Summer has arrived to Sydney and as the whole city comes to life with a switch to holiday-mode, balmy nights and more reasons to go out, Japan’s Shochu trend hits town with the opening of tokonoma shochu bar + lounge. The guys behind the popular Toko restaurant has extended next door including private and exclusive spaces with an innovative design. With fashion designer Akira Isogawa featured among a star-studded guest list during the recent tokonoma launch party, we expect this to be one of the new hotspots in Sydney 2010. Being based in Surry Hills, hopefully there is no risk it becomes too cool for school but a funky place to chill out. Architect Matt Darwon has done a great job in fusing the unique brand in every touch point, creating a relaxed yet stylish atmosphere I have until now mostly experienced at bars in other world cities such as New York and Tokyo.

Matt who first worked his magic on Toko, has created the complete ying to Toko’s yang, giving Tokonoma a soft, smooth and fluid look and feel in contrast to Toko’s raw and sharp-edged interior. Artist, Reni Kung who created the stunning sun-like sculpture comprising 60,000 matchsticks at Toko has again used everyday raw materials to create a light sculpture for tokonoma. The 11 metres long sculpture “Water”, runs along the wall and is made entirely of lentils, perspex, resin and metal objects. I love how artists do their best to use sustainable design to create a space for the public to appreciate and wile an evening away.

After a very busy week, it was nice to kick back in the privacy of a back booth sampling Toko’s delicious tasting menu whilst sipping unique cocktails from the new tokonoma bar in the backdrop of the buzzing Friday night. It is really hard to limit yourself with the extensive cocktail menu of infused shochu tonics, Japanese sake, whiskies and liquers. They also have homemade syrups, sodas and tinctures, vanilla infused egg whites, freshly squeezed juices, local and imported wine plus non-alcoholic cleansing mocktail options. For the absolute connoisseur, tokonoma has introduced an authentic Cuban Rum, Havana Club Maximo Extra Anejo which is rumoured to cost in excess of $2,000 a bottle.

My personal favourite cocktail of the night was Rabuba, a rhubarb-infused sake and jose cuervo tradicional shaken with fresh passion-fruit and homemade spice syrup. The refreshing Asyla Caipiroska and Lychee & Jasmine Mojitos were also a hit. We also tried some of the more avant-garde drinks such as Sashimi Martini (yes, picture a fresh sashimi instead of an olive!) and of course the Shochu tonics created by macerating fruits or herbs in plain shochu, a vodka-like distilled spirit, and rock sugar – served on hand carved ice.

So, what is Shochu? Japan-lovers may already know about this indigenous beverage who has made a come-back among the hip and young Japanese, especially women. Shochu is distilled from a number raw ingredients including superfood such as barley, buckwheat, sweet potato and sugar making it smooth plus it only contains 1/3 calories of the vodka. No wonder it makes a popular drink for fashionistas! And although no real scientific proof, shochu fans claim the after effects are far more muted compared to those of beer and sake.

As a lover of Japanese cuisine, I have sampled plenty of degustation menus around the world as well as in Sydney, and I must say the combination of tokonoma drinks and the bite size culinary dishes from Toko is satisfying for all senses. None of the ten dishes let me down and if need to pick out a fav, one of the highlights was the hotate no jalapeno amazu zoe – robata grilled scallops with sweet pickled apple and jalapeno garlic. Even though, there are homemade ice-cream and sorbet on the tasting menu, I would probably suggest those who have an extra tummy for dessert to try the absolute divine chocolate fondant or fresh pannacotta from the a la carte menu. This probably defeats the purpose of healthier cocktails earlier but hey, perhaps we can view it as ying and yang again… mmm…

Photos tokonoma shochu bar + lounge, Surry Hills

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Yen Huynh, Creator of mecho | the style black book & style igloo

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