Tokonoma Shochu Bar & Lounge, Surry Hills
While I was typing up this post, I realised that it had been a few weeks since my last post. Work was quite hectic for a few weeks, I was eating out less and even when I did, it was the cheap meals I’d resort to in Cabramatta and Canley Heights. In addition, I’m finding that I blog less and less about restaurants mainly because I’m still waiting for a pay rise. Eating out isn’t cheap these days, from coffee to ala carte, prices rose steadily shortly after the GFC and they have stayed that way. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find a cup of coffee for less than $3 a cup and even the humble Banh Mi (Vietnamese Pork roll) can be seen for as much as $4 which is a far cry from the $1.50 days in the 90′s.
Now in saying that, every now and then there is a reason to come out of financial hibernation. This evening I am at the new-ishly opened Tokonoma Shochu bar and lounge with Shez and Fiona and Sian from Mark Comms . It’s right next door to the old Toko, which still rakes in a healthy crowd. It’s a Thursday night and Tokonoma is buzzing, the after work office crowd is slowly trickling in and I spot a cougar with a mid 20′s bloke looking very nervous while drinking his Yebisu beer.
I’ve been here a few times with my friends. It’s a great restaurant to chill out while sharing plates of food over a few drinks. This is one place which does wallets justice not just with the food, but with their extensive drinks menu. They have some of the most interesting combos of cocktails I’ve seen in a while. Oh, and the booths are handy. We often find ourselves in the booths, you get that extra bit of privacy so other people don’t hear you yapping away about the latest episode of Glee.
Now if you are hungry, the tasting menu is a good option. It’s a Chef’s selection of ‘signature’ dishes ideal for sharing, were they any good though ?
gyu niku no tataki seared beef, pickled onions, mizuna, garlic chips
This is what ‘seared’ is supposed to look like. The amount of times I’ve had ‘seared’ turn into ‘overcooked’ in my kitchen has been way too often. Slightly cooked on the outside and rare on the inside, melt in your beef. The pickled onions and garlic chips help cut through the meat too. Four pieces ? I could do with eight myself.
watari-gani kara-age crispy soft-shell crab, wasabi mayonnaise
Soft shell crab, the token item which is on nearly every Japanese fusion menu. It’s one of those things which have a ‘must order’ tag on it, even though I know how easy it is to make at home. Tokonoma’s version ? Lots of crab meat, light on the coating and the wasabi mayonnaise is a killer combination with anything that is fried, let alone the crab.
maguro no miso taru taru : tuna tartar, baby shiso leaves, barley miso dressing
Tartar, great in moderation but not so great when you have to eat it all by yourself. I recently had that problem with a beef tartar because Linda doesn’t eat meat anymore. At Tokonoma, they shake things up a bit with the barley miso dressing. It’s interesting and unique and is a welcome change from tuna and avocado combinations I’ve had at a lot of other restaurants.
omakase zushi assorted selection of toko rolls and nigiri
Ever since having sushi and nigiri in Japan, I refer to it time and time again as a benchmark. They keep things so simple with the freshest and best cuts of fish with sushi rice so good that the individual grains can be tasted. The assorted selection here has clean and sharp flavours, thankfully with no overpowering mayonaise to mask the freshness of the ingredients. I like my sushi and nigiri simple and for a restaurant who’s menu features kingfish paired with truffle oil and pork crackling, I find it welcoming that they don’t tamper too much with it.
omakase zushi assorted selection of toko rolls and nigiri
piri kara dofu to abogado : spicy fried tofu, avocado salsa, barley miso
A lot of people I know feel intimated when cooking tofu, it’s deemed ‘boring’ and ‘tasteless’ which I can understand to a certain degree. How to overcome this ? fry those mofos into submission. The tofu was piping hot and crispy on the outside but soft and moist once you bite into it. Brave combo of flavours and textures too, the avocado salsa and barley miso is a great combination.
hotate no jalapeno amazu zoe robata : grilled scallop, sweet pickled apple, jalapeno garlic
This was probably my favourite dish, you can smell it from the kitchen almost. Perfectly grilled scallops with an intense and flavoursome jalapeno and garlic sauce. To balance it all, sweet pickled apple sits on top. We all one-shot these into our mouths and there was a collective response of ” damn this is good ” .
ami yaki ro-su niku to : wafu sauce scotch fillet steak, wafu sauce, garlic crisps
They say that an unexpected gift at an unexpected time is the key to a woman’s heart, I firmly believe a good steak is the key to a man’s heart. As long as it’s cooked medium rare, or medium at most you can’t go wrong. Tokonoma makes this interesting with the wafu sauce and crispy garlic chips. Sadly, I can never make scotch fillet taste this good at home.
