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Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Financial DistrictEnjoy our gourmet prix-fixe dinner. Reservations required - from $55.
Mon-Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Mon-Fri. 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
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Dinner at Jai Yun left me speechless!
Jai Yun was one of those places that was continuously on my to-go list since my interest in food burgeoned a few years ago. I love any kind of tasting menu/omakase when available. Less choices to make equals more time devoted to savoring the food before me. The utter lack of a menu was a particular draw, and Chef Nei does right by his customers.
My friend and I came at prime dining hours on a Saturday night, and for our entire stay there was only one other table of two. People came in off of the street, expecting to have a quick bite at an unassuming Chinese restaurant, but were graciously turned away, being told that they needed 'appointments.' I felt like I was at an exclusive fete with a backstage pass.
After sipping tea, a stream of banchan-like cold dishes flowed from the kitchen. The sole waitress arranged them beautifully in a nice pattern. They were all delicious, the pickled items perfectly textured. Definitely mouth-watering was the abalone and egg foo yung, lotus salad, crispy eggplant, and basically everything (and I wish I knew what everything was!) I've had many memorable meals this year, and this one ranks very high, and for $55pp is a gift.
Dismayed to see this gem off Bauer's Top 100 list, but perhaps relative obscurity suits it well. On a opaque, foggy SF night, you cannot do better than sipping tea and being pampered by Chef Nei, all food and no fuss.
This review is for LUNCH, which is now served 5 days a week 11:30-2. The lunch pricing levels are $9, $18, $25 and $35. I had the $18, which was what the hostess recommended for one person dining alone, and I was served:
--five plates of little appetizers brought out right at the beginning: smoked fish, tofu skin, cabbage marinated with ginger, cucumber and pickled Shanghai vegetable/jung tai.
--delicate shrimp stir fried with some red and green pepper bits.
--Kung Pao chicken (a delicate non-deep fried version).
--"gluten", an assortment of delicate bits of what looked like tempeh (but guess not since the internets are telling me tempeh is gluten-free) mixed with quartered shiitakes and what l assume was the gluten tied in pretty knots.
--more tofu, this time shredded and combined with edamame.
--fried eggplant combined with some chopped red peppers and peanuts.
All in all, an amazing feast and a great value. My favorite items were the in the gluten/tofu direction which is surprising because I usually shy away from this category, but the chef really knows how to make them sing. The smoked fish and ginger cabbage app were also very good.
The cabbage was the only thing I would call remotely hot/spicy, and I'd asked for spicy, so I would say this is a place for milder tastes and savoring the ingredients and presentation, not flavor drama.
The hostess immediately asks if you have a reservation which I did. But she didn't check it and a party of five came in with no reservation and was seated with no problem.
Actually, the place was pretty empty. Go at lunchtime before it gets busy or they decide to discontinue it, and enjoy some elegant cuisine at a fraction of the evening prices.
This is a long overdue review. We've been going to Jai Yun since 2002. Chef Nei is nothing short of an artist and genius when it comes to Chinese cuisine. I am Chinese and I have never had better Chinese food in US anywhere. His style is unique, similar to Omakase in Japan which means "entrust" in Japanese, roughly translates to "chef choice." As with Omakase, chef Nei will serve different multiple courses based on the type of Omakase that customer has chosen, and each course is carefully selected and prepared by him.
Most people equate Chinese food to large quantity of cheap food; mostly breaded and deep fried, and mixed with some sort of gooey sauce that's loaded with soy and sugar. People don't think of quality in Chinese food, but they do with Japanese food. What's with that? I think it's time that we look at Chinese cuisine in a different light. Chef Nei picks out the freshest ingredients daily and creates his multi-course feasts with his heart and soul. As with any great Western chefs, chef Nei's creation represents him and his passions for food. I have never had a meal there where I didn't leave happy and completely satisfied. Everyone that I have ever brought to Jai Yun is always amazed how Chinese food can be so refined, varied and delicious. It doesn't have to be greasy, saucy, sweet and loaded with MSG.
