It has been a tough road back for Ethan and Emily Lim since the devastation of February 28 not only ripped their family restaurant apart but their home in Monaltrie too.

Tomorrow (Friday 8 July) is the result of a lot of soul searching and hard work as one of Lismore's favourite Asian restaurants reopens its doors from 4pm.

February 28 had Ethan, Emily and their three children bunkered down in their roof cavity as the flood waters rose quickly, 2 metres higher than previous reaching the house gutters. As many have said before, this was the first time their home had flooded.

After six hours, "we were rescued by just random people, not SES," Ethan Lim told the Lismore App. "It feels like the gods are coming when you see the boats coming to you," Ethan laughs.

Ethan had to kick out the wood panels to get his family rescued from their 100-year-old house which has been cleaned out but left since April so they can focus on rebuilding Uncle Lim Asian Fusion Restaurant on Keen Street to get some money coming in the door.

"We have been here every day since the fourth of May to get this ready," Ethan said, "The process was so slow because nothing was open of you needed supplies or tools. You had to drive to Ballina and back and then half the day was gone."

(The damage of February 28 on Uncle Lim's. Photo: supplied)

The damage bill for the business is $120,000 plus, let alone the Lim's home and content losses. The Disaster Recovery Small Business Grant is $50,000 so that goes a little way to ease the pain but the $20,000 Back Home Grant will do little to help the Lim's rebuild their family home.

Tonight will be a soft reopening for Uncle Lim's, it is a thank you for those family and friends that have helped them during the last four months.

"Not just for the business but our house as well," Ethan explained, "All our neighbours from our street came in and helped us clean out the house so it's a thank you dinner for them tonight."

"Not only that, I need the practice."

Ethan and Emily lost their chef and cooking staff after the flood and are finding it extremely challenging to replace them.

"This is not like a western chef, you need particular skills and the heat is a very different heat. For Western food, you use a lot of pan fry which is very different for Asian food."

So, until a new chef is hired, Ethan will be busily cooking your favourite meals himself, like he used to do when they first opened in the Keen Street building in December 2019 with the help of his mum.

"I have been cooking at home but have not performed a commercial cook for quite a few months now so I'm not really cook-fit yet," Ethan laughs, "I am handyman fit like drilling things and using a screwdriver, even sewing now after all this building, patching and plastering."

Regulars will see a lot of friendly, familiar faces as a lot of table staff wanted to come back to work for Ethan and Emily.

The dining is alfresco for the time being as the basement area has not been rebuilt. Ethan is waiting to hear from his landlord as to when that will be, "Hopefully before December so we can do Christmas parties," Ethan said.

With the heaters still broken, you will need to rug up when dining during these colder months but there is the takeaway option open to you.

"Menu wise, we have simplified things a bit because of the lack of staff but people's favourites will still be there."

Uncle Lim Asian Fusion Restaurant will be open Tuesday to Sunday between 4pm and 8:30pm, you can call to make a dining booking or a takeaway order on (02) 6621 5518.

You can checkout the Uncle Lim menu here.

Ethan and his brother also own Cafe Capello which was purchased from Tony and Tamaya Pilati earlier this year.

Cafe Capello will be reopening but not as it was. The floods have given Ethan a chance to reflect on what they want Capello's to be in the future with the current thinking of turning it into a fish bar serving fish and chips, grilled fish, "that sort of thing" for lunch and dinner. So, the morning coffee's at Capello's could well be a thing of the past.

At this stage, there is no reopening timeframe for Cafe Capello.

For now, there is another local restaurant/eatery to support Lismore. Rally behind Ethan and Emily to help them get back on their feet.