Tokyo Bird, Surry Hills and an FB&S announcement

First, apologies for the prolonged quietness. It has been, and will no doubt continue to be, a very busy year for me and as such, this is the last blog post you'll see on Food, Booze & Shoes for a while. The reason?

Small bar Tokyo Bird opened in a quiet Surry Hills laneway in late December 2014 with my partner Jason at the helm and a small crew that includes, on some nights, me. That's right, Food, Booze & Shoes is transitioning to something more like Booze, Booze and some Food.

Tokyo Bird, Belmore Lane, Surry Hills

Tokyo Bird is the realisation of a long-held aspiration for us, especially Jason who's been shaking Boston tins for at least the last 12 years.

While we've been hit with all manner of delays over the past 12 months or so, we're proud to finally be open on the unbeaten, footpath-less Belmore Lane in Surry Hills, right behind Brooklyn Hide and around the corner from Bodega and the Keg & Brew pub.

The bar at Tokyo Bird
Photo by George Hong

Our concept brings together Tokyo's refined cocktail bars with the Japanese 'salaryman' favourite of a yakitori-ya, in a very Sydney incarnation of a laneway small bar.

With an intimate space licensed to hold 60 patrons, it really is a place that we would want to hang out in for chilled drinks – whether it's beer, our award-winning bartender Yoshi Onishi's house cocktails, sake or an introduction to Japanese whisky.

Snacks and yakitori at Tokyo Bird
Photo by George Hong

On the food side, particularly having determined that I'm most definitely an eater after a few drinks, we've got a selection of nibbles and yakitori grilled skewers for some pretty decent drinking food.

Check out what the lovely Lee Tran from The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry; Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella and Corinne from Gourmantic had to say about us, as well as articles in SMH's Good Food, Broadsheet, The Urban List, Concrete Playground and TimeOut Sydney.

Cocktails at Tokyo Bird
Photo by George Hong

It's been six great years of Food, Booze & Shoes with more than 700 posts published on Sydney restaurants, bars, events and festivals. But it it feels like the time is right to put the blog to rest for now as the food blogging community continues to evolve and change, and my own spare time and resources have all but disappeared.

Personally, it's been six wonderful years of eating, drinking, getting around town and connecting with very like-minded individuals. It's also been six long years of photo selection and editing, late nights writing and trying to remember what something I ate weeks ago tasted like - these parts I won't miss so much.

Heartfelt thanks go to my contributors - Hendy, Janice, Kath & Mark - for their efforts over the past year or so - it's been so great to share the blog with you and in return, experience your perspectives and passion for all things food and booze. Many hugs to the other bloggers (and no-longer bloggers) out there who I can happily call friends - I won't be seeing you at events and picnics any longer, but Tokyo Bird hopes to see you soon!

So while you won't find me here much any more, you will certainly be able to find me at Belmore Lane in Surry Hills, or on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter – and even on our own blog from time to time.

Signing off with love, food, booze & shoes,
Tina

Toko: A Surry Hills stalwart

I remember my first visit to Toko, at least five years ago, where a couple of girls and I dropped more coin on cocktails at the bar as we waited for a table than on food in the restaurant itself.

Located at the very 'in' section of Surry Hills' Crown Street, the no-bookings policy remains for dinner at the modern Japanese restaurant, which spawned the market for contemporary, high-end peers like Sake and Sokyo.

Toko, Crown Street, Surry Hills

As a Surry Hills stalwart now, it was pleasing to see that Toko was pumping on a recent Monday night – not so much the dim, moody bar but the sushi and robata counter seats full and most of the communal table seating.

The (relatively) old girl has still got it, with both occasion and out-of-town diners mixing it with Surry Hills locals. The Monday night vibe was not unlike a regular Thursday or Friday night vibe, such was the atmosphere and sophisticatedly simple interior.

Spicy edamame - fried soy beans, chilli sauce

I don’t normally drink on Mondays but rules were made for breaking on special occasions, so it was the Uragasumi Zen Junmai Ginjo Miyagi sake in a Riedel O glass for me.

Served chilled, the gently dry sake went down easy, especially with the spicy edamame soy beans which were liberally tossed in a hot, garlicky chilli sauce.

