Popular Malaysian restaurant Angsara Wok to close after 41 years

But after spending thousands of hours in the kitchen of Nelson Street landmark Angsara Wok, Mr Ang will close the doors of the south-east Asian restaurant on Monday.

His wife Margarita, who manages the restaurant, said the couple was forever thankful to their loyal customers and felt ‘‘very sad’’ about saying goodbye.

‘‘This community has been so nice, so warm, so loving,’’ Mrs Ang said.

‘‘It’s a family atmosphere in here, we laugh, we joke, we have a great time with our customers.

‘‘We never wake up and say ‘We don’t feel like going to work’, we just love it.

‘‘We’ve seen children grow up, get married and come back with their own children and we have regulars that have coming for four decades. They are what we’re going to miss the most.’’

The couple opened their restaurant at 75 Nelson Street in April 1974 and pride themselves on cooking every dish – including favourites kway teow with prawns, beef and chicken and Malaysian grilled chicken– fresh to order.

‘‘Opening a restaurant has always been my husband’s ambition, he set his heart on it,’’ Mrs Ang said.

‘‘He inherited his mum’s love of cooking and learned from her [in Malaysia], he never had cooking lessons.

‘‘He still loves it, after all of these years, he still watches MasterChef, he gets cook books on his birthday and he always cooked for our children.’’

The couple’s original premises flooded during the June 2007 storms and they were forced to close temporarily.

The Newcastle Herald reported in 2008 that some customers went to the extreme of placing classified ads to find out if the Angs were going to reopen, which they did four months later, down the road at number 69.

‘‘Everyone put in a helping hand to help clean up the place,’’ Mrs Ang said.

But since then, she said, business hasn’t been the same and costs have increased.

Mrs Ang said they were hoping to relocate elsewhere, but were unsure if, when and where they would find new premises.

‘‘We will try,’’ she said.

‘‘We have had people say ‘We’ll follow you wherever you go’, all of our customers have been so beautiful.’’

Angsara Wok is fully booked on Saturday and Monday.