Roka

Two of us went on Friday 12th Feb.

We started downstairs for a cocktail before dinner. The atmosphere was nice and buzzy, and this continued upstairs in the restaurant. The food was good - stand-outs were the maki rolls (very fresh), the butterfish tataki (beautifully presented) and the beef fillet (mmmmm). Downfalls were the crab pot (basically crab risotto) and the dessert (similar to chocolate fondant) which were both lacking in refinement.

Our waiter was attentive, pleasant and knowledgeable (edging slightly on overattentive).

Would definitely recommend Roka, and it's not bad value for money, priced at about £70 a head with a bottle of wine and a couple of cocktails.
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Matthew Barker
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, February 15, 2010

It is difficult to fault Roka. The atmosphere bathes in an amber glow. My main criticism is that tables get snapped up and booked quickly...don't let that put you off because sitting at the bar of the open kitchen is a delight. Watching chef is like watching a conductor passionately conducting a symphony. The food is yummy. I am partial to the taster's menu. The chops are the best i've had as is the fois gras. The crab rice hotpot is sublime and has hidden depth of tastes and texture. The sashimi is fresh and chilled and perfect in texture. Chicken wings have also been a favourite. The desserts are godly and if you are lucky enough to have the dessert boat which accompanies the taster's menu you may just think you have gone to paradise.

Yes, you've guessed it...I am addicted to Roka...! It is on the pricey side but I would rather go out to eat less and go to Roka than go out more often to other restaurants. I like the quality control of the prepared dishes..always consistently done to perfection
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Sunday, February 14, 2010

Beautiful and delicious!

Roka is a gorgeous restaurant, service is impeccible and food out of this world. I was looking for a great Japanese place for a special occasion and found that most are either family run, informal affairs (very nice, but not 'occasion' restaurants necesserily) or of the Nobu ilk (over-priced and poor ethical records). I found it in Roka.

It's also in a great location, Goodge St has loads of places to drink. Although the bar downstairs is also lovely.

The food is imaginative, plentiful and reasonable. The menu was full of things I had never heard of, but all of them memorable and very tasty. Our waitress was more than happy to guide us through the menu and make recommendations.

I can't rave about it enough basically. Go, you won't be disappointed!
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tory ion
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Excellent quality food, but portions are intended for pigeons and prices are absolutely disproportionate. Save a few pounds, if you can, for a kebab afterwards, as you will leave hungrier than you came. Good place to invite a chick, though, insofar as you are still looking to extract something from her. If already done, go somewhere else.
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Piero Der Kommissar
7 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Sunday, February 07, 2010

7 of us went to Roka last night. There was a little wait whilst they got our table ready (booked for 7pm) & then we were seated. We chose some drinks but we had to wait quite a while before they arrived. Our thoughts then turned to what to eat & after much discussion we decided on the tasting menu for £50 / head, our waiter then proceeded to ask us if we had eaten there before, we hadn't, he then suggested that we let him choose a nice selection for us, my face must have shown that I thought it was an odd suggestion & he told me that "I would enjoy it Madam!" , it felt a bit like I had better enjoy it or else! . The group decided to go with his suggestion, in between time we ordered some wine & sake & then waited a bit more. When the food did come it was good, standout dish was a seared tuna number. There was some trouble with our wine as the second bottle (of Phileo at £54 / bottle) did not taste right, 3 of us tried it & all agreed, the waiter took it away & bought another BUT none of the bottles of wine were actually opened in front of us at the table which is an unusual practice, especially when spending £54 each. One of my colleagues did discuss this with the waiter but they didn't seem to think this was out of the ordinary.

My overall impression was that due to the poor level of service, I would not return for a second meal.
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3 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Thursday, December 17, 2009

Had celebration dinner at Roka tonight, i haven't been so disgusted by a restaurant in a while.

Service is appalling, the waiting staff were ignorant and rude. For 75 pound a head for the food alone i expect to be waited on hand and foot. Instead we had staff who were half arsed and clearly couldn't be bothered to do their jobs properly, was not offered a drink once even though our glasses ran dry after ten minutes. When asked to reccommend a beverage we were told "i'm sorry i don't drink so i wouldn't know what to reccommend". The floor manager was rude and not shy at levelling dirty looks at our table when we complained at being seated in a cramped corner clearly too small for our modestly sized party.

The food was quite bland and severely overpriced. Really, the food was terrible and i have no idea how this restaurant has such a high score on here. The premium taster menu (for 2 persons only) has miniscule portions of food delivered to your tables in pairs. So it'd be a pair of dumplings (bland), a pair of wagyu beef gunken rolls (lathered in mustard), sashimi (which handily arrives in portions of 3...), over cooked lamb chops, a pair of oysters so drenched in lime and garnish it could be anything, etc etc. The desert bowl looked quite grand until you realised it was mostly ice, 3 dollops of ice cream, a packet chocolate cake and blueberrys (2 for 1 for only £2.99).

If you want VERY substandard food that is astronomically overpriced this restaurant is for you. Roka is for those lacking knowledge in good food, It's for posers who would rather be seen in a hip joint than eat somewhere that serves great food.
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The Hungriest Hippo - View all reviews by this user
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, September 05, 2009

I m going a lot at the Nobu, I tryed Zuma too but I could say that Roka is my second choice after nobu. in the type of trendy japanese.

The service is ok but hostess or the manager are very rude. They both posing, and not taking care at all of the customers. They treat very badly the waiters.

We had problem there 3 times we had dinner. first we seat on the outside and the french hostess yelled at the waiter just in front of us because he let us seat!!!

next time we arrived at 9.45 and they didn't let us seat on the outside because they have to close the terrasse at 11. I promise I would have dinner in 1hour. and even though the hostess doesn't want to hear anything or didn't understand. I asked if I could talk to the manager and instead of coming and sort out what's happening, he played the model, thinking he looks like Tom Ford in the middle of the restaurant ! Obviously its not his restaurant because he might lose some customers if he pays attention only to himself !

So food is good, service good but they don't let you "enjoy" it !!!
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carole
6 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Saturday, July 04, 2009

Either this place has really gone down-hill or there is a huge disparity in the dishes.

On previous visits I had things like tuna tartar and, black cod, Korean lamb chops, and was impressed.

This time I had California Maki, Lobster and Cod Gyoza and Tomato salad.

The California maki was good.

The Gyoza were terrible, dry mush of a filling. I can't be sure but I don't think it actually contained any seafood, it was just flour with lobster and cod flavoring.

Tomato salad also terrible, slimy dressing, overpowering bonito taste. The sliminess was just vile. I could not eat more than two bites of this and it went to waste.

With two cocktails, this was a £50 lunch for one, which represents very poor value when only one of the dishes was any good.

Lesson to be learnt, if your going all out and ordering grilled meats and fishes and some sushi and sashimi I still rate this place very highly, but its not the place for a light lunch and their experimental dishes are very poor.
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5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Friday, June 19, 2009

Good but a lot of reviewers are drawing comparisons to Nobu. I personally think this pales in comparison.

Beware the pork belly. I think crispy skin is an absolute requirement. Roka doesn't. Go for the ribs though.
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Nick W
6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Thursday, May 28, 2009

Went with friends who booked it and what a choice, outstanding!!!!!!

Knocked spots off Hakkasan and Nobu, the food and flavours were amazing! Crab Legs are a must as is the Pork, The Ribs and the Scallops which were as big as the palm of your hand and were the best we have had. The Black Cod was as good as i've had anywhere! Busy buzzing dining area, we cannot wait to go back.
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Bram Martin
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, May 12, 2009