tokyo tina

said would be 2 hour wait, was an hour and a half. excellent service, great food, awesome music! had theporkbelly bao and open california rolls, not a disappointment. quiet deeds session ale is fantastic aswell

the food is pretty good but the service can be hit and miss. wrong items were added on on tab which were for the table next to us. items i ordered we missed. when the food does come out it's great. would still go back for theporkbelly.

not great. but not bad either. on the fence with this place. certain dishes were decent (jap pancake and corn karaage), others were a bit underwhelming (open face sushi roll andporkbelly buns). will be back to try again if they update the menu.

wanted to try this place for a while and only got around to it recently has every time i’ve been it’s been so busy!

the staff were super lovely and very helpful when it came to ordering!

we ordered the beef baos, japanese pancakes and theporkhock. the highlight was definitely the beef bao’s for me. the japanese pancakes were quite delicious and they were nice and crunchy!

the most disappointing was theporkhock. it was so dry and lacked so much in flavor. considering that was the “main” we were very underwhelmed.

fusion may be the hot thing to do, but it's pretty hard to do well. tokyo tina had a nice vibe and lovely service. the food was underwhelming or okay at best, definitely overrated. salmon tartare with the sesame cracker was the highlight of the night. light and fresh and great subtle flavours. otherwise, the karaage corn balls were nice but the sansho mayo was way to strong. gyoza were really poorly made and cooked, with dry and rubbery skin, plus the kimchiporkfilling was weak. the broth of the miso ramen was so bland, it made me sad. i'm not expecting good ramen from a place that doesn't specialise in it, but this was by far the weakest ramen i've ever tried.

tokyo tina

i have been here about 4-5 times now.
one of my favourite "light fusion" japanese cuisine :p - in other words, this place ain't a traditional joint for japanese food but you could still feel a strong japanese influence in the taste.

i have been back for number of times and the food qualities and services always pleasant.

the salmon tartar is a nice and light ceviche to start off

pork belly with bao is a must try in this venue. the lightly salted pickled daikon, bao kewpie , teriyaki sauce and the crispy skinporkbelly are a match in culinary heaven :)

other recommendation would be theirporkand kimchi gyoza, grilled snapper fillets, crispy skin chicken.

for drink, please try ginger lemonade (mock-tail) it would be a nice surprise for your palate.

otherwise, japanese sling or cucumber and yuzu sour would be a good choice

came to celebrate a friend's birthday and were required to go with the set menu because we were a group of 7!

ordered: standard all-in ($65.00pp)
🥒 spiced edamame
🐟 kingfish sashimi with yuzukosho dressing
🥟pork+ kimchi gyoza with plum vinegar, soy
🍗 karaage chicken with five spice, lime, kewpie mayo
🍆 crispy sticky eggplant with red vinegar, sesame
🍅 summer tomatoes with kombu dressing & gyoza crisps
🍙 diyporkbelly bao with pickled daikon, teriyaki sauce, kewpie
🐄 wagyu beef tataki with ponzu sauce and horseradish
🥬 shredded wombok, fennel & radish with shaved wombok, fennel, radish and yuzu dressing
nb:i think we got beetroots though...
🥯 homemade yuzu donut with mandarin sugar, yuzu curd

review:
kicking off with the favourites:
1. crispy sticky eggplant was a crowd favourite. a lot of the table didn't like eggplant, but were happily munching on the crunchy eggplant!
2. summer tomatoes was a fresh hit. especially with a umami-mushroom flavour, and crunchy gyoza chips it was loaded with texture. i would've happily consumed a whole plate to myself.

could've been betters:
1.porkbelly bao could've been softer. it was a little dense, but theporkbelly itself was cooked well. especially when i've had dryporkbelly, i thought theporkbelly was well done at tokyo tina.
2. edmame could've done a lot better if it was chargrilled. not bad for being spiced (adds a nice zing) but could be elevated with a dark smoky flavour.

there's definitely enough food in this set menu. great price, for a fun set menu experience.

service was nice and definitely a bustle of people in the restaurant being on chapel st. it's so hard to find parking around the area - so be warned!

👍🏻 what you should order: smoked duck bimbimbap, karaage chicken, all of their cocktails
*
overall score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*
tokyo tina is the type of place that you would go for a meal with your friends if you would like to indulge in asian fusion. do not come here if you are looking for traditional asian food - tokyo tina prides itself in serving a wide range of asian dishes with a slight twist.

after a few visits, i’ve come to realise that if you order the right dishes, you are guaranteed to have a good time. some of my favourite dishes are:
1. the smoked duck bimbimbap: do not pour all the chilli sauce if you don’t enjoy spicy food. we usually pour about half and it’s sufficient. really enjoy the smoked duck.
2. karaage chicken: who doesn’t enjoy crispy chicken alongside kewpie? this is a classic favourite which went well with their cocktails!
3. eggplant chips - not as crispy and rich as the ones i had at some sichuan restaurants, but the honey coat works well.
4. the yakitori sticks were delicious - not the best we’ve had, but perfectly charred and full of flavour
5. tokyo tina also had a good selection of sashimi dishes. we wiped the kingfish sashimi and yellow fish tuna clean!!

