ROKA Charlotte Street — Restaurant in London

I don’t normally write reviews, but the overall experience at this restaurant has left me no other choice and I want to warn people before they make the mistake of going. This is probably the worse dining experience I have had in London and the biggest disappointment considering the hype and other reviews. We had the Saturday brunch menu. Here are my thoughts: If you have travelled to Japan and have experience going to REAL Japanese restaurants, don’t go here expecting Japanese food. This is NOT a Japanese restaurant. I get better quality sushi at a my local Japanese (Nunu Sushi 10 min away from ROKA) for a quarter of the price. The menu wasn’t explained at all. The waiter at no point said the starters were unlimited and you could order as many as you wanted. Had we known this, we would have gone for the premium brunch menu, as it included yellowtail sashimi. All the starters were subpar. Very very mediocre. The service was ok. At times the waiter would hover over the table and look at us while we were eating which I find uncomfortable. They would also come and collect our plates before we had even finished and we felt like we were being rushed. Towards the end we were ignored, I ordered a drink and the waiter completely forgot. I received it after reminding him 30 mins later. My boyfriend ordered the £20 unlimited wine for 1h30mins. The wine they serve is probably the worse wine we have tried in our lives. The £5 wine I get at the supermarket to cook is better quality and tasting than this. My boyfriend had 4 glasses and left with a headache. My boyfriend ordered the A4 200gr Wagyu, and let me just say, there is no way that is A4 and no way it was 200grams. I have uploaded a picture so you can see but the steak was TINY. We have tried A5 and A4 Wagyu before and it doesn’t compare to this. They charged us £33 pounds EXTRA just for this steak which I find RIDICULOUS. I ordered the pork ribs as my main, and let me just say, TGI Fridays serves better ribs. I had two bites and couldn’t have any more. It was disgusting. Overall a VERY poor experience considering how expensive this restaurant is. The bill came to £211 and I have never felt so stupid in my life. You can go to a Michelin star restaurant for that price, or down the road to Bricco e Bacco which serves the best steak in London for not much more than what we paid here. If you go to restaurants to take pictures and be scammed this might be the place for you, but if you are interested in eating at a good Japanese restaurant...

Roka: A Disappointing Birthday Celebration

After five years of regarding Roka as a go-to destination, I chose it to celebrate my birthday with seven friends. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a night filled with disappointment and frustration.

Arrival and Service: Upon arrival, the lack of greetings from the staff was immediately noticeable. Their demeanour suggested dissatisfaction, which I later understood after an encounter with the manager, who proved to be rude and aggressive. Throughout the evening, the service was marked by rudeness and a clear lack of communication. They took the bottles of wine we ordered to the bar; they were rarely served to us, and when we asked for them to leave the bottles on the table, we were met with excuses and confusion.

Food Quality: The experience with the food further added to our disappointment. The grab dumplings contained a shell that nearly injured my teeth, and while the black cod was decent, it fell short of the exceptional quality expected, especially given its hefty price tag of £44. It's worth noting that the poor customer service at the beginning likely influenced our perception of the food - not the shell on the dumpling though.

Encounter with the Manager: The behavior of the manager was particularly egregious. Despite agreeing to take a group photo for us, she preemptively demanded feedback, knowing we had decided not to pay the full service charge of 15%, which amounted to more than £110. We ultimately paid £70 for service, which felt excessive given the quality of the experience. When I attempted to provide feedback in a polite manner, she interrupted me aggressively, further adding to our frustration. At the end she didn't take the picture, which we did by ourselves outside of the restaurant. In conclusion, our experience at Roka was nothing short of a disaster. From the lacklustre service to the disappointing food quality and the unprofessional behaviour of the manager, it's safe to say we won't be returning. Roka never more ever. What...

Often it happens, that certain brands, after having earned a good reputation, take their customers for granted. Roka Charlotte Street is one such place. We dined here a few weeks back and one of us had few dietary restrictions. We got a confirmation by email before the reservation that they will adapt for the person having the constraints. On the day of the reservation, the team at Roka was inflexible to the point that having paid for their premium menu, they told us that only one of us cannot have beef as “we cut the beef portion per two persons” (all the concerned clients had paid for the premium menu and eligible for beef, but didn’t feel comfortable ordering and discarding the other half of unconsumed beef). Luckily we, the customers, had the good sense to be solution centric - after we proposed to them several solutions, in the interest of their shareholders, they finally agreed to offer us chicken wings as a replacement for beef ;-) As a special complementary offer on the menu, the person acting as a manager (head-shaven man in a burgundy jacket) had the courtesy to express his displeasure by being bothered by our requests by making a sarcastic comment with a smirk on his face - “it’s so nice isn’t it when we all agree ?” Had we not provided our credit card info in advance for a 250+ £ menu while making reservation and had they been clear about their inflexible attitude during the reservation, we wouldn’t have bothered for a second to leave. Following our detailed response to their satisfaction survey received by email, their general manager did email us apologising for our experience and asking for a contact number so that he can discuss with us as to what went wrong. It’s been 1 month and two days and we are still waiting for that call ;-) The customer centric attitude runs from top to bottom :) Regarding the quality of the food, except for very few dishes, pretty disappointing for the price you pay, not to forget the additional robbery via the insane service charges...