{"id":484408,"date":"2026-02-16T21:51:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/484408\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T21:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:51:15","slug":"how-these-old-school-chinese-restaurants-in-melbourne-have-survived-for-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/484408\/","title":{"rendered":"How these ‘old-school’ Chinese restaurants in Melbourne have survived for decades"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Betty Yung, the old saying “it takes a village to raise a child” could not be any truer.<\/p>\n

In the late 1990s, she juggled running Fong’s Chinese Restaurant, in Melbourne’s Bentleigh East, with raising four children.<\/p>\n

And while they are now all grown up, she vividly recalls the many hours they spent there.<\/p>\n

“The table I just set up in there in the back is my children’s table,” Betty remembers, gesturing to a corner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inside her much-loved restaurant, behind dark tinted walls, about a dozen of tables covered with white cloth stand ready for lunch service to begin.<\/p>\n

And it is just 10:15am.<\/p>\n

On an average weekday night, years after her own children sat up the back doing their homework, or playing with other customers’ kids, the venue could still almost pass as a daycare centre.<\/p>\n

“It’s like a second home for the people,” Betty says.<\/p>\n

\"A Betty sets up dining tables every morning before customers come in for lunch.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

Fong’s has always been a part of her family, a legacy from Betty’s uncle Fong Kee Chiu, who came from Hong Kong and established the eatery in 1961.<\/p>\n

According to the family, it was the first Chinese restaurant in the area.<\/p>\n

A family business<\/p>\n

Betty officially took over Fong’s in 1997.<\/p>\n

Other than her husband Wood’s help in the kitchen, she often calls on cousin David \u2014 her uncle’s son \u2014 for an extra pair of hands.<\/p>\n

“He is the original ‘Fong’,” Betty says.<\/p>\n

In the early days, her kids would also become little front of house helpers.<\/p>\n

The restaurateur says they still make their dishes from scratch and do not rely on a lot of staff.<\/p>\n

\"Plates Sweet and sour pork is one of the most ordered dishes in Fong’s Chinese restaurant.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

David believes that quality and consistency is why they’ve survived all these years, despite the city’s ever-changing food culture.<\/p>\n

“We got the reputation \u2026 [it] stays in people’s mind,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Other food shops in Bentleigh East \u2026 they come and go. They don’t last long.”<\/p>\n

That “reputation” has meant decades of perfecting their two bestsellers \u2014 sweet and sour pork, and steak with black bean sauce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 30 kilometres east of Fong’s, in the leafy suburb of Boronia, another family is also preparing for a busy week of dining service.<\/p>\n

\"A Betty’s husband, Wood Yung, is the restaurant’s chef.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

Kevin Tran has been joyfully firing the wok from 8am for more than three decades.<\/p>\n

“It’s my routine,” Kevin grins.<\/p>\n

Lucky for him, he has a full-time helping hand.<\/p>\n

One of his sons, Graham, is always a few steps ahead, brainstorming ways to preserve the iconic, mint-coloured brick veneer restaurant, which has been operating since the 1970s, and owned by the Trans since 1991.<\/p>\n

Graham grew up in his parents’ Kingsland Chinese Restaurant, celebrating the family’s birthdays and anniversaries, while learning the ins and outs of running a business.<\/p>\n

\"A Graham Tran (right) has learned everything he knows about running a restaurant from his father Kevin.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

“We spent all our days and nights and holidays here at the shop, because back then, they were open seven days,” Graham says.<\/p>\n

It made the decision to continue working for his family’s venture a “very easy” one.<\/p>\n

“It was always fun for me to speak \u2026 with my customers, who’ve become more than just customers, who’ve been friends and family because they’ve been such big parts of our lives.”<\/p>\n

More than just the food<\/p>\n

Other than the old and new faces of patrons coming and going throughout the years, time has practically stood still in Kingsland.<\/p>\n

“The walls are still the same from the 70s, the chairs are still the same,” Graham says.<\/p>\n

