What’s sub yo’? I am back again with an urge of need to share my foodventure weeks ago. It actually was an invitation from Yo’ Panino to try out some of the hot subs and newly-introduced, Cold Pressed Juice.

Yo’ Panino is a sandwich-specialist eatery, which of course offers hot gourmet sandwiches (or also known as subs), chopped fresh salads, and rice bowls. The ‘hot’ outlet is currently only permanently-available at Plaza Indonesia (4th Floor), but watch out yo’ as they are under a carefully-thought plan for expanding. In the near future, if timing and opportunities permit, they will be opening a new store or more.

Even though they have been open for more than a year, I honestly had never tried Yo’ Panino before. So it was a perfect chance for me to get to know this interesting subs-specialty eatery. After all, as far as I know, there are no other eateries (yet) which are specializing in subs.

After driving through some stubborn traffic, my partner and I arrived at Plaza Indonesia and headed to Yo’ Panino right away. We then met with Mr. Jitin Kapoor. He is the brains behind Yo’ Panino. After talking for more than two hours, we really think that he is a brilliant man filled with curiosity and creative imagination, with undying love for perfecting subs. We do also think he is a good risk taker, who appeared to be on a right track of F&B business.

Anyway, interior-wise, there is something unique about the outlet here. The interior is showcasing the industrial concept which looks like it is still under rough construction. There are scaffolding every here and there, and the seats and tables are simple and nice. The activity inside the kitchen, which is an open kitchen, can be seen by passers by. It was designed to be noticeable, comfortable and practical. People who intend to have a quick bite, can just come here, grab some delicious subs and head back on their way. It was located under the escalators anyway, so, it’s just a perfectly strategic position. For those who love dining in, of course there will be no problem. The seats and tables are there for a reason right?

About food, we were actually very very interested with almost all the selections. Plenty of them seemed to be named in a teasing manner to attract patrons curiosity. Aside from the available selections, I feel the need to introduce you the bread. After all, this is about Panino (which means small bread roll in Italian).

There are three kinds of bread to choose from. The white-ish normal-looking Farmhouse White, the aggressive-looking Turkish Pide (with black sesame), and the soft-pillowy looking Multigrain. Though diverse in appearance, they all have one thing in common, they’re all hearty toasty bread, really.  In addition, there is also a Tortilla Wrap. Or if you don’t feel like having bread, have it naked! Oh, I don’t mean to be vulgar well, I just can’t help it. Naked means it can be served as a salad.

As a good start, here comes the Sidekicks! 

# Java Slaw (IDR 15 k)

It’s probably more well known if we talk about coleslaw, the shredded-cabbage with vinaigrette salad dressing or mayo. But Yo’ Panino chose to kick some mainstream coleslaw ass out, and instead, Java Slaw, the Indonesian version of it gets to shine here. The main different here is the dressing, as it uses peanuts as the main ingredients. It tasted all sweet and spicy, with peanutty-dominant flavour.

# Fresh Cut Fries (IDR 15 k)

It is actually a standard fries which is expected to be found in every eateries. People just love have this fries to accompany their meals, or even munch it throughout a small talk with friends.

 # Chick Pops (IDR 24 k)

Chicken pops here is deep-fried breaded chicken chunks. It was delicious especially when dipped in to the sauces available. For me, the best sauce for this Chick Pops is the Yo’ Aioli.

# Buffalo Wings (IDR 27 k)

4 pieces of deep-fried Buffalo Wings with Yo’ Panino’s secret sauce just really arose my appetite. The wings might look really dull and boring you might get asleep while staring at it, but the taste was just right, or I can say, perfect! It’s finger-licking good, and the sauce was a real kick.

Yo’ Panino is aware that sauces play a very important role in improving the food. They introduced us the 6 kinds of awesome sauces, starting from:

Yo’ Barbie-Q – the homemade hickory oozy barbecue sauce with smoky touch
Yo’ Aioli – the mayo, garlic and olive oil concoction
Yo’ Angry – the spicy and angry mayo
Yo’ Java – the hearty peanut-based sauce with herbs
Yo’ Wasabi – the creamy mayo sauce with fresh wasabi combination
Yo’ Pesto – the basil, garlic and nuts based mixture with parmesan

Other common sauces such as chili sauce, tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard are available as well.

