly, the grapes on the ceiling are also coming back. The relaunched Chinese Noodle House will seat around 40 customers inside and out after expanding into the neighbouring space where a Singapore barbecue restaurant previously operated.
Menu favourites such as the braised eggplant and signature noodles with “fragrant spicy sauce” are returning, but a handful of new dishes can also be expected, including wontons with Sichuan sauce, roast duck pancakes and duck fried rice.
Chinatown has dramatically changed since the duo last operated Chinese Noodle House. Stalwarts such as Marigold, Golden Century and BBQ King have departed; the Darling Square development has led to more competing venues nearby; and the sprawling Hay St Market opened last year at Paddy’s.
“It’s quite different now,” Chen said, noting one of the many changes she’s seen is how competitive Chinatown has become, with pavement spruiking for restaurant customers now commonplace.
But Chinatown is also in the midst of a $44 million revitalisation project, and according to City of Sydney data, Haymarket had the highest level of consumer spend across the LGA’s neighbourhoods and high streets, supported by strong dining activity. The future for Chinatown’s noodle houses – and noodle restaurants – looks promising.
Open lunch and dinner daily
TG2/8 Quay Street, Haymarket
