Jia, Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta

Hi Eaters.

Give a warm welcome to Jia, the newest addition for the fascinating eateries at Shangri-La Hotel Jakarta. After months of preparations, Jia finally opened its door for customers at the 28th of December 2016. Substituting for the now-closed Shang Palace and serving contemporary Chinese cuisines, Jia certainly packed some big guns to compete with other big names in this category.

I instantly fell in love upon entering the premises. The interior didn't go all the way to depict a traditional Chinese restaurant but instead it opted to take a more modern touch. A range of cobalt color combined with black, gold, and wood was like a mix between traditional and modern altogether, leaving a sheek yet contemporary impression for the guests to feel.
The seating area on the front of the restaurant serves as a lounge with comfortable couches and sofas.
The vibe was excellent so it felt so warm and homey inside the venue, making it the perfect place for any occasions.

Jia, in Chinese, means 'first'. What is the intake and the purpose of giving it the name it bears now? Well, honestly I don't know. But I have to assume it shows ambition that Jia has to be the first of its kind in serving Chinese contemporary cuisines.

Couldn't resist the temptation to take more and more photos of this beautiful eatery. I have to salute Shangri-La for a wonderful effort to make Jia to such an eye candy!
But the feast for the eyes won't matter if it's not a feast for the tummy too. So let's start talking about the food!

Signature Peking Duck - IDR 398K (Whole), IDR 218K (Half)

Of course the signature dish is a must try. The Signature Peking Duck is served Beijing-style. The chef will come to your table, and then skillfully sliced and cut the duck and served it, right in front of you. I could hear the sound of the knife slicing through the crispy duck skin, making me more eager just to give it a bite.

To eat the duck, just take some of those crispy skin, some cucumber, and if you like then add some scallion, wrapped them all in a steamed pancake provided then dipped it the sauce. Eat them all together. Super yumm! Opt to wrapped the crispy skin only without the meat, and feel the sensation of that crackling sound in your mouth.

As for the duck, there is another way to eat it. Of course the way the duck was cooked also was different. This one was minced duck and the way to eat it is to wrap it with lettuce. I think this one was also good in terms of flavor, but yet the prior one was still the best way to eat any Peking duck in my opinion.

Crispy Fried Beef in Honey Sauce - IDR 58K

Thin slices of beef, crispy-fried served with honey sauce. As we kick off the meal, this one was the first thing I tried. Pretty simple in presentation but yet I always tell you, don't let appearance fooled you. A major bomb as every crispy bite of the beef was just wonderful and the honey sauce really elevated the entire dish. Delicious!

Crispy Salmon Skin with Spicy Salt - IDR 48K

Salmon skin! Yeay! I was overjoyed seeing this served on the table. All time favorite. I never missed to order this dish if I happen to eat in a well-known sushi restaurant. But yet, in that sushi restaurant you can't literally called the dish 'salmon skin' since it still has some meat attached, LOL. Ok, stop comparing since this is on another kind of level. Again, with the crispy texture like the beef, this dish was soooo addicting. Seriously, it's just simple salmon skin with some salt and fried garlic, but yet I can't seemed to stop taking piece after piece..I just want more and more.

That day, as I went to Jia with my foodie group, we did try a lot of Jia's Dim Sum menus. There were some categories that we tried, such as the steamed ones, the fried ones, and the premium ones. So in order not to be confusing, I will break down by categories, starting with the steamed ones.

STEAMED DIM SUM

Steamed Pork Siew Mai topped with Tobiko - IDR 38K

This one was so good. Apparently as my friend said that day: all the dim sums that contained shrimp at Jia was just awesome. This Siew Mai in particular, was no different. The shrimp was so so juicy. Even after it was left cold because of the amount of time we took during photoshoot, it's still delicious!

Steamed Barbecued Pork Buns - IDR 36K

Usually, this is my least favorite dimsum. Never like to eat buns in a dim sum feast but this one was surely too bad too be missed. The taste was so good. The buns were sweet and the pork fillings were delicious and as the way I like it in any Chinese dishes had a garlicky flavor.

Boiled Pork and Vegetable Dumplings in Sichuan Style - IDR 32K

The dumplings were nice, with nice soft dumpling skin and the thickness of the skin was so right, not too thick yet not too thin, keeping those flavorful pork inside very nicely. The sauce was good, balanced and not too spicy.

Steamed Soup Pork Dumpling - IDR 32K

The Xiao Long Bao had a nice flavorful soup, though I think I didn't have the maximum flavor coming out of the Xiao Long Bao being it is already cold. But the pork was good and the seasoning was just spot on.

Steamed Chicken Feet with Soy Chili Sauce - IDR 28K

My most favorite dim sum. I really loved this kind of dim sum, and this one was no disappointment. It was cold already, yes, but still it tasted so good. Not many places can really make this kind of dim sum tasted good, and Jia certainly has done a great job indeed.

