Toko

Date of visit: 31st of July 2020

Situated on Crown Street in Surry Hills lies a Japanese restaurant that’s not often talked about in the same breath as other well-known establishments. When often pondering about the best place to get ‘finer’ Japanese food, many are quick to directly point to the usual suspects in Sokyo, Sake or Cho Cho San. I believe that Toko should be in the same conversation. Although I don’t doubt Toko’s name is well-known in many people’s minds, I’m writing this piece in the hopes that their name can be mentioned more in some of the circles I’ve been conversing in.  

I paid a visit to Toko a few years back, before my most recent visit, and I remember it being an impressionable restaurant with intimate lighting, an open kitchen and a wonderful atmosphere. Not to mention, the food was excellent and perhaps the drinks ‘wildly’ more so. Three years on, not much changed in either department. 

A Taste of Toko

We decide to go against the set menu and order everything that catches our eyes from the à la carte. Not to say the set menu isn’t very good because it looks fantastic, my partner and I just have more of a propensity to order things that we want to eat and some of those dishes sat outside the set menu.  

We start with the Kingfish dressed in truffle ponzu and garnished with pickled daikon and chives. The sliced kingfish with some variation of acidic dressing is often a staple at many Japanese restaurants or places with Japanese-inspired menus. It’s hard to fault such a ‘norm’ as it often serves as a very capable appetiser/starter. Toko’s take on this conventional dish does everything right to justify its overuse in our restaurant scene. It’s light, acidic and provides various textures. I would’ve been more impressed had the truffle flavour stood out more in the truffle ponzu dressing. I think that extra earthy aroma would’ve set Toko’s kingfish plate apart from the many others available in Sydney. 

Our plate of the Signature Nigiri comes to our table it’s one of the most beautiful sets of sushi I’ve laid my eyes upon. The incumbent in the signature selection is the: 

The Scampi piece is delicate, rich and has that signature but pungent raw shellfish flavour. To make things even richer for your palette, there’s also the foie gras which I thought would conflict with the taste of the scampi but they complimented each other well. The seared wagyu beef nigiri is crafted in an almost identical fashion to many Japanese sushi restaurants I’ve been to – the wagyu is often slightly seared and is accompanied with some onion. It’s hard to question their methods as it’s a crowd favourite and Toko’s rendition of this fatty beef on rice is no different. The fat from the wagyu coats your mouth as you take your bite before mixing in nicely with the acidity and sharpness of the eschallots.

We also order the seasonal nigiri which is a selection of 8 nigiri pieces with whatever fish that’s currently on their stock. All the pieces are different which meant I had 4 different pieces to my partner. My favourite amongst the pieces of which I ate were the salmon and the mackerel. I believe my partner’s favourites were the kingfish and the tuna. Although these pieces sound pretty ‘standard’, they were still fresh and delicious. Also, we added the spicy seared salmon roll and each bite-full was comforting’. It’s not that spicy and provides all the great tastes of salmon, avocado and rice that one naturally thinks about when eating sushi. The ‘comforting’ feeling turns nostalgic in a sense as I grew up practically eating the salmon avocado rolls from any nearby sushi restaurant/takeaway store. 

After inhaling our nigiri, we receive our plate of chicken karage and zucchini flower tempura. The karage chicken is often another common dish you’re guaranteed to find at many Japanese establishments but I have to say, the ones they serve here are winners. This isn’t your normal Japanese fried chicken pieces, it’s almost got a mid-west American vibe to it with some smoky notes prevalent in the seasoning. The chicken itself is tender and moist rounding out a very nicely done plate of fried poultry. If you come here and love your fried chicken, you have to add this to your order list! The zucchini flower tempura was a lovely surprise too. The stalk was a bit hard but your persistence is rewarded when you read the flower itself. The flower is stuffed with a mix of tofu and feta adding a nice creamy layer to the fried and battered zucchini flower; it’s an absolute explosion of flavour.

The next two orders are fired up straight from the robata grill in the restaurant. You can see these massive grills from the restaurant’s open kitchen set up where you can see and smell everything. Our eyes glisten as we see the roast pork belly skewers and seared scotch fillet arriving at our table. The smell that’s protruding from both these plates is infectious and at times, hypnotic. If you’re a meat-lover like I am, you just feel as though you’re in for an absolute treat. The pork belly skewers are the first off the assembly line and I don’t think there can be any words to describe the absolute euphoria I feel when I bite and chew into it. The pork belly has been twice cooked to give it an almost melt-in-your-mouth tenderness whilst the exterior is coated in lovely charred bits to provide crispy texture and that wonderful ‘burnt’ flavour. I think the dish of the night goes to this little gem and it’s certainly not what I had expected. 

The scotch fillet, however, wasn’t quite up to scratch in my view and this was a surprising reaction for me as I expected this to be one of the stronger dishes for the night. I found the steak to be quite tough and I don’t think the wafu sauce that accompanies it compliments the steak all that well. I think the Japanese restaurants that do beef well doesn’t necessarily hinge on it being purely a wagyu cut, more so they focus on adding as little to the beef as possible. 

For the dessert, we have the chocolate fondant which is a lava cake with an oozy hazelnut centre accompanied by a scoop of milk ice cream. One word to describe this dessert would be ‘comfort’. Is it spectacular or a technical marvel? In today’s standards probably not – but it’s one of the all-time classics that always works as the ‘cherry on top’ as a closer to any good dinner. The cake is served warm and the molten hazelnut centre is more viscous than the ones you’ll find in your usual lava cakes. The milk ice cream that accompanies it feels right as it sets the tone for that ‘milk and chocolate’ combination, however, I think it’s too safe an option. Having a contrasting tone in the ice cream, such as using a mango or raspberry sorbet, would give the dessert more of an ‘edge’ and provide more variation for the diner’s palate. 

Atmosphere: Great for date nights and group dinners 

The atmosphere here at Toko is excellent. The interior is dim and intimate creating a wonderful environment for you to spend the night with your loved one or a group of friends. This restaurant plays music but not at a volume that makes it your companion’s voice inaudible. The energy of the restaurant is busy with many attentive waiters looking out for your every need and in a very timely manner. If you’re looking for a fun-filled evening with laughter, great food and great beverages, Toko facilitates the perfect atmosphere for you to forget your worries away for one night and enjoy life’s leisure. 

Concluding Thoughts

Toko’s offering of Japanese izakaya is one of the standouts in my experience of eating Japanese in Sydney. Its menu is elegant and provides many variations to ensure that diners are covered whether they’re after some classics or on the hunt for something more new (but with a Japanese twist). The price of their menu is average-to-high range in value which is expected considering Toko is an upscale izakaya establishment. Despite this, amongst its upscale brethren, I believe Toko is one of the more cost-effective restaurants in Sydney – one could eat and drink comfortably here without having to drain their savings. To this end, I believe Toko should enter the same conversations when discussed among star players such as Sokyo and Sake. I’d recommend this restaurant to anyone who is after a restaurant that provides delicious Japanese food and a great atmosphere to spend their night at.