Jobi’s Bistro by South Korean app developer Yellephant Co is available for iOS, Android and Google Play. This app targets preschool aged children to help the head chef and baker cook a variety of dishes after the waiter takes the order from the customer. The app features the Jobi Jobi family as they run the bistro together and participate in a variety of open ended play actions. Upon entering the Bistro, you are greeted with a variety of foods including cupcakes, breads, a math game where you make change for the food that was ordered based upon how much the customer has paid, frost your own cupcake and more. The bistro features two levels, one is a retail level where you can give change for customer orders, make your own cupcakes, write on the blackboards. The second level is the kitchen were you can cook with the chef.
My son loved making some of the recipes like the salmon which required olive oil, salmon and basil. He found the ingredients in the pantry and brought them back to the chef for cooking. My son also enjoyed washing the dishes after the foods were eaten. After completing each of the tasks such as cleaning dishes, cooking a recipe, cutting up vegetables, you are brought back to the main area of the bistro. I liked that the app incorporated simple math (making change), following directions (getting the ingredients for the recipe), making individual choices within the app to complete the tasks such as frosting the cupcake. My son also enjoyed working with the Patissier (aka maker of cakes and sweets) to make his own cupcakes. After completing the tasks you can earn coins which can be used to unlock more information about the history of the bistro. The app is great for encouraging open ended play, early language such as describing what you are doing as well as math and memory skills. As you complete more tasks and tokens, you can put away various foods and learn more about Jobi’s Bistro but my son had a hard time figuring out why he would earn tokens sometimes and not others.

My son wanted to be able to mix up the batter to make his own cupcake within the app, right now you are able to choose the topping (ie. cherry), frosting, cake and sprinkles. I also noted there are a few words such as sprinkle which are spelled in a non-traditional format (springkle). The foods currently appear in the pot to be made rather than having orders which my son would have preferred. The narration for some of the recipes like “basil” was a bit off compared to how I traditionally hear the United States pronunciation. I do wish you had the change to “cook” the recipe after getting the necessary ingredients and delivering it to the customer. It would also be nice to be able to “box” the foods from the front before customers pay for them. My first grader struggled a bit with the math – it shows the customer with a “bubble” of payment and you have to sort out the change from the drawer. These math elements such as making change and fractions clearly were aimed at older children while much of the content in the app was aimed at a preschooler. I’d also like to see more mini-games included in the app as well as the ability to target the age. There is a parental gate which protects external links.
Fun app for preschool and early elementary aged children that with a few tweaks will encourage more play and learning opportunities. My son enjoyed using open ended play school to cook the various recipes and foods at the bistro.