Jai Yun

Delicious food that you’d only ever be able to eat in your favorite grandma’s home. Comforting, clean dishes keep coming out and the ingredients range from simple mushroom and tofu to river eel with bitter melon. This might sound gnarly but it’s really well done and delicious. Highly recommend it. Chef shops for produce and meat same day.

This is the best, most artistic, extraordinary food I’ve ever eaten. Not just Chinese food; any food.
It’s super expensive, but worth it…

Jai Yun completely misses the mark and the only one who doesn’t seem to get it is the owner and chef. I have traveled to China quite a bit for work and vacation and am very familiar with Chinese food from street carts to the upscale private rooms. I was visiting San Francisco for work and was excited to take some friends and family out for something not typically found in America– upscale Chinese food. So I made dinner reservations for our party of 6 at 630 on a Saturday night.
The first indication that should have sent me packing was the fact that we were the only ones in the restaurant other than a single server and the chef (on a Saturday evening!) and it remained that way for the rest of the night. By the end of the night I completely understood why.
The staff at Jai Yun do not speak any english which was fine since I speak Chinese. What was not fine was the server’s complete ignorance of everything in the restaurant from literally not being able to describe any of the many dishes served to the 7−11-esque underwhelming wine/​beer selection. When we asked for a bottle of wine, we were directed to a soda fridge where we grabbed our bottle that was chilled well below the appropriate serving temp. The menu was chef’s choice with three price points 68, 88, and 98 dollars (per person) where everyone has to pick the same option. We went with the 98 dollar menu [mistakingly] thinking the food is where things have to start getting better.
The best part of the meal was the variety of food served if the quality had been even slightly better than a mid level Chinese take out restaurant it might have made up for the atmosphere, undertrained staff, and most importantly justified the 100 per person price. To finish off they less than impressive meal, our server returned the bill to a guest who was not the one who paid asking for a bigger tip while leaving a basket of halloween candies as «dessert» (this was August). So much potential, such poor execution.

If I were only rating Jai Yum on food, they deserve a 5. Their portions are small, but there were so many of them. Most of the dishes were positively delicious, although the sauce on some of the meat dishes was too thick for my taste.
On communication, however they deserve a 1.
We were a party of 4, and it turned out, the only people at the restaurant on Sunday night. When we made the reservation we asked for the least expensive meal for 4. We were told it cost $ 65/​person. We also were told it’s BYOB. There is no $ 65/​person for a party of 4; the lowest price is $ 80/​person. The corkage fee is $ 20/​person. We tried to argue the bill, but neither the waitress — who was charming — nor anyone in the kitchen spoke English. We estimate we spent $ 100 more than we anticipated. That’s not good business.

Jai Yun is a treasure but also something of a victim of cultural divides and expectations people have for restaurants in San Francisco vs what people expect in fine dining in Hong Kong or certainly in mainland China. To the Chinese, formal dining is something to be celebrated and holds a very fond place in most people’s hearts. However, restaurants – even the very best traditional-​style ones – are not high on trendy modern furnishing nor the sort of graceful finery you’d find, say, at Paris’ Taillevent. Often as not, the grand old banquet restaurants in China are a bit worn around the edges with what appear to have been an effort towards poshness. .. but circa 1983. Jai Yun is cut from the same cloth: the emphasis is purely on the food though I expect were you to ask the chef he’d think the atmosphere and furnishings are just fine. For many Americans though, if you’re paying $ 100 for dinner you probably expect a setting that doesn’t look like every other run-​down Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Jai Yun, alas, just isn’t in agreement with you on that.
So, if you’re seeking a more «American» fine dining experience with on-​point service and lush surroundings, seek that elsewhere. This is a Chinese banquet restaurant in one of the largest Chinatowns in North America serving traditional yet innovate Chinese food – take it as it is or go somewhere else, but don’t complain to the tone of «well, gosh, it sure wasn’t much food for all that money and it wasn’t how celebrity chef _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​did things at his Vegas restaurant Darlene and I went to a month ago!». Because this restaurant isn’t that restaurant.
The emphasis here is on Shanghai cuisine (Hu cuisine) which isn’t nearly as easy to find in SF as Cantonese or other regional Chinese cuisines. There are, in the prix fixe dinner, a number of cold dishes and then hot ones. A lotus root salad, smoked fish, and various pickled vegetable dishes are stand-​outs though everything is of the utmost quality. Anything done here with Chinese Five-​Spice is also stellar and really shows what Five-​Spice is supposed to taste like and how it’s ideally used in cooking various meats. Likewise, the chef knows his way around applying ginger as a primary yet not overpowering seasoning. The Shanghainese-​style Crystal Shrimp is probably my favorite but as the chef is custom preparing every dish himself and using ingredients he purchased the same day in many cases, the offerings can easily vary night by night. The chef, since he does so much of the work himself, is really coming as close as possible (or maybe even closer) to the goals of Nordic chefs like the brilliant Magnus Nilsson where the focus is on superb food crafted with attention to the nuanced flavors involved for each individual guest. It’s a lofty undertaking but it comes together here – if you pay attention to the food and not the atmosphere or uneven service – amazingly.

