Within 30 minutes after checking into our hotel room, we "hit the ground running" and headed…read moredirectly to Ho Jiak Malaysian Grill & Nyonya House in Haymarket since we were hungry and craving Chinese comfort food. Our Cantonese heritage taste buds from Hawai'i would have been happy with steaming hot bowls of soup noodles and dumplings after our long travel day. Still, I suggested to my husband that we eat a familiar Asian cuisine we wouldn't usually get back home; hence, Malaysian & Nyonya were the answer.
I had bookmarked Ho Jiak Haymarket because it was in the Chinatown neighborhood, where we also planned to explore, and it was about a 15-minute walk from there. We were certainly glad that we didn't have to wait in line to get in, as Google Maps photos show. We were seated immediately and took a few minutes to scroll through their extensive menu, then chose items from the Lunch Specials Menu. The Lunch Specials Menu included an entrée (choose from 8 selections) and a beverage (non-alcoholic or alcoholic) for A$25 or around $17 USD.
FOOD:
-Hainan Chicken Rice + Teh Tarik (cold): I received a half slow-poached chicken, fragrant rice cooked in chicken broth, and a bowl of chicken broth. The chicken was garnished with fresh cucumber slices, bean sprouts, and cilantro. Also, it was served with chili sauce, soy sauce, and finely chopped ginger root and garlic. The tender poached chicken was juicy, non-greasy, and tasty. This dish was a healthy and toothsome meal. Teh Tarik is a Malaysian "pulled or shaken" milk tea, and I requested it in the cold or iced style because the outside temperature was quite hot. The Teh Tarik was refreshing, thirst-quenching, and flavorful. A$25
-Char Hor Fun + House Beer (Asahi Dry 330 ml): My husband selected this dish, but didn't know what to expect as he doesn't read or speak Chinese. Admittedly, my limited reading of Chinese characters suggested that this dish might be similar to my "usual" Cantonese childhood comfort food, Wat Tan Hor. When the Char Hor Fun was delivered to our table, I immediately recognized it as Wat Tan Hor, except that the egg sauce contained tender pork slices, shrimp, green vegetables, fish cake, and, I think, chunks of fish. The flat, broad rice noodles were stir-fried in soy sauce for additional seasoning, and we could tell the wok heat was perfect because there were very few broken noodles. When the server brought the House Beer, my husband was pleasantly surprised to receive an icy cold bottle of Asahi Dry. A$25
-Loh Bak: We selected this appetizer because of its description and our pork-leaning taste buds. Loh Bak is five-spiced pork jowl rolls wrapped in bean curd skin and deep-fried. We were thinking these pork jowl rolls would surely whet our appetites, and the deep-fried rolls didn't disappoint. A$20
This restaurant was lively, friendly, and clean with authentic-tasting Malaysian and Nyonya flavors. The service was prompt, amicable, and helpful.
