Last weekend I have been visited by a friend from Norway. It was a little bit spur-of-the-moment, but as both she and I have needed some girl-time, and we both have a limited supply of female friends (women are terribly hard to get along with, I have no idea how most men manage!), it made perfect sense to have her call me early in the week and ask if I were going to be available, and then just drop by. For the record, I do so much love living in the globalised world – years ago this sort of thing would not be possible, except maybe to the super-rich (which neither one of us is).
Since we had a couple of evenings, we split the food ideas evenly between a dinner cooked by yours truly (photo and recipe to follow in a separate post), and going out to a very nice place in Liverpool One called Yee Rah, which is a sort of an oriental-fusion food restaurant, very modern, and with a fantastic ambience that I had wanted to try for a while, but never had the occasion to. The hall itself is designed in muted shades of natural green and brown, reminiscent of a tropical rain forest in palette. It is double-level (ground and upper), comfortable, and softly lit, providing a very relaxing atmosphere. The kitchen is open, and an array of food at various stages of preparation is displayed under lights to anyone passing through. I must say, though we did not end up having dessert in the end, those made us salivate even as we walked by.
We were greeted promptly, offered a window table overlooking Chavasse Park, and most importantly, the servers neither abandoned us, nor hovered, but were rather responsive to a raised hand and eye contact, the way too few restaurant staff seem to know to look for these days. I give the staff full marks for exemplary service.
Regarding the food – we ate one of the Tapas platters, the one including squid rings, which was both, generous in size, and incredibly good (the pork spare ribs are to die for!). Then I had Beef Teriyaki, and Hanne – a Koreah-spiced breast of duck. Having tried each other’s food, I have to say I preferred the duck. Hanne did, too – it was warmly spiced and not too sweet, as well as incredibly tender, and I’d order it next time I go there! The beef was also very decent, despite the sauce being a touch too salty for my preference. Portions were generous, and presentation beautiful, despite it being a busy Friday evening (which I can imagine is hell in restaurant kitchens).
The cocktail menu was short but well-chosen, and though it didn’t have a Margarita listed, it was furnished complete with properly salted glass on my request.
Unfortunately, I have no photos. All I can say for myself is that we were too busy eating, talking and enjoying ourselves to remember to snap pictures before wolfing the food down.
In short, I would gladly recommend this to anyone who wants a classy and stressless evening out, without it being overly formal or stuffy. For the price-conscious – while the price of food and cocktails is not cheap, it is certainly not unreasonable. For us, a large shared starter platter, a hot drink, main entree off the “Grill” section, and a cocktail ran to about £60 total for two (not including tip, which had been richly deserved, as we had a wonderful time!).