Depending on which price fixed you select, the number of courses and types of main ingredients would vary. The feast always starts with cold dishes like house-smoked fish, thinly sliced braised beef shank, Jelly fish salad, Enoki mushroom salad, spicy shredded Napa cabbage, 5-spiced bean curd with cilantro and pine nuts, thinly sliced crunchy lotus roots, cucumber salad, etc. The first course of hot dishes is usually the Abalone Foo Young. It's not the Americanized Egg Foo Young that looks and an overcooked omelet with gooey sauce all over it. This is the real deal. Foo Young means velvet in Chinese. The texture of the egg white in the Abalone Foo Young is velvety, delicate, and the flavor is and out of this world. The thinly sliced Abalone is the most tender abalone we've ever had. We always fight to lick the serving spoon at the end, so that every bit is devoured.
Depending on the amount that you want to spend, season and freshness of the ingredients, he may serve Shanghainese crystal shrimp, sauté Chinese celery with tofu and Chinese yellow chives, tofu skin (yuba in Japanese) stir fried with fresh soy beans and tiger lily flower buds (it's suppose to make you smart, so they say...it hasn't worked for me yet), orange peel beef (unlike any orange peel beef you've ever had), the real-deal spicy Kung Pao chicken (NOT breaded & deep fried), stir fried mung bean noodle sheets with house-cured Chinese-style ham and baby leeks, steamed winter melon topped with spiced pork ragu, braised Shanghainese pork ribs and taro root balls in clay pot. All wonderful, but don't expect detailed descriptions, as English may be limited. The list can go on and on if you are willing to pay the price, just like the high-end restaurants in Northern California like Michael Mina, Cyrus, French Laundry, Gary Danko, Ame, Koi, etc. You get to choose how much you want to spend and chef Nei will serve you a meal that you won't forget. The only difference is his price will be a lot less than the fore mentioned restaurants. Because, you won't be paying for the high rent, fancy décor, professional wait staff, highly compensated maître d' and sommelier, fancy crystals and silverware, high stocking costs of premium spirits and wines. What you pay for is the amazing food; course after course.
I'm so glad that he now opens for lunch during the week with less expensive price fixed menu. Reservations for lunch is highly recommended, and it's required for dinner. I still prefer dinner there, it's more expensive, but what can I say, I want to have all of the courses. Lunch is a great compromise though, because not all of my friends can afford to go there for dinner every time. I can't wait to go again next week, it's making me hungry just thinking about it. If Jai Yun were right down the street from us, I'd go there at least once a week. Oink! Oink!
I'm not one for trying out new places, but my boyfriend made reservations for dinner and I can't say no to that. If you've read the other reviews about this place, then you already know that they don't have a menu which is unique in its own way, however, it's left me in the dark and I wasn't quite sure what I was getting considering that prices were ranging from $55+ (up to $150, mind you). Anyways, we went with the $65.
Now, I don't know what to say, having to spend about $170 with tip is tad overkill when going to any decent Chinese restaurant out there could have fed 8 people or more with money like that, and no, not Americanized Chinese.
My boyfriend liked this place, but for me, I was a bit disappointed. I agree, if you aren't Chinese, then you may think that this place is the greatest thing since sliced bread (my boyfriend is white), however, because I am Chinese, this place was nothing special. 65 bucks for a person is a bit much so I was expecting something jaw-dropping and spectacular, I was expecting things I have never seen before, but I was wrong. I've seen it all and got overcharged for it, talk about catering to Americans, eh? I believe that their one advantage is simply because of the fact that they speak English fluently.
It wasn't that the food or service was bad, but if I compare the quality of the food to the prices, then I can't see myself coming back here again.
We went there couple weeks ago with about 7 or 8 people for lunch. It turned out really well and everyone was impressed and liked the food. For about $15 per person, we got so many dishes that we lost count.
Growing in Asia, this is one of the best Chinese restaurants I have had in the bar area. The chef specializes in southern cooking, especially for Zhejiang cuisine. This is rarely seen in the US.
Food here is not as greasy and over-flavored like most restaurants you will find in Chinatown. If you prefer or are too used to the stereotype Chinese food, this is probably not the place for you. But for the dainty taste and reasonable price, this place has been on my recommended list!
Reservation ONLY. They said they would not take walk-in customers!!
The secret to this restaurant is MSG. I was so thirsty after eating there. Way over hyped.
I ate mushrooms!! Let me repeat... I ATE MUSHROOMS!!!!
