Chua working on the grill. (Right) Chong is a maestro with the knife. — Photos: CHING YEE SING
They say birds of a feather flock together. This aptly describes the dynamic partnership between chefs Steve Chua and Edmund Chong. As business partners and founders of the Two Chefs Lab group, the duo has successfully opened three Japanese restaurants since they teamed up in 2016.
Ipon-born Chong, 43, and Batu Pahat native Chua, 40, met some 15 years ago when they were working together at Inagiku at Raffles The Plaza in Singapore. As colleagues, they soon discovered a shared passion for Japanese food and cooking.
According to Chua, his interest in Japanese food stemmed from watching television cooking shows like Iron Chef. “Coming from a small fishing village in Batu Pahat, Johor, I grew up learning how to catch fish, right down to preparing and cooking it. As a teenager, I loved watching Iron Chef and became interested in Japanese food. After finishing secondary school, I went to work in Singapore in my quest to learn more about Japanese food.”
Similarly, Chong was also a big fan of the Iron Chef television series. After completing his hotel management course in Ipoh, Perak, he gained practical work experience by working in small Japanese restaurants and sushi chains such as Genki Sushi. His path crossed with Chua’s when both of them ended up working in the same Japanese restaurant in Singapore.
Recalling how they’d often go out for coffee together during their break time and days off, Chua says: “We’d talk about our work experience and bringing our knowledge back to Malaysia, sharing our dream of owning and running our own Japanese restaurant.”
Chong adds, “We had even discussed how our Japanese restaurant would be different from others, based on our combined Japanese food know-how and cooking techniques we had learnt from the Japanese master chefs we’ve worked for. We’ve always wanted to try our hands at incorporating and adapting available ingredients, and experiment with various techniques to create dishes that appeal to local taste buds.”
Upon returning to Malaysia in 2016, they decided to team up to open their maiden restaurant, Two Chefs Lab in Bandar Mahkota Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. From the get-go, their inventive and innovative spirit set Two Chefs Lab apart from other Japanese restaurants in the Klang Valley. Reiterating the need to adhere to culinary tenets of Japanese cuisine, both Chong and Chua are single-minded in testing and pushing the boundaries at their restaurants.
The interior of Mitsu by Two Chefs on Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur.
Two Chefs Lab made waves after Chua emerged champion of the Global Sushi Academy Malaysia in 2017, and became one of the top 10 finalists in the World Cup Sushi Tokyo in 2018.
That success spurred the opening of their second Japanese restaurant, Buri, in 2020 in Bukit Jalil, followed by their latest venture – Mitsu on Old Klang Road, last October.
Although all three restaurants under the Two Chefs Lab group share similarities in the menu offerings, Chong emphasises that each restaurant has its own clientele and signature specialities. Serving mostly Japanese cuisine with contemporary accents, expect unusual dishes not commonly found in other restaurants such as their signature truffle uni cold pasta and maki with a unique mix of seafood toppings. Once, they even came up with a Nasi Lemak Sushi for a National Day promotion that was quite well-received.
At Mitsu, the menu features charcoal-grilled items as well.
“Both of us share equal responsibilities in overseeing the daily operations as well as training and nurturing our restaurant teams.
“It’s also a collective effort when it comes to dealing with customers’ special requests and customising menus for private or corporate entertaining,” Chong says.
The biggest challenge is when customers request for bespoke menus and they have a tight time frame to work with.
“We are happy to fulfil any requests but in order to do that, we rely on the availability of necessary ingredients. We need to check with suppliers to source for seasonal produce or specific items which may not always be available, and customers don’t always understand,” says Chong.
Although they would like more time to enter competitions, the congenial duo say their current priority is their restaurant business.
“Hopefully, we can train younger members of our team to participate in future competitions, to level up their skills,” says Chua.Lamenting the lack of educational institutions for the training of young talents well-versed in Japanese cuisine, Chong opines that it will be good to have a proper culinary academy to train the next generation of Malaysian chefs in the art of Japanese cooking.
“Young chefs need to have a solid foundation before they are able to adapt and create new dishes without losing the true essence of Japanese cuisine.
“In addition, they should be taught entrepreneurial skills in how to manage their own Japanese restaurant business,” Chong notes.When it comes to keeping abreast with current food trends, Chua says they would love to visit Japan more regularly but due to time constraint, the partners have to contend themselves with gathering market intelligence through restaurant visits and dining out.
“We also keep tabs on what’s trending on social media and online platforms,” he adds.
Usually, Japanese restaurants offer only green tea but since the two chefs are big on coffee themselves, they have made it a point to also serve good coffee at all three of their restaurants.
When they’re not busy experimenting and creating new dishes in the kitchen, their favourite pastime is cafe hopping and they’ve even learnt to do latte art!
