Jiao

I was so excited when this place opened up in the desert! The owners (Cheeky’s and Birba) have such a great track record and they didn’t go wrong here. This spot may have the best chow fun I’ve EVER had in my life (and I grew up in the Bay Area and live in LA now). The oxtail fried rice is also a must!

This place didn’t look like how I pictured it to be. My bro and I sat outside. Didn’t really see the inside but it looked small.
In my opinion, the dim sum on Sundays is not worth the money. Ordered 2 orders of beef chow fun, an order of potstickers, crab ragoon, har gow shrimp, 2 orders of homestyle dumplings and an order of steamed chicken bao. The food itself was pretty good but I mostly got full on the water. The bill came out to $ 51.23. Too expensive for what you get.
Dim sum is out of the picture from here on out. I’m open to try their regular menu. They unfortunately don’t serve anything off their regular menu on Sundays when serving dim sum.

Best food I’ve had in Palm Springs perfect asian fusion and the duck buns are off the chart good

OK, so even though I’m actually sitting squarely in the middle on Jiao overall, I think they need a little bit of a break here: my fellow SF foodie snobs are kind of playing schoolyard bully here, beating up on a relative newcomer to the PS dining scene that’s at least attempting to move the culinary needle in the right direction.
Context: fled to Jiao after my partner & I got a palpably homophobic vibe from the host at Shanghai Red’s (hey, PS sisters, am I nuts?). It was still super early, so we got the table of our choice & attentive, if a bit amateurish, service right away. The kid was super-​sweet, but he had never heard of Midori or Ketel One vodka. Of course, it would be churlish to knock the service just for that. Started with the S&P calamari. Delicate & tender, they were tasty, if not particularly memorable. Their real purpose in life was to serve as a nice textural vehicle for the four table sauces they bring with your food.
Those sauces deserve a special aside, mainly because they provide the clearest indication of the chef’s intentions & inspirations here. They are 1) a very good hot chili oil with doubanjiang — about as good, if not quite as potent as the ones I’ve had in Hong Kong; 2) a spicy, not at all sweet nuoc cham, 3) a very sweet chili sauce (Mae Ploy brand would be my guess), and 4) best of all, David Chang’s ginger scallion sauce, y’all! So, yes, haters, there’s clearly no attempt to do «authentic» Chinese cuisine here. We’ve got Sichaun, Vietnamese, Thai, and Momofukuan (!) flavors all in one sauce caddy. But at least we’re getting **flavors**, guys.
Next up were the duck buns: essentially a more than competent take on the bao you SF peeps will have had from the Chairman food truck… even down to the pickled veg on top. This is in fact a pretty big compliment; those bao are scrumptch.
Things started to unravel a bit when the mains came along. Hubby had the Chinese pork chop, which turned out to be a decidedly middle-​of-​the-​road version of sweet & sour pork. I ordered the laksa, and I made sure to tell our server to convey to the chef that I wanted it super extra mega spicy, figuring that I would at least get the heat level up to medium range. I wasn’t too surprised when it came out only tolerably spicy, but I was a bit disappointed that the rest of the flavor punches you want from laksa weren’t all there. Sauce caddy to the rescue! After playing laksa doctah, and adding a little more chili oil, fish sauce from the nuoc cham, and generous helpings of the D. Chang special sauce, I had a pretty reasonable facsimile of the laksa you get in Singapore.
Basically, I think that if Jiao somewhat lacks the full courage of its convictions, it’s likely because they’re trying to cater to two very different audiences: out-​of-​town foodies and the more conservative palates of the early bird special set. Here’s my unsolicited advice: more inspiration from Chang, Bowien and real Asian street food, less from Midwestern chow mein emporia.
Special postscript shout-​out to the cocktails. Our selections (Shanghai Mule and Lime in the Coconut) struck just the right balance between tropical fruitiness and alcoholic bite. Keep on working it, Jiao, and never mind the bollocks.

It’s Thai fusion! Not just a Chinese place…
I actually enjoy their menu very much before they changed it, although they kept the Tom Kai Gi soup thank goodness nothing else like it … Service is ok, bartender is sweet they just need a stronger manager or at least manager presence. Would recommend trying.