I don't eat mushrooms... they're the evil 5th taste (that's right... it ain't just sweet, sour, bitter, and salt any longer). that and i don't want to mess with anything that is above me on the food chain... and decomposers will be chowing down on me at some point.
My idiosyncratic tastes get thrown out the window at this spot. You see, i didn't even have a choice. Our options... either the $50, the $65, or the $80 course. The only difference is the quantity and selectivity of the dishes. Have faith in Master Chef Nei' Chia Ji -- he hooks you up. Everything... and i mean all 15+ platters for two were stupendous. Actually, a gentleman at a nearby table yelped in ecstasy after sampling the abalone. That's right, an audible yelp and he wasn't the least bit self-conscious.
The one sad twist... not sure if it is the economy or the dine about town specials at other SF spots, the place was eerily vacant. It was a Tuesday in the financial district, but only 4 people in total. just sad.
I am completely unfamiliar with finer dining, but two things did stand out to me.
First, the food was definitely fresh and well prepared. I think i ate on the 80$ per person course. Some of the dishes were on the salty side, but again, I'm not sure if that's from my poorly developed palette.
Second, the servers were very questionable. 5 minutes into walking in, one of the two servers made an especial point of telling our party he didn't speak Cantonese, only mandarin (we had some Cantonese speakers who had a few questions including me). roughly halfway through our meal, we asked if the lima been plate was suppose to be this salty. And suddenly he jumps in very defensive, and surprise surprise, HE SPOKE CANTONESE. Now i don't have anything against Cantonese speakers clearly, nor do i have anything against sensitive waiters. But the mystery around this lie kind of dwelled on the rest of the night.
The food was good and im very happy that i got a chance to try higher Shanghainese dining , but in my particular experience, i didnt enjoy it as much as i could have.
I was all excited about finally eating excellent Shanghainese food in the bay area. But I was quite disappointed. I would say that the food is decent and authentic Shanghainese food, but, nothing special. In fact some of the cold dishes are not quite up to snuff. I found the beef shank to be undercook, it suppose to melt in your mouth. The vegetarian duck made of tofu was not moist enough and the texture was not smooth enough. The cold chicken, which traditionally is soaked in shao shing wine, lacks any taste. In fact, most of the cold dishes tasted kind of flat and too much sesame oil, rather than vibrant. Also, don't be impressed by the number of dishes, this is quite traditional for Shanghainese appetizers in any decent Shanghainese restaurant.
The hot dishes were also disppointing. For $65 dollar, the only costly dish was the abalone, which was smothered in egg white, which gave it a smooth texture, but the abalone was quite tastless. The braise pork was underdone and chewy. the lion's head meat ball, a tradition Shanghai dish was too small and since it is serve in a broth, the dish is totally transformed and lack that rich sauce that comes from the braising the meatballs. Ooh, and where is the famous eel in garlic sauce. One cannot judge how good the chef is without trying the chef's rendition of the eel in garlic sauce. And, what is Kung Pao chicken doing in a Shanghainese restaurant.
The unfortunate thing is that Jai Yun can make foodies excited because there are really so few decent Chinese restaurants in the bay area. But if anybody has grown up in Hong Kong or has travelly extensively in Asia, you will know what great Shanghainese food is, and Jai Yun is just run of the mill.
It is too bad that Jai Yun can charge such as a high price for food that you can get in Hong Kong or China for a few bucks. But, I think eventually, people will become aware of it. On the Thursday night when I had dinner there, there was only people in three tables. The restaurant is big and empty. Not a good sign. He might have become a bit too embitious in moving to this new location. However, this might make him lower the price and develop a menu. I think Jai Yun will be more sucessful if it becomes a regular restaurant serving decent Shanghainese food at a decent price. Right now, its a rip off.
Hands down, the food here was great for lunch Clear winners for me were the kung pao chicken and deep fried eggplant.
The kung pao is so ubiquitous in chinese restaurants that it often serves as a barometer for chef's skills and improvisation. Here, the chicken was chopped in smaller pieces, and the vegetables were salad-fresh. It was less saucy so that it can be eaten without mixing it up with rice.
The egglant was crispy, sweet and spicy and the eggplant flavor was very enhanced. I never thought egglant could come out this way, it usually sponges up all the oil.
