Toki
Durout Al Ma'refah St, Malek Road
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Tel: 02 6060606
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TOKI is a member of the Leylaty Group of restaurants, this alone raises ones expectations. From the outside you would be forgiven to think the building was just another part of Leylaty’s Wedding Hall. There really isn’t a lot that makes the venue stand out. But the exterior subtlety is perhaps intentional and once you get inside, the interior is anything but understated. Lavish and elaborately decorated, you are confronted by fabric lined ceilings, classical chandeliers, arabesque pillars, and glass topped tables throughout the restaurant.
Ornate wood screens and plants divide the main entrance from the separate rooms which make up TOKI, while dozens of staff stand to attention waiting on your every need.
On arrival we were shown to our pre-booked table, and as a party of four we were taken to a perhaps all too large and round table that could have actually have seated up to six. The table was so big that I wondered how sharing dishes would actually be possible.
Before I had time to think, I noticed the large round disc in the center of the table, the waiter then brought over some prawn crackers and complimentary dips and proceeded to demonstrate the spinning table to the group. The disc could be spun fairly easily, allowing those ‘out of reach’ dishes on the other side of the table to almost instantly appear before you, a great idea, which worked effortlessly.
As our guests were actually from the Far East, we were keen to make sure that they enjoyed the meal, and interested to see whether what was served at TOKI would live up to the fare that they might find at home. They weren’t disappointed.
The waiter kindly provided us all with menus, and in addition to taking our orders he also made some helpful suggestions. We chose to start with some Chinese vegetarian spring rolls, prawn dumplings, dragon shrimp balls, and some chicken satay. To drink we ordered fresh orange and bottle of water.
While some of the party were a masters in the art of using chopsticks (not surprisingly) another who had not yet mastered their use chose to stick to the cutlery, which was also provided at the table.
The spring rolls were not that different from what I had tried elsewhere, however the dumplings were very good, not too soggy, and served steamed in a traditional Chinese bamboo basket which I hadn’t seen since my last trip to Hong Kong.
The dragon shrimp balls were deep fried, and perhaps a dish for the more adventurous, as they were flavored with a fair amount of chili. The chicken satay was excellent, and came with the usual accompaniment of peanut sauce, which went down well with the entire group.
After finishing off the last of the dumplings, our mains began to arrive; we had ordered half a crispy duck at the advice of our waiter. who suggested it was more than enough for four, this was true enough. The duck came to our table in one piece, but the waiters kindly took it to the side to shred it before serving. This came with wafer thin pancakes that were almost translucent, along with the usual spring onions and hoisin sauce.
The pancakes were followed by dishes of beef cooked in black bean sauce, a portion of chicken cashew nuts and two varieties of rice; steamed and egg fried rice. All were pretty good, I personally preferred the beef dish over the chicken, as it was slightly less sticky.
When it came time to look at the deserts menu we found our party was too full to eat any more, so we chose to end the evening with some green tea. All in all, TOKI is an excellent venue to entertain clients, beautiful atmosphere, great service, and most importantly good food.
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I had some friends from out of town visiting, so I decided to take them out to TOKI,which, according to many reviews, both on Jeddahfood and elsewhere is “the best chinese food in Jeddah” . It is part of the Laylti Group and is located around the corner from the Laylati banquet hall, well actually, connected to it.
We made our reservation for suhour at midnight, and when we got there, we found that the place wasn’t jam packed, but filling up nicely. Our party of 6 was directed to our table immediately. The decor was amazing. From the calming fountain in the front, to the modern Asian decor on the walls.It was spacious and definitely had an upper class vibe. I felt that the lighting was perfect, not too bright, and not as dark as other places where you can barely see the food set in front of you, let alone your dining companions.
Once we were seated, we started exploring the menu. About 10 minutes into being there, the manager came by to tell us that they had a large party coming into the restaurant, and if we didn’t order before them, it was going to take a long time to get our food. I found this comment quite odd, because with a restaurant of that size, they should definitely have enough staff to serve both their large party, as well as the other guests. Moreover, even if they didn’t have enough staff, it is not something you go about advertising to diners, especially if they haven’t complained about the slow service. We just brushed off the comment and told him we don’t mind waiting.
