It's been a little while since I've been excited by the opening of a Japanese restaurant in Brisbane, but when I noticed the menu at Yori when I was walking to my car after it had closed, I knew that I had to go try it out. Luckily Dr L and I were in the area not long after and made a point to check them out for Saturday lunch.
Arriving at opening time, we were the first table to be seated. Despite the fact that they had done minimal marketing and advertising as far as I could tell, it filled up fairly quickly after.
The menu was brief with the focus clearly being on donburi with a few side options and a couple of desserts. I had seen the pictures of their donburi and I was super keen on their 4cm katsudon but unfortunately I had just made my own katsu the night before, so we tried other items. Ordering was via counter service which was quick and friendly.
To the left of the counter was a self service station for side dishes and miso soup, which had unlimited refill for patrons. I really appreciated this generous touch.
The full line-up of sides included pickled ginger, radish, chives and cucumbers. Both Dr L and I enjoyed the refreshing crunch of cucumbers the best. The radish was a close second with its vinegary tart flavours. Miso soup was fairly standard but we could add as much spring onions and wakame as we wanted, it was rich and umami.
First to arrive was our side order of Namban chicken. This was fairly large as a side, comprising of what appears to have been one massive chicken thigh that had been butterflied. Battered in tempura batter and then topped with namban sauce, I had expected the chicken to remain crispy, whilst the parts with the sauce were soft. Unfortunately the entire piece of chicken came out fairly wet and I didn't enjoy it too much. Dr L didn't mind it and said the flavours were good so he ate most of it.
Our dons didn't take long to arrive. First was the Negitoro Don. It came with a side pack of seaweed to allow for an interactive element in wrapping your own bite sized handfuls of deliciousness. It was apparent upon the dish being set down that the tuna was not in fact tuna belly but probably the leaner akami. It was well seasoned in soy and was served atop a bed of rice with chives sprinkled on it. Definitely not your traditional negitoro by any sense but I didn't mind it and for the price, it wasn't bad at all. I would think that the topping to rice ratio could be a bit better though.
The Tendon was last to arrive and it was without a doubt the highlight of our meal. Served up just like Japan, it came with a lid so that we could move all the toppings off to get to the rice. The toppings were very considerable and I would estimate there were over 10 pieces of deep fried items including two prawns. Unlike the namban chicken, it was super crispy and we loved the additional tempura dipping sauce with grated radish.
We had a fantastic time at Yori and I cannot wait to come back and try out their other dishes, perhaps their dinner menu too.
Price Range: $25 - $35pp
Taste: 7.5/10
Value: 9/10
Service: 8.5/10
Environment: 8/10
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