International Selection

3.5/5 stars

Reminiscent of Element Fresh, Gori offers a clean, light environment, very good service and a diverse menu of cuisines from around the world. Decorated in greens and browns, with live plants, wooden beams and exposed brick, the restaurant features an open kitchen and comfortable seating. The location and numerous soup, salad and sandwich options predispose the place to a lunch crowd, but the impressive number of affordable wines makes the place attractive later in the day. The list of sandwiches is appealing, although some of the choices seem awfully expensive. ¥88 for the roast beef sandwich, for example, comes out to almost US$13. But the sandwich is absolutely delicious. The bread is fresh and chewy, and it arrives bursting with slices of beef and watercress. The flavors of the smoked salmon sandwich (¥68) are held together nicely with capers, arugula and a very thin spread of creamy cheese, but the raw white onions are overwhelming. The tom yum goong (¥26) is much closer to the Malaysian-style one at Café Sambal than to any of the Thai restaurants in town, only a little spicy and packed with mushrooms. The “tomato soup risotto” (¥48) is a healthy dish made with brown rice, fresh tomato, olive and basil, but the texture is quite far from a typical risotto.

Sienna Parulis-Cook