Toshi was off the radar for a while (we heard it was having a facelift) but now it’s back, and it seems to be back with a vengeance. The snazzy red and black theme, heightened in the evening with all the red lantern business going on, makes this a very stylish place to dine. We appreciated the attention to detail; from the Chinese etchings on the silver ends of your chopsticks to the flask shaped soy sauce holder with its glass stopper, and the music, which varied between tribal ambient and soulful Japanese, it all felt tastefully thought out.
Wait staff here are not only friendly and attentive, they’re also very clued-up. When we suffered an indecisive moment about ordering a bowl of rice with our sashimi, our waitress was quick to suggest that we’d probably not need it. She was right. The sansyu sashimi needed no rice with which to be enjoyed. This was three generous slices of tuna, salmon and mackerel on beds of grated radish. The tuna was prime-cut (the fatty kind) and chewy with a hint of something woody that lingered like an aftertaste. It suggested that this fish was semi- smoked, but it wasn’t – we know this, because we asked. In spite of our inquisitiveness, we’re still none the wiser about what the tuna had been subjected to before ending up on our plate, but whatever it was, it tasted great. The salmon was also terrific; fresh and melt-in-your mouth tender. And the mackerel deserves much praise, particularly because mackerel is normally a very oily and heavy fish, but this one had been treated to something lemony which lightened the fishy taste and made it more pleasant.
Along with the sashimi, we ordered two of the chef’s specialty maki rolls. Both of them were best enjoyed without soy sauce to better appreciate all the different flavours at play. The King of the Sea, was a combination of crispy salmon skin, king crab, mango, avocado, pickled radish and cream cheese. It was a chewy mouthful of sweet and sour that worked well with the crab and seaweed. The Korean ConFusion was a maki made of smoked eel, kimchi, pickled radish and Japanese mayo. It was crunchy and sweet, with a kick from the kimchi and a hint of mayonnaise which, thankfully, it wasn’t swimming in (this seems to be the case with a lot of sushi places in Abu Dhabi, when they try to be imaginative with maki rolls – ahem, hint hint guys).
After such a satisfying meal we expected the bill to make us flinch a little, particularly when we’re so used to all our favourite Japanese joints being on the steep side. Refreshingly, this wasn’t the case.
The bill (for one)
King of the Sea Dhs40
Korean ConFusion Dhs30
Sansyu sashimi Dhs45
Total (excluding service) Dhs115
