Toko

Toko is amongst one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in Sydney (and although I acknowledge I have a very long list of favourites, this one does not appear on that list unjustified).

Situated in the heart of the one of Sydney's oldest suburbs, Surry Hills is now a thriving community of warehouse-converted apartments and restored Victorian architecture, housing some of Sydney's finest chefs and designers. This suburb screams attention.

Today I was here with a group of my girls. The restaurant has a very strict "first in best dressed type" seating policy which means they do not take bookings, and requires everyone to arrive prior to seating the table. The policy is highly un-female friendly given most females these days run on a "I like to be fashionably late" policy. I suppose the argument for this increasingly popular seating policy is to allow restaurants to better manage its seating turnarounds (and inevitably profitability) which is too commonly affected by late customers or worst even, no-shows! However despite this frustrating seating policy and having picked a very busy night, the staff at Toko clearly used their best endeavours to seat us swiftly.

The first thing you notice here is the buzz - the place is exploding with customers and the wait staff are constantly seen whizzing around. The place is decked out with a lot of wood, a very modern edge to the decor, but a lot of wood. The lighting is dim, very dim. Almost too dim to house such a buzz of an ambience. 

The buzz may also be attributed to their longer-than-the-food-menu drinks menu consisting a wide selection of cocktails, sake, shochu, Japanese whisky and non alcoholic cleansers. We all started with a round of cocktails to sip on while deciding on our orders. To the left of the main dining area is an open sushi bar to allow those lucky enough to score a bar seating to witness the sushi chef in action, and slightly further down is the open robata grill. Be sure to poke your head around and check these out - its quite a show!

Toko offers an izakaya style dining, where dishes are designed to be shared (a more detailed explanation of izakaya dining can be found in my earlier post by clicking here). The dishes lean more towards contemporary and modern, rather than traditional and classic, so if you like Japanese with a twist and a bit of fusion you would love this place.

Our first dish, Freshly Shucked Pacific Oysters in Tosazu (a very versatile Japanese vinegar dressing). The oysters were very fresh and chilled well - a great start to the meal.

Our next dish was the Thinly Sliced Wild Snapper with Truffle Oil and Pork Crackling. The delicately sliced snapper was dressed nicely in a truffle dressing and micro-herbs, while the crumbs of pork crackling gave the dish a bit of a modern kick.  

Then came the nigiri to share - we ordered Salmon Nigiri and Mackerel Nigiri. Something traditional we thought.

The star dish of the night was the Scampi Nigiri with Fois Gras and Truffle Oil from the Toko Signature Sushi collection. Above and beyond, this is my favourite nigiri, ever. The scampi is fresh and the flavours so well balanced - a foodgasmic experience not to be missed, so good, the table ordered two rounds (and nearly a third)!

Also from the Toko Signature Sushi collection, was the Chopped Scallop with Ponzu, Wasabi and Cucumber. Again a very well balanced dish in terms of texture and flavour, and not to be missed.

"Sake, often referred to as the 'drink of gods', is the quintessential Japanese drink, to the extent that the Japanese themselves call it 'nihonshu', meaning Japanese wine" - Toko

One simply cannot dine at an izakaya restaurant without ordering a bottle of sake, or maybe two!

Our following two selections were from the Toko Makimono menu, the Spicy Tuna and Chilli Mayonnaise Inside Out Roll and the Prawn Tempura, Avocado and Cucumber Inside Out Roll.

Next dish was the Moreton Bay Bug Tempura with Chilli Ponzu and Yuzu Koshou Mayonnaise, another Toko favourite. The tempura batter is very light and does not overpower the soft and delicate chunky pieces of bug meat.  Dip in the ponzu and then the mayonnaise - Yum!

As a side tempura dish, we also ordered the Seasonal Vegetable Tempura. A large serving a various vegetables dipped in the very light batter and fried golden - a simple yet popular dish amongst the girls.

Our final dish was the Duck Breast with Sansho Pepper and Pickled Nashi Pear. Very tender, juicy pieces of duck breast balanced with thinly sliced pear making the meat light and refreshing on the palate. 