Yo’ Panino also joined the trend of Cold Pressed Juice and recently introduced it to the patrons who appreciate health-living. Cold Pressed is a method of juicing which might greatly need your love and patience. In this way of juicing, the fruits and vegetables are pressed slowly lots of pressure, and as a result, the nectar is extracted directly from the fruits and vegetables without being oxidized/degraded. The vitamins and all essential goodness will remain intact and the quality of the juice will be at its best. The traditional method of juicing through grinding or blending uses high speed rotation and thus resulted in producing heat which hurts the vitamins, enzyme, protein and minerals in the juice. That’s why, Cold Pressed juicing method quickly became a darling among others.

Yo’ Panino itself offers a lot of refreshing delicious choices. From the selections, we got to try the Beet It – Beetroot, Carrot, Apple, Strawberry, Mango (IDR 42 k), R&R – Lemon, Orange, Apple, Ginger, Spinach, Celery (IDR 42 k), Essential Daily 3 – Apple, Orange, Celery (IDR 38 k), and Vitamin-C Detox – Carrot, Apple, Orange, Ginger (IDR 38 k).

The best? Hands down to the R&R. It’s complex, greatly refreshing and just plain full of goodness. What I noticed about the juices here is that they left out some of the crushed pulps in the drinks. Some of the cold pressed juices I’ve ever tasted, tend to filter all the crushed pulps. I personally prefer having some pulps in my juice. 😀

Additionally, we were also given the chance to try three of the pineapple-based cold pressed juice. They are Pineberry – Pineapple, Strawberry, Ginger (IDR 36 k), Pineapple Express – Pineapple, Apple, Mint (IDR 36 k), and  Yo’ Refreshener – Pineapple, Cucumber, Mint, Ginger (IDR 36 k).

And amongst the three, I seriously love Yo’ Refreshener that seemed to have the most relaxing flavour, especially with the hint of mint and ginger.  But then again, all of the three are really competitively good, so it goes back to people’s preference! 🙂

To the main section, here comes the Subs! We were generously presented 4 kinds of Subs and 1 kind of Tortilla Wrap to try. Let’s see the verdict!

# Philly Cheese Steak (IDR 69 k)

As luscious as it sounds, this subs is claimed to be one of the most popular choices amongst loyal guests. I wouldn’t be surprised though, the name itself has that unique attraction that makes people curious. Steak in a sandwich? Best of both worlds! This Farmhouse White is filled with sliced rib-eye, caramelized onions, cheddar melt, garlic chips and blanketed with Yo’ Aioli Sauce. The result? In one bite, I tasted the whole party with the music, the crowd, the body movement, the spirit and even the shiny confetti. 😉 To put it in a simple way, there was just plenty of sensation in my mouth. I loved the beefy rib-eye, the cheesy savoury melting cheddar, the addictive garlic flavour, and the fresh veggie. How about the Farmhouse White? It is amazingly good with fluffy texture and “dusty” outer layer.

# BBQ Chicken Club (IDR 69 k)

This one might sound a bit common, since the pairing up between chicken and barbecue sauce are nothing new to food enthusiasts. I honestly thought it might be a dull subs. But well, I was so wrong. This certain sandwich caught me off guard! The chicken inside was unbelievably tender and flavoursome, thanks to the Yo’ Barbie-Q which is not just any barbecue sauce you can find elsewhere. Oh, not to mention the hint of the cheese sauce and lovely smokey bacon (supposed to be turkey bacon, but they ran out of it and replaced it with beef bacon) that set the subs on instant fire!

Remarks: This subs comes with multigrain, which is the perfectly healthy and easy in the mouth bread! Definitely my most fav bread in Yo’ Panino!

