Tokonoma Shochu Bar & Lounge
Editorial
Citysearch® 2010 Best in the City Winner: Best Friday Night Drinks!
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Instead, refine it and open it up as a neighbour. Toko Restaurant and Bar has long been a local favourite; Surry Hills natives desperate for a leisure refresher command the space on a Friday night. Now, just next door, Tokonoma has been born as a more polished pit-stop.
Here, the specialty is shochu. Distinct from sake, shochu is a distilled, more elegant beverage. It's appropriate, then, that it is the focus in this distilled, more elegant Toko cousin.
As the shochu passes smoothly through the blood-brain-barrier, it's entirely possible to believe that you are in High Modern Tokyo. Or, at least, a New York City version of the same. From the fussily unfussy décor to the single ball of ice, carved from a single block of ice, that cools your glass, everything here whispers Shinjuku chic.
Tokomona makes a good fist of showcasing contemporary Japanese food. The tasting menu may not surprise fans of the nation's cuisine, but, it'll certainly offer proficient familiarity. There's a lovely twist on edamame, or steamed soy beans served in the pod. They're revved up with garlic and chilli.
And you, too, are likely to accelerate into the weekend following an evening at this delightful den.
SM King, September 2010
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