• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Alice Dishes

Adventures and Real Food

  • Design
  • Life
  • Recipes
  • Reviews
  • Travel

June 19, 2016

Is Mr Jiu's Worth The Hype?

There are a zillion restaurant openings in San Francisco in any given month, and if there’s a whiff of a famed-name chef or restauranteur behind said opening, the media will spin these events as the biggest, greatest, most exciting thing to hit the food scene. It seems their appetite for restaurant news, is just as insatiable as their, well, appetite. Mr Jiu’s, a new take on Chinese food in – you guessed it – Chinatown, was brought to life by Brandon Jew and opened in April to a hail of accolades. But is it worth all the hype?

First off, it’s worth taking a minute to share my benchmark. At a fixed price of $69 per head for five shared dishes (there’s a whole lot of fun to be had negotiating with your fellow diners about choosing those five plates) the bar is set high. We’re not comparing the food to what comes in those cute little takeout containers, or from a $15 all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. Or at least, I’m not.

I definitely am comparing it to other meals that cost $70, regardless of cuisine of origin. And unlike many, I am certainly drawing on my family memories of the insanely delicious home-cooked 12 course banquets my dad would put together for Chinese New Year. And the fresh, light, yet richly flavored fish, meat and vegetable delights I’ve eaten in the homes of my aunts and uncles in Hong Kong. While Chinese food in the U.S. has a reputation for being slick with sticky sauces, oily at best, greasy at worst, and treated with MSG, this is not the Chinese food I know. So I urge you not to use this as the bar in evaluating Mr Jiu’s.

Mr Jius

Enough preamble, onto the restaurant itself. First off, the location on Waverly Street is super cool. Personally, I love walking through Chinatown. The smells remind me of  Hong Kong: yes, that would be garbage, cooked food and a whiff of drains all mixed into one, but I like it. The area has its own culture and isn’t concerned with trying to fit into Californian norms. From the exercises being done early morning in the small urban parks, to the way business is conducted and the elbowing on the sidewalk. It’s all reminiscent of Hong Kong.

Mr Jiu’s is located in a former Chinese restaurant in an old, partially brick building. It’s seductively tricked out with a dark sexy bar which opens into a bright well-lit dining room. There’s a spareness to the  dining room decor which is authentic. (I’ve never found Chinese restaurants to focus too much on decor.) And there’s even the inevitable aquarium behind the bar. Nice touch.

There’s a great cocktail menu and hurray(!), there’s a full bar, so I was able to kick things off with a nice gin and tonic.

nibbles at Mr Jius

After you sit down at your table, your friendly waiter will walk you through the ‘banquet’ menu – which comprises choosing five dishes. I will say, I can’t think of a single Chinese banquet which only featured five courses. That would be a meager offering, to be sure. Having said that, portions here are typically American-sized, i.e. gargantuan. In my experience, true Chinese cooking is all about modest, yet impeccable bites of many, many things. As you peruse the menu, you’re brought some nibbles: pickled vegetables, rice crackers and candied walnuts. I am insanely fond of prawn crackers, and Mr Jiu’s version made with cabbage, so I asked for some more, and they were eager to oblige.

prawn and cabbage crackers

After some back and forth, we agreed to start with the steak tartare and turnip cakes. The former was beautifully plated, topped with mung beans, and so bright in color, I wondered if it had been dyed with beet juice. It was yummy.

turnip cake

The turnips cakes were numerous. Traditionally served for dim sum (brunch/lunch), it’s surprising to find them on a dinner menu. (Here’s an interesting recipe I found). They are the Chinese equivalent of comfort food. Starchy, caramelized from being fried and moreish, you don’t need more than a few bites. Mr Jiu’s gave us two each, which was probably more than we needed. They tasted fine—topped with cured olives rather than the traditional Chinese sausage, but could have been a touch more refined. Satiate the desire for starch without bombing our stomachs.

lions head meatballs

Next up came the lion’s head pork meat balls, these were tasty, but also over-sized, especially as they are so rich. I’d prefer small bites. And as you can see, they were swimming in pork fat. Which is fine if you like pork fat.

fried rice

The fried rice with beef was average and slightly greasy. Done right, there’s no hint of oil, and the dish should be fragrant and light. Overall, these dishes were salty and we were all starting to get that slightly burned tongue that happens when you consume too much sodium.

tendrils

We ended with the tendrils, which I believe is morning glory or water spinach. It’s served with fermented tofu and was good enough, although by this point in the meal we were pretty stuffed from those big portions and couldn’t really appreciate it.

We skipped dessert and compared notes the next day. I’ve gotten to the point where I judge a great meal by how I feel the next day. This whole aging process has my body super sensitive to over-salted, over starchy food. And sure enough, our entire party felt the after-effects the next day.

All in all, Mr Jiu’s is good enough, but it’s not amazing. There are other places to go and spend $69 per person and get a stupendous meal. One of my biggest challenges is whether Mr Jiu’s is truly a Chinese restaurant. Your place is set with a plate and spoon and fork. Sure there are chopsticks, but without a bowl and rice spoon, it’s hard to make them work well.

In a nutshell, if you have money to burn and your bar for Chinese food is low, check it out. If not, get a copy of Ken Hom’s classic Chinese cookbook and cook at home. You won’t be disappointed.

knife and fork

Mr Jiu’s is at 28 Waverly Place in San Francisco. Reservations can be made here.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Brandon Jew, Chinatown, Chinese food, Mr Jiu's, san francisco

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lena Dawson says

    July 2, 2016 at 9:51 am

    Hi Alice
    Enjoyed ready your critique of this restaurant, albeit a few miles from home! Your dad and I are having many conversations about Chinese food and he has supplied a list for me of basic ingredients for the cupboard. Upon his recommendation, I have just bought a copy of Ken Hom’s Classic Chinese cookbook!
    Best wishes to you.
    Lena

    Reply
    • alice says

      July 2, 2016 at 9:38 pm

      Thank you for reading! I don’t think my dad would think too much of this place – it was fine, but nothing like his home cooking.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Alice

A bit about me... I grew up in the UK and moved to Northern California in the late 1990s, drawn here, like so many others, by the lure of ...

