John and Yoko: Christ, You Know It Ain’t Easy!

First of all, I just love that line “Christ, you know it ain’t easy!”  It probably doesn’t have anything that’s remotely related to food.  So why did I put that line?  It’s from an old Beatles song called “The Ballad of John and Yoko.”  The concept should be a dead give-away, even to non-Beatles fans, that a restaurant named “John and Yoko Cosmopolitan Japanese” is influenced by both Western (John Lennon) and Eastern cuisine (Yoko Ono).

So another Japanese restaurant?  Do I really love Japanese food that much?  I mean, pretty soon my eyes will shrink to slits. Oh right… That can’t happen.  But no, this was not my choice.  This was actually the first reunion I had with my ex-colleagues from the #2 Playa’s since I left about a year ago. So here’s how it went.

Apparently, John and Yoko has the same owner as Sumosam.  He’s supposed to be some actor I’ve never heard of and most likely have never seen.  Basically, John and Yoko is a spruced up version of Sumosam, with some differences¹.

We went with the platter route today and got the Star Victory, a sampler of their sushis and sashimis.  Suffice to say, this was just OK for me.  I don’t eat sushi that much, but nothing really blew my mind².  For 800 bucks, I’d say I’d rather “save up my money for a rainy day and give all my clothes to charity.”

Keeping with the platter route³, we ordered another platter for the dinner, which should be good for about 4-6 people.  We were 3⁴ people eating for 6.  We got the There Goes My Diet platter which came with Gyoza, Chicken Teriyaki, Dynamite Roll sushi, Assorted Tempura, All Meat Fried Rice, Bacon Enoki, Tuna Sashimi, and Beef Yakitori.

First, the Gyoza was actually a bit of a let-down really, but not exactly terrible.  A bit soggy and less filling than what I had hoped.  But let’s assume that the coating was good and the meat was filled sufficiently, it’s still a pretty ordinary gyoza.  I wouldn’t pay the P230 that they charge for this.

As for the Tuna Sashimi and the Dynamite Sushi Roll, it made me wish we hadn’t ordered the Star Victory because it was pretty much the same.  Still, my 2 ex-colleagues didn’t seem to mind, which should be a plus.

The Chicken Teriyaki was well… Chicken Teriyaki.  Again nothing special.  Presentation was nice though, didn’t look like “two guru’s in drag.”

The Assorted Tempura was anything but assorted.  Just call it for what is: Ebi Tempura.  I love tempura and their’s is pretty average.  Just a bit small on the shrimp.

Now, I’ve said my piece on rice and great rice.  Japanese fried rice is usually one of the things I look forward to when eating in Japanese restaurants.  Let’s just say that I hated their All Meat Fried Rice.  Here’s the thing.  I take a bite, first thing that pops up was “Hm, this is OK. Not bad.”  Then I taste this spam-tasting meat, which made me silently go “WTF?”  Don’t get my wrong, I love spam, just not with Japanese Fried Rice. Just did not work.

The Bacon Enoki was great.  OK, I’m lying.  I can’t even remember if this was good or not.  It’s enoki mushrooms, wrapped in bacon…  So it probably tastes like bacon.  But like I said, I can’t remember.  Cheers to memorable dishes! *koff*

Last dish of the platter was the Beef Yakitori.  I admit to being disappointed here.  A bit too sweet for me, although I can’t take it against them for this.  My problem was really the toughness of the beef.  I would’ve liked either a better cut of beef or a cooked a bit rarer.  Both would’ve been nice, but I would’ve been fine with just 1 of 2.

I distinctly remember that I was happier with my meal in Sumosam a few years back.  But we’re not in Sumosam.  I hadn’t really noticed the fusion or the Western influence in the cooking but, to be fair to them, I think it was more of the dishes that we ordered.  There are some items like a Japanese-influenced paella that seems interesting.  Foie gras dishes should be nice as well.  You might want to give those a shot, but I can’t attest for the quality.

Christ, you know it ain’t easy.

You know how hard it could be.

The way things are going,

They’re gonna crucify me.

John and Yoko: Christ, You Know It Ain’t Easy! 2011-11-25

irst of all, I just love that line “Christ, you know it ain’t easy!”  It probably doesn’t have anything that’s remotely related to food.  So why did I put that line?  It’s from an old Beatles song called “The Ballad of John and Yoko.”  The concept should be a dead give-away, even to non-Beatles fans, …