The food here is very, very good.
Yes the portions can seem small per course, but there are multiple courses and every dish is fresh, flavourful, delicious. I’ve been a few times and have always left feeling very full. It’s hard for me to understand why some people complain that the food isn’t filling or is overpriced.
If you go to a Western restaurant and got anything over 10 courses for $ 100 i think most people would think that was an absolute bargain. It’s sad that folks are OK paying 3x the price for upscale Western restaurants but don’t see the value in good Chinese food. I think there’s a psychological block that people have when it comes to Asian food.
Also, why do so many Americans feel like they need to eat like they are stuffed in order for it to b a good meal? I feel like portions are generally too large at many places here anyway.
Now, that said — it is true — this place is lacking in atmosphere and service. The chef unfortunately does not have the savvy to hire the right marketing and service staff to complement his business. They would do so much better if they even just played some nice background music. And it helps if you have a Mandarin speaker in your group.
Anyway, I’m from Singapore so I have no problem eating delicious food in substandard surroundings.
If you are looking for a romantic night out and attentive service to impress someone, Jai Yun probably isn’t the place. But if you just want some really good, AUTHENTIC Chinese food (not the greasy coarse, watered down dishes in most Chinese restaurants here VS good food you can get in Singapore or Hong Kong) this is a great place to go. And you can choose the $ 68 option which I still thought was a lot of food.

Best home cooked chinese you will have outside someone’s home!
The all prix fixe menu takes the pressure off diners who want an authentic chinese experience and not spend precious time deciphering a folding menu.
The Lotus, red radish, crispy egg plant and mushroom dishes with transform your palate.

I was so excited to come here after reading the reviews on Unilocal!and so was my family… Wow, we were disappointed.
The service was really awful. Our wine had turned and they didn’t understand the concept, so they charged us for the second bottle of overpriced wine we had to choose ourselves out of a glass case. At $ 126 per person, we were served a set of appetizers and only four more small dishes. We were rushed out abruptly with no final course or dessert course. We hit up a taqueria in the Mission afterwards because we were still hungry, and wished that’s where we would have started…
What a waste of money!

This is the type of place where you wonder if it’s supposed to be «upscale» because they make your portions smaller. Think above average Chinese food coursed out in small plates for $ 128 per person.
I wanted to like this place, and the cold dishes were a very promising start. The hot courses, however, were few and far between, and very ordinary. The wait staff was clearly overwhelmed and undertrained. I really felt for the lady who was in charge of the floor.
I would’ve been okay with the experience, but when my bill came I was charged for the $ 128 menu which I had asked for, but I clearly received the same exact dishes as the patrons around me that asked for the $ 80 menu. It was so chaotic in the restaurant that I quietly paid my bill and left. I’m glad my mother and I found the whole thing humorous and entertaining as the food left a sour taste in our mouths and stomach.

Wow! I finally found a Chinese restaurant to love in the US. Every dish was delicious, pretty and smelled yummy. Don’t let the décor put you off as the restaurant is very neat and clean, it is just dated.
I will be back again and again.

Loves the food! northern Chinese tapa style to start with. They also have a impressive wine by the bottles! great food. if you are into advantage… this is a place to go.
No Menu needed. The chef will cook for you… don’t miss the abalone and egg white!

We came here with our visiting friends from New York in a party of 9. You must make a reservation as they want to start preparing the fresh appetizers just prior to your seating time. It is Shanghai cuisine, I am told. We had thirteen appetizer dishes and twelve or thirteen dishes after that at the $ 98 price point. The crispy mushrooms, abalone and egg, and pork and taro were outstanding dishes, along with every one of the cold sliced appetizers. The wine markup seemed to be on the higher side, so I don’t know if one might be able to byob and pay corkage. We dined for 3 hours but never was there a time of waiting and everything was fabulous.

