Dining Snippets: Yo! Panda x Tokyo Tonteki x Jin Joo
YO! PANDA
Primarily noted for its deliciously overloaded bubble waffle concoctions (the Mango Cheesecake is a personal favorite), Yo! Panda also serves up East Asian inspired dishes as complements to their sweet treats.
SHRIMP AND CHEESE BALLS (P290)
Start off with the heaven-sent deep fried Shrimp and Cheese Balls, which comes with pork floss, and is paired with sweet soy sauce and Japanese mayonnaise. This may have been intended as an appetizer, but it’s definiely not a bad idea to pair this up with rice!
CANTONESE STYLE BEEF BRISKET (P280) and CRISPY ROASTED PORK BELLY (P280)
The restaurant serves up affordable rice toppings that are perfect for sharing. The Cantonese Style Beef Brisket boasts of melt-in-your-mouth strips of beef; however, failed to deliver on flavor. The sauce let the dish down as it was bland and was slightly viscous which made the rice bowl a bit unappetizing to look at. The thin slices of the Crispy Roasted Pork Belly looked delicious; however, they were under-seasoned and were on the tough side. The saving grace of this dish would be the crisp tasty skin of the pork belly. Sadly, there weren’t enough of the skin to be enjoyed.
PREMIUM HONG KONG MILK TEA (P130)
Pair your bubble waffles with a glass of their Premium Hong Kong Milk Tea. I loved that they served the drink on a bowl of ice; rather than with ice, as you won’t have to worry about its delicious blend being watered-down!
Yo! Panda
4F SM Megamall, Bldg A, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City
Date of Visit: April 22, 2017 with Lily Chua
TOKYO TONTEKI
Tokyo Tonteki broke into the restaurant industry by attempting to introduce a new way of serving up pork loin; opting to serve it slow-cooked and generously drizzled with its signature Tonteki sauce in contrast to its deep-fried breaded counterparts. In order to stay competitive, it offers unlimited sides like its contemporaries.
SALMON WITH TONTEKI SAUCE (P330)
Personally though, I wasn’t really drawn to their concept; which explains why it took a long while for me to try the restaurant out. It was only because my friend Gwen took notice of their value lunch sets on Instagram that we decided to test it out. I decided to opt for the Salmon with Tonteki Sauce. It was a choice that I definitely did not regret! The salmon was sliced up in meaty chunks and were tossed in the well-balanced Tonteki sauce which boasted of sweet and sour tones. Deliciously fried slivers of garlic lent the dish more flavor.
I’m still on the fence in trying out its signature pork loin dish; but it’s a restaurant that I don’t mind paying another visit to.
Tokyo Tonteki
2F Greenbelt 5, Legazpi Village, Makati City
Date of Visit: April 21, 2017 with Gwen Oliva, Tikay Yu, and Michelle Cruz
JIN JOO
Jin Joo is one of the Korean restaurants riding on the craze over cheesy Korean dishes, owing to the success of Kko Kko’s Cheesy Chicken Fondue. Jin Joo's buzz came from its Cheesy Ribs dish, as well as its 8-flavored Samgyeupsal. As these dishes are best shared by a group, my mom and I had to defer trying these out for another time.
SAMGYEUPSAL (P390)
Instead, we opted for individual orders of their Samgyeupsal and Dak Galbi (P350). Each came with a generous serving of well-cooked and seasoned meat. These meat dishes weren’t bad, but there wasn’t anything spectacular about them.
KIMCHI UDON STIR FRY (P320)
Fortunately, we were left with a lasting impression of the restaurant courtesy of their Kimchi Udon Stir Fry. Udon noodles came served in a mild and saucy kimchi sauce base. In contrast to the bowls of kimchi rice I’ve tried in the past, the sour pickledness of the kimchi is drowned out by the smoky bacon the noodles came with. This was definitely a refreshingly interesting way of using kimchi!
Jin Joo
5F Sky Garden, SM Aura, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
Date of Visit: May 9, 2017 with Lily Chua
