Cuisine blends with storytelling at Toki Bistro & Bar
In the heart of North Sydney, Toki Bistro & Bar ‘combines French sophistication with Japanese artistry,’ using fresh local produce. When you walk in, you can already feel the ambience, with warm-toned dimmed lighting and red booths setting the tone for a cozy dining experience.
Led by head chef Jacob Lee, who has Michelin-starred restaurant experience, Toki’s new seven-course tasting menu is story-based, where each dish is inspired by the chefs’ own journey as a culinary expert.
Each course captures different stages of this journey, including the chefs’ travels across the globe that influenced their techniques today.
Ian Ng, general manager of Toki’s owners, The Miller Collective, says that the menu aims to ‘tell the experience and the story behind every chef.’
“We like to tell people how a chef becomes a chef, what’s the inspiration, what are the struggles, how they work in the kitchen,” Ian says.
A highlight is the story of an abalone course, inspired by one of the chefs returning home to South Korea after experimenting with Western techniques overseas. Sitting in a consommé, the abalone dish combines the French culinary technique with the flavours the chef grew up with.
Ian says the chefs are ‘very experimental.’ Filled with some unconventional pairings, the tasting menu demonstrates just that.
One of the dishes combines kingfish with lychee – an unlikely combo due to the acidity of the fruit. Toki has made this combination a delightful burst of sweetness in tandem with a smoky fish broth, topped with caviar and salmon roe to taste.
Having a sweet tooth, my personal favourite was dessert. A take on a traditional Mont Blanc, the dish is Japanese hojicha cake topped with chestnut cream and sansho tuile alongside brown rice ice cream.
Those trying the tasting menu will not forget their experience, as we are sent home with a jar of wasabi caramel spread, a remnant of Toki’s experimentation.
For those who prefer to choose their own meal, there are plenty of other dishes on offer on the a la carte menu, with a house favourite being a whole duck to share.
The tasting menu is available until next winter with small changes to dishes made seasonally.
TOKI BISTRO & BAR
T23,24/100 Miller St, North Sydney
0468 065 025