January 8th, 2017. I still remember when Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta invited us to enjoy last dinner at Shang Palace. I couldn’t come, but it’s really an honour for me to be invited there. Well it’s their last dinner because they wanted to renovate and rebrand the restaurant. Well, I was so sad because it’s where I did my first food tasting in Shangri-La. So long, Shang Palace. Welcome, JIA.

Introducing JIA, the new signature Chinese restaurant. Erstwhile known as Shang Palace, JIA adds to the hotel’s dining collection. In Chinese, JIA (Jiǎ) means first, family and home. So it means: JIA is the home of excellent comfort Chinese food, a place to share great dining moments with friends and family. What a great name. First step in, and you will be “wow” with their lounge. So when it’s time to write your name at their waiting list, you can wait in their simple yet elegant lounge.

I love their interior. JIA features contemporary Chinese-inspired interior, a modern one. Taking more subdued shades of cobalt and a range of earth colours splashed with a geometric open-faced brick wall feature and modern ornamental wooden panels, the space also shines with industrial glass and brass fixtures. The main dining area seats up to 122 guests, while six private dining rooms, named after iconic Chinese flowers, give diners a discreet option that seats up to 20 guests in each room. Oh one more thing, I love their uniforms. There’s some ladies wearing long black dress. It’s beautiful! Classic and elegant.

 

JIA serves palatable dim sums, luscious roasted menu and well-loved celebrated Chinese dishes. Their Executive Chinese Chef, Christopher Chai, aims to serve the best of Chinese cuisine through his delicious dishes which are taken from traditional recipes with modern twist.

JIA’s signature dishes include Peking-Style Roasted Duck creations, home-made dim sum, freshly tossed la mien noodles served in big bowls, along with other premium Chinese barbecue, such as Crispy Roast Suckling Pig and live seafood. Guests can experience a unique way of enjoying the signature Roast Duck, as it will be prepared in live open-oven stations in the main dining area.

Now it’s time for me to show you our tons of food hahaha.. Prepare your eyes. After these photos, you will have the crazy urge to go there, for sure hahaha..

Signature Peking Duck 398k Whole 218k Half

Pre-order is required for the Signature Peking Duck. Please allow us 45 minutes to prepare.

This is their signature peking duck. The chef sliced the duck in front of us. How to eat this? Put the crispy duck with cucumber and scallion with hoisin sauce, into the steamed pancake. You can choose only the skin duck or with the meat. I prefer eat the skin and the meat without the pancake. It’s so delicious. The crispy skin and the juicy meat, such a superb combination.

credit to @designerdoyanmakan

Second Way: Duck Meat – Wrapped in Lettuce

This is the second way to eat the duck meat. They make it minced meat. How to eat this one? Wrapped in lettuce. It’s a fun way to eat minced duck, right? It’s delicious too, but I prefer the first way. LOL.

APPETIZER

Crispy Fried Beef in Honey Sauce 58k

It’s really a nice starter. Crispy fried beef. Pour the honey sauce and enjoy the appetizer. Look at those glaze. I thought it will be very oily. LOL. Gotcha! It’s sweet and crisp. I tried this one first with Dandy. Then I asked him to bring it outside hahaha. Yes, the others will love it too. And I was right!

Crispy Salmon Skin with Spicy Salt 48k

It’s the first starter that we’ve tried, actually. I had crispy salmon skin somewhere before, and I didn’t really like it because it’s too hard. So I didn’t really too excited when they ordered this one. Another gotcha! This was very appetizing. It’s crispy and crunchy, not hard, as a matter of fact, it was soft hahaha. Err actually we’re in the middle of photo session when one person picked the salmon skin – because she couldn’t stand the tempting aroma *big grin* – followed by another person, and another person, and finally all of us. Best salmon skin ever! Recommended!

PREMIUM DIM SUM

Steamed Pork Siew Mai topped with Abalone 298k

It was totally my fault. I didn’t look at the price. I saw this beautiful siew mai and order it right away. Turned out, it’s really expensive. *roll my eyes* Love the presentation. It’s very very lovely. It’s not like any other siew mai. Actually it lookes like a jewelry. Like pearls jewelry. On top of the delicious siew mai. The abalone? A little bit too chewy for me. Forgive my weird taste bud. But it tasted scrumptious.

