In the modern world of influencers and tastemakers, it often feels as if the scales have tipped heavily toward style and away from substance. Perception consistently wins over reality.
Yuji Modern Japanese, a new restaurant created by Alex Kinjo, stands out because its good looks are more than skin-deep. It has the ambience and prominent location on the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail that would make it a success even if the food were mediocre, but there’s a delicious wagyu steak behind the sizzle.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
When I reviewed the last restaurant Kinjo opened, Yakitori Kona, I marveled at his ability to spin a great cocktail bar out of such a tiny, strange space. The drinks and vibes at the little restaurant were excellent, and the food was exciting, even though Kona doesn‘t have a real kitchen.
Yuji faces no such limitations; from the elaborate outdoor bar beckoning the Beltline hordes to the decadent sushi rolls, Yuji feels fully unrestrained.
“This is the one,” Kinjo said, adding that Yuji is the most important restaurant with which he’s been involved since the original MF Sushi.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Diners enter Yuji through a 6,000-square-foot covered patio at the corner of the new Junction Krog District building.
With a huge exterior bar as its focal point, Kinjo said the patio will function almost as a separate restaurant, with modified food and cocktail menus. A large, garage door-style window next to Yuji’s main entrance soon will open, with a separate kitchen staff serving walk-up customers and patio diners.
Yuji’s interior is bright, wrapped in glass and features light wood. The attention to detail is apparent in everything that diners touch, from the chopsticks to the neat, wooden menu covers, laser-cut so the wooden face folds back like paper.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
James Wampler, the beverage director for Kinjo Enterprise, oversees the drinks at Yuji and has several hits on the short cocktail list.
The Yuji highball, a refreshing version of a Japanese whisky and soda with bright tartness of clarified lemon and lemongrass, stands out for its subtlety. It goes down almost too easily for a $22 cocktail. The desert rose is a visually striking take on a margarita, served in a coupe glass with a vivid lilac color, thanks to a hibiscus-raspberry shrub.
The food at Yuji has a wide range of prices, from the $10 carrot ginger salad (which is big enough to be an entree if you choose to add a protein) to the 10-ounce umami wagyu steak at $300. However, that same beef is available in nigiri form at market price; I ordered one of the beefy, buttery pieces for $28.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Everything I tried at Yuji was good, but a few dishes stood out.
The snow crab and calamari karaage (mostly fried calamari) had an incredibly flavorful, heavily seasoned breading that took this familiar dish to impressive heights.
The American wagyu steak was small but mighty, with the unmistakable richness of well-marbled beef.
The king salmon nigiri, easily identifiable by its uncommonly vivid red color, was almost as buttery as the wagyu and more tender.
The miso black cod, with its beautifully crisp skin, might be better than the famous dish at Nobu.
The most impressive culinary achievement, though, was a dish simply called Japanese roasted vegetables. It had been removed from the menu on my second visit, but Kinjo said it would be coming back. One of the components was a beet “steak” that was the best vegetarian meat substitute I’ve ever tried.
Through some alchemy of shredding, roasting and compressing the beets, the end product is almost like a good pot roast or ropa vieja. It shreds apart and has a richness that’s very close to that of tender, braised beef. It was the rare dish that provided real surprise and equal delight.
Kinjo pours himself into his projects, bringing to each one an obsessive attention to detail. He’s also supremely confident in his sense of taste as well as his creative faculties.
“What I do, money cannot buy,” he said.
The restaurant was inspired, Kinjo said, by the Japanese commitment to craftsmanship, found especially in Kyoto.
That strength of vision gives Yuji a broad appeal beyond its prime location, impressive architecture and great food, cocktails, ambience and service. Beneath the beauty and the buzz, there’s a soul.
YUJI MODERN JAPANESE
3 out of 4 stars (excellent)
Food: modern Japanese
Service: excellent
Noise level: energetic; can become loud
Recommended dishes: tuna tartare, otoro spoons, blistered shishito peppers, snow crab and calamari karaage, surf and turf roll, crispy spicy tuna box, crispy spicy salmon box, Yuji roll, lobster salmon roll, Kyoto roll, carrot ginger salad, American wagyu flat iron, miso black cod, king salmon nigiri, otoro nigiri, umami wagyu nigiri
Vegetarian dishes: miso hummus, edamame, blistered shishito peppers, vegetarian gyoza, miso soup, veggie roll, carrot ginger salad
Alcohol: full bar with a nice selection of sake
Average price range: $50-$200 per person, excluding drinks
Hours: open daily for lunch, 11:30 a.m.-2:15 p.m.; dinner, 5-10 p.m. Mondays, 5-10:45 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 5-11:15 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 5-9:45 p.m. Sundays
Accessibility: fully ADA-compliant, with ground-level entrance and movable tables
Parking: paid deck
MARTA: three-quarters of a mile from King Memorial and Inman Park/Reynoldstown stations
Reservations: recommended; available through Resy
Outdoor dining: yes, covered patio
Takeout: yes
Address, phone: 667 Auburn Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-228-2257
Website: instagram.com/yujiatlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s dining critics conduct reviews anonymously. Reservations are not made in their name, nor do they provide restaurants with advance notice about their visits. Our critics always make multiple visits, sample the full range of the menu and pay for all of their meals. AJC dining critics wait at least one month after a new restaurant has opened before visiting.
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