Junda Khoo's Malaysian Beer Hall Ho Liao Opens in Melbourne
In 2014, Junda Khoo launched his groundbreaking Sydney restaurant Ho Jiak with no formal culinary training – just a vision to introduce diners to the dishes he grew up with in Penang. “When I first started Ho Jiak, I was trying to re-create my grandmother’s cooking,” the former investment banker tells Broadsheet.
One cookbook, three more Sydney restaurants and over a decade later, Khoo opens his first Melbourne venue tonight. Ho Liao is a beer hall with Malaysian dishes, set in a room inspired by beer halls he visited in Indonesia and Taiwan.
It’s the first part of Ho Jiak Melbourne – a trio of venues that will open across three storeys in the revamped Tivoli Arcade (aka 235 Bourke Street) by the end of June. Still to come are Da Bao, a ground-floor takeaway-style spot focused on street food, and Ho Jiak: Junda’s Playground, a more formal space on the first floor with contemporary Malaysian food including Khoo’s laksa bombs (dumplings filled with chicken, prawns, egg and vermicelli noodles served in laksa broth). All three restaurants will share the same ground-floor kitchen, equipped with seven woks and dedicated sections for steaming, roasting, deep-frying and making satays, noodles, curries and roti.
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Khoo sees his Melbourne venues as a new chapter in Ho Jiak’s journey. “The mission here is to redefine traditions,” he says. “I want to respect [my] grandmother’s cooking, but put my own take on it.”
One Ho Liao dish he’s especially excited – and apprehensive – about is the loh bak. The Hokkien dish, found commonly in Penang, is traditionally made with marinated, five-spice-seasoned minced pork that’s wrapped in bean curd skin and deep-fried. Khoo’s version adds prawn and prawn mousse to the pork mix. It’s enough of a departure from tradition that he expects to get some pushback. But Khoo has a strong case against critics.
“In the earlier days of my career, they’d say, ‘Your food is not traditional, your food is not authentic,’ and I’d say, ‘What is traditional and what is authentic?’” says Khoo.
“I’ve been doing Ho Jiak for 10 years now. Imagine a kid who ate my food 10 years ago then continues eating it another 10 years down the road. Then my food becomes authentic and traditional.”
While there’s satay and beef rendang, distinctive twists on classic dishes are woven throughout the menu. The assam Nyonya, a sour fish curry once made by Khoo’s grandmother, features barramundi in place of the stingray she favoured. The char siu is made from tender jowl rather than more typical cuts like pork belly and is served with garlic chilli and Yunnan rose jam – a nod to sirap bandung, the sweet rose-flavoured drink found across Malaysia.
Pricing at Ho Liao is another departure from the Sydney menu, where Khoo’s signature char kway teow is priced at $27. At Ho Liao, noodle and rice dishes – including favourites like that char kway teow, Hainan chicken rice and laksa – are capped at $15. Inspired by Melbourne eateries such as Nana Thai, Khoo says he wants to encourage diners to explore more of the menu by offering smaller portions at lower prices.
Dessert is similarly a mix of classic and revamped. You’ll find Malaysian staples including the shaved ice dessert ais kacang, alongside a teh tarik affogato, featuring homemade milk-tea ice-cream topped with Malaysian-style black coffee (typically twice-roasted with sugar, wheat and butter or margarine).
As a beer hall, Ho Liao has a selection of Southeast Asian beers like Kingfisher from India, Chang from Thailand and Tiger from Singapore. Wines are predominantly Victorian and French, and cocktails incorporate Malaysian flavours like mandarin and chrysanthemum.
Khoo describes the three-in-one venue as his “biggest, most expensive [to build], and, hopefully best, restaurant so far.” He hasn’t booked his return flight to Sydney yet and plans to be as involved in Ho Jiak Melbourne as possible, all while balancing another huge undertaking – opening a new restaurant at Sydney’s new fish market this October.
Level 2 Rainbow Alley, Melbourne
8637 0889
Mon to Sat 11am–midnight
Sun 11am–10pm