Overall a pleasant meal again and the girls were impressed with most of the dishes. The service was a little bit of a miss with orders taken incorrectly, it was at times a little difficult to get the attention of our wait staff and orders being missed. However a great place to dine with a smaller group, enjoy a very lively and loud buzz, happy chatter. For a tamer environment with more attentive service (and which allows for dinner reservations), try Tokonoma next door.  They share the same kitchen and drinks menu as Toko too!

xx

Toko Surry Hills

490 Crown Street

Surry Hills  NSW  2010

(02) 9357 6100

4Fourteen

January is the perfect time to catch up with old friends.  Everyone is usually quite busy before Christmas and when the festive rush is finally over, often you look back and realise that there are quite a number of people you might not have had the chance to catch up with as often as you would like to.  This relatively quiet month is best for bringing those close to your heart, even closer.

Tonight I am here with my Twin, not by blood, but my exact double!

Arm in arm, we walk into the restaurant after a very long day at work and ready for a big fat feast!  The room is big and bright, the ceiling is high and the windows are extra large.  The walls are white washed exposing the underlying brick, the floor is laid out with timber (which click loudly at our heels as we are guided to our table by a very friendly host - we giggle), and the space lit with drop down green enamel light shades.  Very warehouse-converted looking, casual and full of character.

No drinks tonight, we decided - we both had a another long day of work ahead of us. We went straight to the serious stuff, food.  Twin and I have very similar taste so ordering was easy.  We suggested a few dishes each and it was always what the other had in mind!  Our wait staff for the night, with his big smile and warm sense of humour, assisted us with our choices and ensured we did not order too much (as we always do!).

First to arrive, freshly shucked Clair De Lune Oysters from Clyde River, New South Wales.  The oysters came shucked, flipped and served in their full shell with a wedge of lemon on top of a bed of pebbles.  The oysters had a very clean taste with a slight creaminess to it - started my meal off perfectly!

Our next dish was our favourite dish for the night, the Citrus Cured Kingfish, Frozen Fennel and Celery.  The kingfish was served very chilled and packed a citrus punch, with celery and topped with fennel granita.  I loved the flavours of this dish, it is very out of the ordinary, yet it was very well balanced - a must try!

We weren't too sure when ordering the Crab Roll with Spiced Avocado Puree because carbs usually fill me up to quickly, so as suggested by our wait staff we decided to order just one to share.  I probably should have mentioned earlier, everything on the menu here at 4Fourteen was designed to share - my favourite way of eating a meal because you get to try a lot more than eating in the conventional 3 course way (at which times you might still catch me secretly sharing!).  The little bun was filled with crab meat and a well seasoned avocado puree.  I found the bun a bit dense and dry for my liking and would prefer it to be light and fluffier. 

Our next fancy looking dish was the Smoked Eel Croquette and Horseradish Cream.  The deep fried croquette was shaped like an egg, served on a cut-out egg carton with a wedge of lemon and a dollop of horseradish cream.  Not too oily, but also a little dry and would have done better with a lighter dressing.

Then was the Roast Pork with Chargrilled Nectarines and Baby Leeks.  Tender and very juicy pieces of roast pork and crackling, which could crackle a bit more - we found it a little too chewy.

To finish the meal off, dessert and cheese!  The only difference between Twin and I, is that one would always choose savoury over sweet but the other would always choose sweet over savoury!  We ordered the White Chocolate Sandwich with Dulce de Leche and a cut of cheese selected from the cheese board (a gigantic cheese board brought to our table by our wait staff with the day's selection of cheese!).

Overall, our meal was very satisfying.  The ambience was very relaxed, the customers chirpy and very chatty, the music energetic - there was a real buzz to this place that was very encouraging.  This place is great to hang out with friends, I might even suggest it for first dates because it is so relaxed and the menu gives you plenty to talk about.  The food was quirky and different, the service was definitely 5 star, attentive and fun - arm in arm, Twin and I left with a full stomach, a warmed heart and big fat smile on our faces!  I cannot wait until our next foodventure Twin!

xx

4Fourteen

414 Bourke Street

Surry Hills  NSW  2010 

(02) 9331 5399

MoVida Sydney

MoVida has opened up in Sydney.

