Yezi
A modern place for Pan-Asian food lovers
The newly opened YEZI Restaurant and Bar in Amruševa Street in the centre of Zagreb is located within the recently opened art'otel hotel. It's the perfect place for modern Pan-Asian food enthusiasts, inspired by the traditional Asian style. This unique concept in Zagreb celebrates Asian cuisine through the art of dim sum, mixology and a wide range of the world's highest quality teas and desserts.
Yezi is a restaurant with a contemporary interior with large glass windows, dominated by dark shades in combination with sophisticated metal details. A special artistic atmosphere is owed to the exhibited original works of the renowned Croatian artist Boris Bućan. The brigade de cuisine is led by the acclaimed London Group Executive Chef Werner Seebach with the support of the Croatian chef Dino Knežević, the restaurant's head chef.
The entire staff is extremely pleasant and happy to talk to guests; we were even told the news about the upcoming opening of their own pastry shop and specialty coffee bar near the restaurant, which in the evening will be a place for various guided wine and fine alcohol tastings.
What is served
The menu at Yezi Restaurant comprises a range of diverse and innovative Pan-Asian dishes – from a wide selection of dim sum, sashimi salads, wok dishes to grilled and oven dishes inspired by Asian gastronomy. An intriguing menu abundant in fish, meat and vegetarian dishes allows guests to create their own Yezi experience, but also offers 2 tasting menu options for a minimum of 2 people.
Yezi bar's creative cocktail menu is inspired by the Asian philosophy of five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water, and offers 6 signature cocktails, 7 cocktails that alternate daily, but also 25 cocktail classics that are not listed on the menu, but are served at the suggestion of the waiter. The extensive wine list offers well-known sparkling, white, rose, orange, red and dessert wines from all over Croatia, as well as an exquisite import selection with an emphasis on Italian and French wines. For serious connoisseurs, there is also a selection called Prestige wines, as well as a unique selection of sake and sparkling sake.
Yezi restaurant and bar is open from Monday to Sunday from 12:00 to 23:00. The bar also offers a special selection of bar food, and on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, a DJ is there to make a special atmosphere. Reservations are mandatory, especially at weekends, because in a short time Yezi has become a hot spot in Zagreb's restaurant scene.
What our chefs had
For lunch, the Delicious Zagreb team tasted 4 dishes suggested by chef Seebach, followed by the signature cocktails Yezi Negroni and Smoke & Burn, a smoked cocktail based on Mezcal with wood bitters, which perfectly accompanied the food. Salad of daikon, red pepper and avocado with a sesame cracker in the shape of a tea leaf (yezi in Chinese means a tea leaf) with a spicy sauce (vegan dish) seduces with its innovative presentation and introduces perfectly the Yezi philosophy. This was followed by a refreshing sashimi salad of flawlessly grilled tuna in ponzu sauce with apple, mustard and sesame. Rainbow Ravioli with seafood has already become a signature dish, because of its unique appearance in the rainbow spectrum, but also because of the perfectly creamy texture of the seafood. Ravioli stuffed with lobster, crab and prawns in a masterfully balanced citrus sauce of yuzu and butter with the addition of caviar definitely confirmed that the Yezi menu brims with intriguing Asian flavours. We wrapped up the lunch with a pear-shaped dessert, which consists of cream parfait and pear compote enveloped in white chocolate on a crispy rice cracker. The different textures of the pear in this light and just sweet enough dessert once again proved that Yezi takes every element of its offer as seriously as possible.