The items I really liked:
— beef chow fun. Done perfectly Al Dante. If you check my reviews, you will know I am very picky about food. But this chow fun is indeed done perfectly fine (ok, maybe the beef could be more tender, but the chow fun is really good. Better than more Cantonese place in north cal)
— BBQ pork bun. This is not as good as offered by some of the top Cantonese places in NCal. But considering this is PS, I think it’s very acceptable
The garlic/​scallion noodle is quite delightful, could use more flavor
Har gow could use more filling per dumpling. I guess the yield of fresh shrimp arriving at PS is low so I give it a pass
Eggplant is a bit too sweet to me but it’s Japanese style so maybe sweet is good
Anyways, a good Asian food joint at PS

Let me begin this review by stating that I am a Chinese-​American living in San Francisco. As such, I’ve had my fair share of dim sum in my life, and SF has no lack of good dim sum. I was hoping that Palm Springs would have found a decent dim sum place in Jiao.
Jiao, sadly, is simply *not good* dim sum. I went with three friends and we ordered a variety of dishes — the BBQ pork buns and sticky rice packets were mediocre. Everything else was pretty laughable. Four (yes, 4) stalks of gai lan on the gai lan dish! Really?! Haw gow and shu mai were subpar. Deep fried sesame balls for dessert were over fried — the sesame on the outside was burnt. The chow fun was forgettable. (I literally forgot that we had this dish until the end of my review, so I had to go back and add it in.)
When our food started arriving, the waitress came to our table with a selection of sauces. Fine. Until she pointed to the little pot of chili sauce that you see at EVERY Chinese restaurant and said, «And this is our Crunch Crunch sauce.» Crunch Crunch sauce?! I nearly fell out of my chair with laughter then and every time she went around to tables near ours and explained that the chili sauce you can find at any Asian market is «Jiao’s Crunch Crunch sauce.» *eyeroll*
To add insult to injury, the price is waaaaay too expensive for what you’re getting. In a nutshell, Jiao is worse than the worst San Francisco dim sum I’ve had. Yuck.

Great Brunch … 5 Stars
This is a great place to have brunch with an outside patio
–noodles were delicious
–oxtail with rice was outstanding
–something else was really good, but I forgot, but it was really good
Definitely worth coming back so that I order have what I forgot.

Food is damn good but the service is lacking. Be prepared to spend more time here than you have to. We were forgotten about and I feel like the girl who was bussing tables ended up helping us because the waiter disappeared. I still will go back but only when I don’t care about the time
Duck steam buns!!!
Tom kha (perfect blend of lime to cut the coconut milk — add chili paste to it)
Kara-​age
Use every single sauce they give you.

Stopped in for lunch to meet a friend, and it took the three of us two hours from start to finish. Dear Lord, it was painfully slow. Took about 15 minutes for the waitress to come over and notice we didn’t even have menus.
Which is a real bummer, because the food was very interesting I got the salt and pepper tofu, which had the most unusual taste and texture. I can’t quite get it out of my head. Boyfriend got a chicken thing which he said was different then he’d ever had prepared before. All that going for it, but so… freaking… slow… uggggghhhhh…

Headed to Jiao for a late night dinner with the girls. The atmosphere/​ambiance was nice and it was comfortable to eat outside sitting next to the heat lamp.
The chow fun was not the best I ever had, but it was still good.
I’d rate the food as a «3», but I’m adding a 4^th star for the attentiveness of the waiter. He humored us as we asked if he could take our picture. He even went as far as to suggest backgrounds for the picture and take it from a few different camera angles. It was obvious they were trying to wrap up things for the night, but he still took the time to take our picture and not make us feel rushed.

I should know better than to try and get Chinese food in Palm Springs. Great Wall is gone, and China Palace is only good, not amazing. This place reminds me of Bao (Dim Sum) in the Fairfax District in Los Angeles — both charging an arm and a leg for dim sum. At least, Bao’s dim sum is more authentic, more satisfying and are better prepared.
Granted, we dined here during Pride Weekend on Sunday evening, so I would expect this place to be packed, and it was, but even so, I could not understand how our waiter (who monitored about 5 tables at the northern patio area, plus our table over by the front entrance of the restaurant) would forget to follow up with us about our meal, and forget to place orders of food twice for us?
The first time, 5 of 6 of the dishes we ordered were placed and served. After waiting for about 5 – 10 minutes after the service of our 5^th dish, it took me almost 10 minutes to flag our waiter down, and the only way I was able to get his attention was to walk up to him by the kitchen inside the restaurant to inform him about our 6^th dish, which he apologized for forgetting to place. Since the dish was the Pork Soup Dumplings, which take about 20 – 25 minutes to prepare,
I cancelled that order and place an order for 2 dishes that I knew would only take about 5 – 10 minutes to prepare: Beef Chow Fun, which was joke as the $ 8 plate was enough to feed a young child. Though the flavor profile is good, the preparation could be better, like wok frying the rice noodles first (and remove from wok) before stir frying up the meat and vegetables, making a sauce, before adding the rice noodles back into the mix to toss for a minute. This way, one would get the wok heh/​flavor and a bit of crunch from the noodles.
The other dish was pork dumplings, which looked like wontons sitting in a soy sauce broth. Good flavor, but too salty.
We didn’t get these dishes in 5 to 10 minutes. Another 15 mins went by before I complained to a waitress (since I was not able to get our waiter’s attention again) about not getting these 2 dishes after already having to endure a wait before. The waitress rushed to look into the situation and minutes later, a manager comes over to apologize for the wait and that our order of the 2 dishes were somehow «lost in the shuffle,» so he would place them and comp them to us.
The wraps to the dumplings were inconsistent. The vegetable dumplings were overcooked and were very gummy. The beef chow fun was drenched in watery sauce.
I just don’t understand why doesn’t a restauranteur secure a well-​regarded and well trained chef from Hong Kong or in the San Gabriel Valley of LA, bring that chef and a crew out to work at a simple, straight forward Chinese restaurant in the PS/​PD area? I know there is a market out there for authentic cuisine. The American palate has developed in sophistication over the years.
I echo Fernando R.‘s review when he wonders how this place get such high ratings. I believe either those are fake reviews or those people just have not had much experience with Asian cuisine. To call this place the best Chinese food in PS? Wow… I rather go to Panda Express instead. At least, I’ll get enough food that will fill me up without bankrupting me!
And to the reviewer from Manhattan, NY who had dim sum from all over the world including SF and NYC… if you think Jiao’s dim sum is amazing, then I’d like to sell you a timeshare on the coast of Greenland…

