Cheffe Vicky Lau has completed a trifecta of fancy restaurants in Hong Kong.
The celebrated food master made her name opening French-meets-Chinese TATE Dining Room more than a decade ago and with soy-speciality Mora opening in the same neighbourhood nearly four years ago. Now, JIJA by Vicky Lau has come to market.
If her first two restaurants are an ode to cherished flavours from her roots in Hong Kong, JIJA, found inside the new Kimpton Hong Kong hotel, is a celebration of southwest China, namely Yunnanese and Guizhou cuisine.
Upon opening, JIJA has launched their five-course dinner tasting menu (HKD590) to introduce Hong Kong diners to the snappy, fragrant, and peppery Chinese fare. Formerly, our city has only played host to lowkey Yunnan rice noodle restaurants, so this restaurant is a refreshing welcome.
The meal kicks off strong with a trio appetiser selection: chicken liver parfait, rushan cheese spring roll, and lime shredded chicken. Served with scallion focaccia, the parfait is frothy, moist, and unctuous, perfect to get your tastebuds working.
The cheese spring roll introduces a herbal note to the palate with tomato & fennel pollen sandwiched in between the haloumi-like cheese, whilst the Sichuanese oil-coated chicken wakes you up for more meaty stuff to come.
For a choice of soup, I went for the smoked tofu pumpkin & wild mushroom soup. The soup is cooked with morel but lacks a woody and beefy mushroom punch expected from the fungi. The flavour profile from the soup is more subtle and soothing than loud. JIJA’s host and co-owner Romain Herbreteau did mention that they may call the dish a ‘bamboo soup’ in the future owing to the ingredients’ more important role in the dish.
The wok-fired Chinese chive deluxe comes to the table following the first two courses. This dish brings a Yunnan twist to a Cantonese classic with jizong mushrooms which amps up the salty hit of each bite. Dried squid and baby silver fish is also added into the mix. The chives themselves are super fresh and offer a crunch and sweet ending. In Hong Kong, it really is hard to find fresh vegetables to eat, but not here.
For the main course section of the menu, I picked the dry aged roasted pigeon, tempered on the Josper grill and served with a lemongrass dipping sauce and pigeon jus. Crisp on the outside and pink inside, each bite on the bird is plump and slightly fruity.
As a final main, the dai sou beef soup noodle comes with a brimming fragrance and a strong beefy hit. It is evident that the soup noodles and soft beef chunk has been brewed from the beginning with spices flowing through each component of the bowl, rather than the soup made and noodles and beef added later.
And if I hadn’t had enough for this menu, I ended the meal with one too many pickings of the Yunnan Paris-Brest, a Chinese twist on the French choux pastry dessert. The desserts’ peanut praline cream part is utterly consuming and a naughty sweetness to indulge in.
Our verdict of JIJA by Vicky Lau
JIJA is the place for you to explore what Yunnanese cuisine is about. Each dish served in their five-course dinner tasting menu is dynamic and vigorous. Dishes like the chicken liver parfait, roasted pigeon, and dai sou beef soup noodle are standouts for presenting the power of the cuisine and its aromatic depth.
JIJA by Vicky Lau, 15/F, Kimpton Hong Kong, 11 Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, 3501 8555, WhatsApp 6806 5505, book here
| Order this: dry aged roasted pigeon, dai sou beef soup noodle, Yunnan Paris-Brest Menu: dinner tasting menu Price for two: HKD1,180 | Atmosphere: like a Chinese palace, the restaurant is calming and serene Perfect for: an introduction into Yunnanese cuisine and Vicky’s fancy cooking |
This review is intended to offer an individual perspective on the dining experience and should not be considered as a definitive judgement of the restaurant’s overall quality or reputation. The views expressed in this review are solely the author’s and do not reflect the opinions of Foodie.
