"Reinventing Chinese Culinary Classics" Hong Kong Chef Ricky Lui Strikes Again — JUNTO Unveils September Menu Spanning China's Eight Great Cuisines

A pebble that looks like something you'd casually pick up off the roadside — pop it in your mouth, and you discover it's actually a jelly made from the collagen-rich gelatin of goose feet. This is the first trick JUNTO plays as it opens its brand-new September menu. The restaurant, recommended in the Michelin Guide Taiwan 2025, will roll out entirely new lunch and dinner tasting menus in September. Led by Executive Chef Ricky Lui and Head Chef Wang Yu-chen, the culinary team draws from classic dishes and regional techniques across China's eight great culinary traditions, bringing Chaoshan-style raw marination, Cantonese roasted meats, Sichuan-style poached dishes, Hong Kong-style baked rice, and Chinese braised soups together onto a single table.

JUNTO is the Chinese restaurant under the hotel brand "Home Hotel," which opened at the end of 2024. The name "同" (tong, meaning "together" or "unity") draws from the concepts of "Great Unity" (大同) and "Modest Prosperity" (小康) in the Confucian classic Book of Rites. The restaurant explains that only food has the power to transcend geography and culture, bringing people together at the same table. Both the new lunch and dinner menus are served in tasting menu format, with flavors, temperatures, and textures carefully sequenced throughout the course progression, accompanied by tableside carving, sauce-pouring, and plating service. Guests may also order additional chef's recommendations à la carte, ranging from handmade dim sum to wok-fried dishes bursting with that signature smoky char.

Chef's Background: From "Young Knife God" to TV Variety Show Regular

Executive Chef Ricky Lui hails from Hong Kong and graduated from the Master Class program at the Hong Kong Chinese Culinary Institute. He once won the Hong Kong Young Chef Chinese Cooking Competition championship, earning the nickname "Young Knife God" for his exceptional knife skills. He has worked at Hong Kong's Lei Garden Group, Jade Dragon under K.O. Dining, and numerous Michelin-starred Chinese restaurants and exclusive private clubs, and previously served as Executive Chinese Chef at Hong Kong's Dynasty Club. In recent years, he has frequently appeared on and hosted Hong Kong TV cooking variety shows. This time, working alongside Head Chef Wang Yu-chen and the team, he continues JUNTO's direction of "honoring classics while innovating through fusion."

The two creative appetizers that open the meal best demonstrate this logic. "Truth or Illusion" appears as a plain, unassuming pebble, but is actually a goose foot jelly made from the collagen-rich gelatin of goose feet — its lifelike appearance and delicately springy texture create a delightful mismatch between sight and taste. "Chaozhou Poison" draws from Chaoshan's raw marination culture, using Argentine angel red shrimp prepared in the traditional Chaoshan style, preserving the shrimp's natural sweetness while layering on the savory, aromatic sauce. If one shrimp leaves you wanting more, you can add NT$99 for "Second Dose of Poison" — an extra angel red shrimp. Such playful naming gives refined Chinese cuisine a bit more of a memorable, shareable dining story.

Lunch Set: Delicate and Refined, with Layers of Fermentation and Wok Char

The lunch tasting menu opens with "Mandarin Duck Mountain Delicacy Vegetarian Dumplings," presenting two flavors using grains and seasonal vegetables. "Parmesan Beef Tart" features tableside-grated Parmesan cheese, releasing its aroma the moment it's shaved. "Scallion Preserved Meat Dajia Taro Cake" pairs the smooth sweetness of Dajia taro with the savory saltiness of preserved meat and scallions. "Honey Fermented Black Bean and Olive Vegetable Tempered Black Char Siu" balances the sweetness of char siu with honey-fermented black beans and olive vegetables, achieving a caramelized, glossy exterior through repeated roasting while keeping the meat juicy inside.

The soup course "Chive and Shrimp Wonton Hot and Sour Soup" features a tangy, mildly spicy broth that highlights the shrimp's natural sweetness, with an optional NT$99 upgrade to fish maw. The main course "Yangjiang Fermented Black Bean Braised Bitter Melon with Flounder" combines the fermented saltiness of Yangjiang black beans with the subtle bitterness of bitter melon, drawing out the delicate sweetness of the flounder — embodying the Cantonese culinary balance of "bitterness tempered by sweetness, saltiness enhancing freshness." Diners can also add NT$99 to upgrade to crispy fried rice noodles that soak up the black bean and fish juices. The staple "Not-Your-Usual Fried Rice" swaps rice for rice noodles stir-fried with preserved radish, minced meat, and olive vegetables, retaining the familiar smoky wok char and savory flavor while offering a lighter, springier texture. The meal concludes with "Lily Bulb, Lotus Seed, and Mung Bean Sweet Soup," slow-simmered to perfection.

Dinner Set: Nostalgic Cantonese Craftsmanship and Hong Kong Memories

The dinner set opens with "Life Is Like a Daily Soup," presenting a broth infused with apple fragrance and pear sweetness. "Herb-Tossed Jellyfish" refers to jellyfish as "jelly fish," with servers pouring and tossing the sauce tableside, blending herbal aromas with the jellyfish's crisp texture. "Nostalgic Chicken Wrapped with Chicken Liver" draws on traditional Cantonese cuisine, employing the precise oil-temperature-controlled "oil-poaching" technique to keep the chicken tender while bringing out the rich, delicate aroma of the chicken liver.

"Peppercorn Salt-Poached Duo" presents pork intestine and squid side by side, offering two distinctly different textures that contrast against the numbing pepper, savory saltiness, and spice — with an optional NT$299 upgrade to premium 36-head dried fish maw. "Sea Coconut, Dried Scallop, and Whelk Braised Soup" is slow-simmered over a long period, infusing the broth with the natural sweetness of dried scallops and whelk. "Deep-Fried Stuffed Wanli Crab Shell" reworks crab meat, onion, and mushroom stuffed back into the crab shell and fried until crispy and fragrant. "Garlic Stir-Fried Beef Short Ribs" uses high-heat quick stir-frying to seal in the rich, fatty aroma of the beef.

The staple "Number One's Baked Pork Chop Rice" recreates the classic flavor of Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng with tangy-sweet Hong Kong-style tomato sauce, pan-seared pork chop, and baked aromas, bringing refined craftsmanship and everyday nostalgia together at the same table. The dinner set concludes with a Hong Kong-style finish of "Fresh Milk Tea Jelly" and the temperature-contrasting "Ice Cream Pineapple Bun."

JUNTO's September menu journeys from Chaoshan and Guangdong through Sichuan and into Hong Kong — relying not merely on the fusion of culinary traditions, but on Chef Ricky Lui and his team's deep technical mastery in preserving the classics, then bridging the distance between refined Chinese cuisine and diners through creative naming, visual presentation, and interactive tableside service.

JUNTO's brand-new September menu launches on September 3rd and will be available through November. The lunch tasting menu is priced at NT$1,388, plus a NT$100 tea service fee and 10% service charge; the dinner tasting menu is priced at NT$2,388, plus a NT$100 tea service fee and 10% service charge. Chef's recommendations can be ordered à la carte. The restaurant is located at 2F, No. 22, Guanqian Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City. For reservations, call 0976-684-366, or check the official website or LINE official account @junto for more information. JUNTO is a Michelin Guide Taiwan 2025 recommended restaurant; further details can be found on the official Michelin Guide page. Menu items, service formats, and add-on prices are subject to change per the restaurant's official announcements.