Toba

This was my first time visiting Toba and it did not disappoint! It’s been on my list for a while as I’ve never been to an Indonesian restaurant before. All of the food was delicious and felt authentic. It’s a small restaurant but has a good buzz and is in a great location. Service was super friendly and efficient. Stand out dishes for me were the crispy pancake and the lamb shank. The aubergine and tofu was surprisingly good. Nice and spicy! All of the food was so flavourful! Would highly recommend this place.

The food itself is good, but there are several aspects that the restaurant needs to pay closer attention to. Firstly, pricing. Some items are significantly overpriced. We ordered telur dadar and sapi panggang karo, and the latter was particularly shocking. Paying £42 for sapi panggang karo feels excessive and difficult to justify, even considering the quality. The telur dadar was also disappointing in this regard. It cost £6 for what was essentially a plain egg omelette with only a light sprinkle of spring onions, offering nothing particularly special to justify the price. On top of that, charging £2 for tap water feels unnecessary and rather unreasonable. We paid £84 in total for two people. Secondly, the service. While polite, it felt subtly rushed. Staff repeatedly came to clear cutlery even though one of us was still eating, which gave the impression that they wanted us to leave as soon as possible. This was especially unnecessary given that there was no queue, no one waiting for our table, and it wasn’t close to closing time. For comparison, the day before, I dined at Hafiz Mustafa, where there was a long line outside, yet we were never rushed to finish our meal. What made this more uncomfortable was the inconsistency. It felt unfair that we were being hurried while another table of four nearby continued eating and chatting until after we left, without any apparent pressure from staff. They also asked whether we wanted dessert because the dessert kitchen was closing, despite there still being an hour left before the restaurant closed. That felt premature and disrupted the dining experience. Thirdly, the menu categorisation. The dining categories are confusing. Items such as chicken skewers and sate Padang are listed as appetisers, even though these are commonly eaten as main courses. If the menu were structured more thoughtfully, it would better support the restaurant’s ambition of being a fine-dining establishment, rather than caught somewhere between casual dining and fine dining. Lastly, the seating and ambience. The table arrangement is uncomfortable. The tables are too small and placed too close together, making the space feel cramped. Additionally, the lighting is poorly positioned. We ended up sitting in an awkwardly dim spot, which affected the overall atmosphere. Overall, while the food quality is commendable, issues with pricing, service pacing, menu structure, and uncomfortable seating significantly take away from what could have been a much better experience.

Went for lunch during the weekday, I have heard many good things about this place so thought I’d give it a try. They serve delicious Indonesian food. We tried the satay chicken for starters and had the fried chicken with spicy sambhal and fried sea bass with another spicy sambhal it was a little on the spicier side but we loved it. We enjoyed a delicious pandan pancakes for dessert. Overall I would recommend their food is great tasting.

Took my in laws here for birthday meal as both have their birthdays around this weekend. The service and staff is good and friendly. Food... Food! It's got all the flavours. It's really quite amazing. I'm definitely coming back. Lamb shank was ace. Cod was very good. Tempeh was my least favourite.

The hosts and servers were very friendly and provided a great service. They accomodated us at the bar table despite the business of the restaurant, and the Gulai Kambing lamb shank curry, Ikan Arsik cod fillet And Sayur Lodeh vegetable coconut curry. The two currys were absolutely delicious, very well cooked and seasoned perfectly. The aubergine texture was also perfect, hard to do in a brothy curry. Unfortunately the Ikan Arsik was dissapointing, and while the fish was cooked well, the spice and citrus flavours were okay at best. The portion size was also dissapointing, for something that costs £35 after service, you would expect a main plate dish to offer more. The 7 beans thrown just tasted blanched, and didnt work well with the sauce either. The manager (?) was also very brash and micromanaging the bartender, and i understand it is busy and a stressful environment, but it should not be in view of the guests, and as we were sat by the bar we had full view. The female bartender was very friendly and was working hard. The restaurant overall was lovely and would definitely go again, for different dishes.

Toba had been on my list for 2–3 years, and I’m so glad I finally went, it was absolutely worth the wait. The food was exceptional. I’ve tried plenty of vegetarian and vegan restaurants before, and often the flavours fall flat, but not here. Everything was so delicious that we actually wished we had ordered only vegetarian dishes. The cocktails were also outstanding. They were strong, but perfectly balanced so you could still enjoy the flavours. On top of that, the customer service was exceptional, making the whole experience even better. This is without a doubt a place I’ll be returning to, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for amazing vegetarian or vegan dining.

Absolutely amazing Indonesian culinary experience! The food was mind blowing, best chicken saté and beef rendang I have ever tried in my life. Service and ambiance was great 👍 thank you and will definitely come back for more!!!

Indonesian lunch at Toba. Stuffed squid with tofu in yellow curry gulai cumi isi tahu, otak otak and rice. Basically everything was too spicy while the squid still had that elastic film around it that you could peel off and have the squid hanging off it as well as being over cooked. Interestingly it is not on the menu anymore. Lemongrass was strong. There were many health hazards at the restaurant with low hanging ceramic light shades that I hit my head on located between two tables where you get in and out. A bit overpriced but the location makes up for it.