Looking down the room at Toklas - the room is pretty large (and at the back of this picture, round the corner to the right is a large bar space) and rather Brutalist (which we love). Note the wonderful parquet flooring, which was apparently reclaimed from a library.
What do I need to know about Toklas?
Brought together by Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotove, the people behind art festival Frieze, Toklas actually comes in two parts. First, there's a bakery that's run by Adam Sellar, the man behind Angel Bakery in Abergavenny, and which has Janine Edwards in charge (previously Rye by the Water and Little Bread Pedlar). That's already becoming very much the bakery of the moment and the layered brioche, in particular, looks amazing.
Secondly, there is the main Toklas restaurant. That has Martyn Lyons in the kitchen, previously at Ollie Dabbous and at Spring and Moro, and offers a modern European menu with a Mediterranean focus. It's that restaurant that we're taking a look at here.
Whereabouts is it?
It's just off Aldwych on Surrey Street (the easiest stations nearby are Temple or it's a short walk to Holborn). It's worth noting that while both are on the same street, the bakery and restaurants are in quite different locations. The bakery is on the street itself, but keep an eye out for the small doorway further up the street which points you to the Toklas restaurant, as it's actually up one level (and this proves very useful for something we'll get to in a moment).
The terrace outside - this will be the place to be, once spring properly hits.
Where should we meet for a drink first?
This part of the Strand is not an area that's brimming over with excellent bars (although if you're a Soho House member, there's one just upstairs). So, luckily, Toklas has a pretty big bar space itself - in fact, it's somewhere we'd recommend just popping along to for a drink if you're in the area.
And then we come to the terrace space outside. We mentioned that Toklas is up one level from the ground and that means there's a huge terrace outside - and one that's not directly on the road. Once the weather warms up this will be an excellent drinking (and dining spot).
Into the restaurant - where should we sit?
If it's warm and the terrace is open - that's absolutely the place to sit. Otherwise, anywhere in the section that faces into the open kitchen. Given the size, we think this is a good place for large groups.
One thing that we hadn't appreciated from reading up on Toklas beforehand was how huge the place is. It really is a large space, and that means there's plenty of room between tables.
Onto the food - what can we expect?
In the vein of recent openings like Cafe Deco and Cafe Cecilia, this has a menu of small and large plates that changes regularly - sometimes on a daily basis. As such, this makes the restaurant very useful for return visits - dishes already changed a fair bit during the week we visited. If you've read the review by Marina O'Loughlin, she mentions grilled langoustines that were only on the menu for two days, apparently.
To give you an idea of what could be on - here's what we had:
Given the separate bakery - you'll have to order some bread. This is excellent sourdough (£3) with proper salted butter (we don't hold with unsalted butter with bread, thank you very much).
Panisse with sage (£5) aka chips made from chickpea. Must-have snacking food - order immediately if you see this on the menu.
A proper charcuterie selection (£12) - there's always something cured on the menu so even if you're just popping in for a drink, this would go very well with a glass or two of wine.
Another clear strong point of the restaurant is its pasta (again, this pasta dish changes very regularly). This is sheep's ricotta agnolotti with pine nuts and mint (£15)
Chicken with Tropea onions and polenta (£25) - just a very warming, comfort-food style of dish. Excellent polenta too.
Lemon sole with bottarga and monk's beard (£28) - fresh off the boat and beautifully cooked.
A very special mention for the chips (£5). These are like crunchy shards and chunks of chips - like the last things you'll find at the bottom of a punnet of chips, the real crunchy gold. Except it's a whole bowl of them and comes with aioli on the side. Fantastic.
Mayer lemon tart (£7) - another goof sign of the talent in the kitchen is the extremely delicate crust on this tart - it all just melts away. So yes, if there's a tart on the menu, get it.
And finally a special mention for the ice cream (£4 a scoop) - this is properly home-made pistachio ice cream studded with chunks of pistachio.
What about drinks?
The wine list is solely European, with bottles starting at £28, which is fairly standard for new London restaurants (on our visit this was a Tule Bianco from Cantine Rallo in Sicily). There's a good amount available by the carafe including a melon de Bourgogne (£20 carafe/£40 bottle) which is becoming quite the thing on London wine menus right now. Cocktails are £10-12 and there's a good selection of low ABV cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks.
Overall thoughts?
We mentioned Cafe Deco and Cafe Cecilia earlier on and it's easy to see Toklas in very much the same mould. It has a menu that changes all the time, hits some really high notes and is just a lovely place to while away the hours with food and wine. So it has all that, plus what could be one of London's most prized terrace spots and an amazing bakery to boot. We recommend you head down for a look yourselves.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of Toklas. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
More about Toklas
Where is it? 1 Surrey Street, London WC2R 2ND
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @toklas_london
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