Minh 19 October 2008 Japanese 2 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

Australia’s only sake sommelie is here

Despite being only a day since being semi-scolded by my fellow bloggers for the sheer abundance of Asian food related posts, I went out to eat… you guessed it, Japanese! That said, to my defense when you’re looking for dinner on a Thursday night in the Surry Hills area chances are fairly high that you’ll end up eating some type of asian food. Apologies in advance for the quality of the photos, my source of lighting was a very cute singular lantern placed directly on the table. It could have been worse, the side tables seemed to be in almost total darkness!

Having walked past Toko on various occasions I was pleasantly surprised upon walking in. While our dinner plans were rather impromptu I was informed by S that Toko does not take bookings for dinner. There are three main areas for seating, the first being along the side bar with an A-Class view of the various chefs flaunting their knive skills, secondly along a long table shared by all patrons, or lastly one of the pre-mentioned side tables scattered about.

Despite the no-booking rule the restaurant filled up quite quickly but service was brisk with our waitress quick and attentive and before long we had a bowl of Chilli Edamame sitting next to us. The bowl was deceivingly small and very generously filled as we all snacked away all night, in fact leaving at the end still having not finished our starter! Unfortunately I didn’t grab a photo of the menu so the descriptions are my approximate description.

 
Tempura Prawns with Wasabi Pea Dressing

Soon after the tea came out, so did our first course! While I prefer my tempura batter to be slightly thicker and crunchier the mix itself had a great kick with the wasabi and salt sprinklings. Teamed up with two dipping sauces I couldn’t help but keep my eye on the prawns to keep track of numbers. The prawns themselves were nice and plump if a little smaller than anticipated.

Chef’s Selection Sushi, 4 Types of Sashimi

I don’t believe I’ve ever had a sushi roll quite like this one, not in the mix of ingredients but the actual build of the entire roll. With a lot of emphasis on the quality of the ingredients the sushi was quite delicately rolled up with a sparse amount of rice, nori and a third layer which seemed almost like rice-paper but with a crepe-like thickness? It was presentation of the dish which I enjoyed, the sushi coming out on a heavy stone plate with miniature mountains of wasabi and pickled ginger.

Teriaki Salmon

Teriaki anything seems like such a stable of any Japanese meal that you go to and is not really a dish I order often. That said, we felt the urge to order something from every part of the menu and I was glad we’d decided on the Salmon. Deliciously crisp skin with a nicely cooked body (al dente!) made the fish a great compliment to our meat dish. 

Braised Beef Cheeks with Asian Vegetables

I was honestly a little surprised when our final dish came out, from the description in the menu I’d been picturing a dish almost like Beef Tongue (mmm beef tongue…), but the one we received was almost like stewed beef with vegetables. Much heavier than the previous dishes it ensured that we pretty much rolled out way out of the restaurant. 

Despite the busy atmosphere I found myself enjoying dinner not only for the food, but also the attention to detail with the various bowls and plates used in the presentation. Toko boasts of having Australia’s only sake sommelier, a fact which I only found out after visiting. The bar has over 30 varieties of sake which I am sure to indulge in on my next visit!

Toko 
490 Crown St
Surry Hills, NSW 2010
Ph: (02) 9357 6100