Bizarre food makes Aussie a millionaire
Image: News.com.au
Creating cheeseburger spring rolls, spam noodles and duck toasties are some of the dishes that have helped to turn Howin Chui’s Sydney restaurants into six and seven figure successes.
The 37-year-old, whose parents are from Hong Kong, was sick of the culture being represented in Australia as bubble tea and fried chicken and wanted to introduce more of the interesting dishes from the area.
He came up with the idea for Kowloon Café over a drink with friends, admitting he likes the idea of “Instagrammable cafes” and together the five of them launched it in Sydney’s Haymarket in November 2019.
Mr Chui said he made his investment into Kowloon Café, which he said is inspired by Golden Century, back in just three months and it spurred him on.
Even a global pandemic didn’t stop him from expanding with Ni Hao Bar launching in November 2020, which is located in the Civic Hotel, followed Stir Fry King in Feburary this year in the Sydney CBD.
But Mr Chui was simply following in the family footsteps with his parents opening the first Chinese restaurant in Hurstville when they first settled in Sydney in the 1990s, he said.
“They always told me not to do a restaurant, because my dad came from a happy ... family and said it’s (the) biggest struggle he had in life,” he told news.com.au.
“He said they had so many problems from your chefs to your customers to the quality of the food … but I never took it that way and said it would be fun.”
Mr Chui was determined to shine a light on his culture and the unique food, adding that spam is a “big thing” over there.
“Hong Kong itself has become a lost culture in the last decade, as China and its culture has been booming internationally. It’s a forgotten child,” he said.
“So all three of my restaurants have been about having represented a different phase of Hong Kong culture and food.”
Kowloon Café is about everyday food for Hong Kong people, with standouts like spam noodles, pineapple buns, baked rice and lemon and milk tea, he explained. There’s even a spam and egg pineapple bun.
“There is no pineapple in the bun. It’s a really traditional bun which people eat for breakfast when they are on the go in Hong Kong and normally pair it with a hot milk tea,” he added.
Then there’s Ni Hao Bar, which includes retro flashing neon lights and murals of Bruce Lee and his master, IP Man, which is about a fusion way to present Cantonese food, with fun takes like the cheeseburger spring rolls.
Meanwhile, Stir Fry King brings “real street food vibes” via the sound and smell of the wok, with Hong Kong style hot pots and clay pot rice to complement the stir fry dishes, he said.
He also wanted to tackle a noticeable decline in foot traffic in Chinatown. “The image of Chinatown has always been lots of Chinese restaurants, grocery stores, karaoke and other Chinesey joints. Sydney’s Chinatown has developed a lot (but) the last five years we see the closing down of institutions like BBQ King, Yip Ching and now Marigold Restaurant,” he said.
“And the increase of big brand names associated with bubble tea and fried chicken – this doesn’t make the Chinatown the same.”
Formerly working in nightclub management, Mr Chui admits he had to face many “scary” challenges during lockdowns. “Opening hospitality businesses during Covid was hard work,” he said. “We had to pivot our style and adapt to changes every single day. We knew we couldn’t sit around and rely on UberEats, so we got creative.” Starting their own delivery service, with Mr Chui and his partners dropping off food themselves.
“My other restaurant Ni Hao Bar which is more of a bar and causal dining couldn’t do as much deliveries so we started doing home cook kits and we even started a new brand called Chic & Noods – a food truck,” he said.
There are big plans for the future too, with a goal to franchise Kowloon Cafe and make it Australia wide, according to Mr Chui.
“At Stir Fry King, we will be installing a new fish tank whereby we can have fresh and live seafood,” he revealed.
“Garlic butter lobster, xo pipi and Singaporean mud crab would be some new highlights coming up.”
He is also set to take on the inner west, opening up a new restaurant in Emerald Square, Burwood, in December.