Read More

Popular Posts

  • holey_grail_donutsThe Best Places to Eat in Hanalei, Kauai
  • 10 Things to Do in Sea Ranch, CA10 Things to Do in Sea Ranch, CA
  • When All Is Said And Done: 7 Things That Really Matter in LifeWhen All Is Said And Done: 7 Things That Really…
  • Stunning Beet and Cauliflower SoupStunning Beet and Cauliflower Soup

People are Talking About

No People Food

A Lesson in Salt From Samin Nosrat

Madeleines by Monkey

When All Is Said And Done: 7 Things That Really Matter in Life

Alice’s Favorites

101 Cookbooks
Chef on a Mission
Cook, Taste, Eat
Food Politics
Golden
Good Eggs
Healthy Cooking
Jamie Oliver Food Revolution
Mary Vance
Michael Pollan
Nina Planck
Not Without Salt
Nourish Network
Samin Nosrat
The Healthy Home Economist

alicedishes

Lover of life, Labs & horses. Visit AliceDishes.com blog for travel, recipes, design & life. Area VI #morganhorse #blacklab #eventing #interiors

Alice Dishes. Eat, Bark, Ride
Staying alive and getting it done on xc - so much Staying alive and getting it done on xc - so much fun 🤩 #areavi #eventinghorse #morganmare
A little bit of our dressage and SJ action from th A little bit of our dressage and SJ action from the weekend @twinrivershorsepark - Q and I were either great or mediocre during dressage to give us a 36.4 which made it hard to be competitive, but the goal was to finish on our dressage score and feel confident all weekend ✅. We moved up 4 places over the weekend and jumped double clear in both SJ and XC for a top 10 finish. Our rhythm and timing in SJ was probably our best yet. #eventing #areavi #comeback
The sunset was spectacular last night in Paso Robl The sunset was spectacular last night in Paso Robles! #sunset #pasorobles
So fun to watch @tommygreengard on these two speci So fun to watch @tommygreengard on these two special boys: Barry and Josh. 😍
The boy is back in town! Rogee had a blast doing X The boy is back in town! Rogee had a blast doing XC schooling for the first time since February. He was relaxed (shocker!), said yes to everything and although he wanted to shred up the track he listened and was a very good boy 😍😍😍 - so happy with him and I think he had the best day ever 🙌  Looking forward to showing him at @woodsidehorsepark in Oct! #xc #eventing #eventinghorse
My little pocket 🚀 was on 🔥today! I couldn’t have been happier. We jumped all the Training things and tackled some challenging questions. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs since losing some confidence. At one point in June I froze jumping a x-rail 🤷‍♀️. But we have fought our way back, filling in gaps and ultimately our partnership has become even stronger. I’m so proud of her. I have lots of work to do to be fully deserving of this brave girl, but after a day like today it feels like we could conquer anything! (Except dressage 😂 - but we are working on that too!) #eventing #eventinghorse #xc #morganmare #comeback
Fun working on our jumping at home today 1) no st Fun working on our jumping at home today 
1) no stirrups 2) trot verticals 3) adjust canter 4) work a related distance ✅. Felt great. She was keen and took me to the fences 😍 #eventinghorse #morganmare
🎉 New blog post alert! My first story about our 🎉 New blog post alert! My first story about our trip to the Baja peninsula is live - link in bio.  Read all about the fun we had staying and tequila tasting at  @thecapehotel, massages at @cabosurfhotel delicious food at @florafarms and @elhuertof2t  #bajacalifornia #vacationvibes #cabosanlucas #beachday @thecapehotel @florafarms @cabosurfhotel
My handsome boy. The many faces of King Arthur. #b My handsome boy. The many faces of King Arthur. #blacklab #blacklabrador
I would choose them both every time. It’s defin I would choose them both every time.  It’s definitely not easy having two horses and one rider. But I am going to make it work as long as I possibly can because they are part of me. 😍 Can you have two ❤️ horses for different reasons? Because I might have just got that lucky.
It makes me so happy to see Rogee fit, strong and It makes me so happy to see Rogee fit, strong and enjoying his rehabbed body. He’s really learning what he’s can do with himself these days physically and it’s also really rewarding to see his personality shift down a few gears to a generally more relaxed state… #goodboy
I planted these at the end of April - and finally I planted these at the end of April - and finally I get my first harvest!!
Burghley Revisited. What a terrific time we had. # Burghley Revisited. What a terrific time we had. #eventing #5* #burghleyhorsetrials
This 15.1hh stallion stole my heart. Does Q need a This 15.1hh stallion stole my heart. Does Q need a husband? 😍 I mean, that jump. Very much my ride!!!
Scenes of St Paul’s, Trafalgar Square and Fulham Scenes of St Paul’s, Trafalgar Square and Fulham Palace Road at dusk #london
Load More Follow on Instagram

Footer

A bit about me... I grew up in the UK and moved to Northern California in the late 1990s, drawn here, like so many others, by the lure of the dot.com ...

Read More

More to Explore

All Posts Archive

Stay Connected

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Never Miss a Post

Copyright© 2023 · Alice Dishes

website by lobstervine