Toko Melbourne

Toko is a newish (6 months old) Japanese restaurant in Prahran’s Greville Street strip. The décor is chic and modern while still reflecting a degree of Japanese minimalism, and the lighting and music subdued. I initially took a seat at the back counter so I could watch the sushi chefs at work, but it was quite muggy inside so I grabbed a table in the courtyard adjoining the main restaurant and ordered a flask of the house sake to sip on while I pondered the menu.
All your standard Japanese offerings like tempura, sushi, sashimi and nigiri, but with quite a few interesting variations I hadn’t tried before. They offer a couple of degustations which looked good — the Tsuchi for $ 68 and the Sora for $ 88 — but unfortunately they only do these for a minimum of two people so I ordered a few of the more unusual dishes and created my own
First, the tai no sashimi — thinly sliced wild snapper, truffle oil and pork crackling. The fish slices were cut in the shape of flower petals and arranged in a circle around the pale green plate. The crackling was ground to a course powder, a small amount of which was sprinkled on each slice. Beautifully presented, subtle but still very flavoursome (the truffle oil was divine) and absolutely delicious.
This was followed by koushi no tataki — venison carpaccio served with nashi pear, yuzu koshu (a type of Japanese seasoning made from chilli peppers, yuzu peel and salt) and potato airbags. The meat was quite gamey (as you’d expect) slightly seared and very good, and the sauce was tasty without overpowering the main ingredient. The pickled nashi topping each slice was OK, but a little heavy handed I thought and something a little more subtle would have probably worked better.
To finish I tried the unagi with torched foie gras and umeboshi (dried plums). Unagi and foie gras are two of my favourite things so I was expecting this to be a winner. I wasn’t disappointed. Sensational combination and the pick of three very good dishes.
Toko isn’t the cheapest place in town, but you get what you pay for and I was more than happy to pay what I did. Really good and interesting Japanese cuisine in very comfortable surroundings with fast and friendly service. What’s not to like?