Jia Restaurant

Not commenting on their food but the attitude. The manager of the restaurant let us wait outside of the restaurant for our seats and it was freezing. There were a couple of girls in our group. I would really appreciate their «thank you.» Or «sorry» but I didn’t hear them at all. The price is quite expensive for the food they are offering for food and definitely too much for the service. Don’t come.

Was visiting the science museum and looking for a lunch spot… we walked by this place and it appeared pretty decent from the outside… decent atmosphere… not a huge restaurant but they had tables… service was so so. had to order my drink twice before getting it but no complaints about the food… good dimsum… we ordered this prawn in wasabi dish that was really good… i think the price was reasonable for the area… would return if in the area.

Seriously the rudest staff. Additionally they are so cheap that they bought tables meant to seat 4 and then turn them sideways to seat 2 until 3 or more people come in and then force the entire side of the restaurant to shift over. Food is also crap. Do not come here

Just so so, for a Chinese people, it is so normal, chicken is too dry, beef is too sweet, Fujian fried rice is not even fried, just put some fried vegetables on the rice, duck’s fat is not good, fish is not fresh enough. Sweet steamed stuff bun is not in the right style, just the kind of bun bought from supermarket. Service is also not good enough. It is a little bit expensive and can’t everyone pay by card separately. But it’s London, it’s South Kengsinton, you can’t require too much.

Great place. Great food. Staff is fine. I’ve been there 3 times, can’t complain about the staff. They are serious, expressionless, but that doesn’t make them rude. Oh, and, the place is always full!

Got my Chinese fix! After a long trip in Europe, I have as craving some good rice and Chinese dishes and this hit the spot. I listened to others and decided to get take-​away instead of eating there. People need to know that Chinese customer service frequently sucks (and I am Chinese) and this place was alright. It’s not the best but did not suck.
It’s a tale of two cooks… The duck dish sucked (hard to ruin duck but it was dry) yet the shrimp dish was perfectly cooked with juicy jumbo high-​quality shrimp (an easy to ruin dish)! The veggies were a bit saucy for my taste but perfectly fresh and kept their crunch. The Shanghai dumplings were blah yet their vinegar sauce was spot on. It’s kinda strange. And it’s on the higher end of the price spectrum.

Love the food here it’s great, service is sometimes bad. But would definitely recommend.

We don’t usually venture out West but we got a tip from a friend who recommended Jia. We checked out the Unilocal reviews before going and read about how the food was good but service was terrible. And that pretty much sums up our experience on Saturday.
The good: Location — right next to South Kensington station so if you’re out West it’s pretty easy to get to. Ambiance — it’s clean an modern — almost doesn’t even look like a Chinese restaurant from the outside. Lots of windows and light coming inside. Food — overall their dim sum was tasty and worth going (given London’s lack of good Dim Sum places).
The bad: Food — the har gow was soggy. The xiao long bow skin was super thick and not even worth ordering. Stick to the basics. and… the service:
To be fair to our server, she was a younger girl who was very friendly. She was trying to play damage control from the extremely rude older lady. Firstly — we were given the bill and essentially told to hurry up after 47 mins of dining! In the UK you don’t get given the bill, you ask for it. I get it if we’re hanging around for a couple hours and not ordering anything but we were still ordering our second round of dim sum. Completely unacceptable. Next, the older lady was yelling at a family about where they need to be sitting. She then started to yell at another couple giving them a lecture that they should have sat at a big table (sharing with another family) if they wanted to eat quicker, even though they were simply asking for a two person table.
Yes the food is good but with the service being as bad as it is I’d prefer to give my business to other deserving restaurants. Beware of the rudeness.