Everything else was good too, the spicy mushrooms, jellyfish and tofu beans too.
The price was just $9 (no abalone). Clean restrooms, quick service, I had a good time. I highly recommend this for lunch and hope you enjoy your meal.
I am not an expert in Chinese food, but this was so far the best food I have eaten at a chinese restaurant in the U.S. We were there for lunch, tried the $18/pp option. If I remember correctly, we received about 6 or so cold dishes, and 6 or so warm dishes.
The waitress needs to do a better job of explaining things to walk-ins instead of sending them out of the door with her brusque replies to questions.
I've been here three times: 2002, mid-2003, and the last time was late-2007. I went with the least expensive menu every time except 2003, when I had the one that was one or two steps up (at the time it was $50). I was very impressed the first two times especially since the menu at the second time was a step or so higher than I had the first time, and also because every other Chinese restaurant in the S.F. Bay Area serves junk--stuff that is not worth your health for.
When I came back the last time, I brought along a friend who was visiting from Hong Kong. I wanted to show him this neat little place. He was quite anxious to experience it. I must say, I quickly became bored with the same dishes as I had the previous times. I thought the point of having no menu means dishes would be different every week if not every day, or at least from time-to-time, season-to-season. Instead, I had the same things every time, especially the cold dishes: jelly fish, cucumber, gluten, sliced beef shank, etc. Even most of the hot dishes were the same: kung pao chicken, orange beef, spicy tofu, etc.
My friend was not impressed although he did remark that this is probably the best Chinese food in all of San Francisco. He echoed the same sentiment as Daniel T: This place is only decent by Hong Kong standards; Jai Yun is really no big deal. And the price is too high.
I'm bringing a few friends back here next week for a little review (the same bunch from 2003). Let's see how things go. I must say I am quite skeptical of what worthwhile meal can we get here for $65, and I don't think $45 will get me anything different than what I've already had.
I don't eat a lot of Chinese food in America unless I am in and around San Jose, CA. Many Chinese restaurants in San Francisco, Boston, and New York City's Chinatowns serve dishes that are too oily and greasy for my tastes.
But Jai Yun, right smack in SF Chinatown was different. And it was different in many ways! Here's the list:
ATMOSPHERE
1. You need to make a reservation in order to eat here.
2. Cozy and clean dining environment.
3. No screaming staff.
4. No TVs running in the background.
FOOD
5. FIXED PRICE MEAL of $65 ($82 with tip) includes over 25+ dishes. From fish to duck, chicken, pork, beef, bamboo shoots, and much more.
6. Dishes were not oily or salty.
SERVICE
7. The waiter was super nice.
8. The cook gave us extra dishes of fish and dumplings.
If I were to eat at a Chinese place again, I would come here.
Don't expect the best service, this is after all, a chinese restaurant. The atmosphere isn't fancy, in fact, it's quite ugly, but the food, food is out of this world! I've tasted flavors and combinations never experienced before, the texture, the fine balance between flavors, everything is just extraordinary!!! You much try this place with a big group of people as the chef prepares a set course for the table- the more people, the more food to try!
A few friends of ours have been here and said many good things about this place. We were also intrigued by the ordering approach - pick one of the predefined amounts ($45 - $150) you want to spend per person and your dishes will start coming. Based on everything I read, it seemed like the experience was more positive with more people so we decided to take my parents here.
There were four of us and we choose the $65 per person dinner. We lost count but we're guessing we had about 23 plates of food - mostly small/medium sized dishes and one large dish. Half of the dishes were cold, and the rest were hot.
The food was amazing! The meal was about taste and texture. The dishes came out slowly so we were able to taste and discuss. The entire experience took about an hour in the half to two hours. We were all pretty full by the end of the night. The service was good - polite. I don't think their dishes change too often - we had a lot of the same dishes as the other reviewers (Haterade B and Daniel T).
The place was really clean unlike most Chinese restaurants - I checked the restroom, too! The decorations are a bit random (ie, disco balls). This place is about the food experience. Sure, you can spend the same money elsewhere easily in this city and get crazy service or an amazing view but this is meant to be different. We had a great experience and we think it's definitely worth trying once.
I am not a foodie and am one of those people who always play it "safe" when I eat out by ordering the same thing.
