JAMU

ORDERED: 🥮  House-made spiced cottage cheese: pickle, salmon roe, tart & burnt honey ($5.00 each) 🐟  Kingfish Umai: Fermented chilli, whipped cod roe, apple ponzu gel, rice cracker ($25.00) 🐏 Malay Lamb Shoulder: Kipfler potato, baby carrot, spiced raita ($28.00) 🐓 Satay Spiced Whole Chicken: Fermented garlic honey, tomato sambal ($38.00) 🍚 Small jasmine rice ($4.00) 🍈 Coconut Sago: Passionfruit syrup, lychee jelly, melon ($13.00) I spent $65.50 here. REVIEW: The entrees were mid at Jamu, but it was good at managing my expectations so that I was blown away by the mains. The dessert was a great way to finish and wrap up the meal. Good strat! My favourite dish was the Satay spiced whole chicken. It had a delicious smoky charcoal taste that really permeated the skin. Herby, slightly sweet - it was absolutely delicious. Chicken was juicy as well! Although, as with all chickens, when you get closer to the bone there was less flavour. Would've loved a little jus on the side to keep the flavour going, but otherwise the burnt lemon helped a little. Service was great. At the start, I appreciated how the waiter was mindful enough to move our table. Originally, our table of 2 was seated right next to a larger table of 10+. However, our waiter offered to move us behind the screen so that we could have a little more peace during our meal, and didn't have to fight with the neighbour table's noise (they weren't bad). Also thankful that the waitress talked us down from getting a large jasmine rice ($7.00). The small rice was perfect and enough for the mains we had. Big shout out to her proactiveness! Also grateful that they didn't charge a credit card surcharge. as well. 👍 👍 The reasons for the -1: 1. Want more salmon roe on the House-made spiced cottage cheese. It adds a unique salty flavour with a great texture, otherwise it tasted just of... cheese. I didn't taste the burnt honey, didn't taste the tart. 2. Would appreciate if they carved the chicken for us. I enjoyed the process of getting intimate with my chicken once off for a casual dinner, but for a nicer dinner this is a big no. 3. The coconut sago was far better when the melon had melted towards the end. It was missing that little bit of liquid, because the sago is a little dry and plain otherwise.

March 2023 update: still amazing! The familiar dishes are refreshed with new flavours. Kingfish with a dash of satay sauce stays true to the Asian flavours. Beef floss on top of beef tartare is a unique showcase of processed and raw food. The punchy chicken rub is tangy and spicy as a perfect pairing with soft juicy and perfectly cooked chicken. The price point is still exceptionally reasonable! Surprising flavour profile with great asian tweaks. The octopus is excellent and mango ceviche is refreshing. Chicken ribs is homely in a great way. Donut martini is yummy. Continuous surprises and always refreshing their menu! Update: we came back and love it even more! The cheeseburger springroll is a bite of surprise yet familiar flavour. Chicken satay is juicy with the right amount of char. The noodle is silky and incredibly homely! The beef is meltingly soft and perfectly punctuated with charred green. The sambal octopus is soft and punchy at the same time. Pandan cocktail is tasty! The upcoming menu is superbly refreshing! Update: the new menu is amazing! Beef tartare is exciting with great flavours!

It's been a while since I have been so thoroughly impressed with a dining experience as we were at JAMU. Each dish we had offered a creative/new spin on familiar flavours. The staff were lovely and attentive and the space was intimate and relaxed with an open view of the kitchen. Highlights were the fried chicken ribs and crispy pork knuckle. Would definitely recommend!

I enjoyed JAMU. We went on a Sunday afternoon and were the only ones there which suited me because they kept our drinks full the entire seating and we could be as loud as we wanted without annoying others! The food pretty good, portion sizes were great and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a bit of a shame however, as there was a lot of food that wasn’t eaten, the pulled pork buns, which is just a lot of food wastage! The staff were all quite nice and attentive. I could imagine that JAMU would be a lot of fun on a Sunday afternoon as a ‘pres’ venue. I would definitely consider going back, maybe on a day with a few more people in the venue just to see what it is like.

I think the food here are generally intended to be somewhat aromatic, but I found that the flavors don't really pack a punch. As in, the spices taste watered-down somehow. The fish curry mostly tasted sweet and wasn't spicy whatsoever. The same goes for the satay chicken which was smokey but rather bland as the seasoning was stuck to the skin, not the meat. The caulifower frites were alright, they were crisp and the sauce was good. I suppose I was expecting stronger flavors characteristic of southeast asian cuisine, but I realize that Jamu is SEA influenced, not exactly SEA cuisine.

One of the best places you can go to in Melbourne for top of the shelf food and coffee. I sincerely hope it stays as perfect as it was the first time so I can enjoy going there time and time again. Have a look at my pics, the dishes are too beautiful to eat and they taste good enough to match the visuals! The outdoor seating looked great too even though we sat inside. We were there for a small birthday and they surprised all of us at the end with a small dessert and candle which was a nice touch too. We'll definitely visit soon...

Absolutely fantastic place… I’m not one for any type of fusion food, but Jamu is one of the only place that does it well. Flavors and textures are balanced and very well created. They’ve kept a great south East Asian (Malaysian) flavor profile while modernizing it and adding a mixture of western cooking. Would highly recommend the feed me menu. Staff are absolutely helpful and friendly, and the chefs in the kitchen are brilliant. Highly recommend this place.