Holy cow, the awful old mean lady is SO MEAN. Thankfully we didn’t fall to her wrath, but we were right there when she yelling at 3 different groups of customers. It was so sad and awful. It’s not even «bad customer service», it was worse. It was downright to the extend where she should be complained to the BBB (Better Business Bureau). It’s sad when you see the customer’s expressions and their confusion when she starts yelling and lecturing when the customer only just asks questions. Obviously coming here you want to eat and enjoy a light hearted afternoon. Can you imagine such mean yelling and just spoiling the entire energy of your day?
The server we had was a young Miss and she was at least smiley and nice when she was rushing us to order and pay so she can sit other guests on the busy Saturday afternoon. She would say sorry and thank you…
The dim sum was good. I liked how it wasn’t oily or salty at all. Usually after eating dim sum I feel so blah from all the grease (and I only order steamed stuff), but this place was good. I liked how the inside of the dumplings you can taste and feel the texture of the different ingredients. It’s not all food processed into minced mystery. I can actually bite the texture of the vegetables.
The price was okay… but if you think about it, it’s pricey for the amount you get. In each order you get 3 dumplings. The price is £3.10 for an order… so you’re paying like £1 for a small dumpling. If there was 4 it’d be better bang.
The restaurant was clean and renovated looking. It is right across the tube station.
Because the lady is so mean, for those of you who don’t want to risk experiencing her, I recommend Phoenix in Marylebone for dim sum.

Beware of the rude lady with a black mole on her face who claims to be the manager of the restaurant. The rudest waitress we have ever come across all our lives!
A brief translation of what the manager said, «I am the boss here and whatever I say in this place is correct, please leave the restaurant if you are unhappy». When we proceed to complain about the bad service, she ridiculously threatened to call the police. Needless to say, we did not stay for the food and left the restaurant promptly.
Do not visit this restaurant unless you are prepared for your mood to be spoilt!

The way they treat their customers, makes me think that they really don’t want to be in business anymore. So let’s grant their wish, let’s put them out of their misery. We can all do this, together.

Just how fantastic is this place???
I wouldn’t know. They won’t have my business since they vehemently rejected my best friend, who is blind, and her guide dog. On Easter Sunday, no less. Cops were called to boot.
Hello, it’s called the equalities act of 2010. Clearly, they need to get with the times. I hope they get ASBO fined.
Do not support this business as it clearly discriminates against disabled.
(I gave them a 1 star because I can’t post without it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have given them any.)

Absolutely delicious food, inexpensive, and ideally located near the Natural History Museum. Come for dim sum at lunch: you will not be disappointed!

Visited Jia with my aunt and uncle who are regulars here and the food and service were excellent. Had the dim sum platter, crispy duck served with pancakes, spring onion and plum sauce (my least favorite dish), steamed sea bass w ginger (cooked perfectly), sweet chili kung po prawns (spicy and highly addictive) and Singapore noodles.

After skimming some of the reviews I thought I should give a heads up, dim sum is more of an afternoon sort of deal so it won’t really be around for dinner.
I came here yesterday after museum hopping with my friends and thought it was a pretty good introduction to dim sum for them! Although my dim sum taste buds have really been spoilt in Hong Kong and my hometown of Vancouver, I thought this place was just fine. I think they’ve really improved over the past year, the xiao long bao were really nice and not mushy as described below. The Ha Gow (shrimp dumplings) had a nice texture and a lightly sticky wrapper. The lo bat go (turnip cakes with pork sausage) had a slight sweetness and were pretty good while their barbecue pork buns were fluffy and filled with sweet bbq pork.
Some of their dishes were minuscule though, such as the spring rolls and the bbq pork in flaky pastry. Everything else we had were of a standard portion (although the ha gow was on the little side). Their selection isn’t huge but it’s fair enough, I don’t know if dim sum newbies are ready for chicken feet (I’m definitely not) or beef tendon (I actually enjoy these).
In short, a pretty decent place for lunch and it was really well-​priced considering the area! Dinner looked a bit pricey but I’d definitely recommend their dim sum!

