Yori Oki Sushi & Grill
Where: Ballito Lifestyle Centre, Main Road, Ballito
Open: Monday to Thursday 11am to 9pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 10pm.
Call: 087 711 2001
I’d been hearing good reports about a Japanese tapas bar that had opened in the Lifestyle Centre in Ballito. Many had not been able to pronounce it, with suggestions like Your Oke to Norioke to Yoki Ori, but all said the food was interesting and worth the trip.
So I met the advocate, and my bridge partner, for lunch out there over the holiday season.
It was packed. Yori Oki occupies a thin narrow strip between two much bigger restaurants. The decor has a modern yet comfortable feel and the service is friendly. No, there were no tables available, but we were welcome to sit at the bar. We were happy watching the mixologists at work, fixing up a variety of pink, blue and red concoctions. Our GnTs certainly looked tame by comparison.
According to the menu, the name means greater than, presumably the idea that the food is greater than the sum of its parts. Even its ambience aims to be greater than the small space. It attempts to honour the art of Japanese sushi as well as offer contemporary Japanese fusion.
There’s certainly plenty of interest here on an extensive menu that covers Mamezara or small dishes, Robatayaki or flame grilled skewers, ramen noodle dishes, dim sum, as well as mains and a whole section of accompaniments.
Tapas plates include the likes of crispy salmon skins, miso glazed eggplant, creamy corn and crab croquettes, as well as salt and pepper squid, tempura prawns and tuna bites. There’s miso soup, edamame beans and crispy tofu, which was probably the only thing on the menu that filled me with dread ‒ although biltong tempura was pushing it.
I opted to try the tempura soft shell crab (R125), which was a whole crab fried in a tempura batter and served with a lovely spicy dipping mayo. It was a treat. I also tucked into what was called “abokado crunch” (R65) ‒ slices of avo in a panko crumb and deep fried, not enough to destroy the avo, but enough to crisp the crumb. A bit like baked Alaska I suppose. These were refreshingly tasty little morsels dipped in a ponzu (citrus and soy) dipping sauce.
The advocate liked the sushi menu, which includes all the usual stuff as well as a significant selection of signature sushi. These might include the likes of seared wagyu or barbecue eel, as well as crab meat and black truffle. There’s also a number of loaded options. The advocate went for the deluxe roses (R80), which were topped with spicy mayo, tempura crumbs, spring onion, sesame seeds and caviar. He approved.
In between our mains we ordered the prawn nikuman (R85) from the dim sum menu. These are steamed buns filled with prawns, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo, cilantro and sesame seeds, which were good with lovely fresh flavours. They also came with more of that ponzu dipping sauce. But if we’d wanted bao buns, the pork belly sriracha and peanuts option sounded good, while next time I’ll try the veg wontons with shiitake mushrooms, bamboo, ginger and cilantro.
Mains might include kingklip, Norwegian salmon or a tuna steak. There’s a 200g wagyu ribeye for R650 and and 250g for R850 if you’re feeling flush. The advocate went for the lobster roll (R195), which was crayfish and prawns in a smokey paprika mayo. It was a generous portion, with good flavours and was served with decent fries.
I wanted to try the flame grilled skewers, or robatayaki or “fireside cooking”. I suppose you could call it a Japanese braai. Here options included sweetcorn, pork belly, kingklip, king prawns, salmon, or even chicken wings. I opted for the lamb loin chops (R135), which were deboned and skewered and rolled in miso butter and maldon salt. Delicious.
I moaned recently about how boring local desserts were. Well, here from a small selection there was mochi (Japanese rice cakes) filled with fresh fruit and ice-cream, or deep fried oreos with vanilla milk. We both went for the yuzu sorbet (R65), which was served in a lemon. Yuzu is an Asian citrus fruit originally from Korea, but which has become associated with Japanese cooking. It’s shaped like an orange but is knobbly, has the colour of a lemon and tastes a bit like a cross between a lemon, lime and grapefruit. On a hot afternoon it was beautifully refreshing
Food: 4
Service: 3 ½
Ambience: 4
The Bill: R1 138, which included a service charge.
The Independent on Saturday