Roka

We had a wonderful experience at this remarkable restaurant. The service was excellent and the food was truly amazing the venue itself was perfect. We watched closely as the food was prepared and enjoyed seeing the staff take great pride in their work some of these dishes are almost like a work of Art. I even took a photo of some of the dishes (I know this is SAD). The waiting staff helped us choose from the menu as it was our first time here and they helped us choose perfect dishes that were divine. We even had dessert because we didnt want the evening to end. Thankfully my wonderful partner paid the bill which was above average perhaps but to us it was money well spent and we would definately love to go again one day!!!

I love this place, I find myself coming back regularly and bringing friends to show them what they've been missing!

On the surface, its easy to think its another one of those trendy Pan-Asian restaurants but the menu here is more exciting and varied in my opinion. The staff are attentive, and are good at advising on dishes to those that haven't been before. The Robata Grill is what stands this place apart I believe, it creates delicious smoky dishes that just ooze flavour and the wood smoke smell gives a warm and comforting atmosphere to the restaurant. I can't get enough of the wonderful black cod, the lamb cutlets with Korean spices and the scallop skewers! The sashimi is spot on as well as the salmon is just perfect, as is the fatty tuna.

Downstairs in the restaurant is a more funky dining and bar area, I love it down here too. However, a friend of mine found the menu hard to decipher in the darker lighting but we were soon helped by staff though who moved a lamp over to our table and assisted with the menu!

Come here and you won't regret it just remember to book ahead!

I went to Roka with another couple, we sat downstairs which is much nicer and warming

The restaurant was packed, we had sofa for chairs which is great if you are having a drink, but not so comfy for dinner, we all choose the taster menu, the waitress was so helpful and the service was impeccable, a really good try and also for people who havent tried sushi before as there is lots of guidance!

A change is as good as a rest – after lots of heavy French lunches I was really ready to try something new and I'd heard great things about Roka. In short, they're all true.

The restaurant is surrounded by glass and is full of natural wood so it's a lovely, light space to have lunch in. The staff on the door were sunny and chatty but the 3 waiting staff we met were an odd combination of surly, nervous and ruthlessly efficient respectively.

We went for 2 tasting menus, 2 at £55 and 2 at £75. Our main waitress (the ruthlessly effecient one) suggested that she made up the tasting menu according to their best sellers and the seasonal new comers. I have to say I didn't spot any of the dishes mentioned in the other reviews though! The only frustrating thing I found with doing it this way is I like to know what I'm going to eat so I'm guessing with the dishes below as none of it was written down or introduced clearly.

Stand out dishes for me were the tuna carpaccio with fresh truffle shavings, salmon sashimi with ginger and a sort of crispy fried roe on top, wrapped around white asparagus which were amazing. We tried their ‘famous’ wagu beef sushi rolls but I was underwhelmed.

The wagu beef returned having been grilled with a gorgeous sauce (we were told what it was but I couldn't understand our waitress unfortunately). It was delicious but I noticed on the bill that this one dish alone was £68 . I nearly hyperventilated. I would have preferred to try more things for that price. It was lovely meat but come on?

The soft shell crab looked amazing but as there were only two on the platter I offered it to my guests and then wanted to stab them in the eye with a chopstick when they made sex noises whilst eating it.

The deserts came on a stunning platter with exotic fruits and a huge solid cube of ice topped with sorbets. I wanted to clap it was so impressive, although individually the cakes and desserts around the fruit didn't quite live up to their aesthetic.

The most enjoyable thing was after sampling incredibly fresh fish, beautifully cooked and having course after course I wasn't uncomfortably full in any way. A lovely way to spend an afternoon.

When I came into Roka I couldn't believe how good I felt. And well, the warmth of the Robata Grill on any cold, rainy day, could make you feel at home instantly. Or even better than home. Your turn around to look at the street from the inside, as the restaurant is completely surrounded by glass and you feel you will never want to leave. But you've got a limited sitting time, so you need to speed up! Maybe decide what you will be ordering before you arrive so you can win those extra minutes to slowly enjoy the food. Service is very fast anyway.

