Share dealing
Oriental food has always been a favourite for sharing. At the newly opened Just Oriental in the heart of London's St James's, head chef Chai Thittichai has made sharing central to his contemporary Oriental menu with a selection of dishes and complementary drinks called Pairs and Shares.
A couple may choose to share a dim sum selection (duck spring rolls, crab fish cakes, cod dumplings and crispy won tons) paired with a rack of four spice-infused vodkas for £19.50, or vegetable and seafood tempura served with a shaker of lychee Martini for £20. There is also a satay selection (beef, chicken and seafood with crispy seaweed and dipping sauce) accompanied by a bucket of four beers for £32.
For four customers sharing, there is the opportunity to order whole steamed sea bass with shiitake, spring onion and sweet chilli, and whole steamed red snapper with ginger, lemon grass and Kaffia lime, and sticky rice, with a bottle of Whitehaven Riesling 1998 (£48). The Just Oriental selection offers a mix of dim sum, beef and chicken satay and sushi with a bottle of Lagache Rose Brut NV for £62. "Eating together from the same dish is a very friendly way to spend an evening," says Thittichai.
Besides the Pairs and Shares selection, the menu also offers a choice of nine starters and snacks from £4.50, and nine main courses from £9.80. Desserts are limited to tropical fresh fruits, sorbets and ice-creams.
Customers can choose to use the bar, which offers an extensive range of cocktails, including house concoction The Oriental (Cape gooseberries with gomme and Stolichnaya Cristal), or the 150-seat restaurant. Total capacity is 280. Average spend in the restaurant is £30 per head at dinner, including wine.
Thittichai, who originates from Thailand, draws on all of the Far East for inspiration, with Japanese items such as sushi with keta caviar, tiger prawns and asparagus (£8) among the featured dishes.
A popular dish in the early weeks of business has been Mongolian lamb with rice wine and black-bean stir-fry vegetables (£11). Prime leg fillets are marinated in rice wine and three types of soy sauce (dark, light and mushroom), sesame oil, garlic and mirin before being seared quickly on a very hot griddle.
Also popular are seafood dishes such as the seafood tempura starter - king prawns, baby squid and scallops (£8) - and the tamarind seafood stir fry with egg noodles (£10.50).
Just Oriental is situated in the basement of its 225-seat sister restaurant, Just St James, which opened in November 2000. The restaurants are owned by Peter Gladwin Restaurants, which operates two other businesses in London - Gladwins, a 140-seat restaurant in the City, and the 90-seat Bridge Bar & Brasserie, adjacent to the Millennium Bridge.
Just Oriental, 19 King Street (off St James's Street), London SW1. Tel: 020 7930 9292 Fax: 020 7976 2020
