Background:
Mister Jiu's opened in April 2016 after a three year renovation of the iconic Four Seas building in Chinatown. The space, built in 1880, has had only three occupants since its original construction, with Mister Jiu's being the current standard bearer. The owner, head chef, and mastermind is Brandon Jew, who worked all over San Francisco and the world, before opening up his dream restaurant in the same space he grew up going as a child (the Four Seas building used to be a banquet hall). Mister Jiu's has received numerous awards and recognition since it opened, including the number three spot on Bon Appetit's Best New Restaurant list for 2017. The restaurant earned one Michelin Star within its first year, and has maintained the star ever since.
Eat This:
Mister Jiu's menu is traditional Cantonese mixed with San Francisco's obsession with local and fresh ingredients. The menu looks familiar and exotic all at the same time and includes dishes you've heard of, like hot & sour soup, wontons, and fried rice, paired with ingredients you've never thought to combine them with, like Dungeness crab, Monterrey squid, and Wagyu beef. Our suggestion: go with as many people as possible so you can try as much as you can.
Sea Urchin
Cheong Fun
You've probably had Cheong Fun before, but you probably have never had it with sea urchin on top. The noodles here were P.E.R.F.E.C.T. So soft, but not too chewy. The mixture of the sea urchin with the delicious sauce and the noodles made this one of the best dishes of the night.
Tendrils, Greens and Stems
meyer lemon, roasted garlic, sea urchin
We ordered all of our dishes and then our waiter, (who Yvonne said looks like Clark Gable), told us we should order a vegetable, because you can't just order meat for everything #whoknew. He led us to the tendrils with a Meyer lemon sauce. The tendrils were sautéed and crispy. The acidity of the meyer lemon sauced mixed nicely with the salty, crunchy tendrils.
Wontons
pork, sichuan peppercorn, Monterey squid
The standout dish of the night. The squid, spicy sichuan peppercorn sauce, and the pork wontons were so good. This is a must get on any visit.
Steak Fried Rice
wagyu skirt, crispy garlic, cured tuna heart
We saw this dish on the Fried Rice episode of Ugly Delicious, and we knew we had to try it. The Wagyu beef was amazing, but the rest of the dish we thought could have had a little more flavor.
Liberty Farm Roast Duck
pancakes, peanut butter hoisin, cucumbers
We were told to get the duck by the Internet, and everyone knows that the Internet is never wrong. The duck was served two ways: a traditional Peking style and confit. We ordered a half, which could have fed approximately 1 million people. Of course, we finished about 2/3 of it. because we are champions The winner for me on this dish was the peanut butter Hoisin sauce.
Dessert:
All of Mister Jiu's desserts sounded and looked incredible, and normally we would have ordered three desserts, but we had already had roughly 18 meals this day, so we only ordered their most famous dessert, the Black Sesame Cake. Clark Gable did recommend we get the Frozen Whipped Honey, but sorry, Mr. Gable, we just couldn't do it.
Black Sesame Cake
black sesame crémeux, ginger mousse, peanut, tamarind caramel
The key to this dessert was the peanut, which provided a crunch to go with the soft cake and all the other magical ingredients of this dish.
Drink:
Mister Jiu's has a great cocktail menu, with most of their cocktails containing some form of tea and all of them having fortune cookie-esk names, like Clarity, Tranquility, and Luck. They also have a house made Root Beer, Oolong Kombucha, which we tried but was way too vinegary for our tastes.
Prosperity
vodka, lotus, lemongrass, passion fruit, egg white
Mister Jiu's signature cocktail. How cool is that ying yang design? This baby was smooth and refreshing.
Atmosphere:
As soon as you walk into Mister Jiu's you know you're in a cool place. It reminded me a lot of the rooftop restaurant of the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, with a traditional imperial, yet modern vibe. The restaurant is situated two stories up from Grant Street, the main street of San Francisco's Chinatown. You enter from an almost secret street a block up, so you feel as if you are floating over Chinatown and overlooking the Transamerica building. But the real show is the open kitchen, where you can watch Jew and the rest of the chefs work their magic.
The bar up front
The open kitchen
San Franciscan Cantonese Hospitality
Clark Gable was the best waiter we had all trip. He was nice, informative, and answered all the questions we had. The maître d was wearing a blue suit with a Kevin Durant Warriors jersey underneath, which was pretty sweet. It seemed like everyone really enjoyed working there, and it showed through with the great service.
Frankie's Notes:
Whenever there is a fish tank in a restaurant, I want to jump in and save all the fish; I definitely don't have enough tattoos to work or live in San Francisco; For our millennial followers, Clark Gable is a reference to an actor who died in 1960; Yvonne wanted the potstickers so bad since they were on the cover of Bon Appetit, but we went with the wontons and I think we made the right choice. Sorry Bae.
Rating:
5 out of 5 + One Michigan Pug
