On the first two nights of opening in its new location on Keen Street, Uncle Lim Asian Fusion had a full house.

“We’ve only been open two days and the customer support we are getting is amazing,” owner Ethan Lim said. “We posted that we were moving on Facebook and had 11,000 views on it already."

The popular restaurant moved from its Wyrallah Road location into the old La Vida restaurant building five weeks ago.

Ethan and his family have been transforming the courtyard space from an Italian feel to a Cantonese garden and the downstairs space has been transformed into an Asian style function room.

Ethan Lim in the transformed downstairs function room.

“We are still learning what do with the outdoor area – some people say to us that the Italian fountain looks out of place in an Asian restaurant – we’ll have to see what we can do with it,” he said.

“Yesterday, a water dragon jumped onto a customer and what do I do? 

“My staff dropped a plate when it jumped out.”

Ethan said the move to the new Keen Street location after being in East Lismore for two years was so that they could operate during lunch time – which they will start doing next year.

“We’ve taken a gamble moving here, but in the old location, there was no parking on the side of the road, so it would be hard for people to stop for lunch,” he said.

The Asian fusion restaurant is a family business which includes Ethan’s wife Emily Chan, their two small children, and her mother.

Ethan came out to Australia from Malaysia 14 years ago and met Emily, his wife on the Gold Coast when he was running a Hungry Jacks store in Burleigh Heads. At the time he was also running a Hungry Jacks store in Lismore and was kept busy working between the two stores.

“Eventually I sold that business and decided to open up Unce Lim here,” he said.

“I love the chill, relaxed lifestyle here where there’s no rush."

Ethan said all the food on the asian fusion menu is inspired by his mum, who was a “very good cook”

"On the menu there are a lot of Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Sichuan and Cantonese dishes," he said.

“I still call mum to get her secret recipes. 

“On the menu is her traditional sweet and sour pork. It’s my favourite dish and the thing I always remember from when I was young."

Ethan said everyone who has been coming to the restaurant is curious about the downstairs restaurant space.

“It’s like a museum - everyone wants to look,” he said.

“It’s a great place for functions and with Christmas coming up people might want to book the space for parties or events.”

The restaurant is also fully licenced with a special chocolate cocktail that Ethan said is delicious. 

The restaurant is open Tuesday to Sunday from 5pm until 9.30pm.

Ethan hopes to open next year for the lunch trade from 11.30am until 2.30pm, and might even stay open after that right through until evening.

“We’ll see how we go,” he said.

Ethan said with a busy restaurant to run, he’s always looking for reliable staff and anyone interested in helping out should come and see him.