Even since opening his first Sydney venue, Junda Khoo has stoked the city’s appetite for Nyonya cooking – a cuisine born out of Chinese migration across Southeast Asia to which we owe our undying gratitude for dishes like laksa and char koay teow. And now he’s contributing to Melbourne’s Malaysian scene.

Despite having never worked as a professional chef prior to the opening of the first Ho Jiak in Strathfield, Khoo’s mini Sydney empire now encompasses the larger, sister Ho Jiak Haymarket, Amah by Ho Jiak in Chatswood, and the more experimental Ho Jiak Town Hall (the originator of the laksa bomb).

Credit: Katje Ford

Now, Khoo has looked to Melbourne for his biggest project to date: a three-venue, three-storey Malaysian dining destination at 235–251 Bourke Street.

First to be revealed was rooftop beer hall and homestyle Malaysian dining concept Ho Liao. Next, Da Bao opened at laneway level. Da Bao (Dabao means ‘takeway’ in Singapore English), offers a changing daily selection of homestyle Malaysian dishes to go, as well as permanent menu fixtures such as Hainanese chicken rice and lamb biryani.

This Friday June 13, Ho Jiak: Junda’s Playground tops it all off with its more experimental, elevated Malaysian fare.

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First cab off the rank, Ho Liao (a Singlish phrase Khoo translates as “good stuff”) was a fitting introduction to the homestyle ‘Amah’-style cooking that made the Ho Jiak name in Sydney.

“For Ho Liao, its about what we do: which is redefining traditions, taking Grandma’s cooking and making it our version without losing the main element,” Khoo says. “Grandma’s cooking was always super simple and may not necessarily have been able to be served in a restaurant, but I always want to pay homage to her cooking by having it on the menu, so her legacy lives on and people can keep eating her food even after she is gone.”

Related story: Junda Khoo’s roti pizza proves some rules were made to be broken. 

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A signature char koay teow (“Not Traditional, Not Authentic, Just Ho Jiak”) sits alongside other, less familiar Malaysian fare, such as prawns served with sambal petai (stink beans) or coated in a cereal crumb, or the mild Malaysian chicken curry kari ayam. We’ll be getting our bibs prepped for the whole Malaysian chilli crab, served with optional man tau steamed buns for much-needed sopping.

The extensive, drinks-friendly menu is sure to prove once and for all why we’re so long overdue a Malaysian beer hall.

Anyone familiar with Khoo’s Sydney offering will note a few small tweaks to the formula at Ho Liao. As well as using more Victorian produce on the menu, the drinks menu integrates more Victorian wine, while also including 20 different beers sourced from across Southeast Asia. But the focus on good, wholesome Malaysian dining is as strong as ever.

The bain marie selection at Da Bao lets Khoo further explore the food culture of his childhood, with hawker hall fixtures like sambals, vegetarian curries, omelettes and braised meats on the daily rotation, as well as classic Southeast Asian drinks including bandung and teh tarik.

Ho Jiak, on level one, is where Khoo can flex his cheffier impulses, with traditional Malaysian dishes passed through a finer diner lens. It’s a similar model to Khoo’s most upmarket Sydney venue, Ho Jiak Town Hall, and shares signature dishes.