Then there’s the huge octagonal window, where light seeps through and creates a soothing ambience as diners are comforted with traditional music.<\/p>\n

The venue was so iconic, it was used as a set for an episode of Australia’s longest-running TV soap Neighbours \u2014 which aired its last episode in December.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Two Graham (right) and his twin brother Ben (left), spends a lot of time during childhood in their parents’ restaurant.(Supplied: Graham Tran)<\/p>\n

Graham (right) and his twin brother Ben, who also helps out occasionally. (Supplied: Graham Tran)<\/p>\n

\"A A dragon dance was held on the opening of Kingsland Chinese restaurant in 1991.(Supplied: Graham Tran)<\/p>\n

Kingsland’s grand opening after the Tran family bought the restaurant in 1991. (Supplied: Graham Tran)<\/p>\n

\"A The family celebrates milestones in their restaurant.(Supplied: Graham Tran)<\/p>\n

The family has celebrated many milestones in their restaurant. (Supplied: Graham Tran)<\/p>\n

\"A The combination bird’s nest is a signature dish of Kingsland Chinese restaurant.\u00a0(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

The popular “combination bird’s nest” dish. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

\"A The interior design of Kingsland Chinese restaurant has been preserved for years.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

The design of the restaurant has stayed the same for years. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

\"Two Kevin Tran (right) is “very proud” of his son for continuing the family-owned business.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

Kevin Tran says he is “very proud” of his son Graham. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

“I think it’s a nostalgia. There’s a romance around it,” Graham says of the restaurant’s interior.<\/p>\n

Their options of Cantonese dishes also remain unchanged over the years.<\/p>\n

“We still hold 100 different meals [on the menu],” Graham says.<\/p>\n

Their speciality? Combination bird’s nest.<\/p>\n

But the father-and-son duo admit it’s not merely the food that keeps their customers waltzing through the doors.<\/p>\n

“There’s more than just the food \u2026 it’s more on your dining experience,” Graham said.<\/p>\n

“We like our old-school service. We come and take your order; we’ll come and refill your water.”<\/p>\n

Back at Fong’s, Betty has also always taken a tradition approach to restaurant management.<\/p>\n

\"A A refugee from Vietnam, Kevin moved to Melbourne and opened a Chinese restaurant in the early 1990s.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

That means physical menus, hand-written orders, and sometimes working solo as an all-rounder \u2014 something her loyal customers are quite accustomed to.<\/p>\n

“When they see that I’m busy, they can just go grab the menu. Some customers get the writing pad, write it down and just give it to me,” Betty says.<\/p>\n

“You come in, you just feel like home \u2026 they can do what they like.”<\/p>\n

Generations coming back<\/p>\n

While it doesn’t seem like Kevin is slowing down anytime soon, he knows Kingsland will stay open for many years to come.<\/p>\n

His son Graham began working in the restaurant while he was in primary school. “Now my grandson continues like that,” he says.<\/p>\n

\"A Graham Tran started helping out in his parent’s business since he was still in school.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n

New generations of people are also starting to come back, craving the childhood dishes they used to share with their parents and grandparents.<\/p>\n

“We are seeing a lot more younger families coming and enjoying our restaurant,” Graham says.<\/p>\n

“It’s multi-generations coming through here.”<\/p>\n

Growing up as a “restaurant kid”, Graham vows to continue serving that very community he calls “family”.<\/p>\n

“They’ve [customers] seen how much of a troublemaker we were too. Watch us go through our different phases,” he says.<\/p>\n

“People who don’t come for 10 years and enjoyed the meal \u2026 can come back 10 years later knowing that it’ll be exactly the same experience they had then.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Betty Yung, the old saying “it takes a village to raise a child” could not be any…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,245308,99,55173,245306,245307,245304,245305,204670,647],"class_list":["post-484408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-betty-yung","tag-business","tag-chinese-new-year","tag-chinese-restaurants","tag-chinese-australian","tag-fongs-chinese-restaurant","tag-kingsland","tag-lunar-new-year","tag-melbourne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}