I don’t know how this place is averaging four stars. My partner and I came here because of the great reviews only to be greatly disappointed. I’m giving it two stars only because our waitress was friendly and on point with the service.
As for the food, we ordered the Miso Black Cod. The flavors were bland and the portions are ridiculous. It’s their second most expensive dish on the menu and you get about a fourth of a cod. We also ordered the Oxtail and the summer roll. Both disappointing dishes.
You’re better off spending your $ 40 at one of the other Asian restaurants.

I don’t think u can b anonymous on Unilocal (in reference to the menu disclaimer that «issues» should be emailed and NOT posted on Unilocal; get rid of that note). If u can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
With «that» being said, I had a wonderful and tasty dinner. Gustavo and all the wait staff were very attentive. The oysters were quite tasty. The steak was prepared to perfection. Bön appetite!

Like Cheeky’s and Birba, Jiao is more than just pretty; the food is GOOD.
The place is hip and stylish, with plenty of outdoor seating and bar and communal table inside.
The pan-​Asian menu is full of flavor. I recommend shared plates. My table tried dumplings, spicy Shisito peppers, bi bim bap, and the noodle special. Everything was fresh, well-​prepared, and tasty. The peppers came as a HUGE bowl of peppers, probably more than we should have eaten. But we couldn’t stop!
We shared the Thai basil ice cream sandwich (very good) and the granita (just fine).
I’d recommend visiting for the cocktails alone, which are also Asian-​inspired. If you like ginger or sake, you’ll like these drinks. There are also very good classic drinks.
It’s probably more expensive than other Asian food options, but in Palm Springs it is truly your best bet and well worth the extra cash.

If you are dining with a companion — do yourself a favor and order the fried fish for two. You will not be disappointed with this red snapper delight. It’s served on a huge communal plate alongside cucumbers, potatoes and other fresh veggies. The fish was so good & there was a lot of it too! My boyfriend and I left satisfied and super full. As our order came out, two different tables both containing regulars shouted out that it was the best dish. Finish your fabulous meal with the green tea frozen ice cream! Yum, Yum, Yum!
My only suggestion for Jiao, is to get some lighting in the outdoor seating area. Palm Springs can be a windy town… relying on candles is silly in such an environment.

We came here for lunch on Saturday and wasn’t quite sure what to expect because the Unilocal reviews were so spotty. Walking up, we were seated outside promptly. They brought out chilled glasses for our water which was a nice touch and a good start to our meal.
STICKY RICE: It’s smaller than I would have liked, but really deep flavor and the stick rice was perfectly cooked. I like the bits of meat inside and how it’s topped with fresh green onions. Very good.
XIAO LONG PAO (Pork Dumplings): I’m not sure if this was a special or if it’s regularly on their menu, but it’s basically a pork dumpling that’s steamed and when you bite into it, a bunch of pork-​flavored soup released during the cooking process is supposed to burst out onto your palate. This didn’t quite happen for me and the skin is usually to blame, but the flavor was good even though it wasn’t the best dumpling I’ve had.
LEMONGRASS PORK NOODLE BOWL: Honestly, if you’re not here for this dish, you might as well stay home. This is their signature dish and I can see why. The portion size was decent and the taste was spot on. I’ve been to many Vietnamese restaurants in southern California and this stands up to many of them if not better. If you like seasoned pork and vermicelli rice noodles, you’ll love this.
CRISPY NOODLES: Some type of chicken, snow pea, saucy concoction served over a bed of crispy chow mein noodles. Not as flavorful as the pork noodle bowl and certainly not as much food, but I like how the noodles were fresh. I would pass on this if I could do-​over.
The food was a bit overpriced IMO, but still worth it. They note on their menu that there are no substitutions, which I think is a tad snooty. And some random Unilocaler posted a horrible review of their restaurant and they now have this passive-​aggressive comment at the bottom of their menu about anonymous reviews on Unilocal.Seriously… people are going to review your business whether you like it or not – blame the Internet, not Unilocal.
But being the objective and fair Unilocaler that I am, I still would recommend checking it out. If you are in the Palm Springs area and craving an Asian flare, try Jiao!

