Kiyomi
The new Asian red-hot restaurant worth the wait
Kiyomi Restaurant has opened its doors in the centre of Zagreb less than a month ago, at the beginning of August. At the time, almost everybody was at the seaside, but it was a well-thought-out move by the experienced hosting duo Bienenfeld - Nikolić, who gave their team a chance to start slowly – because today, the demand for a place at their table is already very high. Kiyomi is an Asian restaurant for evening outing, currently only open for dinner, whose concept was designed by professionals who are well-acquainted with the taste preferences of Zagreb citizens.
An impressive entrance, a spacious reception desk of the restaurant and refined smells of the interior immediately reveal that nothing was left to chance here. When entering the restaurant hall, you pass by a glass window behind which there is an open kitchen with a robata grill and a dominant bar where you can have a cocktail before and/or after dinner. The interior design of the restaurant is clean, minimalistic, but warm, with a lot of wood and pleasant, well-thought-out restaurant lighting, which includes a large illuminated cube in the central part that separates the kitchen and wine service table from the guests. Interestingly enough, the uniforms worn by the service staff are actually kimonos.
What is served?
The food they serve at Kiyomi is authentic Asian food. The menu is not too exhaustive, which is good because it is varied — with an emphasis on dim sum and Japanese robata grill.
To start, you can choose between sashimi, chirashi, temari sushi and carpaccio of scallops and toro tartare. There are also 4 types of hand rolls — tuna, Philadelphia, unagi and ebi.
There are 8 types of creative dim sums — from vegan, vegetable to meat, steamed and fried in various forms: chicken, siew mai with pork and prawns, steamed buns with BBQ pork, lobster roll, lamb vindaloo, fried rice ball with sesame... And everything is an absolute must-try!
Robata is the second forte of the restaurant. Scallops, prawns, lamb, chicken, black cod, mushrooms, pork belly, Korean beef are prepared on this specific Japanese grill — each dish with its own sauce and marinade. There are two kinds of tempuras - prawns and vegetables, three interesting vegetable side dishes, and four desserts - sticky rice with mango, homemade ice cream, banana bread with tofu ice cream and pineapple cake.
They say their wine list is intriguing, exciting and full of interesting revelations. And they're right — the selection is large, but carefully chosen to match the menu. It is a serious selection of sake and domestic and foreign wines of all types where beginners, enthusiasts and connoisseurs alike will find something for themselves.
The signature cocktail list is signed by two of Zagreb's most progressive mixologists.
What our chefs had?
Although the Delicious Zagreb team visited Kiyomi midweek, the restaurant was full, and new guests were constantly coming. The vibrant atmosphere and the bustle of guests enjoying themselves further whetted our appetite. Since we came in a small group, we decided to share dishes to try as much as possible. We started with scallop carpaccio, temari sushi, chi-rashi and tuna roll. The scallop carpaccio was beautifully delicate — served with oyster dashi and coriander oil with stir-fry mushrooms, which were delicate enough not to prevail over, but perfectly compliment the scallops. Temari sushi was a real feast for the eyes and palate, and it was served with fresh wasabi, which was the surprise of the evening. The rich chirashi was served in a square wooden box that resembled a gift full of fresh delicacies — from melt-in-your-mouth tuna to shrimp, eel, octopus, avocado, salmon... The tuna hand roll is impossible to share, which is even better — made of rice, dashi pak choi, tuna, unagi sauce, tuna tartar, black caviar — it was perfectly balanced and precise.
The next course were dim sums — Siew mai pork and prawns, Lobster Cheung Fun and Fried sesame rice ball. Siew mai is a steamed dumpling with pork and shrimp, water chestnut and shiitake mushrooms topped with tobiko caviar. Although these are foods that seemingly don’t complement each other (pork and prawns), they actually work perfectly together, making a rich and balanced bite. Lobster Cheung Fun are shrimp and lobster rice rolls with chili soy sauce that are eaten with a spoon so you can scoop up the sauce. Everyone liked this clean and precise dish at first bite. The fried sesame rice ball filled with mushrooms and beef is not the kind of dim sum you would expect, but it was fun, tasty and visually stunning.
We finished with the robata and prawn tempura. The tempura was classic, but excellent and not at all greasy. Korean marinated lamb chops, chilli butter and refreshing raita (yogurt-based dip) were just delicious. We haven’t had such tasty lamb chops in a long time; they were so soft they just melted in the mouth so we came to conclusion that the Korean marinade suits them very well. We also tried Korean beef in marinade, with kimchi and BBQ sauce — it was a complete success and an explosion of flavours.
We accompanied our dinner with French Sauvignon Blanc of Loire Valley, 'Terre de Silex' Coteaux du Giennois Blanc, Berthier 2022. It was a perfect match!
In the future, Kiyomi plans to be open for lunch; this winter, they plan to open a bar in the basement of the restaurant, and in spring a terrace in one of the most beautiful city courtyards - that of the Archaeological Museum.
