Ho Jiak, Haymarket

I'm a massive fan of Malaysian food and Ho Jiak in Strathfield so when I heard they were opening up another store in the city, I was very happy.   Head Chef, Junda inspired by his Grandma knows that fresh ingredients and bold flavours are the key to continuing her legacy.  The City store has a different menu though so here's the low down on what to order.
First of all, I highly recommend ordering a Godzilla Milo drink or Tiger beer so it can combat the chilli that lingers on your tongue. In particular the iced milo with ice cream is a very popular drink in Malaysia and Singapore.  Ho Jiak in Haymarket is licensed so you can order beer or wines if that's your preference.



Matt and I order a number of dishes to share with some recommendations from the staff. We start off with the Inchi Kabin ($15) which is deep fried chicken. The chicken is served up with a home made sauce. It's boned chicken and easily eaten so Matt ends up eating most of the chicken. I really like the house made sweet chilli sauce. It's gone a nice tang to it.

The Satay-Kay ($9 for 4) are charcoal marinated chicken with a satay sauce. Satay sticks are always a popular dish to share with your friends. The charcoal chicken is nice to eat and the satay sauce is home made. I snack on the cucumber as a contrasting snack. It's a very mild satay sauce.

The Sambal Gu is Grilled Wagyu topped with sambal and spring onions ($30). I absolutely love Sambal Sauce which is a chilli sauce with other spices, prawn paste and a mild vinegar. The sauce perfectly matches the wagyu beef which is cooked medium rare, Matt gives me the thumbs up for the meat.

The Sam Wong Dan ($15) is a silky steamed century, duck, chicken egg. This is a popular Malaysian dish which adds for a creamy and silky dish to accompany the many chilli Malaysian flavours. I haven't tried this dish before so it felt a bit foreign to me. Have you tried it?

The steamed Barramundi ($35) with soy, mushrooms, shallots and ginger. I love a good steamed fish. It's so incredibly healthy and delicious with the natural flavours infused in the fish. This fish is topped with shiitake mushrooms, ginger and shallots which is incredibly fragrant. This is a dish to share.

The signature which you'll see all over instagram is the Char Koay Teow (CKT) $15 for the original or you can go for the King Prawn version ($25). You'll also see the Indomee Goreng as a very popular noodle option. I love CKT and this one is very delicious. The noodles are well seasoned with a subtle amount of chilli, prawns, bean sprouts, chinese sausage and shallots. DELICIOUS. Highly recommend.

The Teh Tarik Affogato is the house made teh tarik ice cream served with kopi. Matt really enjoys the dish which is a nice twist Malaysian version of the Affogato. The ice cream is really nice and sits on the white milky foam. 



Off the Secret Menu - a limited supply each day are a number of Malaysian sweets that they typically have at the High Tea which is available from 2:30pm to 5:00pm but you can always ask to order off this menu.

Summary: I really enjoyed my feast at Ho Jiak. I highly recommend you taking a group of friends and sharing the food. Head Chef Junda knows how to please the taste buds.

My favourite dishes were the Char Koay Tuay and steamed fish. Matt loves the wagyu beef and the fried chicken as he can't resist meat. They are also open late so you can have supper with a few beers.

Price: Mains vary from $15-30. The protein dishes are on the upper end.

Location: 92 Hay St, Haymarket

Opening Hours: 11am to 1am







Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of the venue or their representatives. All photos, opinions and words are my own.