Royal Palace Seafood Restaurant

Opening a 400-seat yum cha and seafood restaurant in the old Golden Century site was always going to be a tall order. But mother and son team Sun Wei and William Wu were determined to revitalise Chinatown after a number of high profile closures in the area, including that iconic Sydney restaurant and another, Marigold.

Royal Palace Seafood brought the two-level spot back to life in the second half of 2023 – with an additional 175-seat function space on a third level. The seafood tanks are now full of lobster, mud crab, coral trout and pippies; the barbeque section roasts Peking duck, char siu and whole suckling pig; and the yum cha trolleys are rolling once again.

The à la carte menu features classic seafood dishes and barbeque during lunch, dinner and supper, which runs until 3am, Thursday to Saturday. The signature dish is Three Treasures of Lobster, which use all components of the animal. The tail meat is stir-fried, the legs and claws get a salt and pepper treatment, and the brain is mixed with egg and crowned on top. Golden Century’s most iconic dish, the XO pippies, also make a return here.

Yum cha is a mix of familiar and rare, with highlights such as cheung fun – a roll of crisp prawn spring rolls wrapped in fine, chewy rice noodles – and black truffle prawn dumplings.