Sammy's Kitchen has shut up shop on Bunda Street, but it's not the end of the road for the Canberra favourite.
The Chinese and Malaysian restaurant has posted a notice on its storefront window, alerting customers to the closure. It is understood that the last day of business for the Bunda Street restaurant was December 31.
When contacted on Tuesday, the owners added that they weren't sad about the closure as they were in the process of finding another location for the restaurant.
"Thank you very much for your continuous support and look forward to serving you again," the notice read.
There were some rumblings at the end of last year the restaurant may be closing, after a customer had posted their disappointment of the potential closure on Twitter.
When contacted by The Canberra Times at the time, the restaurant said it had yet to make a final decision but was in the process of negotiating a new rental agreement for its Bunda Street premises, which the restaurant had been in since 2007, after moving from its previous Civic location.
However, while it is goodbye to one location, it's not goodbye to Sammy's. The owners' other restaurant, Sammy's @ the Foreshore, is still up and running. The Kingston foreshore edition of the restaurant has been open since 2016, following on from the success of the Bunda Street restaurant.
The owners have been in business for more than 30 years, dishing up Chinese and Malaysian food - such as laksa or hawker noodle dishes like char kway teow and mee goreng - alongside Canberra wines and Japanese whisky.
Fans of the restaurant took to social media to express their disappointment about the closure.
"Last day ever of Sammy's Kitchen in Civic. The best place - been run by the same family for 35 years," one Twitter user posted.
"I know it's at the foreshore, but it isn't the same cooks! We lost count of how many birthdays we had there and special occasions. It will be really missed!"
Another posted, "My longtime order, their combo Ipoh Ho Fun, was my lockdown indulgence. Almost no one else does good Ho Fun with Madame Woo gone too."