Sake no miso tarutaru - salmon tartare, wasabi miso, lotus root chips

With a typically large izakaya style menu, it's a task to choose from the small plate, tempura, sushi and sashimi, and robata grill sections of the menu.

I can see why Toko's tasting menus would be popular choices, but I persevered with a la carte selections like the salmon tartare; a petite bowl of diced raw salmon in a wasabi and miso based dressing with just the right amount of bite.

Crispy, starchy lotus root chips were used as delicate, hole-ridden crackers to carry the salmon tartare, becoming a textural contrast and delight.

Further adding to the satisfaction was that the salmon tartare is Toko's 'OzHarvest seasonal dish'; an initiative where $2 from every tartare sold is donated to not-for-profit food rescue organisation, OzHarvest. That's feel-good eating at its finest.

Tai no sashimi to karikari buta - thinly sliced wild snapper, truffle oil, pork crackling

The snapper sashimi was a contemporary interpretation of the raw fish dish, served as thin slices with drops of truffle oil, baby shiso sprigs and tiny nuggets of puffed pork crackling.

While the pork crackling brought additional textural and flavour dimensions to classic sashimi, the truffle oil somewhat overpowered the delicate white fish.

Wagyu no nigiri - seared wagyu beef nigiri, eschallots, chives

Next were two pieces of nigiri sushi topped with thin rectangles of just-seared wagyu beef, garnished with a fine dice of eschallots and a chive section.

Presented with a light brush of soy, we weren't afraid to add more soy and wasabi to the beef which, in this format, I had expected to be more buttery soft that it was.

Watari-gani no karaage - crispy soft-shell crab, wasabi mayonnaise

Soft shell crab has become a pretty stock standard order in Japanese restaurants these days, although the rendition at Toko stands out with its superbly crisp tempura batter.

I noted that our whole tempura crab had soft-shelled, edible claws, which is probably the first time I've ever seen them despite many a soft-shell crab consumed.

Shiitake no hachimitsu fuumi - Japanese mushroom skewers, soy honey butter

After a pause we moved on to the robata grill items where, seated directly in front of the grill shielded by glass, we could see our selections being cooked and plated. Here we could see that the skewers of shiitake, Swiss brown and King Brown mushrooms were one of the most popular off the robata grill all evening.

For each serving, two skewers of the assorted mushrooms were grilled at relatively low heat, then brushed with soy and honey butter, served with zingy, seasoned and grated daikon white radish topped with chives. Not simple by any means, but a dish loved by omnivores and herbivores alike.

Tebasaki - chicken wings, Java curry salt, lime

The salt-grilled and kind-of butterflied chicken wings are one of my favourite yakitori styles with the skin charred and crisp from the grill. The lime addition was appropriate although I wasn't sure the flavoured salt was entirely necessary.

Negima yakitori - skewered chicken, spring onions, shichimi pepper

Toko’s version of the classic negima yakitori was heavy on the chicken and light on spring onions, and came with a light sprinkling of shichimi chilli pepper mix.

The densely-skewered chicken wasn't dry nor juicy; hiding beneath a surface of deliciously caramelised, sweet yakitori sauce.

Yaki onigiri nasu miso zoe - barbequed rice skewers, eggplant shiitake miso

The presentation of the yaki onigiri grilled rice cake was quite novel, like grilled rice lollipops topped with a miso-strong, mushy dice of eggplant and mushrooms. Despite looking tiny, the crisp surfaced rice pops were quite filling, as intended.

Sake no aburi yaki - smoked miso king salmon, house pickled ginger

Both the fish options from the robata menu were cooked by sitting on the lower temperature part of the grill for extended periods, so the smokiness of the grilled king salmon shouldn't have surprised me.

It was fish perfection with crisp skin and fatty salmon flesh flaking softly to combine with the creamy yellow miso puddle, while the thin slices of house pickled ginger were the perfect foil for the rich, fatty fish.

Amiyaki ro-su niku no wafu sauce - scotch fillet steak, wafu sauce, garlic chips

We ended the savoury choices on a heavy note - the scotch fillet steak which arrived pre-cut into cubes, showing off the perfect medium-rare state. Garlic chips and a light soy-vinegar dressing were the only partners to the beef, which lacked a bit of flavour, though granted that's characteristic of the cut.

