I came across this restaurant without looking for it. Sometimes, you find something really good only when you are not looking for it…and lots of times, it turns out to be the best thing ever. I was hoping for this kind of outcome when we decided to go check it out. It is located at the Limelight, which was originally a church built around 1845, then turned into a nightclub in 1983. One of the several chain nightclubs under the same name. Now, this landmark church is a shopping center with three levels of fashion boutiques & eateries.
The entrance is on the 20th street, easy to spot with nicely lit arch shining warmly in the dull, cold Winter evening. It was quite picturesque. At first, I was not 100% sure if this was it, but they had a sign right next to the lit arch to ensure we are at the right entrance.
Inside the arch was a large outdoor space, equipped with an outdoor bar. It was not in use, since it is the Winter time and the ground was covered in light snow. They had stacks of chairs and tables on the corner, I can only imagine how awesome this space would be during the warm months…
There was a walkway between the sitting area and the bar, and at the end of the walkway was the door to the Jue Lan Club. Now, I know it has the word “Club” and this place used to be a nightclub. But, this is not that kind of club. The name of this restaurant comes with an interesting history behind it. Jue Lan Club was found by a Chinese artist in the early 1930s, to bring in the like-minded artist to come together. What kind of mind, you might ask? A disaffection of conventionality and devotion to the avant-garde, that’s what. Even more interesting part of the history of this club is that they had secreted meetings in Paris to trade, create, and buy art outside of strict Communist China in the 1930s. The name, Jue Lan Club means “determination to create change.” Therefor, the artists in the club rejected the so-called-art from the past, and looked for the new, different, unique art out there in the world. With that history of idealism in mind, they opened Jue Lan Club restaurant, where people can not only share cuisine, but also art and life.
The first thing we saw when we walked in was a full bar with interesting decor It had a bar counter with red light beaming underneath, and more red light from the ceiling in just one spot. Creating a kind of strange atmosphere… The bar did have cool artworks of Keith Haring on the top, really setting the tone.
Across from the bar was a lounge area with a long sofa. Behind it was a dining area which seemed to have been reserved for someone’s 30th birthday party? They had lots and lots of balloons for the occasion. I assume you can rent out the section for an event there, and they will even allow you to decorate it a bit.
We were taken to a large dining room in the back. I loved the decor in this room. It had some Chinese elements to it, mixed with some speakeasy era feel from many moons ago. It had table seating in the middle, for larger groups of people. Most of the tables had chairs, except for the last table, which came with long benches. The table seating was sandwiched by booth seating on both side.
The seating set up are identical on each side of the table, with dark green, velvety booth with nice cushion. The walls on the right was covered in velvety wallpaper with antique-looking pattern. The walls on the left was left bare, showing beautiful red brick wall. The lighting was kept to minimum, making the room dim (I had to brighten up the photos), creating more of a relaxing, romantic atmosphere.
We started off with couple of cocktails, Lychee Martini ($16) and Spiced Hot Pear Toddy ($14). They had pretty good selection of classic and special cocktails. They also offer beer, wine, bubbles, and sake.
Lychee Martini is made with Vodka, Ty Ku Sake, Lychee Juice, and Fresh Lemon. I have a weakness for lychee, so when I saw this, I could not resist… And it was good, sweet but really strong. It had one large lychee in it, which I totally enjoyed eating at the end, after it had absorbed all the liqueur flavor. The hint of lemon balanced out the sweetness, I really liked this drink. Then again, it would be difficult for me to find any lychee cocktail that I don’t like…
Spiced Hot Pear Toddy is made with Bourbon, Spiced Pear Puree, Honey Syrup, and Fresh Lemon Juice. This one is a hot drink, as in temperature hot. It was not crazy hot, but somewhere between warm and hot, and more towards the hot side. It was really nice on a cold day, really warm you up quick from the inside. This was another very strong drink, better to have small sips, enjoy slowly type of drink. It was so comforting, a kind of hot spiked drink you want to have by the fire, cuddling with your loved one under the fuzzy blanket… It was sweet but the lemon was there once again to balance the sweetness. I feel like this would be a perfect drink if you have a sore throat on a chilly Winter day.
Then, we moved onto the appetizer. We had Braised Oxtail Sloppy Bao Buns ($16/3 buns) since I heard good things about this dish.
The buns are made with braised oxtail and Asian slow. The price tag is kind of high, but I have seem other places where they charge $7 – $8 for one bun, so it really is not that much if you consider the NYC pricing under consideration. And they were really, seriously tasty. The buns were nice and soft, moist, and fluffy. The oxtail meat was so juicy and tender, packed with flavor. It had some sweetness to it, which went great against the Asian slaw. The slaw added contrasting texture and also, helped emphasize the flavor of the meat.
The buns were pretty good size, not mini-bun, not huge, but a good size. And it was meaty, it had a nice amount of filling in it to the point it fell out when I was biting into it. Love it when they give you a generous amount of filling. I can see why this one is popular, I really, really enjoyed this soft, cloudy, juicy concoction.
During the dinner, we ordered more cocktails to keep us extra happy. We ordered Shanghai Mule ($16) and Old Fashioned ($16).
Shanghai Mule is made with Vodka, pineapple juice, lime juice, raspberry jam, topped with ginger beer. It did not come in the ordinary mule mug, but came in a tall glass. Since I was imagining more of a smaller portioned drink, I was very happy! I chose this drink because it sounded very fruity, and I like fruity drink. This one was really good, tasty, easier to drink than the other drinks since this one contains ginger beer. It was still strong enough and loved the pineapple flavor.
