Craig was away in China London London
We started the day with an early 2 mile run in the park followed by a session in the gym. Then it was home, shower, dress and on the train to London
We arrived at the restaurant and were greeted by two staff that very quickly found our booking and showed us to our seats. I say seats and not table because a feature of the restaurant is the robata grill which customers can sit around and watch all the cooking action. When we first sat down I did think about changing my mind and asking for a table as I felt a bit restricted for space. However once I got settled I relaxed a bit and it was fine. A waiter gave us both food and drinks menus and asked if we wanted to order a drink straight away. We had decided we were going to have a few cocktails so we just ordered a bottle of sparkling mineral water while we looked at the menu.
To get us in the mood for food we ordered a cocktail. I went for a Lipstick Rose which is rose petal vodka, and champagne. Craig had a Banzai Mule which is vodka, ginger beer, pineapple juice and fresh lime juice. Both drinks were very refreshing and did a great job of wetting out appetite.
So now we got down to the serious business of deciding what to eat. Easier said than done. We considered the tasting menu as this removes the problem of having to make any decisions. The problem was that I won’t eat raw fish so I couldn’t have this menu. The menu stated that the tasting menu had to be ordered by a minimum of two people so that was that. No tasting menu for Craig today. After taking some advice from a waiter we decided to order a selection of dishes each and then share the ones we both liked.
So I ordered Fried Tofu & White Asparagus Maki rolls to kick of. This was a new dish for me as I usually stick to avocado or cucumber fillings. Craig persuaded me to be a little more adventurous and I'm really glad I did. It was presented like a little piece of artwork on a plate and it tasted as good as it looked. The white asparagus was crunchy which I didn’t expect. I have had white asparagus on holiday abroad in the past and I remember it being sloppy! This time is was really good. Next was Beef, Ginger & Sesame dumplings. Another dish which was presented beautifully and it didn’t taste bad either. Next came one of my favourites, Vegetable Tempura. Carrot, red peppers, aubergine, mushroom, green beans and asparagus were all dipped in a light batter and deep fried until they were crispy but still a very pale golden colour. Next came Tender stem broccoli with ginger & miso. This was delicious although I’m not quite sure what was in the dressing. It was red and looked like grains. Whatever it was it tasted lovely. This went with the final dish I chose which was Lamb Cutlets with Korean Spices. Four decent sized cutlets arrived with a garnish of cucumber in a sesame dressing. The meat was so juicy that it felt like I had taken a sip of my drink with each mouthful. The spicing was just right but the sauce to dip it into had a kick to it.
Craig ordered his absolute favourite dish; Sashimi. The raw fish was spanking fresh and looked absolutely beautiful in its presentation bowl surrounded by ice. Each slice of fish was the thickness of my little finger and was cut with absolute precision. There was tuna, salmon, swordfish and two others that I don’t remember. After this came Black Cod, Crab & Crayfish dumplings. The flavour was very delicate and I could have eaten the whole plate of this myself (one to order again). Tiger Prawn tempura was next. Five huge tiger prawns were again dipped in the tempura batter and deep fried until a pale golden colour and really crispy. The prawn inside was cooked to perfection, not that chewy texture you can get when it’s over cooked. The last dish for Craig was Beef fillet with Chili, Ginger and spring onions. The meat was sliced into very fine slices so you just had to pick up a piece with your chopsticks, dip it in the accompanying sauce and eat it. It was cooked medium rare (as requested) and it just melted in the mouth. The sauce that came with it was delicious.
Each dish is brought to you as it is ready but nothing is rushed. When my lamb chops were put on the grill to cook our waiter came over and pointed them out so we could watch if we wanted to. During the meal our water was regularly topped up and after each dish was cleared the waiter made sure our counter area was clean and tidy.
After we had finished eating, dessert menus were brought over. At this point I was too full but I still like to have a look at what is on offer. All the desserts sounded amazing and I wish we had some room to at least share one between us. Instead we decided to head over to The Hummingbird Bakery in South Kensington for coffee & cupcakes.
I cannot fault Roka in any way. The food was amazing, the service excellent, the decor beautiful and the atmosphere lively. It’s a restaurant that I will put on my list of places to go to celebrate a special occasion. Having said that, it’s not pretentious in any way. You don’t have to dress up too much during the day; in fact there were lots of very casually dressed people. I would say for the evening you would want to get the glad rags out though. It was cool watching all the chefs at work. We were particularly impressed by the chef who was shredding spring onions into thousands of tiny rings no thicker than a paper clip. That was the attention to detail paid to all the ingredients.
If you like Japanese or fancy giving it a go I would thoroughly recommend you try Roka.
Sharon x
Lipstick Rose, Tiger prawn tempura and the lamb one for me please. OMG Yummmmmyyyyyyy. xx
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