I absolutely loved this experience. I sat down, poured a beer, and ate until I could not chew a single bite more. At first I thought I would be hungry after the meal as we were served deceptively small portions family style. But after a half hour, I realized I needed to be more choosy and take even smaller portions than I had been.
I only had half an inkling as to what I was eating but I made myself try every single dish and most of them left me wanting more.
*added 4/20/2008: was reading the other reviews. realized the menu hasn't changed much since 2 months ago. is mr chef getting lazy?"
Appetizers:
Pickled cucumber with sesame oil
Veggie chicken
Jellyfish
Enoki mushrooms
Lotus root
Spiced beef shank slices
Ma Lan Tau (chopped tofu + pickled veggie)
Main courses:
Eggplant with fish sauce
Orange beef
King Pao chicken
Abalone with scramble egg white
Chinese wheat gluten with straw mushrooms
Tofu skin with Chinese pickled veggie and edamame
Stir-fry shrimp with ShaoXing wine
I may have missed a couple of dishes but that's what we had for $45 per head. There was a plethora of pickled Chinese vegetables used but Yelp does not support Chinese characters so I cannot list them one by one. Most dishes were prepared well but definitely not worth the $45 per head price. If we didn't ask for steamed rice, I'd still be starving. I also pre-load with 4 pieces of grilled cheese since I read about the portion sizes in advance.
Our party had 6 so the total ended up $310+. With that kind of money, if we went to R&G or South Sea Seafood Village, we'd be eating Geoduck sashimi, steamed whole fish (that was swimming in the tank 10 minutes ago), steamed oysters with black bean sauce, smoked sea bass, probably a mound of fresh shrimp, whole crab (possibly 2), and free steamed rice.
I grew up in Hong Kong. I kid you not, Hong Kong has pretty decent Shanghai restaurants because of the flood of immigrants from Shanghai after the Nationalist party had been kicked out of China by the Communists. The dishes served at Jai Yun are NOT worth raving about. They are decent, not spectacular. Saying that they are overpriced is an understatement.
Pickled vegetables, tofu products, and Chinese wheat gluten are in abundance every single fracking day in Chinatown. They're not what the chef find super fresh and unique for the day. You want duck tongues? they're $3 a pound a block away. You want beef tripe? New Asia has them for dimsum and they're less than $3 a dish. You want pickled cucumber with sesame oil? Give me $10 I can drown you with a whole bottle of sesame oil and 8 huge cucumbers.
Diet coke served was expired back in 2007. I will never go there again.
disclaimer: i speak fluent mandarin and i've studied regional chinese cuisine, and have lived in asia for a few years of my adult life. my opinions are rooted through these experiences and also from the fact that i was raised by parents who always made sure my brother and i had the opportunity to explore new foods and taste combinations in a myriad of countries, from village to metropolis.
that said: i find jai yun an enigmatic anomaly.
based on skill, dedication to traditional nanjing-style jin su/hunan cuisine, quality of ingredients, chef's mastery of flavors and presentation alone, i would give it the maximum amount of stars. there's not a question in my mind that this is some of the best regional chinese food in the entire bay area, and i don't say this lightly either.
as one who is familiar with chinese banquet-style preparation, first comes the pickles and cold appetizers (xian cai, jiang cai and xiao chi). however, at jai yun, the delivery isn't one dish at a time, but rather all at once, fairly similar to dining in a korean barbecue restaurant where the pickles and relishes are placed together prior to the meat being served.
each dish has only a couple of bites' worth of food, but some of them are exquisite. the salted and boiled duck (xian swei ya) was extremely tender, with the duck meat boiled to a fine powdery state, almost melting in the mouth with light pressure. the marinated lotus root was knife-shaved paper thin, with just a hint of sesame oil and salt to tease the nutty lotus flavor from the root. a dish with enoki mushroom, shark's fin and tripe was delicate and light, brightened by tiny leaves of cilantro.
next came an incredible abalone and egg white custard. the high grade abalone was again sliced finely and stir-fried with egg whites that reached a custard-like consistency, infused with some of the abalone water and lightly salted. i could have eaten an entire bowl. i would have liked it even more if the chef would have served the abalone custard in two small ramikins or bowls so that my friend and i could have slid the it down our throats instead of trying to pick it up with our clunky plastic chopsticks.
