Toso
“Don’t worry about a thing.”
When you try to go to a fancier setting, options as a vegan are somewhat limited. Toso doesn’t really advertise vegan options, but many dishes fulfil that plant-based quota. On top of that, Toso has a good reputation and is almost always fully booked and highly popular. What can go wrong?
Starting off, finding Toso is fairly easy, as it is right at Götaplatsen on the corner of the Art Museum. It is divided into two places, one glass building with tables and one larger interior restaurant. We were in the restaurant that invites with a cosy, dark and modern Asian style. Music is low-fi and trip hop and it feels very metropolitan. Quite a good impression.
Sitting down started to be the first challenge. It was January at the time of visit, and the minus degrees outside did their part to feel cold. Our first table was in an area right at the constant blow of cold air from opening the door. Unacceptable. The only other table was somewhat better and secured, but every time the waiting staff needed to go to the second area, the door opened. So that happened a lot. I feel sorry for the guests who got all the tables where we were first seated.
The menu is nicely designed and has many options, even a sharing menu. Upon questioning the staff, we heard that the sharing menu cannot be made vegan. Fair enough. We also asked about mushrooms, as one in the party is allergic. No mushrooms at all. Odd, since many dishes clearly state shiitake, but maybe they fix it as we order. No worries. So, we ordered almost the entirety of the vegan options and a mocktail.
Drinks arrived fast, the first snacks as well. And disappointed kicked in immediately. The edamame are super basic, even though we took the “Toso-style” ones. Just steamed with some chili salt. Meh. The Padrónes were a bit more interesting, though the portion was very small. But this was a nice snack.
Then, it started to happen. The beetroot “tartar” came topped with mushrooms. Not cool, but they fixed it straight away, so after 10 more minutes the dish came back now without mushrooms.
Odd dish, to say the least. Feels like cereal with some beetroot, tofu, pickled onion and (wasabi) mayonnaise. The latter a stable of Swedish fine dining. Not my favourite, but I appreciate the novelty.
After this, a long waiting game started. 20-25 minutes without attention from waiters. No food, no refill of drinks, nothing. After that, more dishes came in…the rice. The rest will still take another 10ish minutes. The rice itself was interesting. Again, “Toso-style”. Mixed with ginger and topped with greens and some more of that mayonnaise. Because, of course. Who doesn’t eat rice with mayonnaise? Not my favourite, but alright.
Then more warm dishes arrived, or rather two. Two tofu bao buns and dumplings with…mushrooms! Here is where we lost it a bit and complained a bit more dedicatedly. In any case, the dumplings were on the house, so I took the liberty to try them. And well, they are unacceptable even if you are not allergic to their contents. Clearly bought from a large supplier in frozen state, not steamed long enough and hence half uncooked. The industrial filling taste like nothing, and the sauce is the actual taste-giver: a simple red curry with coconut milk foamed up. Just outright bad.
The bao buns were okay, but with way too much, you guessed it, mayonnaise. This time kimchi flavoured.
And then there should have been one more dish, aubergine szechuan style, but they just forgot about it. So we went to hunt down one waiter and paid on the spot and left.
Ridiculously unprofessional all in all, and it didn’t help that roughly 5 different waiters were running around bringing or taking away things, but no one ever asked about ordering more drinks or how everything is. Funnily, the party next to us got told to leave after paying, cause there were more people waiting. Customers are treated like cattle in this place.
Price:
Edamame: 54 - 69 SEK
Padrónes: 88 SEK
Tostada with tofu: 129 SEK
Beetroot “tartar”: 129 SEK
Dumplings: 128 SEK
Rice “Toso Style”: 46 SEK
The Verdict
Toso is an outright horrible experience. While the food ranges from outright unacceptable (dumplings) to quite alright (padrónes), it’s the unprofessional service that really outshines everything. Starting from a table situated right at the entrance with no protection against the cold wind from the constant opening of the door (that the staff needs to move though all the time!), up to a complete ignorance of allergene information (bringing food WITH allergenes, multiple times) and just outright ignoring of the customers. Many different waiters buzz around the tables, but no one pays attention to the customers. No one asks for refills, no one asks if everything is alright. Food is served when ready, customers are basically thrown out when they are done, cause the next ones are waiting in line. You are treated like cattle here. Don’t get too comfortable, eat up and go away.
Hospitality is clearly not the industry this restaurant is working in. Highly unprofessional and should be avoided if you have some sort of self-respect.
1/5 Leaves
Pro
Nice interior and atmosphere
Good mocktails
Con
Highly unprofessional service
Constant changing of waiting staff
No attention to customers
Average to outright bad food
Location
Götaplatsen
Opening Hours
Mo-Th: 17:00 - 23:00
Fr: 17:00 - 01:00
Sa: 12:00 - 01:00
Su: 12:00 - 23:00
