Toshi’s Mittagong is a Japanese Restaurant made in heaven. Their chef could turn me into a Woo girl. This gives you an idea as to how much I loved each and every dish. If you’re around Mittagong (Bowral, Moss Vale, Berrima, you name it), this restaurant is a place you must stop to. If you happen to be a sydneysider, this is also worth the trip. A-ma-zing. If I was slightly less educated, I would have liked my Wagyu plate (too bad I still kept my manner). Enough praise, here are some pics and words…

NSW’s Best Japanese Restaurant Toshi’s – Fully Booked

We look at the message on the door… Says the restaurant is fully booked for tonight. My heart skips a beat. Have I booked or not? It’s one of those moments, when you’re reaching the end of a long road trip full of bookings here and there, where you’re not too sure about having done that one thing that needed to be done. The waiter immediately knows who I am, calling me by my name (!? It’s our first time in Mittagong). Turns out that we’re 15 minutes late. I thought I had booked for 6.30pm… but the booking (I checked back home) was for 6pm. If you see a human brain somewhere on the M5 or along the way from Canberra to Mittagong, thanks for acknowledging me. Sure might be mine.

NSW’s Best Japanese Restaurant Toshi’s – The Japanese Room

There are 2 choices to be made: Western Room (classic western table) or Japanese room (where you have to take off your shoes, walk along the benches, and be slightly acrobatic to fit your legs under the table). Sorry for the picture that’s blurry, Monsieur took it (and he drove 2 hours because I don’t have the driving license, hence the shakiness I guess). I don’t know what it is that I was doing with my hands, should have snapped the shot!

NSW’s Best Japanese Restaurant Toshi’s – Umeshu with soda water AUD 6

We drink (I drink I shall say… he drives) our usual Umeshu AUD 6 with sparkling water, and very promptly, our two first dishes arrive.

NSW’s Best Japanese Restaurant Toshi’s – Tataki Beef AUD 15

First to come is the Tataki Beef AUD 15. Very fairly priced, and the marinade is great, very garlicky and tasty. It’s closer to a roast beef, so even if you’re not into raw beef much, this one is closer to a roast beef type of tataki, and I reckon, very suitable for all tastes. I thought I loved tataki very raw, but Toshi’s convinced me that even cooked a bit more than what I’m used to, tataki beef is awesome!

NSW’s Best Japanese Restaurant Toshi’s – Edamame Beans AUD 5

The edamame arrive shortly afterwards. There are 4 types of edamame. Warm or Cold, salty on the outside (but not the inside) or properly wholly cooked in salty water (so the inside is salty. My favourite edamame is the one cooked properly, the one where the beans inside the pod are salty. The reason for this is that the flavour is even. Every single soy bean taste the same, as opposed to having extremely salty pod (and disappointingly non salty beans). Toshi’s Edamame beans AUD 5 belong to the type of edamame I love. Evenly salted ones. Here, they come cold, but I’m hearing some patrons asking whether they could have it warm, so it’s great you’re able to choose!

NSW’s Best Japanese Restaurant Toshi’s – sushi sashimi mix AUD 32

We ordered a mix of sushi/sashimi AUD 32. Fishes (yellow fin tuna, ocean trout, and I can’t remember what the white one was) were extremely fresh. I found the plate to be great, but probably wouldn’t reorder because flavour wise, other dishes were more interesting.

NSW’s Best Japanese Restaurant Toshi’s – Wagyu beef AUD 55

The Wagyu Steak AUD 55 is a must have. I found it stunning. A burst of flavour worth the price tag. I was a bit weary to order it considering it’s a nice sum of money to fork out for a massaged beef but it truly did not disappoint. Marbling was there, juicy and healthy fatness (full of good omega we learnt – and checked + approved!). Would definitely reorder.

NSW’s Best Japanese Restaurant Toshi’s – Eggplant Age Nasu AUD 13

The waiter advised us to go for the eggplant or Age Nasu AUD 13 and he was right. Pairing these two was great. We were particularly impressed by the flavour of the sauce (I drank some of it) and asked what it is that made it so exceptional. A knowledgable waiter tipped us: soy sauce, garlic, bonito sauce, ginger, sesame oil, and mirin. Not sure we can reproduce this wonder, but we’ll try. Too good to leave the sauce (didn’t dare asking for a tupperware, sort of regretting it now!)

NSW’s Best Japanese Restaurant Toshi’s – The Bill

The bill came down to AUD 129. Not cheap, but you definitely get excellent value for this. We were so very happy to have dinner at Toshi’s, so happy to have read others’ reviews, so happy because from the outside, it wouldn’t have been a restaurant we’d have been tempted to enter into. They don’t need my praise to underline what a success this is, but Wooooo woo! Go Toshi’s go!