“Three brothers had black hair, now we have grey hair,” Jin ‘Eddie’ Liu jokes of the decision he and his two brothers Edmond and Eric made to take over the family-run Ho Choi on Brisbane’s southside.
Like the Cantonese word “choi”, which means to repel curses, the Liu brothers and their hugely popular restaurant have enjoyed a dream run, far away from Communist China from which their parents relocated their family in the 1980s.
Eddie’s uncle Tim Chung moved to Australia and opened Ho Choi in 1966, with just three menu items: fried rice, chicken chow mein and sweet and sour pork before he sold the store to Eddie’s late father in 1986.
Fast forward to 2023 and there are now more than 100 dishes from which to choose. Having said that, you won’t find anything fancy on the menu of this humble-looking restaurant whose décor harks back to the 70s. But you will find a vast variety where there are eight types of soup alone.
Dishes are also modestly priced, ranging from the $4 prawn chips to the deep-fried sea scallops with chilli, salt and pepper at $30.50.
“Every Wednesday morning me and my brothers go to the Rocklea Markets and get fresh produce. Our customers say they can taste it.”
Eddie, 56, the oldest brother and chef, says while the sweet and sour pork remains a menu favourite, he leans towards the garlic king prawns.
“We are popular because we use nice, fresh ingredients. Every Wednesday morning me and my brothers go to the Rocklea Markets and get fresh produce. Our customers say they can taste it,” Eddie says.
“Even when lettuce was $12 a head, we still bought it and lost money but it kept our customers happy.
“It is about the relationship with our customers. They know our family for many, many years.”
You won’t even find a website for this restaurant, which Eddie describes as “old school…people just know us”.
And it was only last year, after continuously trading for seven days a week, that the family decided to close the restaurant on Mondays to spend time with their loved ones.
“People come here for everything…for weddings, wakes and birthdays.”
“We are one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Brisbane still trading,” Eddie says, while clarifying he is not related to the father of Brisbane’s Chinatown Eddie Liu – the prominent businessman who died in 2013.
“Four generations of customers now come to our restaurant and 99 per cent of those are Aussie. People come here for everything… for weddings, wakes and birthdays.”
Eddie, who says he does “everything” at Ho Choi from cooking, cleaning and shopping for the restaurant, learned to cook from his late father and mother, now 80, who hail from near Guangzhou, northwest of Hong Kong.
While his parents never learned to speak English, at almost 18 years old, Eddie and his brothers went to school to learn English during the day and assist in the restaurant after classes.
His parents survived with their non-existent English by sticking numbers next to photographs on the menu to which customers would point.
The three Liu brothers have not only mastered English but running a family business, with Eddie’s wife, his two sisters-in-law, niece, nephew and his youngest son all now involved.
“Our heart is in the restaurant. We wake up early and finish late and even when it’s closed I still come in and check on everything.”
“Of course, we fight. If you’re not fighting, you’re not brothers,” Eddie says
“But the next day we will be brothers again. Because I’m older I look after them. They still love me and I love them too.
“Our heart is in the restaurant. We wake up early and finish late and even when it’s closed I still come in and check on everything. The restaurant is my second home.
He wants to keep running Ho Choi until he can’t do it any longer.
“My passion is still there.”
Ho Choi
17 Mayfield Road, Moorooka
Tuesday-Sunday: 10am–8:30pm