To be fair, I’ve only been here once, and I perhaps held high expectations considering the same people own Cheekys and Birba, which I think are fantastic recent additions to the desert.
First, a rant: Jiao– how are we pronouncing this? If its supposed to be Chinese, we’ve got 4 different tones to determine meaning. My favorite meaning is with the pinyin Ji (eye)-ao (two syllables), which means «add oil,» usually used as encouragement to speed things up. But no body else pronounces it this way. They say «JOW» w/​a downward inflection. Depending on the tone, the pinyin Jiao can mean anything from «relatively,» «cross,» «teach» or «foot,» according to Google Translate.
Jiao is Asian-​fusion in concept. I’ve had the steamed chicken dumplings, which were clean-​tasting, the Spicy Butternut Squash soup– which was very fragrant, rich, and comforting, and the Lemongrass Pork Noodle Bowl which was a very large portion and served cold (except the pork was room temperature).
Also, might I mention that the Chicken Dumplings which we ordered as an appetizer were served AFTER we received our meals… and my meal was served several minutes after my friend’s…
I ate half of the Lemongrass Pork Noodle Bowl, taking the rest home to microwave. It tasted much better hot. The Spicy Butternut Squash Soup is so far their best: ginger-​infused, thick and truly comforting on a rainy, cold day, I’ve gone back to Take-​Out the soup, only to be served a single-​cup serving, when I paid for a full-​bowl price. I had to go back and ask for an increase in portion.
I’m a big Asian-​eats fan, having just returned from several years living in East Asia and eating Chinese food nearly every day, and having traveled across Southeast Asia following the cravings of my stomach. I understand places like Palm Springs will probably never serve legit Asian food, taking the necessary risks with the mainly tourist public palette, but aside from the flavor of the soup, I’m not blown away with Jiao’s delivery.
Like Cheekys and Birba, their menu changes weekly. Service at Jiao was slow, despite the tiny location (single chef, perhaps?). The ambiance lacks compared to Cheekys and Birba. But I’ve not written-​off Jiao completely– I’m sure I’ll return, try out the rest of the menu, and update here.

There certainly was a lot going on here. The cocktails were quite exotic to me, though not in a good way. The ginger hot toddy (sake, ginger tea) tasted like mouthfuls of bathwater, though for mysterious reasons my wife rather liked it. The mix of asian herbs, soju, and lemon grass was distressingly bland, and I left it mostly unfinished. (It was quite alcoholic, though, to its dubious credit.)
We tried an array of dishes. The unquestionably good things were the Japanese fried chicken (served on an uncertain salad of soy and arugula), and the shredded Brussels sprouts with mint and fish sauce (I’ll be making that at home soon, I hope). Soba noodles had a nice, simple, broth; «angry» mussels had a nice, but very different broth (pork belly, sweet, sour, spicy). Pickled lotus root was pleasantly crunchy but tasted only of faint nuttiness. And the hangar steak wraps (the most expensive thing we ordered) were a disaster– meat was badly trimmed and cut with the grain, making them hard to bite or to chew, there weren’t enough pieces of lettuce, and the accompaniments (pickled vegetable, kimchi, ginger purée) were all soggy and bland, turning our unchewable pieces of meat into wet, confusing, unchewable pieces of meat. It was a great concept, though.
I left dinner faintly queasy and quite unsatisfied, despite enjoying two thirds of the dishes we ordered. I’m really not sure how to rate that.

I was really excited to finally experience the food at Jiao. I had friends that had come for lunch and really enjoyed their meal.
I came with my mom and friends for Friday night meal. Even though it was 6:15pm, there was plenty of seating outdoors. We ordered family-​style and shared our dishes amongst each other: spicy beef salad, three cup chicken clay pot, fresh spring rolls, and the tea infused smoked pork belly. The pork belly was AMAZING! The sweet grilled peach under the pork belly perfectly complimented the saltiness of the pork. I hope they decide to keep this as a permanent menu item since it was one of their specials.
Overall, I would say this is a great place for an intimate dinner with family and friends. Seating is limited so I don’t know how they would accomodate large groups.