# Big Daddy Patty Melt (IDR 69 k)

Like the name suggests, it is filled with big-sized tender patty that will melt in your mouth after one bite! Yes, it was that awesomely good. The whole package was a kick-ass combination. The delicious mouthwatering thick patty was a no-brainer, and the egg was just a perfect complement, bringing the patty to a whole new level. One thing I would say about this, if you are longing to have a big fulfilling satisfying delicious subs, this will be your answer! Though this is a new addition (thus, claiming the newbie title), this will definitely be a tough competitive contender for any other senior subs! 😀

# Angry Prawn (IDR 59 k)

Oh, I am all angry now (can’t help it, part of the subs is my name after all). After going through the 3 previous subs, my belly had not decided to throw any towel yet. Why? Because all of the above were super delicious and hard to resist. This one is no exception. Yo’ Panino definitely is full of surprises. The rare combination in a subs headed towards the right road. The idea of marrying prawn tempura and Yo’ Angry (spicy mayo) in Farmhouse White wedding venue is superb. The bridesmaid and groomsmen? Taco bits and onions! I didn’t think THIS would work so well. The crispy prawn tempura, blanketed with spicy mayo was memorably delicious, and the crispy-ish taco and raw fresh onions enhanced were tickling my tastebuds. It was bursting with fresh and unique flavour in every bite.

# Hot Java Chick Wrap (IDR 49 k)

Amongst all of the above,  IMHO, I have to say that this was the least attractive, thus, it makes it the inferior contender. The tortilla is filled with grilled chicken, crispy wontons, edamame and spiced java slaw. The combination resulted in very Indonesian taste, especially because of the peanut-based sauce. It was rather sweet, and spicy with a very light hint of acidity. One thing for sure is that this will be the healthy choice. 😉

The ride was not over with the tortilla. We were up for coffee, thus we had Yo’ Cappuccino (okay, I made the name up, it is just cappuccino without the Yo’) 😀 Surprisingly, the cappuccino was very good. They really know how to brew coffee.

Room for desserts? Oh yeah!

Yo’ Panino has some signature desserts to offer. One of it is the Banana Cake. You might be actually yawning now. Let me finish my writing first. The Banana Cake is different to the ones you have in mind or the ones you usually find in other patisserie. This one looks very regular, but it was great in my mouth. The texture of the common banana cakes are usually raw and rough, but this one was very smooth, very moist and evenly infused with the banana. The other signature dessert is the Coconut Squares! This was a definite winner. The coconut squares was from a family recipe. It had this certain homemade character with a very good raw texture. The overall taste was marvellous. I declare this dessert as a must-try!

We were also introduced to the fresh baked cookies, ranging from Chocolate Mint, Chocolate Chip and Almond. For me, the best one was the Chocolate Mint! I never actually like the combination of chocolate and mint (since mint flavour can usually be a bit overwhelming, causing me a light headache), but this was different. The mint wasn’t overwhelming at all and it was vaguely hinted in each bite, resulting in a very soothing minty taste.

Before enjoying the cookies, Mr. Kapoor asked us about what kind of cookies we preferred. As we know it, there are chewy cookies and there are crispy cookies. Instantly I answered that I preferred the chewy ones. Apparently he agreed! Unfortunately, for now, Yo’ Panino will only serve crispy cookies due to the demand. But the possibility of serving chewy cookies is wide open. Finger-crossed then. 🙂

My food ride in Yo’ Panino was finally completed on this blog. It was a very joyful late lunch and we were superbly grateful to be able to enjoy such great subs and cold pressed juices. It was our first visit, but it really served as a hell of introduction to us in a world of Yo’ Panino.

Yo’ Panino is the only F&B establishment by Kanmo Retail Group at the moment. As the first, they certainly did one hell of a good job. I will be really looking forward to a lot of other Yo’ Panino branches, as well as other F&B establishment.

Without any further explanations, I encourage you people to come and try the subs in Yo’ Panino. For first comers, you should try the Big Daddy Patty Melt, Philly Cheese Steak and the BBQ Chicken Club. Be ready to be blown away!

Note & Fun Facts:
– They have delivery service that will be very convenient for you!
– You can always customise your bread if you choose the available “Hot Sandwiches” menu
– You can make your own sandwich or salad in Yo’ Panino to suit your preferable taste or even just to play with mixing and matching
– Promo are available and you can see it by clicking here
– They offer Beef Rendang Rice Wrap too since this is Indonesia. But apparently, it attracts more bule(s) rather than local Indonesian(s) 😉

YO’PANINO | JAKARTA
Plaza Indonesia
Level 4 – UN E023I,E023T
JL. M. H. Thamrin Kav 28-30
Jakarta 10350
Phone: 6221-29924020
Email: yolo@yopanino.com
Website: http://yopanino.com/