Yoli Restaurant, Bend OR

One of the things that I really miss about living in the Washington DC area (and Montgomery County MD in particular) is the abundance of really great Korean restaurants. Korean food is one of my great favorites: I love the bold spice, the dankness of fermented ingredients, and the non-fussiness of the cuisine.

We spent the last four years in McMinnville OR, and while there are excellent Korean restaurants 45-50 minutes away in Beaverton, there was nothing down our way in wine country. Similarly, until now, there have been no Korean restaurants in Bend to which we relocated in February. Soon after moving here, we started seeing the social media campaign for a forthcoming Korean restaurant named Yoli. After many trials, the restaurant finally opened in early June and four of us went on the first night to sample the menu.

Kimchi Stew, Kimchi Jjigae

Korean Fried Cauliflower

Yukhoe: Beef Tartare with Asian Pear and Sesame Oil

Various Banchan

Dolsot Bibimbap

Chicken Ssam

Gaji: Eggplant with Tteokbokki

Kalbi: Boneless Short Rib

Sesame Cake

Panna Cotta

For hardcore Korean food fans, the food is a bit Americanized, but I like certain bits of the fusion aspect, especially the playful panna cotta and the kimchi pâtes de fruit brought with the check. The spice level is mild because the chef is not really into spicy food. Some dishes were more successful (beef tartare and the eggplant with tteokbokki) and some were less successful (kimchi jigae and sesame cake), but on the whole, we had an enjoyable evening. On balance, it is wonderful to have some place here in Bend to get our Korean food fix.