lastly, we had an array of hot foods that were served in varying degrees of tastes. the light dishes alternated with heavier tasting ones, so there was always a different combination of flavors on the table. one spicy (kung pao chicken), one sweet (orange peel beef), one vegetarian (to cleanse the palate), and one bitter (mustard greens with soy beans and tofu skin). the yu xiang eggplant was simply to die for; the chef fried the skin of the eggplant so that it disintegrated as you bit into the flesh, leaving a lightly smoky taste in on the palate. simply amazing.
for the finale, there was the ti pang rou, the smoked and roast pork shank, where the meat was so tender, you could pull it apart with two forks and the fat was braised to the consistency of near melted butter.
now, having waxed poetic about the food, but after giving much thought about our experience and reading through my thoughtful dining companion's review on this restaurant (i dare say his palate may be even more refined than mine in many ways), i have to bring the rating down two stars.
when i arrived at the restaurant, no one was at the front of the house to greet diners, and there was not a single soul in sight. the first rule of a good chinese restaurant is that it is always packed to the nines around dining rush hours. that there was not one person there made me think twice.
also, there wasn't a menu available to list the ingredients or dishes. you are given a little bound pamphlet, which explains why you're not given a menu, only a sliding scale of how much money you'd like to spend at the establishment. most chinese people would turn their nose up immediately and walk out of the restaurant at this point. my friend and i chose $65/per person (mind you, this is also cash only, which makes it even harder to stomach when you really want to know what will be placed in front of you). i asked quite a few questions of the server, who also happens to be the son of the chef/owner and he explained that everything is based on what his father could pick out fresh the day of, based on the number of reservations at the restaurant and how much each diner was willing to spend.
next, the question of beer or wine came up. again, no beer or wine list, and the server came back, bringing about a total of 7 bottles of white wine, all chardonnay with one sauvignon blanc. all of the wines were californian and picked arbitrarily by the family as the server readily admitted they didn't know much about wine pairings with chinese food.
i wanted to cry at this point. i could excuse the cheap plastic decor and pokemon origami stars hanging from the ceilings, but i couldn't really excuse this. jesus, i've hit 5000 characters on this review!
Okay, I finally gave in and joined Yelp! so this review is a bit old. I believe I spent $55 for dinner here, and was at a table of 10. It was one of the most delightful dinners I have ever had in my life. But it does help to go here without preconceived notions of what a Chinese restaurant should be or what a $55 dinner should be (other than wonderful), and the food definitely better be more important for you than the service or ambiance, as it is for me.
Between the 10 of us, we had 14 cold/chilled/room temp dishes served all at once. Once we had devoured those (and we were careful not to overeat, since we knew there was more food coming), the remaining 12 or so dishes were served one at a time. Yes, all but two of the plates (the pork leg and the whole fish) were tiny, but we each got some of everything, and nobody left hungry. In fact, there was food left over. And there was not a grain of rice in sight for the entire meal.
Actually, it's best if you do come in a big group, for more variety. And you don't need Chinese, unless you want to know what you're eating :) But it's all good.
I had never had most of the dishes before. Every one of them at least tasted pretty good and many were magnificent. While a few ingredients turned up a little too often, there was a good variety of spicy, not spicy, chewy, soft, veggie, not veggie, don't ask, this, that, etc.
Yes you could get some of these dishes for a lot less at some other restaurant. But not all of them, and probably not most of them. Abalone and shark's fin are pricey ingredients, for sure. And tasting menus cost more at virtually any restaurant. So stop complaining.
For those who complain that the requirement for a reservation makes the place seem like more than it is, you have to go back to Oliva Wu's article several years ago in the Chronicle that outed the place. Before her article, you could just drop in and they'd start bringing dishes out until you were full, then you'd pay for what you ate. You bussed your own table, got your own tea, etc. Oh, and the clientle was almost exclusively Asian.
After the article, the place was overrun. I'm sure he put in the mandatory reservations policy to maintain his health and sanity.
Don't dis him for the reservation policy. It keeps him sane and minimizes the waste of fresh food which he has to buy each day.
No, I would not eat here often. It's not that type of place. Would you go to the same French restaurant for their tasting menu every week? To the same Japanese place for their kaiseki? No, you'd burn out.