Coconattu pannacotta - coconut pannacotta, strawberry, coconut foam

I couldn't bear a look at the dessert menu after all our dishes but was happy to taste just a spoonful (or three) of the coconut panncotta – a small serving in a cup, balanced on a masu wooden box filled with ice.

Coconut pannacotta

The velvety coconut foam on top was delightful and could have been dessert alone for me, but it was a surprisingly good combination matched with diced strawberry and what seemed more like crème brûlée than pannacotta. Indeed, there was even a burnished layer of toffee beneath the strawberries and above the custard.

The robabta grill

It's the complete experience at Toko. Years on, it's still on the pulse of Sydney's oft-labelled fickle dining scene; doing its thing for an appreciative crowd. And despite recent internal business issues, Toko has demonstrated the staying power that makes it one of few Surry Hills stalwarts.

Yebisu Izakaya: Looks the part

The transformation of Regent Place near the cinemas on George Street, Sydney has been pretty impressive following the departure of three Azuma eateries last year.

In addition to filling all the empty spaces on the George Street level, maintaining a Japanese theme; two vibrant eateries have joined previously lonesome Assembly Bar downstairs.

Neon signs outside Yebisu Izakaya, Regent Place, George Street, Sydney

Upstairs, replacing the somewhat high-end Azuma Kushiyaki now is Yebisu Izakaya; a modern izakaya drinking-style restaurant, presumably named after Japan’s Yebisu beer or the Japanese god of fish and merchants.

Beneath the streetscape of colourful neon signs and paper lanterns, a long queue often forms outside the restaurant, waiting for tables.

Yebisu Izakaya is not an eat-and-run kind of eatery like the nearby Tenkomori ramen bar, so the fact that so many are prepared to wait, standing outside for up to an hour with naught to do and no call-back option, is intriguing.

Counter seating at the open kitchen

While there is counter seating overlooking the open kitchen, seating for a group of more than two is ideally within the wood-toned restaurant.

Once you've waited it out (or well-organised and cleverly made a reservation) you can get down to ordering immediately via their iPad menu, which includes photos and pricing across the extensive food options.

While this makes it super easy to get carried away with tapping and ordering food and drink, you also get to see a running bill which can see many small items add up pretty quickly.

Pickles

We started with beers and pickles as seemed right for the izakaya style. The carrot, yellow-tinted daikon and squishy cucumber salt pickles were decent enough; however, there was a heavy bitterness to the white daikon that made it inedible.

Sake served in a masu

The custom sake trolley cart, manned by a cheery young Japanese waitress, features a number of the 1.8 litre sake bottles.

She was able to recommend me a dry sake (something with the kanji character for 'daughter' in it) which once ordered, would elicit bell ringing and celebrations (or congratulations, I'm not sure) from the kitchen and other staff, leaving the sake drinker feeling like quite the winner.

The waitress would then proceed to fill the sake glass, allowing it to overflow into the square masu container as a traditional gesture of generosity, and then input the drink into the table’s iPad ordering system.

Grilled skewers of chicken giblets (left) and chicken skin (right)

Food arrived in no particular order, especially as it’s so easy to order in a completely random fashion. We first received some yakitori grilled, skewered chicken items of giblets and chicken skin; the former cooked to a hard and challengingly tough state.

I know in Japan torikawa chicken skin is served folded onto the skewer as is done here, with the smooth, rubbery and fatty texture relished, but it’s just not my cup of tea so I just nibbled the blackened crisp bits where possible.

Karage chicken

Fried chicken was safer territory with a pretty decent rendition of golden battered karage chicken thigh fillets, served with a salad side and mayonnaise.

Nasu dengaku

The sweet miso sauce-topped nasu dengaku eggplant was served as a quartered wedge of the vegetable, with pre-cut pieces. The miso sauce resembled melted cheese but gave the softened eggplant flesh plenty of flavour.

Takoyaki served in crackers

I was intrigued by a new presentation of takoyaki octopus balls, even if it was just the frozen and deep fried ones. Sandwiched between two thin, round crackers with takoyaki sauce, Japanese mayonnaise and katsuobushi dried bonito shavings, we were advised to squash and flatten the top cracker and takoyaki for eating.