We were then brought some shrimp crackers with 3 kinds of dip, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, and a spicy chili paste. They were good, and all in all, a nice thing to snack on while we waited.
The menu was adequate, with just enough choices to have variety, but not to the point where you become indecisive. After some debate, we ordered Shui Jiao Beef and Ginger Dumplings, Chicken spring rolls, and the Sesame Prawn Toast for our appetizers. We told the waiter we would like some more time to decide about the mains, and waited for our food. 15 minutes later, the waiter brought our appetizers. Let me start by saying that all the reviews were right about the portions being incredibly small. There were 4 TINY dumplings, which were ok, but tasted more like the traditional dish Manto, 4 strips of the prawn toast, which would probably amount to 1 large piece of toast, and 5 small spring rolls. The prawn toast was our favorite, and if I were to visit TOKI again, I would definitely order it. The spring rolls were nice and crispy, but as for taste, they were ok, nothing special.Luckily it was Ramadan and people naturally eat less, but were it a normal day, the portions definitely wouldn’t have cut it.
We decided to order the Kung Po Chicken, half a Peking Duck, Hunan style chicken in a black bean sauce, and the Wok Fried Wagyu Beef As for the beef, we were unsure about which sauce to have, as they offered a black pepper sauce and a honey garlic sauce. We were leaning towards the honey garlic, but the waiter recommended the black pepper sauce, so we opted for that. We also ordered Egg Fried Rice and Chicken fried Rice. The Hunan chicken is not actually on the menu, but my friend asked if they could make it for her, and she specified what exactly she wanted, and I am glad to say they graciously agreed. That was definitely a point in TOKI’s favor, as most restaurants here refuse to make things that are not on the menu.
About 25 minutes later, our food arrived. The duck came first, and it was shredded table side, which was nice. I just wish they cooked it table side, the way they do in the States, but I guess that was just wishful thinking. It came with the usual pancakes, hoisen sauce, cucumbers, and spring onions. The pancakes were delicious, very thin, almost crepe-like. The duck was nice and crispy, and definitely not fatty. The Kung-Po chicken was average, a bit overly sweet and sticky, and although it was supposed to be spicy, there was nothing spicy about it. As for the Hunan chicken we specially ordered, it was surprisingly everyone’s favorite. It was absolutely delicious! The sauce was perfect and just the right amount, the broccoli was perfectly cooked, with just the right bite to it. The rice was nice and moist, not dry like alot of chinese places here in Jeddah. As for the Wagyu Beef, the beef was very tender, however the sauce made the dish inedible. It tasted like you were chewing on a black peppercorn, which is not at all appetizing. We called over the waiter to ask him to replace it with another dish, and he referred us to another waiter, who referred us to someone named Haytham. I don’t know if he is the assistant manager or what exactly his position was, but he came to ask what the problem was. We explained that we tried the beef, but the sauce was not to our liking and were unable to eat it. We asked if were could perhaps trade it in for another dish of equal value. He was quite rude and said many inappropriate things, the most memorable of which was “It is not our fault you ordered the beef”. It blew my mind that a 5 star place like TOKI, who supposedly has a reputation to keep up, would treat its guests that way. After we insisted that his behaviour was neither in good taste nor in good customer service, he called the manager over. The manager then proceeded to question us about why we didn’t like the sauce. It felt like we were being questioned for doing something wrong. I guess in TOKI, it is a crime to dislike something. We kept telling him the sauce is the problem and that it was recommended to us by the waiter, and that we were more than happy to have it replaced, not removed from the bill. He said he would see what he could do and just walked away. We continued our meal, and tried to salvage what remained of the night.
By the time we finished our main, we were too full to even think about dessert. So we asked for the bill. The Wagyu Beef was removed from the bill, which was nice. However, the manager never came back to inform us of what happened or to follow up. We paid our bill and on our way out, the manager was at the door. We thanked him and said goodbye, but we met with total silence, he had decided to give us the cold shoulder.
All in all, we had a nice meal on the most part. The waiters were very nice and attentive, however, I found the management to be rude, unhelpful, uncooperative, and downright immature. I do not think I will be returning to TOKI after their treatment, and will probably opt for take-out if I ever have a craving for their food.
Damn this is one of the longest reviwes iv ever seen
i read the whole thing though
: P