But I'd like to make this a yearly thing, and I recommend it to my friends and to visitors (provided I know their preferences for restaurants are similar to mine).
By the way, someone posted a review for the new place over at the old page, so go read it.
I'm so sorry that is a very undiscovered restaurant in Chinatown, better for me but I don't want to see this place go down, so come~! Came here for the first time yesterday for my birthday lunch with a large group. I am honestly a bit sick of going places and then spending like 20 minutes JUST to order and then another 10 minutes at the end figuring out what everyone owes. It was just so nice to have a pre-fixe price + the chef picks what you get. WOOHOO - give me just what's good so I don't waste my time ordering something that takes like .. well you know. This is definitely some of my favorite Chinese food in San Francisco (Hands Down!) - not too oily, flavorful, simple and truly representing a Mandarin style of cooking (Hunan, Shanghainese, and a couple of other regions). You can guarantee that you won't leave filling a super food coma as a result of the MSG and LARD used to cook your food. I brought my co-workers who are not all Asian (plenty of diversity at the table) and not a single person complained. There were some people who didn't want certain things like shrimp, but they had plenty of other stuff to eat. The price ranges for lunch are $9/$18/$25/$35 and yes your whole table has to get the same thing. We chose the $18 lunch. All the dishes were great - the favorites of the table being the fish, the pork leg, and the fried mushrooms. Great atmosphere, a pretty quiet restaurant to bring groups (at least for lunch), and personally prob some of my favorite food here in the FiDi/Chinatown area.
I also only review good restaurants, or really bad service. So...
I heard a bout Jai Yun from my husband's boss, who found an article in the paper about it. He's lived in San Francisco forever and loves to eat only at the best of the best. So when I read the review that said they will not accept walk-ins, reservation only, I assumed the place would be packed. On the contrary, there was only a few tables full on a wednesday night. There is no menu, they hand you a letter from the chef that says basically "I don't speak english, so tell my waiter how much you want to spend, and you will taste my food, whatever I want to bring you." Basically, if you are a picky eater or have food allergies this is not your place.
We ordered the $65/head menu and got busy. Everything was outragous, from the 5 spiced beef to the jellyfish, to the Abolone to the meatless chicken, I was so happy. I love tasting everything, and not having to pick from a menu of everything that sounds great, but may not be, etc.
Before I left, I figured out why there are no walk ins. The chef goes shopping at the market everyday before work for the amount of people that have reservations. It's like you are a guest in his home!!
Try it, you will love it!!!
Love it! Gotta be the most interesting and creative chinese restaurant in the Bay Area. If you pay attention to the cooking, you'll be able to tell that the chef really spends a lot of time and effort on every single dish.
Looking forward to be back again!
Probably the best type of food experience for me. Your food comes as a seemingly endless stream of little plates. Sometimes you recognize what you're eating, sometimes you don't. But all dishes are unfailingly delicious. I came here with my date and was told by the owner that we would have gotten even more variety if we had been a bigger group.
My main criticism is that although the food was delicious the atmosphere of the restaurant was rather sterile. Therefore in my opinion, it was not worth the $65/person price.
My wife and I had the $65 / person dinner. We had a total of 18 different S to M size fine dishes one L size final dish. Since I lived in Hong Kong for over 16 years, this particular branch of Chinese cuisine brought back a lot of fond memories, as dishes like these were only served in private supper clubs, such as club houses established in Hong Kong for people from the same root far away in mainland China, aka word-by-word in Chinese "same-village-society". Everything that was served to us at Jai Yun was as fresh as it could be, perfectly executed, served at a temperature that was supposed to be consumed right away, which also explains why the size of the dishes was best kept S to M so that you would not have to eat a lot of the same thing over a long period of time while the temperature drops and texture changes. It is like a banquet without having to invite 15 friends to share. If you love food, this would be a TRUE fine dinning experience. Suggestion: make reservation early, be on time, be ready for a 2 straight hours of well planned dinning experience, bring cash as credit card is not accepted, and very important, listen to your server's valuable suggestion(s).
5 Stars for quality of food, 4 Stars for quality of service, 5 Stars for dinning experience, 5 Stars for being clean, 3 Star for interior decor (not my priority as a food lover), hence overall 4.5 Stars.
