/ Reviews / Japanese
Neighborhood Nippon
by Tom Lee
on Friday, November 12, 2010 12:00 AM
A little bit of everything Japanese pervades the interior of Jinya. It could be described as a study in Japanese culture, dabbling in sashimi and "fried foods" like tempura, though its focus is more on teppanyaki and sushi.
Appropriately, then, visitors entering the door of the newer XiKang Road branch are immediately presented with an oval food counter, partly constructed to resemble a teppanyaki grill, but more reminiscent of sushi bars with their eternally revolving conveyor belts. Though the counter at Jinya is stationary, the design of the structure, with patrons clustered around the chefs on exhibition, gives it the appropriate dose of Nippon architecture.
The layout may be somewhat clichéd but Jinya isn't overbearing - merely an illustration of archetypal simplicity. The standard sashimi options, from tuna to yellow trail, range from RMB45 to 60: edible but not exuberant. Sushi rolls hit a similar price range (generally RMB50 to 60) but with a much wider scope of options available, from typical California rolls, to rice balls wrapped around avocado and melted cheese.
Rather incongruously for a country famed for its specially reared cattle, the teppanyaki beef is not imported from Japan but from Australia. The Special Angus Fillet Steak (RMB98) is cooked to a nice medium-rare tenderness and served on a bed of friend onion. This approach is telling and reflects the style of the restaurant, which aims at being affordable rather than luxe.
Having established that the norms are in place and done to a satisfactory degree, it's always an interesting side project to test the less-established dishes. A creamy, slightly sour and slightly sweet Potato and Pumpkin Salad (RMB35) comes across not so much as sustenance for adults, but as baby food, mushy and inoffensive. Fried Crab Croquettes with Cream (RMB50) are warm, consoling mouthfuls, each a crisp potato batter covering a very mild hint of crab that is overlaid with pots of cream.
Jinya has sought to import the basics of what its original XianXia Road location provided: a convenient, non-wallet-threatening meal that covers all the bases and delivers what the average diner expects from Japanese cuisine.
The Bottom Line: With its complete menu and calm atmosphere, Jinya's move to XiKang Road now provides overwrought business types and Japanese food addicts with a nearby spot to pig out on typical dishes.
