Cabramatta’s recent history has been defined by migration. The area’s migrant hostels meant that, after World War II, British, German, Greek, Italian and Yugoslav migrants were funnelled into the suburb. The hostels became the birthplace of a nascent Vietnamese community, driven by an influx of refugees fleeing the Vietnam War and the final abolition of the White Australia Policy in 1973.
Today, after another wave of migration in the ’90s, almost 38 per cent of Cabramatta’s 21,000 residents have Vietnamese heritage. But the restaurants and grocers in and around John Street also reflect the suburb’s large Chinese, Cambodian, Thai and Lao populations. Angie Hong, who ran Cabramatta’s Thanh Binh after buying the restaurant in the early ’90s, still visits the area regularly .
The former restaurateur (and, incidentally, mother of influential Merivale chef Dan Hong ), says John Street has changed over the years, but not substantially. “Old establishments, such as Thanh Binh , Huong Xua , Tan Viet , Pho Hien and Pho Phung are still there,” says Hong. Many of the original restaurants are now run by second-generation owners, but among them, newcomers continue to add new stories and new dimensions, such as Com Ga Ba Nga Hoi An , which specialises in Hoi An-style chicken rice.
But don’t stop at John Street, she says. Nearby Hill Street, Hughes Street and Arthur Street are all worth exploring. Pho Viet Step out of the station at breakfast and head, first, for Pho Viet.
