Technically speaking, The Sage is not really a food explorer. Our weekend dining options are very limited.
But for some magical reasons, she did want to try something new this time around, and maybe because this resto is just a few steps away from one of the weekly food destinations that's why we decided to try it out.
Nope, that's not a teapot - that's the soy sauce bottle. My curious nose confirmed it. Hehe.
On w/ the food!
From the left, that dish is called
Pepper Crusted Chicken with Seaweed Butter. To its right is some Fish and Chips. And the one on the center top is Seafood Yakisoba. (And on the bottom left is my lousy plate, hehe). Each one is good enough for two.
Now, let's dig in to them one by one.
First up, some appetizers - Fish and Chips. It's actually a huge chunk of deep fried white fish fillet with some french fries, along with some thinly shredded cabbage (I'll pass that as a "coleslaw" though not exactly the way I was accustomed w/). It came w/ a tartar sauce, some salad dressing for the shredded cabbage (that makes it a coleslaw now) and a slice of lemon, everything served on a dripping tray from frying (still w/ a plate underneath, of course.)
The perfect fried fish fillet should be crispy on the outside but flaky on the inside - exactly what this is. The crispy crust, when sliced, reveals a very soft white fish fillet on the inside that literally crumbles on its own. If you find that fish too soft to eat, then let it cool down some more so that it hardens a little bit, though the crust might lose some of its crisp. I think it's trying to achieve a tempura style fish fillet although slightly on the more well done side and a different ingredient altogether compared to the authentic white tempura batter. Enjoyed best with tartar sauce of course, almost a standard one I guess.
They did not get too fancy w/ the french fries and the coleslaw anymore (other than the coleslaw served separately from the dressing) so on to the next dish...
I don't go out from any Japanese restaurant w/o trying out their Yakisoba, but this dish on the menu says "Seafood Yakisoba or Yakiudon"... hhmm... I'm not sure w/c is the thicker noodle between the two (and I'm too proud to inquire and I love surprises and I went with my instinct) so I chose Yakisoba, hoping this is similar to Tokyo Tokyo's. Then in was served...
Almost a "BOOO"! This is not what I expect! The noodles are just instant noodle thin - even the instant yakisoba is thicker! BOOO! I want my money back! hehe. Kidding aside, let's try not to judge the noodle by its size and just try it out.
Personally, I want to rename this meal as "Seafood overload Yakisoba". It is not clear from this angle, but it is topped w/ a lot of different kinds of seafoods. It has some baby octopus (or was it just squid), shrimp, squid rings and some sliced squid balls (I think) along with some vegetables, sprinkled w/ some seaweed flakes on top.
A good soba should be good enough on its own - just stir fry it w/ some veggies and it should absorb those flavors and blend in its own. Now add in this variety of seafoods and you've got... well, let me tease you a bit and let's say just try it out, it's really good.You really can't go wrong w/ seafoods and Yakisoba anyway, I guess... hehe
Let's get moving w/ the main course...
First, we had something American, then something Japanese - now let's go Italian w/ Pepper Crusted Chicken with Seaweed Butter. Does not really sound Italian, but as you can see, it is served on a bed of Fettuccine (or was that Linguine, the less thicker than the two) and some cooked asparagus. I'm not sure how the asparagus was cooked, but it's neither blanched nor steamed, I think, because it does not taste bland. Probably cooked in butter, I guess, hehe.
Cy inquired on what is the sauce of the pasta, and we were told that it's just pasta in oil... hhmm (again)... I love pasta but not the oil based ones... but let's see..
Upon tasting the pasta, I immediately know what oil was used - it was the same oil used to pan fry the Crusted Chicken.
Now that's clever.
Imagine the slightly burned flavor from a pan fried and deboned chicken thigh... all the flavors rendered while cooking the meat... almost like the perfect pan bar-b-qued chicken... and all these flavors was absorbed by the pasta... to me, this really is something new.
As for the chicken itself, I think, I've already described it well enough - almost like the perfect pan bar-b-qued chicken... It is either pan fried or pan grilled, and chicken thigh simply is the best part of a chicken... perfectly tender, and being deboned is also an advantage to The Sage. hehe
We forgot to photograph our drinks. We just had red and blue iced tea actually. They come in other colors too... but the blue iced tea looks green actually (or teal, or it's just my color blindedness attacking again, hehe)
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A restaurant owner once said:
"The people that come here are here to eat a good food - and that's what we serve. They're not here to see great interior designs, or nice tables, or nice paintings. If that's what they're looking for, the local museum is just around the corner."
I share the same vision, but to those who are interested, here are some of the view from the inside and out.
As if this is not obvious enough, the restaurant's name was derived from the couple John Lennon and Yoko Ono... British and Japanese... West and east... the best way to describe what a "Cosmopolitan Japanese food" tastes like.
They also serve traditional ones like Sushi, Sashimi, and Maki, but we're good (very good actually) with what we had. They also have some innovative dishes like "Japaella" (as if what we had is already not innovative enough. Hehe.)
Overall, the food is reasonably priced. Might be on the slightly high end side, but like I said, the price is just right for a food this good. For that, The Sage and I are now finally letting go of an old corny joke (whenever we walk pass this resto) w/c says:
"john and yoko? yoko john e.hehe"
...coz really, they have an amazing variety of neo-japanese food waiting for your discovery.
Thanks for reading! :)
-ghe
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