SYDNEY.
Toko.
By Mark Treviranus
This Surry Hills restaurant dishes up some of the best Japanese Sydney has to offer.
Toko
490 Crown Street
Surry Hills
(+61) 9357 6100
www.toko.com.au
Toko Restaurant sits on the former MG Garage site in Crown Street. The space has emerged from extensive renovations as a sleek, wood-panelled warehouse with an open kitchen, low-rise communal tables and a seated grill running down one side of the room. The menu consists of mod-Japanese dishes designed specifically for sharing, with an emphasis on quality local seafood. In Japanese, Toko means ‘room within a house to relax’ and this chic yet informal style of eating is quintessentially Sydney. No bookings so the wait for a table can be long at times but head next door to Tokonoma lounge and savour the intricate taste and complexity of shochu, a special Japanese beverage. Settling into the plush leather banquettes and enjoy a cleansing pre-dinner shochu tonic, served straight over freshly cleaved ice, or a late night cocktail and cool beats from the in-house DJ.