I don’t even know how I found this place. Google Search? Unilocal?
Regardless, I wanted to take my girlfriend off the beaten track for a birthday meal, and this fit the bill perfectly.
Take the traditional expensive prix fixe format, and combine it with Shanghaiese (and Shanghai style influenced) Chinese food, mixed with a cheap venue and you get Jai Yun.
It’s located in not the best neighborhood in San Francisco, nor is it a very impressive venue (you get the impression it was originally a 10 dollar a person Chinese food place), the most important part of the meal, the food, comes out great. Don’t get me wrong either, the venue is spotless, its just furnished and decorated with a shoe string budget.
Its very hard to find good Shanghai food in SF (most of the Chinese people are Cantonese, and Shanghainese food usually demands expensive and labor intensive ingredients), but Jai Yun delivers. By the time the meal was ending, we were stuffed beyond belief, but still ate everything cause it was great.
Although its on the pricy side, as long as you don’t come in a group of 2, the prices are reasonable.
As many other reviews state, this place is «reservation only» (I’m sure they’ll still take your money if you come to the door), and is very empty on most evenings. We had a dinner at 9PM, and we were the only people in the restaurant. Hopefully they revamp their platform and are able to draw in a larger crowd to keep the place humming along.

As a Chinese grew up with Chinese food, this place insults not only Chinese but anyone who had Chinese before. Every dish can be ordered in most of Chinese restaurants in China Town. Even worse, I feel take out places are better than this one.
Service was terrible. The waitress accued us being cheap after I ask her why $ 80 /​person only get those poor dishes. 4 people on table, each dish was size of fist on a 6×6 inches plate.
They charge extra $ 2 for 3^rd credit card or more. For cost $ 80 – 128 per person, ridiculous !
I give no star but on Unilocal 1 is lowest

I came here upon reading David Chan’s review of 6,200 Chinese restaurants. This placed #10 which is quite an accomplishment since his reviews include places all over the US and Asia. The chef of Jai Yun is from Nanjing, which used to be the capitol of Southern China and his cooking is very typical of the region’s cuisine.
Tips:
1. Get a reservation. The waitress will tell you that they seat by reservation only, although they do seem to accommodate walk-​ins on slow nights.
2. Come hungry! We ordered the lowest price set for 2 people ($ 98/​person) and received appetizers + 12 dishes. I was done at dish 6!
3. You’ll be there for 2 – 3 hours — the chef subscribes to Slow Food.
4. No take out. It’s a shame that my mom and I weren’t able to finish everything. They don’t allow take out or have any take out boxes.
Yes, it’s pricey, especially since most of it was vegetarian. After reading everyone’s reviews, it seems that the chef cooks the same dishes each time. Disappointed! I was led to believe that he prepared meals based on what’s seasonally available and his creative whims. If that were true, I’d certainly feel that the price was justified! It was $ 213 before tip.
Yes, you can probably find better value elsewhere. There were some dishes that were my-​mom-​makes-​this-​at-​home and others that were very creative like the abalone with egg white or the sweet/​spicy fried mushrooms (so juicy). Other standouts include the sweet spare ribs with fried taro balls and the loofa squash & gingko nut.

This review is the hardest one I’ve ever had to write. I can go back and forth between 2 stars and 4 stars so will just settle on 3 stars. The main problem is the price. You’re looking at spending $ 100/​person roughly (maybe as low as $ 65 if you go in a big group) based on their menu pricing so I wouldn’t bother trying this place if you can’t risk it.
That said, the cooking and creativity is fantastic. I’ve rarely seen such ingenuity shown in Chinese cooking so I was really excited to try this place. You also get a lot of courses — I counted something close to 20 courses even when I chose the cheapest menu option. You get to try everything from abalone to wheat gluten cooked in ways you probably never tried before.
I think this is an incredible place to take friends who have never experienced great Chinese food or creative non-​Americanized Chinese food. It would give a great survey of the potential as well as the best there is.
I’d be tempted to come back here again and try a more expensive menu but with more people so it’s cheaper per person. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being a 5 star experience.
I would say though that the décor is quite lacking for such an expensive restaurant. If you like Mission Chinese Food though and have enough money to live in a nicer neighborhood than the Mission, you may really like this place. The ambiance and general feel of the place is sort of similar though maybe a little more upscale.

