It’s not your average spot for jiaozi. Jiaozi Jiuba landed about five months ago at Gaysorn Amarin, a follow up to their now relocated Jiaozi Block 28. This space is making a move for midtown, so BK made a follow-up visit. 

 

First off, walking into the venue, you’ll notice it’s low-key but aiming for a nightlife feel—perhaps a point where this joint’s reach exceeds its grasp. It’s pretty hot in there without much in the way of aircon or fans. The red lighting and DJ booth (yes, there’s a little DJ booth), are a little OTT. That said, the tunes were pretty classic 70s dance anthems, so it’s still fun. Getting down to the food, it’s hard to argue that this jiaozi crew aren’t tyring something new.

 

 

Before we get into the dishes, we do need to talk about their dipping sauce, which they mix fresh for you as you sit down. It’s a little heavy on the garlic for most, but true to China's style and you can adapt and stir to your own taste. 

 

If you’ve ever had some Chinese dumplings and thought, “This could be more like spaghetti,” then you’ll want to try the bolognese jiaozi (B165); the dumplings themselves aren’t that special for this dish, but they work with the sweet bolognese sauce. For something a bit more traditional, the yinyang dumplings (B195) are a striking option, a mix of traditionally white and then black dumplings that work because of the accompanying dipping sauce. The shrimp dumplings in a mala yuzu (B195) sauce were quite interesting in that they came with plump shrimp and the yuzu flavor really shines through the saltiness. 

 

 

A classic of Chinese drinking food—and one rarely done right in Bangkok—is the fried string beans (B175). Sometimes they’re underdone, sometimes they’re so coated in peppercorns and garlic as to be inedible, but these were deep fried and very lightly battered, which is a pretty novel though perhaps a little bland way to do this classic dish; luckily, the house sauce gives them a little kick. For our visit, the star was the braised beef over rice (B215), a simple dish but a much better class of beef than we were expecting for the price. 

 

The cocktails are surprisingly good for such an easygoing restaurant; the Halong Bay (B325) is a must-try if you like pineapple, and it comes with a spicy kick. 

 

 

The design push to give this place a nightlife feel seems perhaps a bit forced, but ultimately, these are some good dumplings and worth a try. This space is steering hard into Chinese drinking food with a no nonsense approach, so maybe go with less of a foodie attitude and more of a Tsingtao beer vibe.