Although Mr Ji has been around in one form or another since 2017 – first as a pop up at Hook in Camden before moving in to a permanent place in Soho in 2019 – it’s been getting a whole lot of buzz again recently. This is because Mr Ji has bought on Meng and Ana from TATA Eatery (creators of THAT katsu sando) to totally revamp the menu, with lots of new drinks and dishes to get excited about.
We went by on a thankfully sunny Soho evening and it was easily one of our favourite post-lockdown meals so far. It’s still a chicken-centric menu, inspired by Taiwanese night markets, but now it’s just been dialled up a few notches. We can very much recommend getting at least a couple of the snacks, including the ‘gizzards’. Don’t worry if that’s not something you’d usually order – here the gizzards come very finely diced, almost like a rough pate and served with a sour cream dip and a whole packet of Doritos for dipping! The giant crispy veggie and tofu spring roll, and the amazing prawn “in” toast, a brioche bun filled with bechamel, sweetcorn prawns are must-orders too.
Then, you kinda have to go for “The O’Ji”, a deep fried chicken breast with mustard pickle mayo, and the phenomenal Sichuan Burger, a deep-fried chicken thigh and cucumber salad in a pineapple bap. Make sure to get a side of crinkle fries and the citrus salad – green papaya, carrot and daikon, citrus chilli dressing – too.
All in all, Mr Ji was an absolute winner. We’ve already been back once and we can see this very easily becoming a Soho staple for us.
72 Old Compton St, Soho, London, W1D 4UN
mrji.co.uk