zucchini no wafu yaki : zucchini, wafu sauce, sesame
A day is not complete without at least one serving of vegetables. I can’t say zucchini makes it way into my fridge that often, but if it’s grilled in wafu sauce and sesame I ain’t complaining. Simple once again, yet enhances the sweetness of zucchini.
dessert plate : chef’s selection of desserts
First of all, I suggest you share this with at least one other person. The variety is amazing and I had no clear cut favourite, but I was slightly leaning towards the chocolate fondant and the yogurt pannacotta. From memory (after a schochu or two) the plate had : yoghurt pannacotta, green apple, rockmelon sorbet, pistachio brittle, warm dark chocolate fondant served with vanilla-miso ice cream, ice cream and sorbet and a trio of creme brulee.
At the end of our dinner we were luckily enough to have a brief chat with the head chef Regan Porteous. He’s a well built bloke, fairly young and you can sense a great appreciation and respect for Japanese food and culture when he speaks. He regularly travels to Japan for ideas and inspiration and even has his pottery custom made somewhere in Japan. We both agree that while Sydney is great for food, it is missing the hole in the wall ramen joints where you can just rock up and eat bowls of ramen elbow to elbow with other diners.
Right, so where do I start. I guess, Tokonoma for me is a breath of fresh air for decent modern/fusion Japanese or whatever you wan’t to call it. They nail it spot on in terms of service, ambience, design, food and drinks. It blends in perfectly with it’s sister store Toko on Crown st and is a great place to catch up with friends if you start a tab and not have to worry about the bill until the end. Keep an eye on the tab though, the shochu and cocktails start to add up after a few. Also if you want a booth, I suggest booking ahead.
es&t dined as guests of Mark Communications.
Tokonoma shochu bar & lounge490 Crown St
Surry Hills, 2010Ph : 02 9357 6100Web : http://www.toko.com.au
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By Howard
We started eatshowandtell in 2008, it was meant to be just a journal of where we ate. The first thing I usually do when I'm looking for a restaurant is check out eatability and the restaurant website. But what is usually missing is pictures of the food, how do I know I'm getting what I expect? This blog hopefully plugs that gap.
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This article was written on 16 May 2010, and is filed under Dinner, Japanese, Sydney, Surry Hills.
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Great looking selection of food. The nigiri looks really fresh. I don’t think I would be able to walk past the steak with wafu sauce, it looks so juicy and meaty. Yum.
Fabulous menu and plating, definitely looks like it’s going to be extremely successful!
.-= Moya´s last blog ..Goodbye winter, hello spargel… =-.
i've happened to walk past across the road a couple of times now in the past week and have noticed this place is quite popular on the friday night. the last time i noticed a kind of bouncer at the front though so i'm not sure if that was a meet and greet person or a fashion police person. i know what you mean about the 'must order' soft shell crab. gets me all the time
Bouncer ? Interesting they have one for a restaurant!
Great spread of food you had there. And those scallops look sensational
.-= john@heneedsfood´s last blog ..Uighur Cuisine, Haymarket =-.
Oh Gosh.. this place sounds like a hit list when I come visit next.
Penny, your hit list will be huge, so many good places in Sydney!
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I love that tofu dish at Toko. The scallops look a bit freaky with that green sauce though – a little Nickolodeon slime…
Good luck with the pay rise
I need all the luck I can get :/
Looks delicious – agree with the soft shell crab. It's so cheap and easy to make at home, but I still can't go past it if it's offered on the menu. Love your commentary too – very relaxed, cheeky & colloquial.
I notice at the Asian grocers they even sell soft shell crabs frozen, now it's even easier.
The dessert platter looks fab!
It was the biggest dessert platter I've ever seen, could feed 4 people no worries.
Apologies I am a little confused due to their website. Is this all available at the bar or does one need to be at the restaurant to get this… ?
Good question, not too sure exactly but my understanding is that this Tasting menu is available anywhere in Tokonoma. I've only ever sat in the booths and the lounge area inside near the restrooms. Not too sure if it's available in Toko, which is right next door.
Try the baby chicky next time. Its by far my fave from their food menu! As for the flavoured/infused shochus… lets just say many a memorable night have been had there. Gosbmack’d
Yes, uber, uber. They have a bouncer at the tunnel entrance, one at the bar, and a food nazi chicky babe in 10 inch stellis. Uber cool music, candles galore, hardly a sip of a drink under $10. Gorgeous clientele, super chic. A dreamy asian cocktail maker spunk who I just wanna lap up. Enter if you dare.
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