Celebrating with John and Yoko

GTM Manila had two reasons to celebrate - Ann’s exciting new life in Prague and Francis’ bold move to take on the GTM Role. We wanted to make it a special send off for Ann and a welcome dinner for Francis, so we decided to turn one of our regular GTM meetings into a more casual dinner at John and Yoko in Greenbelt 5.

The red-and-blue-themed interior at John and Yoko greeted us, as we stroll along the 2nd floor of the new posh Greenbelt 5. The cozy interior suggests a very modern, cosmopolitan mood for a Japanese restaurant. This had been my first time to actually dine there, although I have always been a big fan of SumoSam in Shangri-la, so the menu was nothing of a surprise to me.

We were seated at a middle table that seats 4 people - talk about underestimating our appetite! The friendly staff greeted us, distributed the menu and patiently waited for us to pick our orders — but not after we asked her to take our photo!

Service was pretty efficient, despite the restaurant being packed with diners checking out and more diners coming in. Before we could even make up our minds on the entree, our starters already arrived one by one. The Tuna Sashimi came first, which was a little bit disappointing.

The fish looks like it had been defrosted and drained of water, it looked bit soggy, but it was still okay. It wasn’t rotten at all but I guess it just failed my expectations, as I was half-expecting class A tuna grade that has not gone through the freezer.

The California Roll is not as bad as it looks on the photo. It is actually one of the best California Rolls I’ve ever had in my entire life! the idea of putting a bit of kani salad on top was also great - I just love kani salad!

The Venetian Roll was also surprisingly excellent! I know it’s not real japanese maki, but I was quite impressed at how ingenious the idea is, of having sausages in my japanese rolls! I’m a big sausage fan so this is something I would definitely try doing in my kitchen one of these days.

We ordered 3 entrees (yes, we were not very hungry!). First to arrive was the Japaella. I know the photo I took would not do justice to how good this dish actually tastes . This paella is nothing like all the paellas I’ve had in my entire life. It is a bit sweet and tastes like teriyaki. There is something about this paella that I can’t just seem to dip my fingers on, but it is really good. The tiger prawns and chicken teriyaki strips on top was also very generous.

Next entree to arrive was the Beef Teppan. We preferred to have it well done but it actually arrived medium well. Due to lack of space in the table, the Beef Teppan did not attract as much attention as the Japaella did, which was sitting right smack in the center of the table. The beef was actually tender but as a dish, it wasn’t quite spectacular.

To top off the night, our last entree arrived when we were just about ready to give up on all the food on the table. Nits highly recommended that we try the Salmon in mild Wasabi Cream and it came in last. When the dish arrived, I thought it actually looked quite sloppily prepared. The salmon was too small and it looks as though it was swimming in a pool of white wasabi cream sauce. However, my hesitation disappeared when I took my first bite. It was very good! I just had to take a 2nd bite… and then a 3rd and so on.

Overall, my dining experience at John and Yoko was fabulous! I loved the ambience, it was busy but relaxed in a peculiar way. It was also a perfect place to have conversation with people. The noise and music was just loud enough to actually accommodate groups who love to exchange stories.

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Parking: Php 30-45.00 for the first 2-3 hours
Dress Code: Casual

John and Yoko
2nd Floor Greenbelt 5
Legaspi Street
Makati City
Tel No: +63 2 729-8698