I’d helped someone I know with some computer stuff and got a meal out of it, but since it wasn’t anything major, we went somewhere reasonable: Jasmin, a cafe-cum-restaurant. It’s run by the second-generation owner of a traditional Chinese restaurant who reworked it in a cafe style, and apparently it’s popular with young people. Normally a Chinese restaurant is best when you go as a group and order a bit of everything, but here we just ordered the set course. Looking at the dishes, the place seemed geared toward courses anyway. As usual this is an old post, so I don’t remember the exact dish names or tastes..
Starter 1
A salad with a faintly Chinese touch to the flavor? Maybe because it doubles as a cafe, the interior is clean and neat. Young women would probably love it, and the prices are fairly reasonable too. It’s a very different concept from the kind of place middle-aged guys prefer – shabby interior, a bit pricey, but the food is out of this world – which is to say, the kind of place I like. Still, it’s handy in lots of ways to know a place like this. That is, if I’m not going to spend my whole life eating out with middle-aged guys…
Starter 2
A salad tossed in peanut sauce, but I’m not a big fan of dressings.. so the taste was just so-so..
Fresh spring roll and fried goya
They’ve done a good job coming up with cafe dishes that stay within Chinese cooking. The taste was hmm.. but that’s only because they were made ahead of time, not bad as such.
Spring rolls
Well, these tasted better than expected too. Decent flavor at a decent price, plus a stylish interior.. if I ever end up going on a date, a place like this would be just right.
Assorted dim sum
Same story..
Stir-fried eggplant
The sauce was a bit sweet.. seemed to be tuned to younger tastes.
Stir-fried shrimp and broccoli
The shrimp are good. Not cafe level, but the level you’d expect from a proper Chinese restaurant. And broccoli is health food, so it’s best to eat plenty, right? The seasoning isn’t strong enough that you particularly need a drink with it, which is also very cafe-like.
Congee for the meal course
It was a pretty big portion, so I couldn’t finish it.
And this is ankake fried rice
Somehow this one looked tastier..
Four kinds of dessert, no less
Almond tofu, jelly, pudding, and roll cake.
A thoughtful lineup. They’ve matched the flavors of a proper Chinese restaurant nicely with a casual atmosphere. Of course it’s not the ultimate in flavor, and it’s awkward to order drinks here, so it probably won’t be popular with middle-aged guys, but I think women would really love it.