Tokui Sushi, Melbourne CBD by Bureaucrat

One of my go-to eateries for a cheap, healthy, gluten-free lunch is the sushi at Yoyogi inside Melbourne Central.  One of the things I like about it is that if you buy four sushi rolls, you pay $8 - which is pretty decent considering what you pay at other sushi places.  

However, as I'm wanting to tighten my purse strings so that, hopefully, it'll translate to me tightening  a notch further up my belt, I've been limiting my intake to two sushi rolls. Because of that, I don't qualify for the $2 price for sushi at Yoyogi.


So, in search for cheap and good sushi, I did a bit of research on Urbanspoon.  And that's how I came to try Tokui.  The reviews of Tokui was promising - cheap (all rolls are $2) and generous fillings.  The tamago (egg) sushi seemed to have lots of praise.


Ergo, one lunchtime, I got a tamago (top) and a fried whiting (bottom).  First impression, yes, these rolls are pretty hefty than its peers.  Pleasingly, the fillings extend right to the end.  Because of the bulk, the seaweed isn't as tightly wrapped up when compared to other sushi places. The tamago is pretty good. Two rolls of the Japanese sweet egg omelette with a bit of avo and a smidge of mayo.  This is now part of my regular order.  The fried whiting was a bit of a disappointment in terms of taste as it was quite bland. But there was a reasonable fillet of fish there and the batter was light.  For me, nothing beats the spicy fish sushi at Yoyogi.


On another occasion, I got the unagi (eel) sushi. Eel sushi for $2 is hard to beat (since the next cheapest I've found is $2.60). Two fillets of eel, which had a reasonable amount of meat on it. The only neg is the slightly chewy/slippery skin.  But this is just my view, since I'm not a fan of fish skin regardless of how it's served.  Having said that, I'd order this again.

Yet on another time, I tried the fried chicken sushi. That was pretty damn fine.  Crispy, juicy and tender chicken. This fried chicken sushi was so good that it's making me reconsider to declare it my most favourite sushi of all time (my most favourite being the spicy fish sushi at Yoyogi). The neg was that it is a bit oily.  The chicken could have done with some of the oil being blotted off before it was made into the sushi.

While I liked the fried chicken sushi, I thought I should try a healthier version. The spicy roast chicken hit the mark. Lots of tender chicken with a smidge of chilli.  I'd definitely order this again too.

Verdict
Food - 7.5
Service - 7.5
Ambience - 6.5
Price - 10

Overall
I'm pretty impressed with Tokui. I definitely agree with the other reviews that the sushi is cheap and generous. I think if you eat in (they have a few tables) that you get free tea as well.  I'm making my way through its range of sushi - but each time I always order one tamago sushi. Service is friendly.

I think I'm going to continue to get the sushi as take away, as the place is small and a bit dark inside.  Plus, the place faces onto Lonsdale Street near the bus stop and the intersection, so it's quite noisy with the traffic.

Tokui is on my list of favourite go-to places now.

Address
Tokui Sushi
260 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne
Telephone: 9663 9966