1962 was the year that Happy Chan, also known as Mr Happy, opened the doors to in Canberra. Sixty years later, this family-owned institution continues to serve customers traditional Cantonese cuisine from Garema Place in the city centre.
A young Mr Happy migrated to Australia from Guangzhou province in the early 1950s. He worked as a vegetable farmer in Sydney and Queensland before settling in Canberra.
"In those days, you could pretty much count all the Chinese people on one hand," explains Mr Happy's grandson, Gavin Chan, who now runs Happy's. "My grandfather was really the only Chinese person that was around in this region at that particular time."
Instead of attempting conversation in broken English with the locals, Mr Happy would politely respond with a smile or laugh. That earned him the name, Happy, which he then used as the name on his first Australian passport application.
English vocabulary was not Mr Happy's strength, but he had a gift for cooking and wanted to share his love of authentic Chinese food with Australia. This inspired him to open his first Happy's Cantonese restaurant in Queanbeyan in 1957, followed by one on Lonsdale Street in Braddon and then one at Garema Place – the only Happy's still open today.
The original menu at the Garema Place Happy's began with Chinese staples such as honey chicken and beef in black bean sauce. However, the back of the menu also included T-bone steak, roast chicken and chips to satisfy the traditional Australian palate.
Mr Happy (man in foreground looking at the camera) with guests at his restaurant. Source: Happy’s Chinese Restaurant
"There were quite a few people back in those days that didn't accept Chinese food because it was a different culture," Chan explains. "Some people came but they wouldn't want to eat Chinese food and didn't want to be the odd person out not eating, so you had to have options like that."
I really appreciate the foundations that my grandfather and my father and uncle built for the business and how much hard work they actually put in to actually get it to where it is now.
still cooks the same recipes that Chan's grandfather created all those years ago. Stuffed bean curd topped with seafood sauce remains the most popular dish among their Chinese regulars, but Chan has introduced Cantonese dishes, including triple-cooked pork stew and vegan salt and pepper fish tofu.
"I'm pretty insistent that we don't change any of our recipes and a lot of our processes that have been in place for all these years," Chan says. "We do a lot of things the old-fashioned way. Like, we still do a master stock now for 15 hours a day…This consistency has held us in good stead through time."
Mr Happy's two sons, both named Dylan Chan, took over the restaurant when their father retired in the early 1980s. Gavin Chan's father oversaw the kitchen, while his uncle worked the front of house.
"When you have a family business, it's basically your livelihood," Chan says. "It was where we met after school because we couldn't come home so we would go there and wait until mum and dad finished work."
"I started helping out when I was eight or nine," he continues. "My brother and I used to help with washing up and peeling carrots and I learned a lot of life lessons from doing those tasks."
Initially, Chan wasn't interested in taking over the business and moved to Sydney for a career in retail, but he took over the restaurant when his father and uncle retired in 2008 and works to ensure that Happy's legacy lives on.
Happy's Chinese Restaurant in Garema Place, Canberra. Source: Happy's Chinese Restaurant
"There are customers now that knew me when I was 10 or 11 years old and here I am serving them after all these years," Chan says. "We know people by name, we know their faces, we see their kids grow up and their kids' kids grow up."
"It's really humbling and special to have a business like that and I'm very fortunate to have inherited a lot of the clientele."
Chan hopes to uphold the restaurant's reputation in the restaurant's 60th year. "I really appreciate the foundations that my grandfather and my father and uncle built for the business and how much hard work they actually put in to actually get it to where it is now," he says.
He feels humbled that his daughters have began working in the family business and looks forward to continuing to serve Canberrans for years to come.
WE LOVE CHINESE RESTAURANTS
The Chinese restaurant inspired by '90s food courts and nostalgia
