According to Forbes magazine only 8% of people achieve their New Year's resolution. This seems a very small number and would suggest that either the general populations resolve is just a bit rubbish or that the average resolution is dull.
Anecdotally a straw poll of the most common resolution amongst my friends reveals a litany of trials involving the absence of alcohol, more exercise, less chocolate and weight loss. No wonder January is such a depressing month.
Well my beautiful girlfriend and I decided that this year our resolution would be about having fun and enriching our lives by doing something that we like - going out for dinner to eat delicious food. More specifically we decided that we should try food from different cultures. To that end we resolved to visit a restaurant each month of a new and interesting world cuisine.
This evening was our first dinner date. For January we decided to start with South Korean. We did not really know what to expect, thinking that it might be a fusion between Chinese and Japanese; what we experienced was infinitely better.
After some research we decided on a Korean restaurant in Station Road, Finchley Central called Yijo. It had good reviews and from the pictures on its facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/YijoKoreanBBQ looked very fun.
On arrival we were greeted by a fragrant BBQ smoky smell and a warm welcome by the staff. The menu was clear and the waitress helped us to choose our food. We opted for a couple of starters; prawn tempura and battered chicken in a sweet chilli sauce followed by barbecued rib eye steak and spicy chicken accompanied by fried rice and various pickled vegetables.
The food arrived promptly and then the BBQ pit in the centre of our table was lit. This immediately added a different dimension to our meal as we cooked the steak and chicken ourselves. The heat of the BBQ was just the ticket for a cold January night. The food was simply delicious. A fusion of spicy, chilli and sweet marinades with juicy chargrilled meat accompanied by the delicious pickled taste of onions, seaweed and potato all washed down with a bottle of white wine. The price a very reasonable £30 a head including service charge.
We had our table as long as we wanted and were greeted by the manager and then were presented with some delicious traditional ice cream desserts prepared for us by the owner and chef who also came out into the restaurant to greet us.
Yijo is a gem of a restaurant and well worth a visit to Finchley, conveniently placed next to Finchley Central station. A fantastic start to our New Years resolution. The other cuisines have a lot to live up to.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment