Jiji Restaurant
Address: 6g Esther Anne Pl, London N1 1WL
Nearest Tube: Angel/Highbury & Islington
Buzz Factor 4.5/5 stars
Food 4.2/5 stars
Value for money 4/5 stars
4.2 Yummy Stars
Price sushi/sashimi: £6.50-£20; starters: £8-£28; mains: £21-£49; desserts: (at time of writing)
Eat-in or Take-away/Deliveroo
There has been much discussion about cultural appropriation in food recently. Some chefs have been delving into the cuisine of other countries, raising questions of authenticity and respect for the original cookery. Jiji’s owner, Janina Wolkow from Moscow, has been obsessed with Japanese food. She daringly brought the high-end Japanese restaurant, Sumosan to London 20 years ago. Sumosan now spans 11 outposts throughout the world. She has embarked on other off-piste experiences. Her latest offering, Jiji, gives you a choice of modern Japanese food and dishes with Middle Eastern flavours. This isn’t a new concept from her. Her other restaurant, Sumosan Twiga, born in 2016 in Knightsbridge, offers separate menus of Japanese flavours and Italian cuisine.
Jiji is perched up a few steps in a swanky complex in Islington. It emits glamour with a series of over-sized paintings (akin to pop art) of a demure and sophisticated-looking lady with ruby-red lipstick alongside some dining booths for groups. On the other side of the room is an open robata grill for you to gawp at. On another side are tables with bar stools with a vantage point of elevated views of the room, as if you are sitting in a Range Rover.
On each of my visits in the evening, it was heaving with diners. Their animated conversations amidst the background music in the bare-ceilinged room caused quite a din. We had to bellow across the table to be heard. You could always opt to sit very closely to your companion and bark sweet nothings into his or her ear.
The food, though, more than compensated for the noise. We were drawn to order most of the Sushi menu, including Tuna avocado with truffle, Scallop with unagi, Soya infused salmon, Seabass with jalapeno dressing, Jiji fish tartar with truffle, Spicy sesame yellowtail and Spicy tuna roll. They were all superb with super fresh fish, often brushed with some flavourings on top.
The main courses were a mix of Japanese dishes and others with Middle Eastern flavours. The highlight for me was their Chicken yakitori, which had been marinated for 24 hours in a yakitori sauce. It was spectacularly tender and scrumptious, though it was a little overly sweet on our second visit. The Miso salmon was similarly terrific and the 48-hour miso marinade definitely paid off. The flesh came away with a slight nudge of the fork, full of salty and sweet goodness. The seabass with a fresh root vegetable slaw and spicy caramel was served whole. It looked staggeringly impressive on arrival, drawing “wow” from our table. Sadly, it was rather dry, having been grilled for a tad too long. Lamb schwarma, marinaded in a spice mix, yoghurt tahini, tomato jam and zhug, was as soft as a ripe peach but did not have the depth of flavour compared with the other dishes.
Our vegetarian friend was delighted with the galore of vegetarian dishes on offer. Robata grilled Cauliflower was treated with huge respect and given much thought by the chef. It came with the “chef’s secret cured lemon paste”, crispy leaves, on a bed of Ezme salad, and was topped with tofu cream and roasted hazelnuts. I would have gladly inhaled this dish all to myself. Fried artichoke hearts went beautifully with its spicy aioli, sprinkled with Aleppo pepper. I also loved the polenta crusted coating of the Aubergine chips, drizzled with pomegranate molasses and date honey. More of the molasses and honey please.
If you still had room for desserts, I would opt for Malabi, a rose milk panna cotta, hibiscus caramel and roasted Iranian pistachios. The fragrant rose milk worked surprisingly well and was superbly smooth. It was such a satisfying mouthfeel with the creaminess of the panna cotta and the crunch of the pistachios.
Creativity knows no bounds and progress can only be achieved with bold moves. When a union of dishes with ingredients, bursting with flavour, work in harmony on the same menu, why on earth not? There was no car crash of cuisines and I would happily return for more.
May 2022
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