din305

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  5      Value  8     

Ate here recently with my wife and kids. The food is very good, especially the large entree selection. You could order a few of these and not even bother with pizza. The involtini and calamari were delicious. The only problem was that for some reason they brought out all our main course when we were only halfway through our entrees!

So 2 main pasta dishes just sat on the table for a while getting cold and I had to send the pizza back because there was no room on the table. I suppose we should have told them to take all the main courses back so we could have a breather but a lot of the wait staff had fairly limited English (authentic Italian!) and they didn't seem to notice/care that we were still eating entrees.

Anyway, the owner apologised but the experience was spoilt, as we felt like we'd been force fed. I would go back, however, and next time, I'll ask for a break between courses. Also, make sure you don't over order. The courses are pretty large.

Feb 12, 2011

6.2 Average

Food  7      Drinks  8      Ambience  7      Service  2      Value  7     

Four of us ate here recently. We were the second table to arrive, at 7 pm. In summary, our waiter forgot to submit our main course order, and it was only when we asked where our food was, about 1.5 hrs later, that the error was discovered. It came out pretty quickly after that, but considering that a few larger tables, who came in after us, were already enjoying their meals, we were pretty annoyed.

The owner, who was in charge of the floor, should have been aware that there was a problem. A brief apology was made, but no gesture of anything to compensate for their mistake. The food was actually quite good and it's reasonable value if you drink Sangria instead of bottled wine, but I'm still debating whether I would go there again-bad service really @#$%* me off!

Feb 12, 2011

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

I really like this place. The menu offers more variety than your average cafe and the value is very good. Having eaten there many times, it's very consistent and as an added bonus it has a concise but well-chosen wine list, which is very well-priced. Try the Northern Greek inspired stew or the beef burger.

Sep 05, 2010

2.8 Not Recommended

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  3      Value  1     

Four of us went to Vulcan's last Saturday night. I'd been looking forward to going as I'd never been before and I remembered a great meal many years ago at Oasis Seros. The venue isn't particularly enticing-a frosty glass shopfront (it was a cold, cold Blackheath night) with a tiled floor, uncomfortable chairs and tables so close that I tripped over trying to get in and out of my chair.

The menu is extremely limited, 3 entrees and 4 mains, and virtually all with a weird, modern Asian bent. I suspect they must have a curry-leaf plant (I have one at home too) because they seemed to find their way into most dishes, and over-powered them. So don't bother to bring your cherished red wines for dinner, at $5 per person corkage.

The chickpea salad entree had a good combination of flavours but overall, the attempt at modern Asian doesn't work. A special of lamb in some sort of watery, curry-leaf led broth was insipid, and made you wish you were eating a proper curry. The fish was ruined by overcooking. Even the famous chequerboard ice-cream, ($19) seemed to lack intensity, compared to the version from many years ago.

Value is terrible. Entrees are $19 and mains $34. The menu stipulated a minimum spend of $58 pp (yes, really, add it up, entree, main course and corkage) and a 2.5% surcharge on credit cards, even though they don't accept Amex!. This sort of attitude shows a real disdain for the patron, and a cynical approach to hospitality. We didn't leave a tip. They should retire if this is all that is prepared to serve up after such a distinguished career.

Aug 31, 2010

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

I have a written a few reviews on eatability and it's struck me that, unfortunately, I feel more duty to advise people about the really disappointing restaurants rather than the ones I really like.

So, to square things up, I have to say, I love Toko. I'd quite happily eat here every week. This place provides everything that I want in a restaurant experience. Great atmosphere and decor, a bar with great cocktails where you can order everything from the menu if you have to wait for a table (and you will have to wait most nights, because you can't book for dinner), superb, fresh food which tastes just as good every time you go there and busy, but efficient and friendly staff.

If you like the tapas-idea, (sharing small dishes), then this restaurant with modern-Japanese cuisine is ideal. Every dish I've had is a winner. As an added bonus, the selection of sake is a real eye-opener, and the pannacotta dessert would have to be the most perfectly balanced ending I've had in a restaurant for a long time.

The value is great. You can eat, drink and take in the theatre of the setting
(including a great cocktail at the start and plum sake with dessert) for about $80-90pp, and you'll come away completely satisfied, but not bloated. My only word of warning, this place is seriously busy and noisy on weekends and long may it be so!

Oct 03, 2009

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  5      Value  8     

Ate here recently with my wife and kids. The food is very good, especially the large entree selection. You could order a few of these and not even bother with pizza. The involtini and calamari were delicious. The only problem was that for some reason they brought out all our main course when we were only halfway through our entrees!

So 2 main pasta dishes just sat on the table for a while getting cold and I had to send the pizza back because there was no room on the table. I suppose we should have told them to take all the main courses back so we could have a breather but a lot of the wait staff had fairly limited English (authentic Italian!) and they didn't seem to notice/care that we were still eating entrees.

Anyway, the owner apologised but the experience was spoilt, as we felt like we'd been force fed. I would go back, however, and next time, I'll ask for a break between courses. Also, make sure you don't over order. The courses are pretty large.

