People Wait Years To Try Sushi Master Toshihiko Oe’s Food – You Can Get It at Dine Out

When Sydney chef Junda Khoo first started planning Hot-Listed Ho Jiak Melbourne, his three-storey Malaysian dining destination in the revamped Tivoli Arcade (aka 235 Bourke Street), he planned on having Sydney chef friends stop by. “I had this vision where my collabs would feature chefs and friends from Sydney,” he tells Broadsheet.

His first Melbourne collab dinner is a big one. As part of Broadsheet ’s new winter food festival Dine Out, Khoo has called two of Sydney’s top chefs: Toshihiko Oe, the master behind six-seat omakase restaurant Sushi Oe , and Corey Costelloe, the esteemed chef behind 20 Chapel (number 93 on the World’s 101 Best Steak Restaurants list in 2025).

Bookings are still available for the trio’s one-night-only dinner at Ho Jiak Melbourne on Thursday August 7. There’ll be chef Oe’s sashimi and nigiri, Khoo’s signature laksa bombs (dumplings designed to distil the taste of a bowl of laksa in one bite) and David Blackmore Wagyu cooked to perfection by Costelloe.

We caught up with Khoo to find out more about what he has in store for the night.

What can people expect at your Dine Out dinner?
Something along the lines of what I’d like to eat at a dinner, but usually isn’t available at restaurants. Start off with amazing sushi and sashimi, then have a flavour explosion with Malaysian spices and heat, and move to the best steaks Australia produces. It’s like a rollercoaster menu of three different cuisines that work so well together. And an experience that probably can’t be found in any other restaurant.

Tell us about your work with Toshihiko Oe.
Oe-san, to me, is one of the best sushi chefs we have in Australia. I have been doing a collab with him annually for the last few years because I want to share his food with others. His restaurant only serves six people per night and the waitlist is so long that some people wait two years to eat his food. But because he is a good friend of mine, he has agreed to do something with me once a year where he will make sushi for a larger crowd.

How did you get Corey Costelloe on board?
Corey is an amazing chef and this will be my first collab with him. I’ve been eating his steaks since his time at Rockpool, and now at his own restaurant 20 Chapel. What he does with the whole cow is just amazing.

What are the three of you cooking up?
We’re going to start with three cold dishes: a sashimi selection by Oe, five nigiris per person by Oe, crafted and made in the dining room in front of everyone; and a beef tartare made by Corey using David Blackmore Wagyu.

We then move to snacks by me. I’m gonna heat it up with laksa bombs, honey prawns and XO butter scallops.

For mains, there’ll be two cuts of David Blackmore Wagyu – Denver and striploin – by Corey served with his gochujang hot sauce, a fresh salad by Corey. I’ll use all the trimmings of the David Blackmore and make a yau fan [garlic rice] to go with the mains.

For desserts, we’ve got tamagoyaki by Oe and my pisang [banana] crepe brûlée and pistachio-filled ang ku kuih.

Book your table for this one-night-only dinner at Ho Jiak Melbourne on Thursday August 7.