A few weeks ago on a rainy winter evening, we ventured to try Kitchen by Yugo on Denman Street in Vancouver. Touted as a Japanese restaurants infused with French influences, we prepared ourselves for a richly flavoured meal. 

We wanted to save our appetite to try the specials from the kitchen, and so we skipped the sashimi and nigiri and ordered items from the appetizer and kitchen menu. 

To start, we shared five pieces of the King Salmon Gratiné. Avocado, tempura flakes and tamago are rolled in soy paper and topped with a generous helping of spicy salmon tartar, with chipotle sauce to top it all off. True to the characteristics of French cuisine, each bite packs flavour and crunch, as well as plenty of sauce. 

For our mains we had the Gindara and Carbonara Udon, so we could try both lighter and more flavourful options. Marinated in maple syrup and soy sauce and topped with a parmesan foam, the fish was finished to just the right texture and temperature, giving it definition without being overly soft. While we found the fried soba noodles to be a bit heavy-handed with the salt, overall the dish presented a good balance of flavour.

The Carbonara was rich and intense as we expected, and the poached egg provided a unique creamy texture as opposed to the originally recipe where the egg would already be part of the Carbonara sauce. 

Unfortunately it was quite late in the evening and we didn't have room left for dessert, but overall Restaurant Yugo features some tasty options to experience Japanese-French fusion, worth stopping by to try the creative dishes offered!

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Restaurant Yugo
792 Denman Street, Vancouver