Mr Ji

There’s nothing quite like a real, eyes wide, ooh moment in a restaurant. Especially one that isn’t faffing about with liquid nitrogen or OTT interiors—but instead prefers to reveal a very pleasing half sphere of prawn fried rice before pouring green-tinted, viscous hot and sour soup over it. That’s Mr Ji’s vibe. The Camden restaurant describes itself as ‘east meets west’, but we think of it as an everyday restaurant that guarantees food that you want to talk about.

Mr Ji has embraced a thoroughly neighbourhood approach in its Camden home. The front banquette area is made for solo diners working out how to tackle The O’Ji  (a frisbee-ish flattened and deep-fried crispy chicken breast), as much as it is for last-minute dates who will always have something to talk about when sharing the oozing, béchamel-heavy prawn-in-toast. The main dining room—all gun metal greys and modern lines—has the space and big round tables for groups interested in sharing that fried rice or silky sirloin with a humming pepper sauce. This is where to spend a couple of hours and really get to know the menu.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Small plates and sharing are the best way to enjoy Mr Ji’s always-innovative flavour combinations. Their take on tacos, using dumpling skins and topped with a super tender braised pig’s head, are must-orders. Similarly all the small plates, from ox tongue to stuffed chicken wings, are cooked with enlivening combinations like wasabi vinaigrette or crab emulsion. You can easily order from the snacks and small plates, alongside a plum negroni or two, and be very happy. Otherwise, bigger groups should go for the larger plates like an invigorating whole fish with rice cakes and kimchi broth. However you play it, Mr Ji is going to make you chew the fat about, well, what you’re chewing.

Food Rundown

Hearts

These crispy chicken hearts are beautifully tender and once they’re popped in a lettuce wrap and smothered in a warming, katsu-like curry sauce you’ll find that there are very few words said around the table. And that’s always a good sign.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Prawn "In" Toast

This take on prawn toast—filled with a prawn and béchamel mixture before having parmesan rained over it—is unlike any prawn toast you’ve had before. It’s totally decadent and you should 100% order it.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Wings

These stuffed wings are really what Mr Ji is all about. They’re a familiar food, done funky. The wing is filled with minced pork and prawn, covered in yoghurt and a crab sauce. Use the nori sheets to pick them up: this is a fun, saucy mess.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

"Tacos"

Inverted commas on a dish’s description can often send alarm bells ringing in our head, but these "tacos" are 10/10. The chunks of pig’s head are in a deep, sweet, tar-coloured sauce—the kind of thing you could ladle over rice and/or into your mouth—and the dumpling skin wrappers work perfectly. A slice of pickle and a sprig of coriander on top cuts through the sweet richness.

photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch

Fried Rice

There’s an element of theatre to this dish: a bowl is lifted to reveal your rice, then green-tinted, viscous, hot and sour soup is poured over it. But, unlike Heinz’s foray into weird-coloured ketchup at the start of the millennium, there is nothing novelty about this. The hot and sour soup is gelatinous, with layers of peppery and herby flavour, while the boulder of rice is speckled with sweetcorn, egg, and green peas.