Feb 12, 2011

6.2 Average

Food  7      Drinks  8      Ambience  7      Service  2      Value  7     

Four of us ate here recently. We were the second table to arrive, at 7 pm. In summary, our waiter forgot to submit our main course order, and it was only when we asked where our food was, about 1.5 hrs later, that the error was discovered. It came out pretty quickly after that, but considering that a few larger tables, who came in after us, were already enjoying their meals, we were pretty annoyed.

The owner, who was in charge of the floor, should have been aware that there was a problem. A brief apology was made, but no gesture of anything to compensate for their mistake. The food was actually quite good and it's reasonable value if you drink Sangria instead of bottled wine, but I'm still debating whether I would go there again-bad service really @#$%* me off!

Feb 12, 2011

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

I really like this place. The menu offers more variety than your average cafe and the value is very good. Having eaten there many times, it's very consistent and as an added bonus it has a concise but well-chosen wine list, which is very well-priced. Try the Northern Greek inspired stew or the beef burger.

Sep 05, 2010

2.8 Not Recommended

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  3      Value  1     

Four of us went to Vulcan's last Saturday night. I'd been looking forward to going as I'd never been before and I remembered a great meal many years ago at Oasis Seros. The venue isn't particularly enticing-a frosty glass shopfront (it was a cold, cold Blackheath night) with a tiled floor, uncomfortable chairs and tables so close that I tripped over trying to get in and out of my chair.

The menu is extremely limited, 3 entrees and 4 mains, and virtually all with a weird, modern Asian bent. I suspect they must have a curry-leaf plant (I have one at home too) because they seemed to find their way into most dishes, and over-powered them. So don't bother to bring your cherished red wines for dinner, at $5 per person corkage.

The chickpea salad entree had a good combination of flavours but overall, the attempt at modern Asian doesn't work. A special of lamb in some sort of watery, curry-leaf led broth was insipid, and made you wish you were eating a proper curry. The fish was ruined by overcooking. Even the famous chequerboard ice-cream, ($19) seemed to lack intensity, compared to the version from many years ago.

Value is terrible. Entrees are $19 and mains $34. The menu stipulated a minimum spend of $58 pp (yes, really, add it up, entree, main course and corkage) and a 2.5% surcharge on credit cards, even though they don't accept Amex!. This sort of attitude shows a real disdain for the patron, and a cynical approach to hospitality. We didn't leave a tip. They should retire if this is all that is prepared to serve up after such a distinguished career.

Aug 31, 2010

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

I have a written a few reviews on eatability and it's struck me that, unfortunately, I feel more duty to advise people about the really disappointing restaurants rather than the ones I really like.

So, to square things up, I have to say, I love Toko. I'd quite happily eat here every week. This place provides everything that I want in a restaurant experience. Great atmosphere and decor, a bar with great cocktails where you can order everything from the menu if you have to wait for a table (and you will have to wait most nights, because you can't book for dinner), superb, fresh food which tastes just as good every time you go there and busy, but efficient and friendly staff.

If you like the tapas-idea, (sharing small dishes), then this restaurant with modern-Japanese cuisine is ideal. Every dish I've had is a winner. As an added bonus, the selection of sake is a real eye-opener, and the pannacotta dessert would have to be the most perfectly balanced ending I've had in a restaurant for a long time.

The value is great. You can eat, drink and take in the theatre of the setting
(including a great cocktail at the start and plum sake with dessert) for about $80-90pp, and you'll come away completely satisfied, but not bloated. My only word of warning, this place is seriously busy and noisy on weekends and long may it be so!

Oct 03, 2009

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  6     

I went to this restaurant recently on a Saturday night. It looks great from the outside and the decor and setting have really welcoming feel. We were led to a courtyard table out the back but, unfortunately, on side of the table had a wooden bench instead of seats. It was uncomfortable and difficult to get on and off with three people sharing it. I expect chairs at a one hat restaurant.

Overall the service was friendly although our waiter didn't have too much knowledge about the wine list and couldn't really provide me with a convincing overview of two wines I was interested in. One thing I've notice in Sydney restaurants lately is that the wine mark-ups seem to be increasing significantly. I suppose restaurants have to make money somehow and putting a big mark-up on a relatively obscure or imported wine is the easiest way, because the average diner has no idea how much the wine is actually worth.

However when you're paying $80 a bottle, you expect a reasonable level of quality, and the wines we had seemed fairly average for the price. The list is more limited than I would have expected also. The food was acceptable, but I expected better-maybe too much media publicity for the chef/owner recently, heightened my expectations!

Sep 24, 2009

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.3 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  4      Service  3      Value  5     

I took my family on the basis of a reasonable review in the SMH. We booked for 6.30 pm as I have young children. The restaurant was 3/4 full when we arrived and we ordered for the kids without delay (spag bol and cheese/tomato pizza). It took over 45 minutes for the pizza to be served! Hopeless for a place that is famous for its pizza.

The pizza was good (light, thin crust and not too much topping) but the rest of the food ranged from average to poor. Pasta with porcini mushrooms was gluggy, heavy and bitter. Fried zucchini flowers were limp and soggy. These sorts of dishes are pretty basic, so why couldn't they do them properly? Disappointing for pasta dishes costing close to $20. The place is very very noisy, which I can accept, but the level of service and the food were unacceptable especially in an area where you're spoilt for choice of Italian restaurants.

Jan 26, 2009