Emily Yeoh (formerly known as Emily Loo) might be familiar to some as a former participant of MasterChef’s sixth season. Since leaving the show in 2014, the biomedical-engineer-turned-professional-chef spent five years since working at GOMA Restaurant, Blackbird on Eagle Street and Ben Shewry’s famed Melbourne restaurant Attica. After returning to Brisbane in 2019, Emily has opened a restaurant of her own, snagging a 140-sqm space and transforming it into Emily Yeoh Restaurant. Here, Emily is paying homage to her culinary beginnings, bringing her Malaysian, Chinese and Cantonese roots to the fore and cross-pollinating them with elements of other Asian cuisines. Currently, the menu is divided up into entrees, proteins and vegetable, noodle and rice dishes. Baskets of steaming Gold Coast prawn har gao and vegetarian ham sui gok, plates of spiced crispy chicken wings and shredded-duck spring rolls are sublime tasters to whet one’s appetite ahead of Emily’s stand-out mains. Must-try dishes include the signature boneless duck and lychee red curry, Emily’s mother’s secret Hainanese chicken recipe, Malaysian-style fragrant beef-brisket curry, home-style char xiu fried rice and fried egg noodle with shredded duck, crispy shallots and garlic chips. The menu will evolve over time, as will the drinks – expect a curated selection of beers, wines and cocktails to feature.