The Haymarket outpost is one of four owned by head chef Junda Khoo. Dive inside and you’ll encounter striped awnings and the hustle and bustle of a packed restaurant that makes you feel like you’re sitting in a hawker market.

The menu is extensive: for starters try loh bak, crunchy and steaming hot-spiced pork wrapped in bean curd skins and fried; or chicken satay that will have you desperate for their peanut sauce recipe. To get a taste of what Khoo made his name for, hit the Ho Jiak Signatures page. Char kway teow needs no introduction, as one of Malaysia’s best-known noodle dishes, his version spicy and laden with seafood. Nasi lemak is a dish that ticks all the boxes: rice served with a tender and fragrant Angus beef rendang paired with spicy chilli sambal, soft boiled egg, peanuts and fried anchovies.

If your eyes have been bigger than your stomach, staff are happy to send any leftovers home with you. Cooking food Khoo learnt from his Amah (grandmother), Ho Jiak shows where all good food starts – at home. 

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