Hackney Chronicle: A record shop owner turned Michelin star restaurant-trained BBQ chef is pouring his poker winnings into a new restaurant in Hackney Wick.
A record shop owner turned chef is planning to open his first BBQ restaurant in Hackney. Man Hon Luk is also a poker player and is pouring his winnings into his first permanent site – an 80-cover canal-side restaurant above Crate Brewery in Hackney Wick. Uncle Hon’s BBQ will combine Texan BBQ with Asian flavours and late-night tunes under one roof when it opens in July. Hon trained for three months at Michelin star BBQ restaurant Interstellar in Austin, Texas. (Image: Uncle Hon's) Hon was running Vinyl Pimp in Hackney Wick when he travelled to Austin, Texas in 2021 for a poker tournament. After asking for a tip on where to eat, he discovered Interstellar BBQ and met the restaurant's pitmaster John Bates. "I tried BBQ for the first time," he says. "It was Texas-style, slowly smoked for a long time and it was really great, super tender, and well seasoned. "The set up was really interesting in this massive steam engine smoker out in the car park. "The owner walked by, I said hello and asked if he would train me." Uncle Hon's BBQ will be opening in Hackney Wick in July. (Image: Uncle Hon's) Despite having no professional kitchen experience, he returned to Austin for several months in 2022 to learn the secrets of Texan BBQ. Interstellar was later awarded a Michelin star in 2024. Hon used poker money to buy his first smoker and refined his own BBQ recipes working in flavours from Hong Kong and China and building a loyal following at pop-ups in Hackney Wick – including a residency at All My Friends. Beef ribs are just one of the dishes served up by Uncle Hon's BBQ (Image: Uncle Hon's) He says his food, cooked over English oak, is "Texan BBQ at its core" layered with Asian flavours and includes duck pancakes, pork ribs and belly, beef brisket and cheeks served with rice and sides such as mac 'n' cheese and chili slaw. He's planning to expand the menu at the new venture which he has ploughed his savings into. And the Hackney resident is crowdfunding £30,000 for additional infrastructure and equipment at the former Silo restaurant, which closed last October. Stretch goals include £50,000 for a new live fire grill and £60,000 for a professional sound system so the venue can transform into a music space on Friday and Saturday nights, with DJs, live performances, and a late-night grilled menu. Hon said: "Uncle Hon’s BBQ isn’t just about the food — it’s about the atmosphere and the energy. "The vision is to create a hybrid restaurant, bar, and music venue and make it approachable, cheeky, funky and uplifting. "There will be BBQ sharing platters and after dinner service on Friday and Saturday we will have DJs and live music, with drinks flowing, a menu of grilled snacks and a good sound system." What he loves about smoking over wood is the "pace of the cooking". "It's not something you can whip up in five minutes, you play with the whole set-up, smoke it for 12 to 16 hours, and baby it over the line -you can't just let it run by itself. "When you get the seasoning right and the texture of the meat is optimal the umami hit is incomparable to anything else – you can't beat it." As for poker, he could go professional but says: "Poker is a mind game and a brain game. I enjoy it but it's not the same as making food and making people happy."