Melbourne’s award-winning Chinese restaurant Lee Ho Fook, by acclaimed chef and restaurateur Victor Liong, has opened in the heritage-listed Porter House in Sydney’s CBD. Liong grew up in Sydney but moved to Melbourne to open the original back in 2013.
Come for regional Chinese classics served with a playful wink in a moody dining room rich with red accents and dark floors. Lee Ho Fook joins other notable Chinese restaurants that have opened in Sydney recently, including Grandfather’s by the Pellegrino 2000 team and Young’s Palace by ‘Big’ Sam Young and chef-partner Grace Chen. More prawn toast, noodles and roast duck? Fook yeah.
The formidable Brad Guest (ex-Sepia, Sixpenny, Oncore by Clare Smyth, Shell House) has teamed up with Liong as head chef of Lee Ho Fook. Here, golden, crunchy prawn toast comes topped with briny Tasmanian sea urchin; Peking duck features a Victorian bird that’s dry-aged for 10 days and served with glistening, bronzed skin and the usual accompaniments; and steamed Glacier 51 toothfish is paired with a fragrant sauce alongside silken tofu.
If there’s one dish you have to order, it’s the crispy eggplant. Long fingers of eggplant are deep-fried until crisp, churros-style, and coated in a sweet-tangy spiced red vinegar with fresh spring onions. It’s one of Liong’s signature dishes for good reason. Oh, and you gotta finish with a scoop of jasmine rice ice cream doused in a warm red bean, chestnut and cocoa caramel.
“Our aim has always been to create food that’s delicious, engaging and a little unexpected,” says Liong. “Lee Ho Fook in Sydney will continue to respect the foundations of Chinese cooking while presenting them through a contemporary Australian lens – refined yet warm, with service that makes you feel like you’ve found a place you’ll keep coming back to.”
Nianci Liong, Victor Liong’s sister, is Lee Ho Fook’s restaurant manager, keeping the family tradition alive.
Lee Ho Fook joins a slew of venues in the Porter House on Castlereagh Street, overseen by hospitality operator Trippas White Group, including the Porter House Grounds & Cellar Door, event spaces Porter and Alia, and rooftop Pan-Asian-inspired lounge Bar See See.
Find out more here.
Address: Level 1/203 Castlereagh St, Sydney NSW 2000
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