Ho Jiak, Haymarket

I had to go back to Ho Jiak recently when I found out they had a new menu. I joined my foodie friend Andy for a Malaysian feast. I absolutely enjoyed my last visit to Ho Jiak so I was looking forward to the upcoming dinner.

I kick off the night at Ho Jiak with a glass of wine while Matt goes for a Tiger beer. Cheers!  Who's ready for a feast? 

I've seen a lot of instagram posts about this dish and eager to make the most of the truffle season - I order the Indomee Buttermilk Truffle ($39). This dish came out and you could already smell the aromatic truffle.  The spicy stir fried instant noodles are drenched in a moat of buttermilk and is topped with truffles and fried egg.  This dish is also accompanied by fishcakes and asian greens. This dish was so popular, I think we basically inhaled this delicious dish. The noodles were spicy and full flavour and you could taste the hints of truffle. I highly recommend ordering this dish. What a great mix of street food meets delicious truffle.

Ho Jiak also has other new items on the menu including this Stir Fried Chicken Wings with a buttery salted egg yolk mixture and curry leaves ($12). This small chicken wings had a really crispy coating and was quite salty but it left you smacking your lips. The chicken wings were very moreish and were also a hit with the table. The chicken wings are more about the skin then flesh but there's a whole stack of chicken wings to enjoy in a group setting.

Ho Jiak has this next dish which has to be shared. I am not sure how you could finish this on your own. It's the Kari Claypot ($45). It's the fisherman's catch of the day cooked in a claypot of creamy coconut curry with vegetables. This dish was incredibly aromatic from afar, as it's placed on the table, I can see the creamy curry with chunks of fish, tofu, okra. I taste the curry and it's full of flavour. It's mildly spicy and very easy to eat. 

Ho Jiak also has Sang Cye Hniau Kor ($20) which are steamed fresh lettuce cups with chinese mushrooms with garlic and oyster sauce. I rarely eat steamed lettuce but I have to say I enjoyed the Malaysian steamed lettuce. The texture is soft and flavoursome from the garlic and oyster sauce. It's a sneaky way to get more greens into your meal.

Ho Jiak also has the Nui Choay Cim ($45) which has silky steamed century duck and chicken egg with freshly caught blue swimmer crabs. What a posh way to eat steamed century eggs. The egg has soaked in the crab flavours and you can also crack open the crab to further enjoy the flesh. I personally don't always enjoy steamed egg but I know this is a very popular dish. You should definitely order the dish if you enjoy silky egg flavours. It's an opportunity to mellow out the palette from the usual bold Malaysian flavours.

Ho Jiak also has a new dish which I was excited to try - the Crispy Rendang with KFC Chicken ($38). The chicken literally taste like the colonel's secret recipe fried chicken drizzled with spicy rendeng curry. The sauce naturally softens the chicken but you can still taste the crispy chicken underneath. It's the sauce that really is the hero of the dish. 

For dessert, I also check out the new Ho Jiak addition of Pulut Hitam (warm, $9) which has black glutinous rice porridge with coconut milk. I love this asian dessert, it's really sweet from the syrups and the rice has turned a sugary consistency - which is a bit firmer than soft rice. Enjoy!

Summary: Overall, I'd highly recommend the new dishes on the Ho Jiak menu. My favourite dishes were the KFC Rendeng as I enjoyed the crispy chicken in the high flavoursome sauce and secondly that Indomee buttermilk truffle. I am still thinking about how delicious those noodles were which that incredibly aromatic truffle and buttermilk. So delicious. You must go while you can and bring some friends as the meal is best shared.

Price: $30-40 per person

Location: 92 Hay St, Haymarket

Opening Hours: 
Open Daily 11am to 10pm

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