Finally, a meal worth writing about! It's been a while since I've had a good meal, and I'm delighted to share this little gem with you all. I first heard about this place roughly two years ago and had finally booked a table for two, for a girls' night out with my bestie and me at YAN restaurant, a one-hatted Asian Smokehouse located in Wolli Creek.
We arrived a little early and were shown to our table by the friendly staff. We decided to start the night with drinks and ordered a grape pisco sour ($17) for ourselves. It was refreshing and delicious, and I was not expecting the grape pulp, which added an additional layer of texture to enjoy the drink.
Once we placed our order, we waited eagerly for the dishes to arrive. The first dish that arrived was their kangaroo tartare, pickled mustard greens, eschallot, egg yolk with green Szechuan dressing ($27). The egg yolk was very fresh and contributed to creating a rich and velvety mouthfeel, enhancing the flavours and presentation.
The next dishes were their steamed barramundi, smoked soy, ginger, shallot and chilli ($32) and braised wintermelon with smoked almond cream and chilli oil ($21). We decided to dig into the steamed fish first, as it doesn't taste as good once it goes cold. The fish was soft and tender, and the classic dressing paired well to ensure you got to enjoy the full umami and sweetness of the fish without overpowering it.
As for the braised wintermelon, it was definitely a dish where the presentation was not something I was expecting when it came out and was, in fact, the most intriguing dish I had tried. Yet the flavours work in harmony, and I absolutely loved how they managed to get a smoky flavour into the wintermelon! Honestly, it turned out to be quite delicious, and I would recommend ordering this dish for its unique composition of flavours and textures.
Then enters our main dish, the smoked beef short ribs with sautéed kale and mountain pepper ($52), finally arrived. I was looking forward to this dish as you can't come to an Asian Smokehouse without trying their smoked meat dishes! The short ribs were incredibly tender, succulent and flavourful, which we ate alongside their homemade steamed buns ($3/each) like a mini sandwich. But let's not forget about the sautéed kale that accompanied the dish; it was really scrumptious!
We demolished every single dish, and even ordered dessert; however, that's when we realised mistakes were made when the coconut ice cream with coconut jelly served in a young coconut ($30) arrived on our table. It was huge! We obviously couldn't finish it as it was just too much ice cream for two very full girlies! But this ice cream was not too heavy in flavour and not overloaded with sugar, and the jelly was the perfect touch to enjoy the coconut from head to toe! Plus, the attentive staff brought out a donut with condensed milk custard ($5/each) to our table for us to celebrate an early birthday meal, which was incredibly thoughtful of them! The donut was really good and actually went well with the ice cream!
Overall, this has been my best dining experience in the year so far, and I'm already planning when I should come back with my mum so she too can enjoy the amazing and delicious experience that I had. I loved every single dish, as they were absolutely delicious and mouthwatering just thinking about the meal. Also, the staff were very friendly and attentive, plus I enjoyed their cosy and intimate atmosphere. YAN translates to smoke in Chinese, and has a branch in Sydney and Melbourne. I highly recommend booking a table at YAN for a cute date night out or just to take your family to enjoy a good meal.
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