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It was only last year that I first discovered Yori. Located on St Andrews Street, the restaurant is pleasant enough but I found it quite small, with the restaurant being little more than a thin strip. This put me off wanting to return with my family or large groups, as it made the restaurant feel more like a place you’d pop in for lunch.

I caught wind that they have now opened a second restaurant, located on Green Street, which not only offers the same Korean barbeque experience but in a much bigger and more spacious venue. Perfect!

For those of you unaware, Yori offers a grilling experience at each table. This puts the cooking onto you. It’s a great way of bringing people together, giving you and your friends a sense of communal dining, as well as making sure you get your dish cooked exactly the way you want…well, depending on your grilling skills 😂

The Yori selection

My recommendation is to pick the ‘Yori Selection’, for a bit of everything on one huge platter. This comes with a rib eye steak, thin cuts of brisket, pork belly, LA galbi, and two whopping great big king prawns for £65. You can get meat themed selections like the beef, pork, vegetarian, and seafood for slightly less, starting from £19 for the vegetarian.

As you have to cook the food yourself, it comes out very quickly. In true heroic fashion, I threw everything on the barbeque at once and got cookin’! There was smoke, sizzling noises and a lot of chatter – the atmosphere was fantastic! It’s also a great conversation piece and really easy to use.

One particular highlight was the king prawns. These bad boys were massive and tasted great. They were a little messy but that’s always the way with prawns in their shell. The sooner you surrender to the fact that this is a messy (but fun) experience the better! I tried so hard to eat this with some form of dignity but it all went out the window immediately. 😂

A highlight of the Yori Selection was their thinly cut brisket. This was out of this world! It was so rich and flavorful. Speaking with the waiter and my guest at the table, they both said the brisket was their favourite too. For anyone thinking of visiting, I highly recommend it.

The rib eye steak was a real whopper. Make sure you ask for a knife and fork here, as they aren’t handed out as standard. There is no way you are eating this with chop sticks 😂

The idea of the barbeque at your table is to be able to cook your meal exactly the way you want. Though I managed this with the steak, I overcooked a few things out of fear of undercooking it. It’s easy to get distracted when cooking in front of your friends, drinking, and chatting away. It also taught me that we have our chefs cook our steaks  for a damn good reason.

The steak itself was tender and a lovely cut of meat. It was almost entirely absent of any gristle or horrible chunks of fat. I couldn’t fault the quality.

Korean chicken

I was a little disappointed with their Korean chicken. When I have had it in the past, it is cooked in the sauce. At Yori, the chicken is cooked separately and the Korean BBQ sauce is offered as a dip. This simply isn’t the same and doesn’t allow the sauce to really soak into the chicken. It was perfectly good chicken and they were very meaty for small pieces, with lovely crispy skin but it wasn’t what I was expecting. They also felt a little dry.

Dumplings

We also sampled some vegetables dumplings. They came on a plate of 5 and were a good meaty size, well packed, and had nice thick skin. There was a slightly earthier taste to them when compared with other dumplings but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. Either way, they were excellent.

Conclusion

We both had a great time at Yori. Cooking from a grill at your table seems to be all the rage at the moment, with The Castle Inn, The Manor (Alconbury) and The Geldart all offering “black rock grill” experiences. I can see why it’s popular, as it brings people together, it’s a little different, and definitely a lot of fun. Yori manages to not only offer this experience with a much cleaner gas grill but gives it a Korean twist, making it that little more interesting.

I couldn’t fault the staff, who were impeccable and highly attentive. Nothing was too much for them and they even resisted the urge to poke fun at my shameless attempt at cooking. For anyone self conscious or unsure about using a grill at Yori, relax. It is simple, easy, and the team are always close by and more than happy to help.

Thanks for reading! 🇰🇷