Located at: Cinnamon Life, 02 Glennie Street, Colombo 02, Sri Lanka

Visited on: 1st March, 2025

Flavours. That was our talking point at Yoroko.

Cinnamon Life’s Japanese restaurant certainly knows a thing or two about creating amazing flavours!

Firstly, though, here are the beverages we tried. Hibana (LKR 2,800) was one of two ‘zero proof cocktails’ (aka mocktails) on their beverage menu. It’s a concoction of chamomile, mango, hot honey and pomelo shrub. There was something earthy about it, while it was also refreshing. A very interesting and unique flavour profile that was quite unlike most mocktails. Their Komorebi signature cocktail (LKR 3,500) had been put together with fig and plum rye whiskey, miso, sake, bitters and Singleton 12. Sounds strong? Apparently, it was.

Yoroko’s Wakame Salad (LKR 4,000) was fantastic. It was a texturally and visually brilliant combination of red algae, green algae, nori, avocado, fresh lettuce, cherry tomato halves and sesame seeds. The menu description mentioned a sesame dressing as well as nori salt. I’m not sure what it was, but the dressing on the salad was something else. Had I been at home, I would definitely have licked the bowl clean.

We tried their Dragon Maki (LKR 4,000), which is apparently one of their best-sellers. And we understood why as soon as we consumed one of the eight sizeable rolls that come in the portion. To begin with, the presentation was on point – arranged like a dragon, and pepped up with a touch of edible gold atop each piece. Taste-wise, it was top-notch. The combination of prawn tempura, avocado, a dash of creamy sauce, a slight pop from the tobiko caviar, all held together with perfectly seasoned sticky rice was perfect. What made it even better was the teriyaki sauce that had been drizzled onto the dish. Good stuff. There was no need for soy sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger or anything of the sort.

From their grilled skewers, we tried two preparations of Tiger Prawn (LKR 3,000 each) – one with Shiro Goma Sauce, a white sesame sauce with green onion and sansho salt, and one with Spicy Miso, a sweet and spicy miso sauce with chilli, bonito flakes and fried onion. It’s hard to say that one was better than the other, for they were both mouth-wateringly good. Sure, the seafood was well-marinated, but it was the sauces that made all the difference. The Shiro Goma sauce had an umami-ness to it that was enhanced by the sansho salt. The onion added a nice bit of texture to the dish – just as the bonito and fried onion did for the tiger prawn with Spicy Miso. This sauce had a slight hit of heat to it and, I’d say, was a little more inclined towards teasing the local palate. Again, excellent.

By this point, we would have gladly tried any sauce that Yoroko put on the table, and it was no different with our selection of Chicken Yakimono (LKR 2,500) from their mains menu. The perfect cook on the chicken was beautifully complemented by what the menu defined as umeboshi brown butter and yakitori sauce. Like I said, it didn’t matter what was in it, their sauces were great. Period. Oh, and then there was the pickled onion garnish, which one might be inclined to overlook, but would be missing out on another level of flavour and texture if one did. Clearly, their attention to detail is tip-top.

We also tried their Grilled Pork Chop Shogayaki (LKR 4,800). This meat, too, was perfectly cooked, and I was glad to find that it had been ridden of its fat. I apologise if I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but that tonkatsu wasabi sauce was excellent. As with the wakame salad sauce, I would have licked the plate clean had I been at home. The bit of coleslaw was a perfect accompaniment to it. As if all of this wouldn’t have been enough to impress, there was also the slightly theatrical element of the ‘swaying’ bonito flakes (or katsuobushi, paper-like fermented skipjack tuna flakes that move around in response to the heat given off from the food). Another faultless dish.

We ordered a portion of Sticky Rice (LKR 1,000) on the side to bring all of these dishes, with their incredible flavours, together.

Finally, we tried two of the three desserts that were on Yoroko’s menu. The first was their Matcha Frozen Mousse (LKR 2,100) which came on a bed of chocolate soil and had a chocolate almond streusel disc on top. The umeshu chocolate liquor came separately and was poured over the dessert at the table. I have to admit, I’m no matcha fan, but this mousse was great – lovely texture, and a subtle matcha flavour that did not overwhelm. While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, I was quite happy about the fact that both the chocolate soil and the chocolate liquor were not sweet. In fact, they were a bit on the bitter side – which works well for me, given that I like dark chocolate. The chocolate almond disc gave the dessert an element of sweetness that sort of roped it all together.

The second dessert we tried was their Black Sesame Namelaka (LKR 2,100), which is essentially a smooth, creamy, softly set ganache dessert. It was good, too. An interesting flavour, laced with sweetness, topped with coconut cream, and casually contrasted by the three miso-candied cashew nuts that sat on top.

Overall, our visit to Yoroko was an exceptional culinary experience – and one that was definitely worth trying.

Yummy Rating: 4.5 / 5.0