Have you ever found yourself in an illicit affair with a restaurant?
Whenever I head out for dinner right now, which I tend to do maybe once or twice a fortnight, I find my thoughts wander, thinking back to another sumptuous feast, drifting away from what sits on the table before me.
It’s not that what I have eaten since hasn’t been as good – I quite regularly find myself falling in love with whichever meal last passed my lips, particularly when it’s served somewhere I haven’t been before. It’s just that this particular one was so good and, for me, so different, that I would quite readily go back for seconds instead of whatever fresh culinary delight might await elsewhere.
The restaurant is Yorokobi by CJ on Huntly Street. My partner’s mum and dad had been on a cruise around Japan and, following several weeks of WhatsApped photos of sushi and Japanese dishes, we decided we were feeling a bit left out. A few of my pals had recommended CJ’s food when he ran Chef Jang’s takeaway in Aberdeen Market, and a few more had raved about it since the move to Huntly Street.
The Saturday night before the in-laws returned from Kobe, we got ourselves “out on the toon” with the idea of getting a little even, before being greeted with more photos of delicate plates from Yokohama, Kochi and Osaka. What I hadn’t imagined was that I was about to sit down and have what has probably been the best food I’ve eaten in Aberdeen over the past few years.
You see, I’ve never really eaten much sushi. What I have eaten was restricted to a curious, chanced try in a few restaurants over the years: a pinched taste from a mate’s plate, or from one of those supermarket ready meals.
I’m usually willing to try new things; I approach food with an open mind. But, I was probably in two minds, at best, about whether I would really, really enjoy the meal as much as I do a reliable favourite, like pizza.
Boy, was I wrong. I ate rapidly, and practically until I burst. I could hardly get the food into my face quickly enough: it was undignified, ungraceful and absolutely gorgeous.
I’d go back next Saturday night. And probably the next couple after that
The atmosphere was quite delightful. The restaurant was busy, and we were lucky we’d reserved a few days before, as the queue was out the door by 8pm.
It’s the type of place you could imagine existing in a hip suburb of a big city, like New York or Paris. I imagined that half the patrons were brand new visitors, and the other half were hardcore, oft-returners – already initiated, already enchanted, already dealing with the romance I now find myself in. Quite unable to prise themselves away.
The menu is vast and, for the sushi inexperienced like me, resembles a “choose your own adventure” story. The staff and my partner helped me pick my way through the lists and then, sometime later, the small mountain of food I had ordered arrived. It was all beautiful.
The tuna sashimi: MY GOD. One of the most perfect things I’ve ever eaten, and I unfortunately had to restrain myself as the other half was actually the one who ordered it.
I munched my way through goroke, a kind of pumpkin croquette, and gyoza for starters. Then into more sashimi, maki and nigiri with varieties of tuna, salmon and crab. Tender beef bulgoki for a main, a side of Korean barbecue chicken, and then sake.
The only disappointment was how quickly it was all over, and I only have myself to blame for that. By the end, I felt like I’d been washed up on a beach, bloated and freed from the sea. You could have stuck a fork in me, because I was done.
Since then, I’ve been out for a few meals, and even more sushi, in another hip Aberdeen restaurant with a rotating menu. That was good, but Yorokobi was brilliant. Incredibly tasty, unpretentious, well cooked and simply presented good food – absolutely magic.
I’d go back next Saturday night. And probably the next couple after that. If you need a reason to go into Aberdeen city centre any time soon, this is it. And if, like me, you find yourself falling for it, just give in and go back.
Colin Farquhar is former head of cinema operations for Belmont Filmhouse in Aberdeen
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