[REVIEW] Mandarin Oriental Jakarta's Li Feng

I don't go to fancy Chinese restaurants often, unless I got invited. Let's leave it at that.

So when recently I had an assignment to review Li Feng, the new Chinese restaurant at Mandarin Oriental, it was quite a refreshing change for me. Li Feng, is Mandarin Oriental Jakarta's Chinese restaurant which used to be Xin Hwa, that has had quite the upgrade, both in terms of design, and taste.

First, I have to be honest, I had not tried the old one, Xin Hwa. So I have nothing to compare the new one with. But I kinda have an idea.

The chefs that were given the responsibility for this face lift are Mandarin Oriental Jakarta’s Executive Chinese Chef, Chef Loy, and Chef Fei, the man behind the celebrated Jiang at Mandarin Oriental, Guangzhou, who is apparently has quite the celebrity status. In a country full of Chinese restaurants (doh), I guess a celebrity status as a Chinese Restaurant chef is quite something, no?

First, let's check out the main feature of the interior.

Coming into the restaurant, you'll notice the ceiling has an upturned ‘sea’ of hand-made crystal glass, with amber crystal junk sails plying their route across the sea. The subtle colors of earth colors and streaks of blue used throughout the restaurant, will also gives a much needed break from the overly used red and gold for Chinese dining venues. Like the hotel itself, Li Feng isn't humongous and has an odd shape, with a couple of private rooms on either side of the main entrance.

We came for lunch, and was promptly presented with a menu. But thankfully I don't have to make any choices (a task I am not to fond of). The good people of MO has prepared a set menu lunch for me and my lunch companion, which starts with one of my favourites of the day: deep fried salmon skin with salted egg yolk sauce.

Salted egg yolks seems to be the craze lately, but this one dish, is probably one of the most addictive one I’ve tried. The salmon skin is extra crispy, and the egg yolk sauce, which can be too rich, is perfectly balanced with the spiciness of the chili padi. If I didn't remember we still had a long list of food to try, I would shamelessly ask for a bowl of warm rice and end the day right there right then, thank you very much.

But the lunch must proceed. The next in line were some of the restaurant's signature dim sum selection, which include (finally) Chef Fei’s signature swan shaped dim sum that has created the buzz for this restaurant. The beautiful deep fried black pastries, filled with black pepper duck meat stir fry, are definitely pleasant to look at but for me offers no surprises.

I much favored the other two dim sums that were presented to me: the spicy XO scallop dumplings, and the black squid Ink dumplings with seafood and fish roe. But perhaps that's just me, who favors her dim sum chock-full with seafood.

After the dim sum, we were served with the soothing Imperial Kung Fu Soup of fragrantly calming stewed chicken and quail with matsutake mushrooms cordyceps flower, and dried longan that will definitely settle any rumbles in your body. I am considering ordering this one for when I feel like I've been smacked in the face with the flu. One only hiccup was that one of my mushrooms (which were re-hydrated dried mushrooms) was still hard and almost inedible.

Next, we tried the incredibly juicy sauteed US beef with Szechuan Pepper and Chili that was ridiculously tender. This meat dish is also another highlight of my lunch, where the taste highlights are simple yet strong (with crispy fried garlic, and szechuan pepper). 

Call me cliche but I was kind of looking forward to their version of one of the most popular Cantonese exports: the infamous sweet and sour chicken with pineapple and bell pepper. Li Feng's was very beautifully presented with sugar weaving on top, suspended with three wood pegs, but the taste was kind of sub par. The deep fried chicken had no crispness whatsoever, and the sauce has not enough bite: none the right amount of sweetness, sourness, or spiciness. It's almost bland.

 

But what I found most peculiar is the braised hele crab with Japanese rice in hoisin sauce. The crab is abundant in portion, and is mixed with the fried rice, including the shell, but it tastes very much like Indonesian fried rice. Which is pleasant, but not what I'm expecting in a Cantonese restaurant (or was that the idea?).  

After all that food (divided only to 3 other dainty eaters), I felt like I could fast for the next 2 days. But then it's dessert time. Now, a Chinese restaurant usually isn’t somewhere I would look for desserts, but in Li Feng, i was quite surprised by their dessert. We were served with the Dessert Platter that has three small portions: the deep fried glutinous rice dumpling with jelly and coconut milk, the classic chilled mango with sago cream and pomel, and my favorite, the blueberry and cream wrapped in white snow skin, another one of Chef Fei’s signature.

In short, Li Feng is nice, some of its menu a sure hit, but other ones, didn't quite live up to the big name of Chef Fei that helped create the menu base. Although they sure make up in presentation!

7/10 

Price:

 Li Feng

Jalan M.H. Thamrin, Special Capital Region of Jakarta 10310

Phone:(021) 29938888

Hours: 11:30AM–2:30PM, 6–10:30PM