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MELBOURNE | Tucked away down an unassuming residential street in Richmond, JAMU sits idly waiting for those with an open mind and an adventurous palate. Quintessentially an Asian fusion restaurant, Chinese and Malaysian flavours are infused with Australian style throughout the casual share-plate menu, whilst the contemporary architectural design adds a dash of elegance to the dining experience.
Humbly occupying the ground floor of an apartment building, JAMU’s tall windows indicate an extravagantly sized venue from the exterior. However, upon entering, a more intimate space awaits, without compromise on spaciousness or comfort thanks to the open-plan layout of the restaurant. In keeping with the Asian concept, circular shapes are intermittently featured throughout the décor, paying respect to the importance of family and togetherness at meal times according to Chinese beliefs. In addition, a variety of gold, copper, black and wooden furnishings smoothly intermingle to create a stylish ambience within which people can socialize, eat and drink.
Following on from the success of their other eateries, A Thousand Blessings Café and the Frozen By A Thousand Blessings chain stores, the team are now joined by a couple of Hawthorn Football Club players in the conception of JAMU. Inspired by Malaysian and Chinese cultures of eating to your heart’s content, this same experience is intended for customers dining here.
A succinct menu focuses on sharing plates that initially read intriguingly innovative, such as edamame guacamole with yuzu, togarashi and taro chips, glazed chicken wings and cheeseburger spring rolls, all of which provide the ultimate snack food to accompany the extensive wine, liqueur and cocktail lists available. Starting off excitingly, the remainder of the menu falls a little shorter.
Pork belly bao and crispy eggplant (essentially, eggplant chips) are nothing new amongst Melbourne’s dining scene, so we skip over these choices to try something more unique. Housemade baked roti catches our eye, with shiitake, enoki and king oyster mushrooms cooked in shaoxin wine, and accompanied by a panko-crumbed egg. Unfortunately, the roti arrives overcooked, with a crisp biscuit-like texture that cannot soak up the extremely flavoursome mushroom and shaoxin wine sauce.
Similarly attractive in its creativity, traditional Ma Jiang Mian is cooked with contemporary flare, eliminating the spicy elements and instead focusing on well seasoned braised pork mince and pickled vegetables. Neatly presented with purposefully twirled sesame noodles intending to be mixed with the pork mince and vegetables only once at the table, the noodles let the dish down due to their ‘gluggy’ texture, whilst more sauce is needed to coat the abundance of noodles given.
As a larger dish, the pork hock is generous enough in size to feed 3-4 people, with a puffy, crispy and audibly crunchy skin, finished off with a decadent tamarind caramel sauce. The sweet caramel glaze pairs perfectly with the pork, but more excitement is needed in the flavour of the well-cooked pork meat within. On the plus side, a small apple and lettuce salad to the side of the plate provides a much-needed refreshing balance.
With an approachable Asian fusion concept and clever interior design, JAMU’s dining experience seems enticing. However, based on our experience, the execution of the dishes and consistency in quality needs improving. This mainly applies to the savoury dishes, as their Summer-inspired desserts follow traditional Asian-style sweets, tasting enjoyably light and fresh, as opposed to being overly sweet. The recent launch of an all-day breakfast menu adds some variety to their offering, though only time will tell as to whether it becomes a hit, given the rarity of Asian fusion restaurants successfully servicing both morning and evening crowds.
JAMU
1 Palmer Street
Richmond
Victoria 3121
Australia
Telephone: 0431 261 221
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Mon – Tue, Thu: 7:00am to 9:30pm
Fri: 7:00am to 11:00pm
Sat: 8:00am to 11:00pm
Sun: 8:00pm to 9:30pm