Note: if you have a stick on top of your head, that might be just what you need if you could get it to work.
This chinese restaurant takes reservation only. It is a set price meal, 45, 55, 75, 100, and 150 per person. You can not choose your food here but it is by far the best culinary chinese food I have experience in town.
This was a weird place. It's 1.5 blocks from my work, so I decided to go there for lunch. No menu outside. No customers either. I see the waitress and ask to see the menu. She shows me the menu that has three prices: $18, $25, $35. That's it. No description of any of the options. To my questions what each price includes, she says the chef will pick it for you. She suggests to go with $18. Okay. First, it's some pickled vegetables kind of Korean style. Not bad, and presentation is beautiful. Then comes a shrimp dish, which was pretty tender, but I needed some soy sauce with it. I also asked for a bowl of rice. Then came a mushroom dish and some warm salad. Mushrooms were very nice. At this point the lunch was over. The waitress comes up to me and says that since they are not busy (I am still alone in the restaurant), the chef will make another dish for me. Since I am still hungry, I ask for some meat. After that, I hear some arguing in Chinese coming from the kitchen. The waitress comes back and says that it was her mistake, and that I already had two hot dishes while only one was allowed for $18 lunch. Oh, well. I'd say I would not go there again. A better description of what to expect would also be nice.
I thought this place was really good, although the group I was with (of 5 people) were of mixed opinions overall. Yes, it's expensive, but so is every other restaurant in the city, and the food was tasty and very fresh. I took one star off because now that I've gone I don't feel the need to go back for a long time. A tasting menu is nice when that is what you're in the mood for, but it can also get old quickly.
It was something that I've never experienced, for sure. Just for the novelty sake of it, I strongly recommend trying it ONCE- but it's up to you if you wanna go back. Take cash or be prepared to wash their dishes- they have plenty to wash, at least 30 for any table!
The new Jai Yun on Clay is an experience. You tell this petite Nanjing chef what you want to spend---$65/person? $120/person? (There's no menu. It's like a pris fixe meal.)That determines what dishes you'll get. We were a table of 6 and spent $70/person (so $500+ bill without alcohol, and $80 tip). 14 cold/ chilled/ or room temp dishes arranged very attractively, all delicate and refined versions of typical central Chinese cooking. (You have to be seasoned in Chinese cooking to recognize what an incredible job these dishes were. I read Michael Bauer's review in the SF Chronicle and thought he didn't quite understand what these dishes were about.) Then came the hot food (warm)(spicy)(really spicy). In total there were 31 dishes. Had the chef stopped at about 20 dishes, we would have walked away saying "WOW, great food!" but at 31 dishes, it became "Hey, too much food. You need to stop." Too much food ruined the experience. But every dish was, to our Chinese taste buds, a real hit, except for the fish in a salsa-like sauce and a fish-fillet sauteed with little veggies; the fish didn't taste fresh---so definitely a miss.
if gary danko was a chinese person and he opened up shop in a run-down macdonalds, you would get jai yun. i 100% approve of this place. the portions may appear to be small at first, but once the 23rd dish comes out you will be begging for mercy and for it to end.
The food was excellent and showed care, attention, and the work of human hands. The prices are reasonable considering how labor intensive and well composed the food is. Forget the decor. The experience is the food. If you want nice table service, go somewhere else. If you want to taste something that elevates your idea of Chinese food, eat here.
i'm from SoCal and have always been very disappointed in the quality of Chinese food in SF. when you have places like Irvine, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights with amazing food (especially Taiwanese and Cantonese) in all of these places, SF has just never compared. so i usually don't eat much Chinese here and wait to SoCal to get my yummy Chinese food fixes. then i went to jai yun. DAM. finally a place that rivals home. in fact, its even more unique than home. went here for lunch and for $25 per person, we got some amazing dishes like the spicy mushrooms (UNBELIEVABLE - is there crack on this??), the candied eggplant, the abalone noodles, and so many other delicious dishes that i cant do justice by describing herein. i cant wait to come back here for dinner although it was nice to be the only people there for lunch. its so good that it automatically shot to my must take parents here next time they visit list (And mom and pops are VERY picky eaters esp when it comes to Chinese food..we've all and given up and only focus on Vietnamese, French and Japanese when they come visit) but i know they will be blown away here.
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