Old Fashioned is made with Bourbon, Demerara, Bitters, and Orange Twist. This is a real, adult beverage, if you know what I mean. It is not sweet, and not light. It is a “let’s sit down and unwind after a long, hard day” kind of drink. Strong, heavy, and clams your mind and body.
For the main dish, we went with Wok Charred Filet Mignon Tips with Broccoli ($28) and Kung Pao Chicken ($27). They also brought a side of white rice, enough for the two of us. Maybe the main dishes come with side of rice, even though it didn’t mention it on the menu. Regardless, the side of white rice was a delight, it is kind of necessity with these types of dishes, so we were happy. On the side note, I also liked their silverware, or the look of it. Kind of animal-like fork tips, also kind of art-y.
Let’s get back to the food. Wok Charred Filet Mignon Tips with Broccoli had Mongolian sauce. Since the Mongolian sauce is soy sauce based, it was dark in color, and sweet from sugar, and nice amount of garlic flavor in it. The beef was really nice and tender, not too firm or chewy, but juicy and soft. It was very flavorful, it looked so much better than it looked. The sauce has strong flavor, so the side of white rice went great with it. The beef alone without rice might be a bit too strong in flavor. It was a nice portion, not big but not small either.
Kung Pao Chicken, is made with Crispy Chicken Breast, Peanuts, and Spicy Szechuan Sauce. This was a surprise when it arrived. It looked like nothing like the ordinary Kung Pao Chicken. First of all, it was pretty big, generous portion. The exterior of the chicken had nice crispy shell, while keeping the inside moist and tender. It had a nice kick to it from the Szechuan Sauce. Again, great with side of white rice. It was really good, much more so than I expected. Always nice to get this kind of surprise.
We ended the meal with one dessert to share. We went with Infamous Chocolate Mousse ($14). It made with Dark Chocolate Mousse, Mirror Glaze, Red Berry Compote, Flourless Sponge, with a side of Green Tea Gelato. I mean, how can I say no to something that claims to be “Infamous” dessert? It was rather small, much smaller than I anticipated. But at this point, we were pretty full, so that was ok. The mousse center was coated with mirror glaze, so it was shiny and pretty.
The mousse was nice, and so was the green tea gelato. I don’t think it was amazing, but it was good. It was not overly sweet since it uses dark chocolate mousse, but it was certainly very chocolate-y. The subtle flavor of the red berry was really nice too, it went great with the chocolate.
They have a very nice, clean bathroom where Buddha will welcome you with a smile. The restroom is a nice size, and I loved the beautiful sinks. The decor inside the restroom is in sync with the rest of the restaurant. I also liked the fact that they had a nice, thick, soft paper towels with their logo on it. They had a wheelchair accessible, very large bathroom, and also two regular sized ones. I assume the sink on the left that is set lower than the others are for handicapped patrons, it is nice to have that extra consideration.
They have more dining space on the second floor, so I went to check them out. The upstairs is not a one, large dining room, but separated into several smaller rooms. I felt like each room had a bit of different theme, mood and atmosphere. One room came with a large round table, underneath halo-looking light above. It had a cool art, Neke Carson Portraits from the Closet Billy Name. It was more modern, kept simple. The room next to it was much bigger, with several table seating, and had nice fireplace as a centerpiece. This room was also more simple, with mostly dark wood furniture, walls, and floor. The black ceiling held a very interesting chandelier, decorated with head of animals such as horse and rooster…kind of weird but unique, indeed.
The hallway was covered with Disco 2000 portrait photos, again, a bit weird and strange, but it grabs you attention and you can’t easily look away… The last room at the end of the hallway was more of a “club” kind of feel with super loud music and purple-ish colored light. This room also came with a fireplace.
Pretty dark expect for the purple hue and bright blue neon light on the wall. It had one long table seating to the right, and smaller table, more lounge-y seating to the left. The middle of the room was open for maybe dancing??? This room also came with fully equipped bar.
Speaking of neon sign, they had two of them. One of them is from the declaration of Jue Lan Club, “Come on! Let’s create the world, which is staggered by colors, lines and forms with our crazy enthusiasm and sound reason!” Another one was a quote from Andy Warhol “People should fall in love with their eyes closed”
Neon signs are not the only place where you can find interesting quotes. They had a few on their menu. These are the ones I liked; on the Cocktail menu, it said “When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading” by Henry Youngman. On the dessert menu, it said “A party without cake is just a meeting” by Julia Child. Brilliant.
Overall, we had a good time. The service was great, as we were the only customers in the main dining room (it was a very cold, crappy Winter day outside). The servers seemed a bit bored with not much to do… but they took a good care of us, our water was always filled, we didn’t have to ask for anything as they were always around, checking on us or our table. The food had good portion, except for the dessert, and we really liked the flavor of them all. The choice of music was interesting. They started off with some nightclub-type music, mostly Kanye and Jay Z, really super loud which I did NOT enjoy. Then, about midway through, they all of a sudden changed to 80’s music, which was much better than listening to Kanye (sorry if you are a fan of Kanye). It is not your normal Chinese restaurant. It is upscale and modern, maybe not super authentic when it comes to the dishes, but we certainly enjoyed it.
Jue Lan Club – 49 W 20th St, New York, NY 10011