The Food at Toko Dubai
Toko Dubai serves contemporary Japanese, Izakaya (sharing plates) style food. Sometimes contemporary means mixed up flavours and small portions, not here though. Delicious, authentic food served in gorgeous dishes, it reminded me of the Chotto Matte’s style in London’s Soho. We loved the soft shell crab maki rolls, crispy baby squid, spicy tuna and soft, succulent aubergines. The only thing I wouldn’t order again were the tortilla tuna wrap rolls.
The Location of Toko Dubai
Toko Dubai is located on the lower ground floor of the modern Vida hotel in the Downtown area of Dubai on Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard opposite the Qamardeen hotel. It’s great if you’re shopping at Dubai Mall or staying at either of the 2 Address hotels in the area. We came from the Arabian Ranches for a birthday lunch on a week day and it took us around 20 minutes to drive here.
The Ambience of Toko Dubai
We sat outside the Toko Dubai and unless you’re directly in the sun, at this time of year it can be a tiny bit cool for us Dubaians! A shawl or cardigan is a good idea and the hotel obliged me by producing a shawl from somewhere, thank you Toko! Despite the weak mid day sun, we still opted to sit in the lounge style arrangement and eat dish after dish in this relaxed setting.
The inside was fairly empty on the day we visited. The ambience is elegant without being stuffy. That goes for the whole of the Vida hotel too, small but perfectly formed.
What’s Good to Know about Toko Dubai
Toko Dubai has a large, modern, candle lit garden area that is closed at lunch time but open during the evening. I would come back here but booking is required as this space is very popular with diners. Apparently you can also smoke shisha in some sections of the garden area.
Toko Dubai has a special deal on Tuesdays when for Dhs 225 you can have 18 pieces of sushi and drink unlimited Sake or Asahi beer!
Our lunch didn’t include alcohol and we didn’t limit ourselves to just sushi but we paid around Dhs 200 per head including Dhs 65 for an immaculately presented chocolate birthday dessert! We will be back at Toko Dubai very soon and I will ask for a prize to share with my subscribers…
THANKYOU
Monica
Wishing you all a fabulous 2015…
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Hi there,
thanks for your comment. Sorry you didn’t have a good experience at TOKO, I agree it’s expensive and not authentically Japanese in all it’s dishes but I still enjoyed our experience there and would go back. If you’re after really authentic Japanese have you tried Kisaku in Al Khaleej Palace? VERY authentic.
Best regards
Monica
There are many Japanese restaurants in Dubai and in my opinion, it is one of the least authentic Japanese food served around town. For the price you are paying and the quality of the food, it is definitely not somewhere I will return to again.
Indeed, but we all hope the traffic doesn’t get crazy near there ! Thanks for commenting Ishita,
Kindest regards and well done on your super blog as well ! Way to go.. Monica
A wonderful start to 2015! Actually Vida Downtown itself is a favourite location – fine dining hidden gems!