Toko, Surry Hills

Crown St is by no means lacking in either recreational or culinary delights. Between the vast array of fashion boutiques, second hand stores and the diverse selection of cafés, I could easily spend many an hour of the day wandering up this arterial road. Heading into the evening, the prospect of drinks and dinner emerges and again choice is not an issue. Among the offerings is Toko, a stylish establishment, which provides izakaya style Japanese dining. Herr Mouttard and I have been meaning to pay this place a visit for a while now, after he had a stellar experience at lunch with a friend. Izakaya, I’m told, is in fact, a way to describe an informal, relaxed form of dining associated with bars, the essence being small communal plates which are ordered as required. Indeed as both Herr Mouttard and I enter, we are greeted with a large open bar complete with inviting couches and tables, before being escorted to our tables, which form part of the main dining area that runs alongside the adjacent kitchen.

Edamame with Maldon Sea Salt

A generous serving, appreciably larger than the serve I had at

OCha-Cha recently although I would have loved more salt. We nibbled on these throughout the meal, finding them increasingly addictive.

Nozomi
Chef’s selection of 13 pieces of nigiri sushi

Toppings included salmon, kingfish, and tuna sashimi, with eel, caviar, scallops and prawns - an eye pleasing selection, with superbly fresh and tasty ingredients. I cannot fault the quality of this dish but that being said, I wouldn’t order it again, simply because there are more unique dishes available.

Toko Roll - Spider Maki
Soft shell crab, wasabi mayonnaise, rock chives and yamagobo wrapped in nori paper and daikon

As decadent as it sounds, we’re both going through a soft shell crab phase, hardly economical in the current financial climate. As a result, we found this sushi immensely satisfying, the crisp crab utterly delicious. The yamagobo (pickled burdock), is something I rarely come into contact with and in this case, it manifested as a slightly sweet crunch concurrent to the crab within the roll. I marvelled at the thin, even layer of daikon wrapped around the maki – and the knife skills that produced it.

Kamo Nashi Namasu
Duck breast with sansho pepper and marinated nashi pear

The nashi is marinated in something vinegar based, it’s tart nature complimenting the richness of the duck breast. I also enjoyed the mash of textures brought about with the crunchy pear and tender duck. I’ve never had sansho/sichuan pepper straight like this before, finding it a milder, more refined and subtle brother to regular black pepper. It too, goes remarkably well with the duck. A well thought out combination of textures and flavours.

Edamame with Chilli sauce

After finishing the first bowl of edamame, we opted for the chilli version and quickly wished we hadn’t. While they were done very well, served warm and coated in a salty, mild chilli sauce, we pined for the clear freshness of the plain version. A matter of individual taste really.

Toko Roll - Sake Kawa Maki
Grilled salmon skin, ikura and spring onions served as a dragon roll with seared salmon

No complaints here, my favourite part was the salmon roe/ikura garnish with it’s mini flavour explosions.

Yakitori
Skewered chicken with spring onions and hichimi pepper

Although a tad burnt at the end, I was seriously impressed with the level of enjoyment I received from these modest looking skewers. I could easily eaten a dozen more. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it was… The chicken itself was firm yet tender, while the glaze was a moreish mixture of sweet with a hint of spice. I’d love to be able to rustle up the marinade at home.

Warm Dark Chocolate Fondant
Served with Vanilla Miso Ice cream

Ordered at the recommendation of our waitress, we were deciding between this and the Toko Annin Pannacotta, which was layers of almond pannacotta and passionfruit jelly served with tonka bean ice cream and mochi. Although retrospectively, I doubt I could have deprived Herr Mouttard of his daily chocolate fix… Once we got a taste of this, we were SO GLAD we had ordered it. It was heavenly! I’ve had chocolate fondant before at much more upmarket restaurants, but this was on another level. The gooey chocolate centre was just divine. The ice cream had a subtle hint of savoury in it, presumably from the miso and was a great accompaniment.

Toko only takes reservations for lunch and their private dining area, which holds between 12 – 19 people. We arrived around 6ish, while it was still light, and relatively empty but noticed that it quickly filled up shortly after our arrival. I have read that seating and service can be an issue… While it didn’t compare to the heinous queue at Wagaya, I do recommend getting there earlier rather than later. I do concede however, that waiting is much easier and less undesirable when there’s a bar around:)

Toko Restaurant and Bar
490 Crown St

Surry Hills NSW Australia 2010

Phone: (02) 9357 6100

Email: info@toko.com.au
http://www.toko.com.au/

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Wagaya, Haymarket

OCha-Cha, Cairns

OCha-Cha, Cairns

With Japanese gossip magazines and tabloids lazily draped over the lovely hardwood furniture, lower tables for those wishing to sit on the floor and an order at the counter/pay before you eat system, this intimate and unpretentious Japanese restaurant is hidden gem, tucked away upstairs at Palm Court. The serenity inside belies the large, bustling and noisy Blue Sky Brewery which has recently taken the lion’s share of Palm Court square footage downstairs.