I would tend to agree with most of the posters about Jia. The décor is nice, the food is fine, prices fair, but the rude service ruins everything. I rarely grant only one star but if there is a restaurant that deserves it — it is Jia.
There is one manager, a shorter woman who yelled at me when I asked her if Jia delivers food. I merely asked her if Jia delivered (as I live in the neighborhood) and she glared at me menacingly and said «No, no delivery, ever!» Same thing happened to my friend — go ahead and try it for fun!

The service is so poor that one would be excused for thinking that they do not want you their. With so many options in the area avoid this restaurant. If you really want a Chinese feed their are two other options within a stone throw. With the front of house staff so poor, one has to question how much care they put into their food.
A true tourist trap.

I don’t often go so far west, so when I found myself in Kensington after the most recent Lates at the Natural History Museum, a group of friends and I were pulled invariably toward Jia as a dim sum option. Dim sum is, after all, a great way to share a meal among friends, as well as trying a new food.
Unfortunately, Jia’s dinner menu did not seem to be a truly dim sum menu, and we ended up ordering off the appetizers menu to get the closest experience. What we ordered was delicious and certainly unique among dim sum options; in particular, I loved the mango rolls. When ordering this way, the prices for our meals were quite reasonable.
The ambiance is very nice, with floor to ceiling windows, beautiful plate presentation, and professional staff. From that perspective I can’t complain at all. I would just wonder what other menus they offer that create the opportunity to be known as a dim sum restaurant when it’s hard to find the dim sum.

Wow, oh wow, oh wow! This place takes bad service to a whole new level. Think Wong Kei’s awful service in the early 90’s… Then triple it. This will give you some idea about how truly wanting the service is at Jia.
We walked in at around 1.45pm on a Sunday. We waited … And waited … For a very long time. Eventually, we were seated. Then we waited some more… For a very long time. After I had started to mummify and my boyfriend’s beard had grown to ground-​brushing length the server decided we were worthy of some service. She came over to take our order which went something along the lines of:
«Please may we have a crystal crab du…»
«Yep»
“And some har ka…”
«Yep»
“Um, and also some xiao lo…”
«Yep»
“Oh, some spring ro…”
«Vegetarian, OK?»
«Um, what other types»
«Prawn and cheese»
«Err… Sorry. Prawn and CHEESE???»
«Prawn and cheese, PRAWN… AND…CHEEEEESE! [you stupid, dumbass customer — how dare you question that classic spring roll filling of prawns and cheese!?]»
Me in a very small voice, «I think vegetarian is fine… Um, do you think that’s enough?»
«Humph hmph, harrumph aaaaah… How should I know how much you eat?»
Me, in even smaller voice, «Oh, yes, quite. Err, I think that should do then… Thank-​you [i am overwhelmed by your great table-​side manner and I am ever so grateful that you took the time out in your busy waitressing schedule to, um, waitress with such joy and attentiveness to customer service «
Then we waited… And waited. When the food finally arrived it was actually not too bad (hence the one redeeming star in my review). The prawn dumpling with XO sauce and the xiu mai were particularly good. The rest was on par with Royal China. The xiao long bao is not good (mushy mushy)
Make sure you carry a camelbak of water with you, though. You will be fully MSG’d up after your meal.

I’d like to preface this review by saying (a) I’d prefer to award 4.5 stars, and (b) I am slightly biased towards this restaurant due to the sheer frequency which I eat there.
Jia is owned by the people who own Plum Valley in Chinatown so except a similar aesthetic (think lots of natural wood, black, glass, modern light fittings etc) and a very similar menu.
The food is really solid — granted they cater predominently to a western palate but there are quite a few dishes which would appeal to the more adventurous sorts (and they are very willing to make special dishes if you happen to be craving something off the menu). The ingredients are of good quality and the chef is creative, but doesn’t stray too far from traditional technique.
The staff are really really lovely and I probably eat there more often than I would otherwise simply because the waitresses and manager are so kind.
The place isn’t michelin star level like a hakkasan because it’s just a neighbourhood restaurant, but it never disappoints and is a great place for really solid chinese. Its in the same vein as Pearl Liang but the food and service superior.