the dishes that we found to be less appetising were theporkbelly bao - theporkbelly meat was a bit dry and portions were small. theporkhock was also quite tough and hard to cut through. theporkand kimchi gyoza also didn’t work as well - something about theporkmeat tasting slightly odd.

having said that, after 2 visits, we now order our favourite dishes and really enjoy our time at tokyo tina. the drink selections are especially good - i haven’t had a cocktail i didn’t enjoy at tokyo tina. the great music playlist and top notch service are also huge pluses - it’s no wonder the restaurant is consistently crowded!
*
taste: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ambience: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
presentation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
price: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

we had the feed me set menu for my birthday. loved the entrees (corn balls were a highlight) however the mains sadly let us down. i recommend ordering dishes off the menu - definitely try the karaage chicken and theporkbelly bao.

staff were incredibly friendly and helpful with selecting our food choices. atmosphere was a mix of a hipster and of course, japanese vibe.
started off with the salmon tartare dish which was zesty and refreshing! the sesame crackers added nice texture to the dish.
the japanese pancake was layered nicely with crispy sesame crackers and japanese mayo/dressing to match.
theporkwas a generous serving with spring onion roti and assortment of condiments. tasty meat with a crispy skin. however, the skin became overwhelming after a while.
would definitely recommend this place! affordable and quality food!

had been wanting to try tokyo tina for a while so went here on wednesday for lunch. the restaurant was not busy. i ordered spicy chicken ramen andporkand kimchi gyoza. the food is average, didn’t like the gyoza. a pot of kirin was $12 which is pretty expensive.

went here just for a snack. had theporkbelly bao. i am not really into it. i expected that theporkto be soft and tender, maybe sticky with thick sauce or something. but it came a bit tough and dry.

the bun was soft and pleasant with the mayo, but they were too small to acomodate the slab of thickporklike that.

two condiments of gochujang like style and teriyaki sauce were good when eaten together with theporkand bun.

popped in for dinner for 3 on a thursday night and the place was bustling and full. luckily a table cleared as we entered. however before being seated, we were left just standing at the front counter a good 10-15 minutes while two waitresses finished a conversation, and they let another table pay their bill despite the fact we’d been waiting for a while by the time they came up to pay. aside from this, we found our designated waitress helpful and attentive, and our service the rest of the night was good.
the restaurant is a medium-sized space with a nice bar to one side and japanese anime/arcade game decorations throughout the venue. the tables, chairs and a long comfy bench are all well laid out to make good use of the size of the space available; though full, the place didn’t feel too cramped.
for food we ordered the chicken karaage, open california roll, diyporkbelly and beef rib baos, and the duck ssam (쌈 = ‘wrap’ in korean).
for a restaurant called “tokyo tina” and being categorised as “modern japanese cuisine”, they certainly seemed to have a lot of korean inspired dishes and ingredients on their menu... hence why most people seem to refer to them as simply being “asian fusion”.
my special mention for the night would have to go to the duck. it was beautifully cooked and flavoured; definitely one of the best dishes of duck i’ve had in a long time. the rest of the food was good, but nothing amazing or as memorable. the diy portion of the baos, duck ssam and the open california roll will amuse some, but i feel like it’d be good if there was an option for them to come out ‘made’. the novelty has the potential to be worn down very thin depending on the size and type of group you’re dining with, and the time you have.

great place! came here last night for dinner and had the banquet which was better than most places for the banquet i have been to recently. the fried chicken is great and theporkhock is delicious. if you are getting the banquet just don't be too quick to fill up because there is a lot of food. the desert was delicious - donuts with dehydrated mango filling.

staff were 5/5 - knowledgeable, helpful and attentive.

would come back but not order the banquet, probably more from the raw fish side with a main or 2.

love tokyo tina! i live locally so have been a few times now and i am yet to be disappointed. we like to sit outside so i can't comment on the ambience (even in winter they have awesome outdoor heaters!) but the food and service is always on point. i highly recommend the diyporkbelly bao and the steamed snapper fillet. their spiced edamame beans might be the best i have ever had (big call i know). last visit we also had a waiter recommend trying the red bulgogi sauce (served with bao) with the karaage chicken and we will never go without that sauce again. delicious!

the plates are design for sharing and the staff are really helpful with recommending how much might be appropriate for how many people there are. the other thing i love about this place is they don't just rush all the food out to you in an effort to get you out the door. the plates are spaced out giving you time to actually enjoy the food and a nice night out on chapel.