Barley Tea

Complimentary and self serve barley tea and water is available to all patrons.

The menu is written simply, no elaborate descriptions with items listed in both English and Japanese. We choose to start the meal with some edamame to share.

Edamame

The edamame arrive after a short wait. Oddly the soybean pods are very cold, hinting or blatantly telling us, that they’ve just been taken out of the fridge. There aren’t very many of them either, barely managing to cover the bottom of the bowl.

Grill Set Tray

We all opt for a grill dinner set option, which all arrive on trays, served with rice, a bowl of miso, a little portion of tofu and fruit.

Rice

Tofu

The tofu is silky and soft, served with a sweet soy sauce.

Grapes

Chicken Teriyaki

I was quite happy with my choice, the succulent morsels of chicken drenched with the teriyaki sauce. The meat was topped with finely shredded cabbage.

Japanese Hamburg (not a typo)

When Daisy Moo ordered this, I was pretty excited – I was almost going to get this myself and expected it to be a hamburger with rice patties substituting bun rolls. The hamburg itself is actually a giant beef burger. Unlike other burgers, which I would describe as heavy and dense, this burger was light and moist despite being cooked though. The meat was so tender it melted in the mouth and was served with some vegies and seaweed on top. Again, a side of finely grated cabbage was provided.

Grilled Salmon

ChocolateQueen went for this fish option. The fish pieces were quite fat, but seemed a bit dry to me. The fish was served with lemon and the obligatory finely shredded cabbage.

I found this place to be of outstanding value (all meals were around $10), and quite enjoyed the simple food combined with the relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

OCha-Cha
Shop F7-F8, Palm Court
34 Lake St
Cairns, QLD, 4870
Phone: (07) 4051 7055


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Wagaya, Haymarket, Sydney

Wagaya, Haymarket

As Daisy Moo, ChocolateQueen and I walked into Wagaya, we were grateful we’d made a booking. Despite the early dinner (by our standards), the foyer was absolutely packed with people waiting for a seat, and as we approached the counter, a frustrated looking couple brushed past us, muttering about how they would never get fed… So, the place is in demand.

The restaurant has an attractive layout, with modern, sleek individual booths and high tech touch screens. The booths are a functional and fun idea, allowing some much appreciated privacy but I did notice that noise levels were still relatively high in the restaurant.

Our awaiting booth

The ordering system consists of simply a touch screen menu, where everything including water and the bill can be electronically requested. I admit, I have little patience for poor service and this system suits me well. The dishes are brought out remarkably quickly and the staffs themselves are polite and endearing, as only Japanese wait staff can be:) We were also provided with a laminated A3 menu as a paper menu.

Touch screen menu

We start the night with Takoyaki, a favourite of ChocolateQueen’s. I fell in love with these octopus dumplings while I was in Tokyo, where I was mesmerised by the way they were cooked, in spherical pans with impossibly long chopsticks.

Takoyaki

They are as you would expect, hot, with a crispy outer and that moreish centre.

To be honest, we were a little underwhelmed by the menu, considering the rave reviews and the large number of dishes on offer, and it took us a fair few glances at the menu to decide what we wanted. Nothing seemed to jump out at us that night…

Beef Tataki

Eel and cheese spring roll

Despite their name, the dominant flavour of the rolls was in fact mushroom. The rolls were piping hot (a good sign), and each bite yielded a large splash of mushroom flavoured juice. Warning HOT!!! Although the texture of the eel was obvious, it’s flavour was essentially masked by the overwhelming mushroom and none of us tasted or saw any hint of cheese.

Rainbow Sushi

An assortment of sushi, we opted for this over the Sushi Roulette simply to get a larger variety of flavours. Toppings included salmon, tuna, kingfish and prawn and avocado. The sushi were fresh and tasty, my favourite for the night being the sweet kingfish

Ox Tongue Nikomi

We’ve only ever had ox tongue at Japanese BBQ, so thought we would try this alternative. The tongue was quite meaty, sitting atop a tomato based, pasta like sauce. To the side was a dob of mayonnaise and the only way I can describe the vibe this dish emitted is Bolognaise meets Japan…

Salmon Sashimi

Something I feel compelled to mention is the presence of large chips on all but one of our serving plates; I’ve managed to hide most of them in the photos with repositioning. Not only was it unsightly, with huge white chips on our otherwise darker crockery, it’s also a health hazard, as microscopic, potentially harmful germs aggregate and grow in the exposed porous material. An unexpected annoyance in an otherwise flawless setting.

This place is ideally suited to larger groups, as the booths themselves are quite large, and to it’s credit, I never got the impression that we were being rushed (something I truly detest), even though the line was becoming longer as the night progressed, evolving into a mini mosh pit of hungry, hungry people.

If you haven’t been before, the immaculate surroundings, efficient service and novel ordering system make for a unique experience. I strongly recommend booking ahead to avoid the impossibly long cue.


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Wagaya
Lvl 1/ 78 Harbour St

Haymarket, NSW, 2000

Phone: (02) 9212 6068