I spy with my little eye... Toko.

Two weeks ago, the Gentleman and I decided to pick a new restaurant to try, and we went for Toko. It took a while to find it since we parked the car at Vida, as indicated on the website, crucial error since the restaurant is not part of the hotel, and it is actually located on Mohammed Bin Rashid boulevard, next to La Serre. After a little tour of Vida's corridors and stairs, we found Toko. The interior design is very simple and uncluttered, which I loved.

We sat in the lounge, just because it was a weekday and we wanted to keep it simple. When I asked for a very dry wine, the sommelier had a look at the drinks menu and decided to offer us a wine that wasn't available by the glass. I really appreciated the gesture and the effort. They definitively went that extra mile that makes the difference. And by the way, the wine was fantastic, just what I wanted.

Now foodwise, the cheerful Serge suggested a few specialities of the house. I loved the fact that he had tried them and could properly talk about them, that makes a big difference in terms of advice. Toko is mainly japanese fusion cuisine so I was looking forward to trying something new and boy I wasn't disappointed!

The king fish carpaccio was a gustative explosion, so fresh! The crispy rice tuna tartare and truffle was very powerful, I loved it. And the best surprise was the braised waguy short rib that was so soft you can actually eat it without cutlery. Amazing cuisine.

My only disappointments were the miso, too cooked for me, I didn't see the point, and, unfortunately, the cocktails: neither the martini, old fashioned or bloody mary were memorable. That being said, we went back twice within 2 weeks and the service was equally good each time. I would definitively recommend it, just stick to the wine list. I loved the music selection and the fact that you can actually hear each other whether sitting in the lounge, the restaurant or the garden. If you ever go, ask for Serge, he is full of good advice when it comes to ordering and is a ray of sunshine!

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