Thursday, February 24, 2011

Tokyoria - World Square, Sydney


Having lunch in the Sydney CBD can be a real chore sometimes. You have your favourites but they can get boring or you hit lunch peak time and then you can't find a restaurant where you can have a nice and peaceful break or the worst is when you plan to go somewhere for a catch up lunch with friends and the restaurant is packed so you have to find an alternative spot.  These are the issues that arise for me as I work near World Square.

I noticed Tokyoria when I was having lunch at Ding Tai Fung and kept it  in mind when I felt like something different.  Tokyoria is owned by Seoul-Ria, so you know that you are not going to get authentic Japanese food.  However, for a lunch catch up it's the perfect spot, as it's still relatively unknown so it's nice and quiet and the service is efficient as they operate with the computer touch screen menus like Mizuya and Wagaya.

Restaurant front
Complimentary edamame

The lunch sets are quite big and they are generous.  The wooden bowls always seem to remind me of those wooden baths you see in cartoons but with a long wooden handle I guess for handling.  All lunch sets seem to come with the same side dishes of miso soup, some fruit, salmon sashimi that has a nice lemony dressing and some fried tofu with the same citrus dressing which is refreshing.

The mains all look like they also come with the same sides of lotus root, sushi, seafood extender, a quail egg, a slice of tamago, pickles, vegetables and a prawn wrapped in crispy potato strips with a sweet gaze.  The prawn for me was the most fun, I initially thought it was wrapped in noodles until I took a bit.

I ordered the tonkatsu set, and to be honest the tonkatsu is juicier and of better quality at Miso, which is another Japanese restaurant in World Square owned by the Masuya Group.  However, on a previous visit here, I did enjoy the gyoza and the accompanying sauce.
 
Tonkatsu lunch set
Close up of the tonkatsu main
Close up of the salmon sashimi side dish
Close up of the tofu side dish
Close up of prawn wrapped around crisp potato strips
Noodle action from friend's seafood noodle lunch set

Tokyoria is a great spot if you want to get away from the crazy lunch rush.  If you find computer touch screen menus amusing and fun like me and like to choose from an extensive menu then this might be the lunch or dinner spot for you.

Update

Visited for another Friday work lunch on the 25th of February 2011.  It's starting to get busy now and it took thirty minutes to get our order.  Lucky I work close by.  Here's a photo of my pork katsu curry that came with miso soup.

Katsu curry rice

Happy eating, Dumpling Girl.


Tokyoria
World Square
Level 1, Shop 11.03
644 George StreetSydney  NSW  2000 Ph: (02) 9261 8977

Tokyoria on Urbanspoon

7 comments:

joey@forkingaroundsydney said...

Love a good tonkatsu and touchscreen menus. :)

Dumpling Girl said...

Hi Joey,

I'd definitely recommend the tonkatsu at Miso instead but for some touchscreen novelty then this place is great, they also have those nice wooden booths for privacy if you can score one.

Helen (Grab Your Fork) said...

Whoah that tonkotsu set is huge! I like the little wooden handle too. Heh, they do kinda remind me of cartoon bathtubs!

Dumpling Girl said...

Hi Helen,

It is huge, so be sure to be hungry the day you decide to go.

Lol, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks that the bowls look like cartoon bath tubs either.

aparrafan said...

Tokyoria is great. I really enjoyed the food and thought it a refreshing change from Miso. Their menu also has more variety. Also thumbs up for their very friendly and accommodating service.

Anonymous said...

Do you remember how much do those cost? (on a student's budget) :p

Dumpling Girl said...

@ Anonymous - it's definitely on the pricer side, I think the sets are between $19-$23 and the curry katsu was just under $15, but it was a while ago. Hope this helps, as I am sure their pricing is similar to Miso.