Ever since the venerable Golden Century closed in 2021, there’s been a great big hole in Chinatown and the wider Sydney dining landscape. Its closure signalled the end of a long, proud line of Cantonese seafood restaurants lined with fish tanks and overrun with dim sum trolleys; of round banquet tables so broad you couldn’t reach the soy sauce bottle; and of menus so long they would stretch from here to China.

It signalled the end, too, of generations of families coming together for celebrations that perpetuated their culture and heritage, keeping it alive for generations to come.

For all those reasons, and about 8888 more, it’s great to be able to welcome the Royal Palace to Chinatown. Seating 400 diners over two levels, it’s the new public-facing restaurant from Ms Sun Wei, who founded the private-room Royal Pavilion in Sussex Street in 2017.