Dishes are small, there are plenty of them, and the flavors effected from ingredient pairings are perhaps some that one has never tasted together before. Novel… evidence of the master behind the kitchen. $$$. Reservations must be made! Accepts credit cards.
I follow and echo Vicky L’s sentiments about allowing my frugal self to disappear, in full deference to this review. Sitting at my gorgeous Crate and Barrel dining room table, looking out at the wondrous work of the marina sun on my garden outside. Listening to Sarah Brightman’s magic and taking a break from the heaviness (but beauty) of Andrew Pham’s writing (aim to devour everything he’s written…)…
4.5 stars only because of the prices charged (he’s a one man show, literally), and the décor upgrade/​revamping would transform the meal altogether and make the experience complete.
Properly and finally motivated (this occurred when Brightman hit the high G with piercing authority!) to review one of the best Chinese dinners I have had in a long while. at least, here in the States. Chef Nei, I admire so much. He, a genius who is trapped and limited by his own need for control over every infinitesimal detail of his cuisine, at last unable to unlock the mental chest of recipes of many regions of China that he is able to master. I grew to like him immensely, chatted for a while after dinner, and was very thankful for his larger-​than-​life talent. And, in the end, I left the restaurant feeling sorry for his loneliness… I feel it when I look into his eyes.
He decided to keep the restaurant open for us… our lone reservation, which, in the end, turned out to allow a few (1, to be exact) other obviously eager patrons. Yes, how we did it, I do not know. Shall never, but thankful to the chinese culinary gods that he decided to open to cook for my parents and myself. We came to sample his ‘middle of Middle Kingdom” cooking wonder. I longed for those flavors that I have only read about in many books. I wanted to close my eyes and appreciate the tenderest, sweetest of combinations.
For $ 300, all 3 of us did say steep in price. Dishes are not large, but there are several. One comes with pre-​set price points, with the lowest tasting menu at $ 80/​pp. Size of dining party affects price charged. Please keep in mind that you are paying solely for trying his culinary skills and genius in dish composition! It’s not about anything else but that here!
When picking apart how many ingredients are loaded into each small dish, and considering how many dishes came our way, it was a meal of a lifetime, and an experience difficult to capture in the English language.
Starters were a medley of dishes… pork skins, ham, mushrooms, picked radishes, kong cai, among others. delicate and palate-​opening, we thought that 80% of the medley was wonderful. Just a few fell flat in flavor and pop.
And then the ball started rolling, and slowly, out came all of the dishes:
1. Abalone fillet with egg whites and mayo combo
EXCELLENT
2. Gluten «meen gun» with asparagus, sauteed with radishes and mushrooms
3. Crystal shrimp… so ‘seen’/fresh, the shrimp were singing. Taste was extraordinary.
4. Dancing mushrooms
5. Edamame with gogi berries and tofu skin. Unique, full of flavor for veg dish EXCELLENT
6. Spareribs and taro. Perhaps one of the standouts for me. EXCELLENT
Ate that one slowly
7. Xigua with gingko nuts. oh my — the smoothness of the fresh squash prepared
with some sort of starch and coupled with freshness and unique taste of gingko– fab.
8. Crispy beef prepared with scallions and plum sauce EXCELLENT
9. Golden fish… the filets were so fragile and perfectly cooked. gorgeous flavor and texture
noodles with ‘lap yuk’: a pork belly-​type of layered pork. HOT but the kick was yum!
11. 3 veggie combination including leeks. I just cannot recall the rest.
12. Bursting Fire dish
13. DESSERT: AND YOU THOUGHT YOU LIKE DEEP-​FRIED BANANAS… try his house special of deep-​fried eggplant! with all seeds scraped, the heady, melty, silken texture of the eggplant came through in the most delicate of batters… something one would imagine picking up in SE Asia. An other-​worldy type of tempura batter (must have used ice).
I’m warning the reader that it’s not the ambiance that makes this place so great. Rather, it’s the repertoire that he knows. The knife skills are evident in the dishes. I couldn’t resist commenting, and he seemed to sincerely invite me back into his kitchen to observe. He commented a bit about his life, and for a flicker of a moment, I felt the burning loneliness that must be his life. full of passion for his food, and held back for his language and cultural differences, unable to fully flourish with all this potential. I felt very very fortunate that evening; he didn’t mind spending some time chatting after our meal, although I was ever-​sensitive of the party that came in after us.

We picked the $ 100 menu for two people and tasted 21 different dishes over the course of 3 hours. Service was outstanding. Food was spectacular and truly authentic Chinese. My friend who lived in China for 3 years approved of this place! For appetizers, I enjoyed the tofu that tasted like duck, cilantro tofu, beef tongue, and pickled radishes. Next, the abalone with egg whites were very tasty! I am very picky about seafood and was hesitant to try it but glad I did! The fishiness of the abalone was balanced by the egg whites. The abalone was cooked to perfection, maintaining its delicacy and tenderness. All of the tofu dishes were outstanding! The fried spicy mushrooms were delicious! I emtied that dish instantly. The edamame with tofu was very good, however the clear noodles were a bit too spicy for me. The fried beef was my favorite as well as the fish with vegetables.
All the pictures are uploaded so check them out! We also had a bottle of Sanctuary Pinot Noir which was oustanding with the meal. From the outside, this restaurant may look like any other Chinese restaurant, but this restaurant is a real gem. I highly recommend coming with a group so the price is more affordable. We paid $ 100 per person, +$ 65 wine, so our bill was around $ 300 with tip. If you come with a group, it’ll be about $ 65 per person. This is a bit expensive for me but I’d love to return and bring my friends to try it. It is very authentic, homey, comforting food that tastes like a home-​cooked meal. Reservations are required so please call before you go as they do not take walk-​ins!

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 fête 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.