It was my first contemporary japanese restaurant and I was very much impressed with everything from decoration, flavor, presentation, to the robata grill itself and watching the chefs cook around it. It´s definitely a great show and a different experience to any other restaurant.

We chose one of the tasting menus and it was exceptional. You can never go wrong here. The perfectly assembled and presented sushi rolls, the beautiful sashimi sitting on the crushed ice, the tasty robata dishes: everything is wonderful.
The deserts are a great treat as well.

I can´t wait for my second time around. And I will definitely sit around the grill next time to watch everything in more detail.

We had a contrasting experience at Roka when we went a month or so ago. It's a lively fun place to be – the robata grill dominating the dining room has the desired effect of adding to the hustle and bustle, and really making the customers feel part of the food prep (as well as tasting) experience.

The food was phenomenal with highlights being the sashimi, rock shrimps, and particularly the lamb cutlets. The ubiquitous black cod didn't disappoint. The only slight miss for me was the rice hot pot with king crab – lots of it, but fairly tasteless and bland. Food was quick but not the relentless procession that can sometimes happen at asian restaurants.

The 2 hour table turning was, however, religiously stuck to. We had booked at 8pm and thought that meant we might escape being kicked off as the clock turned 10. No such luck – at 9.45 waitresses turned from smiling to surly, and by 9.50 the bill had come without prompting. By 10.05 two of our party had gulped down their (too expensive) wine whilst the other two were moved with glasses still half full. That's not as appalling here as it may be at other places given the very cool downstairs bar which we re-located to, but it still left a black mark over the experience, and unfairly tarnished the excellent food. When paying such high prices, the situation needs to be managed with much more respect.

So, in summary, top class Japanese food – just don't savour it for too long or you'll be asked to leave…

When I first walked into Roka in 2005, I thought I had seen it all before. Trendy restaurant with attractive staff, overpriced food and an air of pretention. Then after time, the buzz goes, the column inches rapidly diminish and the crowd moves on to the next place to ‘see and be seen’. As I was seated at the wooden counter around the robata grill with a cold Asahi I slowly realised this was not one of those places. I have returned many times since and still five years later and is still just as popular as before. I have had many memorable dishes at Roka, most notably the terrific suckling pork belly, shiso sauce and hijiki, Korean lamb chops, Foie Gras and the unforgettable black cod. Stunning. Upon my most recent to Roka I started to explore the Sushi and Sashimi and was not dissaponted. Roka seems to be able to contuinue to produce exciting food and in my experience entirely reliable for a quick bite or a work-your-way-around-the-entire-menu-because-nobody-is-rushing-you experience. Highly reccomended.

Having never really had Japanese cuisine I wanted to try it somewhere recommended and Roka more than lived up to the hype. Once we had got past the mildly pretentious speel about how the restaurant was a concept, we relaxed into a very enjoyable evening.

My date and I opted for the tasting menu (priced at £75 per head) and each dish was a delight. The food is amazing, and I found the fact they bring each dish as soon as it is prepared fantastic. The crab clay pot was delicious, and the scallops were to die for.

The only aspect of the evening that tainted the effect was the service. Whilst it was mostly attentive, any questions were directed at my boyfriend, rather than acknowledging my ability to choose for myself. Two key examples of this were that we had missed the option for clay pot filling and the waiter came and whispered in my boyfriend.s ear to ask our choice, and then later we were offered coffees whilst I was using the restroom. It felt quite antiquated and made my boyfriend quite uncomfortable. I think they were quite shocked when it turned out to be me picking up the bill!

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the food and the vibrant, bustling atmosphere. The only thing I'd change was the service. I would go again, purely for those factors.

My wife brought me here for a birthday lunch today. I've had the pleasure of dining here before, but the premium tasting menu was DIVINE (yes there is a God). No dish failed to excite the taste buds, it is difficult to say what was best, such competition between dishes. The oysters, lamb, lobster dumplings (we would like to have had more an more of them), quail… it goes on.
Roka is for foodies, on weekends, for families, a delightful atmosphere. I prefer it to Zuma & Nobu
Thank you all.
Yes, we will be back

went to roka last friday having not been since 2007. the food was fine but not great. i agree with a previous poster in that at £22 you expect a lot more from the blackened cod! service was fine but very anonymous. atmosphere was ok but that was due to my companions. if it is trying to recreate a manhattan feel, it is failing quite spectacularly. all in all, i doubt that i will be returning unless the mists of time cloud my judgment and memory down the line.

