Inspiration at its Inception:Neddy’s Kitchen

Appears in
Cheong Liew: Inside My Food
Cheong Liew

By David Sly and Cheong Liew

Published 2025

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Cheong’s broad culinary knowledge stemmed from reading cookbooks, initially French classics Ma Cuisine by Auguste Escoffier and Prosper Montagné’s Larousse Gastronomique, but soon spanning all cultures.

I spent all my money on books. I never travelled for 35 years, so I went to all those places in my head. I would imagine how a dish would taste in my mind, and then try to create what I was thinking. Satisfaction comes when you achieve that.

Such bold endeavour was the tenor of Cheong’s cooking at Neddy’s, in Hutt Street, Adelaide, from 1975 to 1988. His wild polyglot style was so detached from contemporary dining that Cheong was hailed as the father of East Meets West cuisine, with such dishes as shark lips and sea cucumber braised in carrot oil, although Cheong couldn’t understand the fuss. ‘I never had any idea how famous Neddy’s was until after it closed.’