Jiangnan Kitchen - Haymarket

As someone from the Jiangnan Rigeon in China, I approve Jiangnan Kitchen as an authentic Jiangnan cuisine. a must visit every time when I visit from Melbourne, as it reminds me of home.

This restaurant has levels and is quite popular with many Chinese people! I was surprised, literally. And this means that the food should be delicious and authentic since its a favorite for them. We didn’t shy away from ordering dishes we craved including: dumplings, eggplants and fried noodles!

Love this little place in Chinatown. The food is absolutely delicious and the staff are lovely. We ordered the stir fry beef with oyster sauce, wonton dumplings in spicy soup and bok choy. All dishes were fresh and full of flavour. The highlight though was the shredded pork in black bean sauce with pancakes which was incredible! I would go back time and time again just for this dish. Highly recommend if you're in the mood for Chinese in the CBD!

Jiangnan Kitchen spans two floors so there's plenty of space for groups of all sizes. The shallot pancakes are a must-order. This flaky pastry wasn't greasy and is best eaten when still warm. I also liked the spiced lamb (but some of my friends didn't like it due to the strong lamb taste), the spicy chicken which came in a thin broth with a thick layer of red chili oil and the stir fried pork with bamboo. I'd skip the oily griddle cabbage and the pork and corn soup. The latter wasn't bad, just very average with no seasoning. There was a lack of staff on the second floor where we were seated but service was alright when it did show up.

Finally decided to visit this restaurant for my birthday after seeing recommendation and passing by many times. Spicy Chinese is one of my favourite cuisine. The dishes we ordered are mostly spicy. The level of spiciness is perfect that we were able to finish all the dishes. (Dishes we usually order at the other Chinese Sichuan restaurant always got too spicy to finish) Food presentation is great. Restaurant looks clean. It was a nice place to hang out with friends on a casual night. Price is also affordable, $30-$35 pp get us really full. I can imagine this place gets really packed Friday and weekend nights for its quality of food and location. I couldn't believe it took me so long to finally visit. Jiangnan kitchen definitely has become one of my dinner destination for Spicy Chinese cuisine.