Im happy that we went on a food trip and visit at John and Yoko restaurant in UP Town Center in Katipunan ave. The venue is so far away from my place but my travel there is very worth it. So after a visit in Eastwood City, I met my friends here in John and Yoko on a scheduled food trip to try their food.
Its weird for me to join in a food trip just to learn about the resto’ s food. I told my friends that Im a big fan of this restaurant and we always dine in at their branch in Greenbelt 5 and in Alabang. It’s the only branch that is near from the South.
But I noticed that John and Yoko in Greenbelt 5 already changed its restaurant interiors and displays, then I learned that they also changed their menu. Im not sure if all branches are affected but I have dibs from the manager of the branch at Katipunan that they too will absorb the new changes soon.
I don’t know if Im going to be a happy foodie or a sad foodie. Because changing the interiors or menu of the resto might affect the customer’s dining experience, especially to those old fans and followers of John and Yoko.
But I’m more game to their plans for change, maybe its better for them or maybe it’s a restaurant owner’s decision to attract more new fans to patronize their food.. Or is it a millennial thing ? haha
Here in UP Town Center’s branch of John and Yoko restaurant revealed to me that they are the 1st franchise of the restaurant. I was so afraid when I learned about it, because there are some horror stories that franchise restaurant doesn’t meet the quality taste of their mother ship.
But my thoughts are wrong and I have tried and tasted that John and Yoko’s branch in UP Town Center is much more good!! perform better in service and serve a good quality of food just like their mother ship. As expected..its really good and the only proof of it is that the positive reviews posted on their Facebook page.
Ang galeng!
The interiors and display here are much different, they showed some steam punk style on the wall and not the same set up and display like from the Greenbelt 5 branch, which is more Japanized with lots of Samurai warriors and Geisha faces on their chairs and walls. I even remember that Greenbelt 5 branches plays the classic movie 7 samurai and Hidden Fortress movies on a projected screen.
Here in their Katipunan branch, it’s a more relaxed kind of feeling. No distractions and no other fancy gimmicks.
Even that Im a frequent visitor of a John and Yoko restaurant, having a dining experience with a franchised version is exciting and gives you a different and new experience.
Here’s their menu
If you plan to eat solo here in John and Yoko, I suggest bring a PHP 500 budget and that’s good enough to buy you some good Japanese food.
Ted invited PH Wushu queen Janice Hung to dine with us and do a group food feature of the restaurant. You can check out her Youtube show at https://www.youtube.com/c/janicehung
Group food trip with these cool online content producers
John of www.kumagcow.com
Ted of www.wazzup.ph
Enzo of www.juanmanilaexpress.com
and with Janice Hung of https://www.youtube.com/c/janicehung
So here’s the food that I’ve encountered that night.
For me our dining table just become a parade of food by John and Yoko.
Im surprised that the taste and quality didn’t changed. Its better in taste and the service is faster.
Crunchy tuna roll
PHP 278
Whenever I see this roll, it reminds me of my wife Lace. haha.
She always order this and also a kind of food she wants as a pasalubong.
The thing that I like on this roll is that the spice level and crunch of the inside of the roll.
Im not a tuna sashimi fan, but a crunchy tuna roll made me love their kind.
California roll
PHP 228
The ever favorite roll of any Japanese restaurant. I super love the overflowing kani meat on top.
Best served always with a soy sauce plus wasabi.
Cheese fried maki
PHP 278
The melting cheese inside will give you a nice trip
Spicy Tuna Salad
PHP 298
Salad with spice and tuna sashimi. Is always the 1st to munch in before diving to your Japanese sashimi or roll.
Tofu steak
PHP 298
Sizzling tofu steak with some mushrooms
Ika Fritters
PHP 248
Best ulam with your Japanese fried rice. I enjoyed eating this, I expect that the squid is hard to chew, but this one is crunchy and tasty.
Sukiyaki
PHP 498
When a hot bowl of sukiyaki landed on our table, it was like the star of the night!
The bowl didn’t even lasted for 15 minutes…. ubos!
I’ve tasted many kinds of sukiyaki and I can say that John and Yoko serves the best ever kind of sukiyaki.
Chicken Teriyaki and mango pizza
PHP 338
I don’t have plans to eat a pizza that night, because this is a resto that serves Japanese food, but I later learned that it’s a special kind of pizza that fuses the East and West.
The pizza is good!! tasty, smokey and sweet because of the mango fruit. If people thought that a California maki will fail during its first appearance on our table years ago… I was like one of them people who judged it badly, but after tasting the food, it was like we saw an explosion in the sky and gates of heaven opened.
LOL, masyado mabigat to describe, but that was I how I felt.
Japanese fried rice
PHP 168 - cup
PHP 328 - bowl, good for 2-3 persons
Nothing beats….
always good.
Tribeca salmon
PHP 458
Ebi Tempura (5pcs)
PHP 398
Minced pork chili soba
PHP 288
My new fave of the night…. thanks to John and Yoko for introducing this to me. Its funny that I don’t have a Gyudon bowl on my table, but this soba replaces my long time fave.
Yakiniku Pork Loin
PHP 389
Here’s John and Yoko’s take on serving a Korean style for their yakiniku. They introduced this concept by fusing Korean and Japanese food.
The only thing it lack is a plenty of Korean lettuce. I super enjoyed this by dipping the meat into that chili sauce and followed by bites of Korean condiments.
John and Yoko restaurant in UP Town Center in Katipunan didn’t disappoint me. Its too far from my location but now I have a 2nd reason to visit the place whenever Im there.
The resto is always full at night, so I suggest dine there at an early time of 6pm if you plan to eat dinner.
Check out the resto’s FB page for more announcement of promo:
JOHN AND YOKO UP TOWN CENTER BRANCH
https://www.facebook.com/johnandyokoUPTC/
