It’s a good bet that one isn’t in for a particularly formal dining experience when the restaurant house rules are written in 150pt on the wall, and one of them encourages you to try moonwalking on the shiny floor. We can tell the owners of YOI had big smiles on their faces when they were dreaming this place up, and they should still be grinning now the dream has been realised.

Somehow managing to be extremely laid-back yet very dynamic, Lomar Arkitekter‘s team did the business on the Stockholm venue. Directed by the food, their aesthetic is Pan-Asian, with lots of Japanese and Korean modernist flavour through unfussy seating and tables, laminate pop culture prints on the walls, and chunky text by graphics firm JVD. Regarding the food, YOI is engaged in a good-natured war with Stockholm’s burger joints, pledging to show diners that restaurant quality Asian street food is the way forward.

The hamburger diner may not be dead just yet, but YOI is an entertaining alternative that’s breathing a bit of life into the city’s restaurant scene.

Åke E:son Lindman