He is one of Australia's most popular TikTok's creators, with his food-based videos amassing more than 1.2 billion views.
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'Dim Sim Lim', aka Vincent Yeow Lim, has been branded Australia's 'Wolf of Wok Street'. And it all started in a bowlo at Lawson during COVID-19.
When he started making videos to explain Chinese cooking to the masses, Mr Lim, 28, owned the 100-seat Lawson Chinese Restaurant operating out of Lawson Bowling Club, and was worried about his financial future.
"I had zero knowledge about filming and editing or being in front of a camera, and I was a little bit worried that my restaurant might shut down," he told the Gazette.
"I was panicking the restaurant would be quiet. My brother was like, 'Hey there's this new platform called TikTok'. He said: 'you should cook on there, because everyone's making steak and pastas, no one's doing Chinese food'."
His suppliers were not bringing ingredients due to the lockdown, so he invented a "KFC chicken rice hack" that got 23 million views in a week and 150,000 followers overnight.
"It was just insane. Within a year we hit a million followers ... It's changed my life."
His internet fame [@dimsimlim] has also led to TV success, with the Lawson chef going head to head with a hatted chef [Darren Robertson from Bondi's Rocker] in a cooking show on Nine (Snackmasters Australia).
"When I started [Lawson Chinese] I had 300 recipes, compared to a standard western restaurant you have 20-30 so in terms of flavours ... I think I had the upper hand [on the TV show]."
He has also given a TEDx talk which streamed live around the world.
'Little bit of yum yum'
Mr Lim's trademark catchphrase "a little bit of yum yum" was to educate the world about MSG. But he points out he has never used MSG at Lawson Chinese because of food sensitivities.
There's a lot of tradition to his cooking and experience.
"My dad [Danny Lim] used to own a Chinese restaurant and I was called Dim Sim by my friends at school [in Perth]. It was the perfect name for me. I wasn't offended. It's an Australian Chinese dish.
"I was about eight years old when I first used a wok, by 13 I was able to use a wok to serve customers, by 15 I was pretty much doing it professionally. We would finish school at 3 o'clock and then work in the restaurant until 9 when we closed... and I was doing my homework ... well, I was probably playing my Nintendo DS," he added laughing.
Lim was born in Temple, Texas, where his parents ran a Chinese restaurant. Later, his family relocated to Malaysia and then Perth, always working in restaurants where they settled.
A chance visit to the Blue Mountains after his father's death led to him buying the Chinese restaurant in Lawson "bowlo" run by his grandfather Kee Chin Ho - known as KC. He gave up studying Geographic Information Science in Perth and relocated weeks later.
"When I came I thought it would be 10 pin bowling," he said laughing.
Mr Lim has been so successful online, he decided to sell the restaurant in recent months to free up his time. He still helps out with the marketing for Lawson Chinese and the restaurant has stuck with the Lim family recipes and sauces.
"All the sauces were passed on to me by my dad," he said. "He learnt from his brothers ... who learnt from a Chinese master. A lot of Chinese food is secretive. Not a lot of younger generations want to work in a Chinese restaurant... I want to share it with the world."
Most people watching his videos are from America and Australia and for those keen on emulating his success online, he said simply "don't give up" as videos can be a big hit or a complete miss.
"There was a strategy [to the online growth] but a lot of it was organic," he said, adding that many Chinese chefs cook very well, but not all can speak English or are comfortable in front of the camera.
"My dad's passed away now, my grandad's passed away and in order to tell my story I can't just tell it from Lawson. I've got to take on a bigger platform," Mr Lim added.
His next creative plan is a pop-up restaurant called Kurepu - Japanese specialty crepes - with TV dessert queen Catherine Zhang. A launch is planned in the Mountains before July.
