TOZI Restaurant and Bar - Victoria, London

TOZI menu by the door

Few weeks ago we planned a lunch do for one of my colleagues who is about to give birth. Unfortunately Two days before the planned lunch the mother to be got sick and we cancelled lunch…

I had my heart all set to going out for lunch so I convinced two other colleagues to join me for at TOZI Victoria.

As we entered the restaurant, we were greeted and seated immediately. It was early lunch so, the restaurant was a bit empty.

Just as we sat, our waiter came to speak to us…

“Hello, I am Raphael, I am your waiter. Have you been here before?”.  Nope, we have never visited TOZI. Raphael proceeded to explain to us what the type of restaurant was, in the process we learnt that Raphael was Brazilian… All I can say is that he made us feel welcomed, he dutifully explained to us how to order the dishes on the menu, what was in each dish etc etc

We ordered our drinks as we waited for our food to arrive.

While we waited, Raphael brought us 2 baskets of bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Pizza's station

View of the main kitchen

Looking at my surroundings to my left, I could see that open kitchen and further to the side there is a pizza station… with all sorts of cured meats and chopped ingredients to make fresh pizzas live on request ( suspect their Pizza must be better than that of my previous outing)… the boys at the station kindly answered all the questions I had … I am sure they found it strange, but I just wanted to hear them roll their tongs as they spoke English in that beautifully thick Italian accent… they even posed for a photo… Ask and you shall receive. Right?


In all we must have waited 20 minutes for our meals to appear in sizzling cast iron dishes.

I had ordered some Ox Cheeks with wild mushrooms and jus with a side of buttered wilted spinach and parmesan. One of the girls ordered smoked mackerel and the other asked for the swordfish.

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My Meal

I cannot remember the last time I ate Ox cheeks … it would have been in France and not in the UK. This was the first time I was seeing this on the menu in the UK and I wasn’t disappointed. The cheeks were melting in my mouth and I could also taste some red wine in it. I would have love to order another portion of this, but we were on a timer… Next time, I should order 3 portions for myself and just have some slices of bread with it. I quiet liked the spinach too... lightly flavoured, wilted in butter and topped with parmesan cheese.

My friends’ also enjoyed their food. There is not much to say about the presentation, but the environment and the service was really and relaxed. After our meal we ordered some coffees and they came with some amoretti biscuits free of charge… Appreciated touch.

This is definitely a place for a light lunch with colleagues. My lunch cost me £20.00 included drinks and service charge. I feel the prices on the card are correct.

As we walked out I stopped to take in the entrance of the restaurant which is a bar… the black and white photographs, the chairs, the glass wall and that Chesterfield looking sofa against the far wall was screaming my name… I promised that I would be back just for that sofa and a glass or two of wine… I think I should make this appointment a Friday after work type of affair…

Friday after work hang-out! Perfect!

I really recommend TOZI if you are visiting or working near Victoria.

TOZI is in the same building as the Park plaza hotel at the bottom of Vauxhall bridge road.

For further info click or copy this link http://www.tozirestaurant.co.uk

Asked to be served by Raphael. He is great! Don’t forget to tip!

See you there. :-)

The Reviewer