Yes! The owners of the successful restaurant chain in Melbourne have finally decided to spread their wings and expand their food empire to Sydney. The best part, is that they have also bought along a selection of the classic MoVida dishes.

On this unbearably hot summer night, I chose to take my good old friend to MoVida, for a long-overdue catch up. It was so hot that night that I barely had any appetite. Thankfully the back street Surry Hills restaurant had their air conditioner on full blast and the dining area was pleasantly cool. Coupled with the warm and welcoming smile from the floor staff on arrival, my night kicked off to a great start.

The setting of the restaurant is casual and cozy. The walls made of raw bricks but much of the internal area has been decked out with a lot of warm-coloured wood. The dark leather seats gave the restaurant a slight edge and adds to the character. Large floor to ceiling windows ensures that as much natural light is allowed in before the sun sets. On the front is a display of their seafood and oysters, to your left is the main dining area and to your right are high-top tables and the bar. We were seated at the bar where we could clearly see all the action behind it!

I started the night with an icy glass of Sangria - a Spanish wine punch with fresh fruit. The name of this famous Spanish drink, Sangria, is derived from the Spanish word 'Sangre' which means 'blood'. The blood tasted so good, I ordered a jug to share - why not?

Our first dish was the Anchoa - Artisan Cantabrian Anchovy with smoked tomato sorbet on a flat sourdough crouton. The Spanish take their anchovies very seriously and here at MoVida, they use the finest anchovies from Cantabria. The anchovy meat was firm, meaty and not too salty and balanced out with baby capers and the rustic tang of the smoked tomato sorbet. This dish was heavenly. A recipe to this amazing dish is posted on the MoVida website and I am going to have to give this a try at home soon!

Our next dish was the Bocata De Buey - tender pieces of wagyu wrapped around a hard hollow baguette, topped with tocino de cielo (a Spanish style custard), pickled and black garlic, edible flowers and chopped chives. This dish is bold and is beautiful, and tastes as good as it looks! If asked whether I would change anything, I may suggest a substitute for the air baguette which I found a little too hard for this tender and delicate dish.

Then followed the Salmonjero - a thick and creamy tomato puree soup originating from Cordoba in Southern Spain. The soup was served chilled with a long chunky piece of jamon and boiled quail egg.

Oysters were offered on the menu and again I could not resist and ordered two serves each of the Ostra - Sydney rock oysters shucked to order and served with Manzanilla jelly and compressed watermelon. Though the oysters were evidently very fresh and served nicely chilled, I didn't find that the flavours of the condiments worked too well with the creaminess of the rock oysters.

Now to my favourite dish for tonight, Cecina - large thinly sliced air cured wagyu beef served with a big dollop of truffle foam topped with a poached egg. The cured wagyu slices were slightly salty and very tender. Prior to eating you would wrap the truffle foam and poached egg with the wagyu into a parcel and cut right into it to enjoy all the flavours together at once. The truffle foam and poached egg harmonised the saltiness of the wagyu and the dish reached a heavenly equilibrium. My taste buds danced a little salsa on the spot and my eyes sparkled so much, the patrons sitting adjacent us immediately ordered a serving too!

Our final dish was the Flor Con Calamares - braised zucchini flowers filled with smoked eel brandade and served with grape tomatoes and fresh calamari. Don't let the appearance of this dish fool you, the calamari was the star of this dish (not the zucchini flowers!). The calamari were very fresh, sweet, juicy and tender.

The conclusion - MoVida Sydney was well worth the wait. Bring an old friend or two, arrive early (very early to avoid a long queue - we turned up at 6pm), order a few tapas dishes, pick and chew away, lay back for a relaxed chat and enjoy the warm ambience the restaurant offers. Order again and repeat the process until you are satisfied you have enjoyed the best Frank Camorra has to offer!

The service was a bit of hit-and-miss though. Good service is like the icing on a cake and can really make or break a dining experience. Having heard many people rave about the good service at MoVida, I came convinced my old friend would have an enjoyable night, but admittedly left with a bit of disappointment. Perhaps the staff member who served us was having a bad day? Nonetheless, the heart poured into the dishes is evident and I will return.

xx

MoVida Sydney

50 Holt Street

Surry Hills NSW 2010

(02) 8964 7642