Toko, Surry Hills

Had a Christmas dinner with my girls at this precious little restaurant in the heart of Surry Hills. The restaurant offers an extensive menu with inviting wait staff to help you choose your meals. Their dim lighting, sexy dark interior and ridiculously good food took my breath away. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who loves their modern Japanese food. Here are just a few of the things they have on their menu:

Lychee and jasmine mojito - havana club especial stirred with lychees, fresh mint and lime served long with chilled jasmine tea and club soda - $10 on special

Toko classic on special!

An open kitchen to watch the chefs work their magic.

Sliced kingfish, yuzu, chives and pickled daikon - $17.20

The yuzu in the dish gave it a very fresh citrusy taste.

Seared beef, pickled onions, mizuna and garlic chips - $18.40

Soft-shell crab, wasabi mayonnaise and rock chives - $17.80

Marinated lamb cutlets, chilli miso and pickled eggplant - $26.80

I loved these! These lamb cutlets were beautifully marinated and well paired with the chilli miso and pickled eggplant. The meat was oh-so tender and juicy and just melted in my mouth.

Duck breast, sansho pepper and pickled nashi pear - $29.80

One of my favourite things to eat would be duck. I love ducks! This was well seasoned and paired quite well with the pickled nashi pear.

Robata grilled scallop, sweet pickled apple and jalapeño garlic - $22.80

Grilled to perfection! The jalapeño garlic sauce gave it an interesting tang.

Pork belly, apple-kizami wasabi relish and sweet soy - $17.20

The pork belly was alright. Wasn't spectacular, but maybe that was just my full stomach calling out.

Chilled rhubard-macadamia crumble, vanilla custard and apple sorbet - $14.80

This dessert was absolutely gorgeous. You could see the black specks of vanilla beans in the custard - always a good sign. The flavours balanced each other out quite well. The sweetness of the vanilla custard countered the sourness of the rhubarb crumble that laid underneath the goodness. And that apple sorbet...I could eat the apple sorbet all day.

Chocolate and hazelnut fondant with milk ice-cream - $17.80

This simple little thing blew my mind. I thought the best chocolate fondant I ever tried was located thousands of kilometres away in the one and only Le Bua Sirocco - but I was wrong. Behold, the almighty chocolate AND hazelnut fondant. This was incredibly moist and once you dig deep inside, out comes a molten larva of warm, gooey hazelnutty goodness oozing from the rich chocolate cake. My absolute fave.