Roka is a restaurant that feels like it wants to be in Manhatten; big, buzzy, lots of glass, lots of flames, lots of theatre. Alas, it doesn't quite live up to what it wants to be; the buzz is just a heavy, loud bass beat, making conversation possible only at a shout and the theatre would only work if the substance (the food and service) lived up to form (the glass, the flame etc).

The food is fine, sometimes better than fine, but at £22.50 for the black cod, I don't want fine, I want Nobu good. It isn't. The sushi rice was unforgivably soggy, although the rock-shrimp tempura (thank you again Nobu), was on the excellent side of good. Service too was patchy; it took an age to get served, but then everything turned up quickly. The desert menu appeared rapidly, but the deserts themselves must have been lurking at the Canary Wharf branch, and why is it that trying to get a bill at some places is more difficult than getting the (unordered, and soon removed) glass of sake that abruptly materialised from nowhere?

Roka is referred to as Zuma's baby sister, and in a lot of ways there are similarities. The difference is, Zuma works the buzz, works the theatre and works as a whole. Roka falls short. It probably works best as a group place to go, rather than a couple, as we did, and I certainly didn't envy the couple obviously on an early date at the table next to us.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Roka is my favourite restaurant in London. The service is slick, the food orgasmic! The black cod is out of this world. Everything is served as soon as it’s ready – making sure that everything’s as near perfect as possible. Both sitting at a table (you have to book well ahead) or sitting around the kitchen are fantastic. It’s a busy, lively restaurant with a fantastic energy about it. Have a lychee martini downstairs before. It’s the perfect starter … Highly highly recommended!

Can only speak about the downstairs experience. Now looking a bit tired and faded. The food is good but it’s expensive, the wine list equally so. Service is fine, the atmosphere is very vibrant the clientele mostly young. I have never left feeling I got value for money.

June 24th

Lunch a couple of weeks ago upstairs. Had the tasting menu, extremely good, beautifully presented, lots of different flavours and well balanced. The fish dishes were particularly good, the sashimi was outstanding. Service was a little slow at times.

Great menu, fantastic food and friendly, knowledgeable staff…expensive but worth it and better value than its sister restaurant Zuma. I also like the design and suggest sitting at the counter to eat, on the corner if you can…bar downstairs is also worth a visit.

Smart venue, the menu and food are fantastic, and the service has been good on the last couple of occasions that I've been here.

However, value for money is not on the agenda – it's very poor for what it is. And when you're paying that much money, a 2 hour time limit on your table in the evening is very poor…

Being the younger sibling of one of London's hottest restaurants Zuma, Roka had a lot to live up to, and I wasn't disappointed.

Upstairs is the main dining area, where patrons can choose either to reserve a table (2 hour time slot is the general norm) or you can turn up and wait for a table at the counter (probably not the best option if dining with a group larger than 3 people). The decor and layout is contemporary and fresh. During the summer months there are tables on Charlotte Street, which makes for some excellent alfresco dining.

The food does not disappoint. This is top quality Japanese cuisine. One of my favourites is the tuna tartar, served of course with a quails egg. The quality of the sushi and the sashimi is excellent.

Downstairs is Roka's bar area the Shochu Lounge. A subterranean lair where you can try one of the many varieties of shochu (a japanese shot normally of distilled barley, sweet potatoe, or rice, and typically 25% alcohol) or one of the many japanese themed cocktails. You can book a table in the Shochu Lounge, but I would advise against it as service can be terrible. Having eaten in both the upstairs restaurant area and downstairs lounge on several occasions, the restaurant is perfect for grabbing a bite to eat, before heading downstairs to continue the evening.

However, despite Roka being a fantastic japanese restaurant and definitely worth a visit, it does not compare to its elder sister Zuma. For the price you are paying, the atmosphere, quality of food, and ambience at Zuma is far superior, although it is this same reason why you may find it more difficult to snag table reservation at Zuma than at Roka.