Restaurants in Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) area are growing fast and everytime I have chance to go around there, I promised myself that I would try something new. There are so many options that make me lost sometimes, but well, many choices are always better than nothing. This time, I visited a Chinese restaurant, Jin Mu, that serves dumpling, la mien, and Hong Kong seafood. Apparently, this restaurant has just opened since April 2014, so it’s kinda new. Similar to most all restaurants in PIK, the place is a 2 floors ruko and because my visit was around dinner time on a Saturday night, it was very crowded and packed with families. I came in a group of 9 person but luckily we immediately got a table on the second floor.
What I love the most from this kind of Chinese restaurants is that the noodle is totally handmade and we can actually see the process of how it is made. Manually-kneaded noodle is usually inconsistent in size but we know that it’s handmade, therefore making it artsy. If the restaurant lets guests to see the process, it would be even better. That’s why when I came in and saw the guys were making noodle (and it’s so difficult although look so easy!) behind the glass window, I enjoyed the “show” very much. BTW he’s a very skillful noodle maker!
We were absolutely super duper hungry that time so without further ado, we ordered some of their specialties: the la mien and dumplings. Because it’s PIK area and a Chinese restaurant so many of the menu use pork as the main ingredients. But of course, other options such as beef and chicken are available too.
Cha Chiang Mien IDR 39.7K
Basically a noodle with minced beef, we can choose the type of soup that we want. The first picture is the one with broth soup (or probably the original), the soup was too thin and watery, smelled like flour. For me, it was kind of blah and almost tasteless. The second one is with Mala soup, which is claimed to be very spicy, and it was indeed. Same noodle, same topping, just different soup creates totally different bowl of noodle. The one with Mala soup was extremely delicious and super hot, even the noodle absorbed the spiciness so it was damn good!
Wu Shiang Beef Mien IDR 43.7K
I ordered this with Sour and Spicy soup, and although it was better than the original broth soup, it wasn’t sour and spicy at all. Frankly speaking, it tasted like a tom yum soup gone bad and I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to. The Wu Shiang beef came in slices and they were okay, soft and tender, also quite tasty. Oh, did I mention that the handmade noodle was excellent? They are very chewy and the texture and size are just right, love it!
Nasi Goreng Ikan Asin IDR 35.7K
Didn’t try this but the portion was nice, quite big with lots of salted fish and shrimp cuts.
Sui Kiau Mien IDR 43.7K
This was also with broth soup and it was totally bland. The sui kiau was quite nice, though.
Dan Dan Mien Khas Jin Mu IDR 39.7K
The difference of this bowl with the others is this one using pork and nuts. The picture below is accompanied with Mala soup, so it was kind of spicy too. Basically, the taste was not much different from the Cha Chiang Mien with Mala soup, but maybe a little richer taste.
Mie Goreng Seafood Ulang Tahun IDR 35.7K
Nobody had birthday that day but I also had no idea why someone in our table ordered this, LOL! Although it is stated as small portion, the noodle was actually quite big in portion. And it could be easily shared for 2 person. For this one, I don’t think they use the handmade noodle, but it still looked good. The birthday red eggs just made it looking even more beautiful and festive.
Siao Lung Pao Babi IDR 49.7K
One portion contains of 10 pieces and although I think it’s quite cheap for a pork one, these ones were not satisfying at all! There were barely any soup inside them, in fact they all looked so flat and dried out even when served, also very sticky to the bamboo container so it was very difficult not to break it out when we took it out by chopstick. Taste-wise, the soup and the meat were quite nice, but overall, this was just okay.
Sui Kiau Babi Sawi Putih (10 pcs) IDR 38.7K
As one of their specialties, we expected something good from the dumplings, in this case, the sui kiau. And they turned out good, very fat and thick pieces fulfilled with pork and Chinese cabbage. Although the outer skins were very crispy and dry, but when eaten, the juice coming out and the fillings inside were very soft and juicy. Recommended.
Iced Tea IDR 8.7K
Overall, the food were nice and I appreciated the variety of noodle and soup types that we can choose according to our liking. One thing that bothered me (and probably some other people in other tables) was the service. We were seated on the second floor but clearly almost nobody waited there to take care of our needs. Our food came quite fast but there was one particular food (the sui kiau, that is) which was only served after we asked for it about 4 times. Finally, it was served after Ms. B told one of the waitresses to cancel it and just bring us the bill. I mean, hello, why do this thing always have to happen? I wonder whether the food was already ready in the kitchen but nobody was available to bring it up or what? Then, the same case happened again when we asked for the bill. Clearly, it was very crowded and they were running out of hands, but well, this kind of thing is sometimes not tolerable at all and if you’re ready to open the restaurant, please get enough staffs. I am sorry but I just don’t like soft opening or whatever become an excuse for bad services.
*take deep breath*
But well, maybe I should not complain because in fact, Jin Mu doesn’t charge even a single penny for the service. *grin*
Okay, well. Would I come back? YES, definitely. Loved the noodle, especially the Mala soup. So yeah, why not? 😀
*All prices are subject to NO service charge & 10% government tax
Jin Mu Dumpling Restaurant
Rukan Exclusive Blok B No. 17
Bukit Golf Mediterania
Ph. +62 21 2903 2567, 2903 2570
Daisy! You have posted mouthwatering pictures of food dishes. They reminded me about my tour of Jakarta. I visited this city last year in the coming way of boston to Philadelphia tour. There I went to Jin Mu Dumpling Restaurant. The atmosphere was very pleasant and peaceful. I ate there Cha Chiang Mien, Paikut Mien, Mie Goreng Seafood Ulang Tahun, Sum Mala and Egg Mushroom Tomato Mien. It was a delicious and yummy food. I would like to visit it again with my family.