This was practical advice although the action unfortunately demonstrated the oiliness of the takoyaki, with copious amounts of oil oozing from the deep fried ball. In the end, it was really just an oily takoyaki and crackers.

Grilled chicken wings

The highlight of the meal was the grilled chicken wings; steaming hot straight off the grill. Seasoned simply with salt on the grill, most of the skin had the opportunity to render its fat and crisp up, revealing the juicy, just-cooked flesh of one of my favourite cuts of the chicken.

Grilled skewers of pork belly and chicken tsukune meatballs

The meal ended as it started with grilled skewers of meat. The pork belly certainly looked promising with its golden char and fat layers, although it was a very chewy few bites to negotiate. Meanwhile, the tsukune minced chicken was a little bland and unexciting, even with the semi-poached, soft-yolk egg as a dip.

In atmosphere and fitout, and even on first glance of the menu, Yebisu Izakaya looks the part of a fun izakaya. But without the drinking crowd or the tasty, booze-soaking food to back it up, it’s a bit of a letdown with looks prevailing over substance.

Japanese street food at Jap's Table

The idea of street food combines convenient and tasty eats, the great outdoors, hopefully reasonable pricing and a sprinkling of dust/germs/pollution from said streets.

It is quite literally street food at Jap's Table, with part of the menu cooked and eaten on the Chippendale footpath one sunny weekend lunch.

Cooking yakitori on the footpath at Jap's Table, Abercrombie Street, Chippendale

Jap's Table offers Japanese yakitori grilled chicken on a skewer, as well as a smattering of other Japanese highlights of sushi and ramen.

The sweet, smoky smells of the charcoal grill attracted quite a few looks from both passing pedestrians and cars.

Japanese soft drinks

The milky Calpis soft drink is a must-have for some with its subdued sweetness, while the Suntory branded C.C. Lemon is much like any lemon squash.

Negi toro maki sushi roll

As we waited for our hot food orders I tried out one of the pre-made sushi rolls, kept in a fridge displayed near the restaurant entrance.

The negi toro roll comprised a filling of minced raw toro tuna belly mixed with shallots, and wasn't bad but I could have used a touch of soy sauce which wasn't to be found.

Yokohama ramen

They had two varieties of ramen on offer featuring different broths: pork stock for the Yokohama version and chicken stock for the Tokyo version.

The ramen was pretty fair sized with the Yokohama one topped with Japanese style chashu roast pork, half a soft boiled egg, spinach, sliced shallots and two sheets of nori seaweed.

The soup was decidedly tasty and porky while the noodles were on the softer side of al dente, with chilli paste additions were available on the side.

Yakitori grill and chef

The main game for me was the yakitori which was being grilled under a watchful eye. Every flip on the grill or dunk into the sweet, soy-based sauce looked simple enough but I'm sure was a practised art.

Yakitori grill 

In addition to skewered yakitori options, the menu featured a yakitori don that has grilled chunks of chicken on a bowl of rice - chicken and rice, Japanese style.

(From top) Chicken liver, thigh and skin yakitori

Our yakitori order arrived all at once on the one plate: skewers of chicken thigh, liver and skin, suitably charred and saucy, straight off the grill.

The thigh, juicy with crunchy outer bits, was easy to love. The liver was overcooked, making it difficult for me (not a huge liver lover) to stomach.

I had high hopes for the chicken skin, which appeared as squares of skin folded and skewered, pretty much like they do in Japan. The texture was more rubbery than crisp like rendered skin would be; enjoyable for a little to start with but then completely and overwhelmingly too fatty.

Jap's Table is certainly waving the flag for street food in Sydney, and I can't wait to see it and the Sydney street food movement evolve.

Japan times - part 9: Kyoto travels

Earlier this year I spent two-and-a-half weeks in Japan, eating and drinking my way through a destination I've wanted to visit for more than a decade. This is the ninth of several posts of food, booze and sights in Japan.

Kyoto Station, Kyoto, Japan

The former imperial capital of Japan, Kyoto is a day trip's travel away from Osaka by train. It is renowned for its reverent temples and shrines, and is completely another side of Japan compared to bustling Tokyo.