STEAM DIM SUM

Steamed Chicken Feet with Soy Chili Sauce 28k

At first, I didn’t wanna try this menu at all. I loved chicken feet, but only my mom’s homemade. So I never ordered chicken feet for dim sum dishes. But when they said it’s good, I gathered my courage to try this one. And.. *drum rolls* it’s almost as good as my mom’s homemade. It’s a little bit spicy, but addicting. And I couldn’t stop. Sorry guys, I finished them all hahaha.. Actually other restaurant’s chicken feet had some weird smell for my palate. But this chicken feet.. perfect!

Steamed Glutinous Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf 28k

I ate 2 *giggling* it’s good. Big portion of glutinous rice. Sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf was one of my favourite dim sum dishes.  This was my hubby’s favourite too. He had to order this one for dim sum. The rice was aromatic with generous fillings. And remember, it’s big size. Hmmm..

Boiled Pork and Vegetable Dumplings in Sichuan Style 32k

Steamed Pork Ribs with Crispy Garlic 35k

Steamed Pork Siew Mai topped with Tobiko 38k

Their siew mai was delicious. Juicy and very fresh. The pork inside and topped with shrimp and tobiko, such a mouthwatering dim sum. It’s really hard to find a not-delicious siew mai there. Such a recommended dishes.

Steamed Barbecued Pork Buns 36k

I always ordered pork buns. It’s my mom’s favourite. When I ate pork buns, it’s like eating with mom. 🙂 Well, their steamed barbecued pork buns was outstanding! One of the best. And there’s not much restaurant could serve delicious pork buns. Sometimes it’s just okay, not really delicious. So yeah, it’s a must to order this one when you’re in JIA.

Steamed Custard Buns with Salted Egg Yolk 32k

OMG! Cute and delish. What a rare one. Sometimes we had to choose. Cute. or. Delicious. And now, thanks to JIA, we don’t have to choose! LOL. It’s really cute, you should try to squeeze the filling and it will be like it came from the mouth hahahaha.. It’s a little bit nasty but it’s soooooo funny hahahahaha.. The salted egg yolk was always brilliant. Please enjoy this while it’s still warm. But, actually, I tried when it’s already room-temperature. It’s still good!

XIAO LONG BAO

Steamed Soup Pork Dumpling 32k

STEAMED RICE ROLL [CHANG FEN]

Steamed Barbecue Pork Rice Roll 34k

PAN-FRIED / DEEP-FRIED / BAKED DIM SUM

Deep-fried Wontons with Crab Paste and Mayonnaise 38K

In love with this deep-fried wontons.The deep-fried wontons were crispy and flavoursome. The filling was tender and fluffy. And of course the mayonnaise boosted the character of the dish. It’s very recommended. I will order this again, next time. For sure.

CHEF’S RECOMMENDATION

Baked Scallops stuffed with Shrimp Paste & Home Made Bean Curd in Barbecue Sauce 168k

It’s really appealing. The texture of home made bean curd was soft and delicate. The baked scallops stuffed with shrimp paste was devastating. The scallops were fresh and tender. I know scallops can be chewy, but not too chewy, soft, but not too goopy. It’s like a perfect texture of scallops.

Crispy Roasted Pork 98k

A crispy roasted pork is always welcome in my table hahaha. This one was the best crispy roasted pork! I never liked roast pork since the skin was always hard to chew. But this crispy roasted pork, melt in your mouth. Especially the fatty LOL. Try to resist that perfect crackling, you will never win!

LA MIAN

Lan Zhou La Mian Noodle Soup with Beef Shank 68K

La Mian Noodle Soup with Xiao Long Bao 65K

DESSERT

Deep Fried Swan with Almond Sauce 32k

Very beautiful presentation. Even though they’re not identical triplets. LOL. How about the taste? I thought it will be sweet, but turned out it’s not sweet. I don’t remember whether they have dipping sauce for this swan. But if they didn’t have it, maybe they should. Hmm.. maybe they put the sauce first before the swan in the plate. Well, just sayin’..

Crispy Chinese Red Bean Pancake 32k

I remember when I ate this red bean pancake for the first time at Shang Palace. It was totally impressive. So when JIA also has this kind of dessert, we ordered it right away. And.. it was not as good as it used to be. The skin was too thick. Or, maybe we should eat it right away, also. LOL. Well, I will try again next time. Eat it while it’s still hot.

Congratulations JIA and Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta. And I just remember that today is their grand opening. Woohoo. Wishing you all the best! Definitely will be back. Please.. #TakeMeToJIA

JIA at Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta
Level 1
Kota BNI
JL. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 1
Jakarta
Phone: +62 21 29229999
IG: @jia.dining