Hunt for the first Chinese restaurant

Neil Manton, who you might remember as winner of a recent Rockpool relish competition, has set out to discover when the first Chinese restaurant – and specialist Chinese ingredients – came to Canberra.

He has a book published in Melbourne in 1948 that lists two Chinese suppliers in Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, but suspects the first Canberra restaurant might have been Happy’s in Garema Place, possibly opened in 1962.

Department store J.B. Young’s had some exotic ingredients, but just a small range, he recalls. Manton’s interest in Chinese food stems from his 23 years overseas in the diplomatic service, including stints in Cambodia in the 1960s and Malaysia in the 1980s, where he learnt from the local cooks. Back in Canberra, he struggled to find the ingredients.

Today, Canberra is awash with Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai eateries. Can anyone help Manton pinpoint when this might have started?