Kyoto Tower, opposite the station

I had an expectation that I'd be transported back centuries on arrival to Kyoto, although the station and facing Kyoto Tower turned out to be pretty modern.

A city teeming with international and Japanese tourists, the station has information centres catering to temple seekers and an all-day hop-on hop-off bus ticket. Even then, the temples and sites are much more spaced out in distance that I thought. Best to eat first.

Ten-don - tempura chicken rice bowl with pickles and small udon noodles

We'd gotten a late start and it was already well into lunch time when we got into the heart of Kyoto. Near the first temple we were to visit, there were a couple of touristy shops and basically only one eatery.

Lucky for us they had gorgeously light tempura and delicious udon noodles on the menu. My ten-don rice bowl topped with battered chicken breast pieces was satisfyingly filling if not a bit heavy ahead of a day of sightseeing.

Udon with vegetable tempura

I quite like how in some noodle venues in Japan, diners can choose their preferred servings sizes of a dish - all for the same price. It prevents unnecessary wastage; accounts for the perhaps differing male and female eating capacities; and is just really thoughtful.

The udon soup ordered above was a medium serving from memory with some fabulously light, unoily tempura battered vegetables and prawn.

Kinkakuji - Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoto

I'm pretty sure I learnt about the Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion during my high school Japanese years but nothing really prepares one for the beauty of a gold-gilt Zen Buddhist temple on the edge of a pond.

Each of the three levels of the structure are meant to reflect different Japanese architectural styles, while the top two levels are covered in genuine gold leaf. The temple houses Buddhist relics and is set in appropriately relaxing, if not completely Zen, gardens.

Walls of the Kyoto Imperial Palace

From Kinkakuji we headed by bus to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, completely unaware of visiting times, days and permissions (unfortunately, I hadn't done my research ahead of the day trip).

Even just walking around the perimeter of the grand palace, it was definitely an ideal setting for anyone keen to live out ninja fantasies of running fights across the rooftops.

Kyoto houses

Gates of Yasaka Jinja, Gion, Kyoto

We headed to Gion late in the afternoon purposely to increase our chances of seeing geisha or more accurately, maiko apprentices in the streets of old Gion.

The Yasaka Jinja Shinto shrine sits before the huge Maruyama Park in Gion. The Shinto faith intrigues me so just watching worshippers' routines at the shrine was an educational experience.

Torii gate entrance

Tied paper fortunes

Yasaka Jinja Shinto shrine

Lanterns at an entrance

Maruyama Park, Gion, Kyoto

Hanami-koji Street, Gion, Kyoto

Gion is the traditional area of Kyoto and while some streets don't look too different from city roads, there are streets where unglamorous-looking tea houses and restaurants sit, and presumably further into the back street, houses where geisha and maiko live.

Buildings in Gion

Side street in Gion

The older style buildings in these back streets was much more along the lines of what I expected from Gion, and Kyoto generally. There were plenty of Japanese tourists in search of maiko in these streets, with a tour group leader even asking a shop keeper if he had any in his store.

Yakitori restaurant in Gion

To refuel after a hot day of touristy walking and bus travel about Kyoto, we ended up finding quite a modern-looking yakitori grilled chicken on skewers restaurant in one of the side streets.

A maiko after sending off a client

After dinner as we headed back to the main road to find our way back to Osaka, we spied a maiko across the road, sending off a businessman in a taxi after presumably dinner or drinks with said client.

In traditional platform geta wooden clogs, she walked slowly and delicately along the footpath in an ornate kimono and obi, with hair accessories swinging.

Up closer, we could see the maiko's detailed application of make-up: white face, neck and upper back in a distinctive pattern, tiny red painted lips and dramatic black around the eyes.

A maiko acrossing the road in Gion

We actually spotted another maiko waiting at the same street a crossing, descended upon by both international and Japanese tourists asking to take photos. She looked so shy, but obliging, as she posed for mobile phone cameras that I actually felt bad for the young girl and just admired her from a distance.

With our geisha/maiko spotting checked off quite inadvertently before a quick drink in a swish back lane bar, we got the bus back to Kyoto Station and the train back to Osaka with complete ease. How I miss public transport in Japan.

More Japan posts to come - back to Tokyo. See more photos from my Japan trip on my Facebook page.