Blue Jasmine

 Contemporary Southeast Asian cuisine

Carabineros prawn in royal supreme stock and corn noodle

While I was planning my trip to New Forest, I was out of idea where to find a decent place to eat while I was stopping by at Southampton. Southampton is not known for its high-quality restaurant offering and I was struggling to find anything after extended research online. In the end, I discovered a Pan Asian restaurant called Blue Jasmine. It is a new restaurant which only just launched in early January, and turned out it is headed by an ex-head chef of Duddell's, which is a personal favorite restaurant of mine. Given the pedigree of the chef, I was pretty sure Blue Jasmine standard wouldn't be bad at all. Looking at the menu, it contains elements of Cantonese, Thai and Malaysian cuisine. The decor is very modern and almost as an exclusive club feel to it, located by the waterfront with a beautiful view of the sea.

Grilled Chilean sea bass with pomegranate glaze

Spicy rendang chicken with smoked onion and pink peppercorn

Sarawak black pepper roasted duck and pancake

As I attended as a large group, I got the chance to sample most of the dishes from the a la carte menu. The Carabineros prawn was an impressive beast with its sweet melting taste but I felt it was a touch overcooked, the shellfish stock was intense, loaded with the essence of the sea which could rival any high-level French kitchen. The grilled Chilean sea bass was hard to fault, the fish was so flaky and smooth, well seasoned, and cooked to the perfect level. The pomegranate glaze added a touch of sweet and fruity taste that offset the richness of the fish, with the ginger crumble added a refreshing sharpness which enhanced the sweetness of the fish even further. The stone-grilled Percik chicken was the best dish of the lot, it had a small hint of smoky aroma with mellow creamy spicy taste, served in a curry sauce that carried so much depth of spices and umami taste but yet felt so refreshing at the same time. That dish alone with a bowl of rice would already make it a memorable meal.

Hampshire pork belly with orange and white chocolate

Stone-grilled Percik chicken with milk biscuit

Hampshire rib eye beef with black garlic and Sha Cha sauce

In the end, I tasted more than 20 dishes and was struggling to get home. Overall I really enjoy the bold, fresh, and aromatic taste of what Blue Jasmine got in store. It is fair to say the spices level has been toned down to suit more western palate, and the presentation of the dishes for sure has a western fine dining element which you can debate that is not authentic SouthEast Asain cooking at all. However, this doesn't really matter as taste-wise it was generally excellent, and while not every single of the dishes I have tasted hit the high mark, the concept and the execution of the cooking was nothing to sniff at. I would be more than happy to return in the near future when I ever visit Southampton again, as that kind of modern SouthEast Asian food is not even possible to find in London.

Food 3.5/5


Average cost without drinks and services:
£90

Unit 3-4 Alexandra Wharf, Maritime Walk, Ocean Way, Southampton SO14 3QS

https://www.bluejasmine.co.uk/

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