Japanese restaurants in Nanjing number in the hundreds, and The Nanjinger has indulged in its fair share. Yet, one Sunday, with a hunger-fueled argument lingering in the air over the various lunch options in the Baijia Lake 1912 leisure area, we stumbled across the hitherto unknown, Jiu Shang Japanese Rotisserie.
Even with an enticing name like that, this is the kind of place that’s easy to walk past, especially for those more intent on the escalator that leads to the queue for likely the cheapest all-you-can-eat buffet in Nanjing (it’s not bad, actually).
Beside the escalator, therefore, sits Jiu Shang, and from the outside, many would argue there is little to recommend it. Heard the expression, “Mutton dressed as lamb”? All the more reason to step inside.
Where, by the way, BBQ heaven awaits.
Herein, the cosy environment of the restaurant has only a few private dining “booths”, which are in fact pitted, enabling the Japanese tradition of sitting on the floor while eating, and also avoiding the cramp/aching joints from legs crossed for an entire meal. For the elder diners, that’s almost reason enough to go in itself.
Japanese restaurants “abroad” offer the same kinds of dishes in the same way that every Italian has a carbonara on their menu. Hence Jiu Shang serves up those delightful breaded pork or chicken cutlets (¥32). The Nanjinger’s two visits presented the opportunity to sample both; the pork pips the chicken to the post by a hair’s breadth.
Then came another Japanese staple; the kimchi flavoured pancake (¥48) that just gets better when barbecued by yours truly and dipped in one (or all three) of the special sauces designed for purpose. Seafood and chive versions thereof (¥48 and ¥28, respectively) also available.
But it was the meat platter that attracted us back. Upon our first visit, we must have had serious protein deprivation, for it took us a full 5 seconds to order a ¥388 platter of beef, lamb and pork. And it was worth every fen.
Except perhaps for the pork slices, marginally more chewy than the staple for which China is famed. Ordering a smaller, but not necessarily in-proportionately cheaper option would be the better choice.
In addition to the predictable sushi options, which, this correspondent was told, are top notch too, special place of mention should be reserved for the “sausages on a bone” (three for ¥38). Second-tier Nanjing is all but evident in the sausage offerings from local supermarkets or delis; its Chinese or German, take it or leave it. Jiu Shang’s ready- to-bbq option, on the other hand, is the absolute perfect antidote to those sausage woes; succulent pork with an irresistible fat-meat ratio.
Speaking of BBQ, the charcoal-fired version thereof is sufficiently generous that diners need not be put off, or petrified, by the exchanging of the coals that all too often sees the morsels you’ve had your eye on for ages disappear into red hot coals, while fellow diners gasp at the proximity to that which created their own earth.
That Jiu Shang be the best Japanese restaurant in Nanjing is a tough call to make, but it can’t be far off.
Jiu Shang Japanese Rotisserie 久上日式烤肉店 is located in the 1912 Leisure Area in Jiangning 江宁区 百家湖1912. Tel 02552117685 / 18068815755.