Steamed Pork Ribs with Crispy Garlic - IDR 35K

I loved how this was served boneless. The texture was so good, juicy, tender, and moist. Surely loved the garlicky flavor. This kind of pork couldn't go wrong.

Steamed Barbecue Pork Rice Roll - IDR 34K

I didn't get to taste this one. But my blogger friend said it was good. Perhaps I should try it on my next visit.

Steamed Custard Buns with Salted Egg Yolk - IDR 32K

Uber cute buns with salted egg yolk filling. Me and my friends agreed on one thing that day: this was soooo delicious. Salted egg buns recently became such a trend and luckily we found a very good one here at Jia. It's so scrumptious, and the egg yolk filling was so delicious! Better enjoy it while it still hot to get maximum indulgence.

PAN-FRIED / DEEP-FRIED / BAKED DIM SUM

Deep-fried Wontons with Crab Paste and Mayonnaise - IDR 38K

Going next to the fried ones, well we didn't have much ordered that day. But some of the choices we've made were so good I didn't regret. This one particular was nice, with abundant crab fillings. 

Deep-fried Minced Chicken and Seafood Puffs in Curry-Coconut Sauce - IDR 30K

This one had us laughing since the hotel PR mentioned its shape as to look like Chicken Little, you know that animated movie.. Indeed it looked similar, LOL. Anyway, it's a combination between land and sea, chicken and seafood being put altogether with curry. As expected, curry brought such a rich flavor to both of these proteins without being so dominant. So you still get that trace of chicken and seafood being so elevated by the richness of the curry.

PREMIUM DIM SUM

Steamed Pork Siew Mai Topped with Abalone - IDR 298K

 

As an eatery in a 5-star establishment, Jia took the next step in serving Premium Dim Sum, bringing premium ingredients to be served on your basket or plate of dim sum.

This one here is the pork siew mai with one of the premium ingredient, the abalone. No doubt beside its great presentation, flavorwise it's a feast in my mouth. It's a bit pricey, but nevertheless nothing premium comes cheap, right?

Crispy Roasted Pork - IDR 98K

This dish is that one that you shouldn't miss in a Chinese restaurant. Crispy pork is lyfe!

I certainly loved how Jia prep this one. Although simple in presentation, but this dish was DA BOMB. Super loving that crispy crackling skin, and that OMG so juicy meat. Literally it just melted in my mouth. The great thing was that it's also served less fat, thus not oily at all. 

Baked Scallops stuffed with Shrimp Paste 

& Home Made Bean Curd in Barbecue Sauce - IDR 168K

Surely loved how beautiful this dish was. I mean, look at how it is vibrant and colorful. The bean curd was cooked nicely, though I hope it could be more salty (just my preference) but the scallop was amazing. Its texture was nice, spongy and chewy, and the shrimp paste was AH-MAH-ZING.

Lan Zhou La Mian Noodle Soup with Beef Shank - IDR 68K

La Mian Noodle Soup with Xiao Long Bao - IDR 65K

There were 2 kinds of La Mian served that day, but unfortunately I didn't get the chance to try them all. But as you can see through the photos, they have an appetizing look, right? If you get the chance to try them at Jia, please let me know how they tasted.

Deep Fried Swan with Almond Sauce - IDR 32K

Crispy Chinese Red Bean Pancake - IDR 32K

For desserts, we ordered these two. The first one, the Deep Fried Swan, was certainly beautiful. I have seen this dish before on another foodie's blog and was pretty curious of how it tasted. While the Red Bean Pancake was ordered by my friend who is certainly a big fan of this dessert since the era of Shang Palace. My honest opinion, although the Deep Fried Swan might look beautiful, but flavorwise I would go for the Red Bean Pancake. The custard inside the swan was okay, but clearly the red bean paste inside the pancake came out more as a winner.

Besides all the delicious dishes I had above, I was happy that Jia brought Chinese tea to a whole new level. Their selections of cold brew bottled Chinese teas are a must order, especially the signature Oolong.

Overall I had a very very nice brunch at Jia. The wonderful interior design, the awesome dishes, and the impeccable service are just things that would want to make me come back to Jia again, and again, and again.

Now that it's nearly Chinese new year, I couldn't think of any other place suitable enough to celebrate it with the finest Chinese dishes in town. Jia is the perfect spot!

So, take me back to Jia again, please..

Keep on chewing!

Jazzy Dee

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Jia

Shangri-La Hotel Level 1

Kota BNI
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 1

Jakarta
Phone: (021) 2922 9999
Operating Hours:
Mon - Fri 11.30am - 2.30pm (lunch) / 6pm - 10.30pm (dinner),
Sat - Sun 10.30am - 2.30pm (lunch) / 6pm - 10.30pm (dinner)