Ali Muhammed Cheema might be the most well-known Pakistani chef in Sydney. He’s worked at Manjit's, Surjit’s, Maya Da Dhaba, Jewel on the Bay and now-closed Maharajas Palace – some of the most renowned Indian and Pakistani restaurants in Sydney.
But when he came to Sydney in the ’80s he couldn’t make a cup of tea, couldn’t speak English and he was completely illiterate. Two days after he arrived his bag was stolen and he lost $200USD and everything he owned, except the clothes he was wearing. That night he slept on the steps of Redfern station, where an old Indian man found him and offered him $50. Cheema declined; in Pakistan, his family was far from poor and he was too proud to beg. The old man offered him a job as a kitchen hand instead.
Thus his journey as a chef began. He started at a takeaway stall in Kogarah in Sydney’s south and eventually opened Ambala with a business partner. It wasn’t a happy experience; Cheema still couldn’t read and his partner undercut him and sold the business.
He persevered. Although he spent all his money on lawyers, he knew his food was good and if he could open a place and get people through the door, he’d have a successful business. “But we had no idea what to call it,” says Cheema’s son Ali. “My dad said ‘Listen, put my face up there, forget the name, but my face up’.”
It worked. People came and not long after it opened in 2010, Cheema Da Dhaba had a reputation for serving simple but high-quality Punjabi truck-stop fare. “The name Cheema Da Dhaba means Cheema’s truck stop. Punjab is well known for its truck stops; they're open 24/7, meaning you can go at 2 am to get a dal and a roti. That's how it is, it’s supposed to be simple, hearty and easy.”