REVIEW: ROKA, Aldwych

When Time Out were offering a set-brunch menu at ROKA for just £30 I swear I nearly fell out of my chair. So myself and a bunch of bloggers including May from Red Velvet London, Em from Catch 52 and Felicia from Dancing in High Heels, book ourselves onto this amazing deal and wandered down to the Aldwych location in high hopes.

This award winning Japanese restaurant is one of the best known in London and is currently on its fourth location in the city. It serves up robata style Japanese food (meaning from the grill), sushi and amazing wines. There are plenty of rave reviews across the internet for ROKA, but here's my two cents to add to the pile! Enjoy.

Where
ROKA, Aldwych
When
Sunday brunch, 1pm-3pm
What we ate
Sharing Starters 

• jagaimo to tamago salada - potato salad with bacon and egg
• 3 sashimi selection
• sake to avocado maki - raw salmon, avocado and wasabi tobiko
• ebi furai to avocado maki - crispy prawn and avocado
• gyuniku to goma no gyoza - beef, ginger and sesame dumplings
• tempura no moriawase - assorted vegetable and prawn tempura

Main

• tai no miso-yaki - sea bream fillet, ryotei miso and red onion
• kobuta no ribs yawaraka nikomiyaki - glazed baby back ribs with cashew nuts
• gyuhireniku no pirikara yakiniku - beef sirloin, chilli and spring onion

ROKA dessert platter

What we drank

• Way too much Prosecco
• Grapefruit Bellini 

Highlights

• This was certainly one of the more interesting brunches I have been too that’s for sure.
• I loved having unlimited wine and a cocktail to start, it made the occasion feel special without needing to worry about the cost.
• The sashimi bowl and sushi platter were both delicious. The salmon was sourced from Scotland and the seam bream from the Med – it was inspiring that the waiters knew exactly where the produce came from.
• The pot sticker dumplings were simply wonderful; moorish, meaty and sweet with a great texture.
• The beef fillet – which we had one cooked rare and one cooked medium – was also very good. The difference in texture was quite notable but the flavour beautifully sweet yet savoury.
• The sea bream was delicious with its honey dressing and large portion. The skin was kindly removed which made sharing it much easier.
• The baby ribs were UNBELIEVABLE. The dish was kindly made without cashew nuts (upon request), and was topped with shredded spring onion. The BBQ flavour was absolutely wonderful with notes of sweet, sour and heat.

Lowlights

• I wasn’t a fan of the Japanese pickles, but this is based on my personal flavour preferences.
• We were all not really a fan of the potato and bacon salad or the tomato salad. These felt a little too Western compared to the rest of the dishes and the texture of the potato salad was not very pleasant. 

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