Roka Akor - San Francisco — Restaurant in San Francisco

I went back in January for Dine About Town. The place has an interesting but slightly odd aesthetic, light wood and heavy furniture kind of clash with the color changing lighting around the hood and a few other elements, but the overall design is great and the whole room can see the kitchen. Spacious and comfortable.

I started with a cocktail, a Walk in the Orchard (seasonal), a rye-and-apple concoction which was enjoyable, although somewhat less than the sum of its ingredients. Still it was a decent drink, it must be said.

The appetizer was Butterfish Tataki which I found superb. It was served on a long plate with 5 or 6 thin slices of fish folded around peeled asparagus with pistachio nuts and some sort of mignonette, and this set the high bar for the plating of the meal, quite nice. Each well composed bite was delicious, bright, tart, and umami, with a little crunch from the nuts. I loved it.

My second cocktail was the Drunken Monk (a seasonal smash), with a pear liqueur and a delicious slice of grilled Asian pear. This was better than the first, certainly more interesting, sweet and tart with a subtle herbaceous quality, reminiscent of absinthe, but without being overpowering. It was refreshing and tasty.

The main was a decent piece of steak, cooked medium-rare. It was prepared nicely, very tender overall and quite tasty (with or without the ginger sauce on the side), though it was actually a bit spicy on its own. I would have preferred less spice so I could enjoy the flavor of the meat itself more, but overall it was quite good, not mind blowing, but good.

Dessert was a berry and yuzu pavlova, surprisingly large but light enough that I was able to enjoy it entire. A meringue crust was topped with whipped cream and a generous portion of bright, tart, mostly tasty berries (the strawberries were a bit lackluster, but then they're out of season). The yuzu was not as present and tart as I'd like, but overall it came together well and was quite enjoyable. A light and refreshing end to the meal.

Roka Akor made a good first impression, with one stand-out dish (the butterfish) and a great cocktail, while the rest was good but kept it from being an overall 5. I would love to come back and try the omakase, I could see it...

Roka Akor feels relaxed, warm, and welcoming with a wonderfully elevated modern touch. The mood lighting seems almost perfectly matched with the smells and sounds emanating from the robata grill and the space feels open, yet cozy.

Our service from James was absolutely exquisite. He took the time to help us find a delicious bottle of pinot noir at the start of our meal and we did not once feel rushed to make our decision. The wine selection is approachable but extremely memorable, with reds that pair well with seafood and red meats alike and have flavor profiles pungent enough to linger on your tongue after the smallest sip.

The Wagyu Tartare is one of the best beef tartares I’ve ever eaten —it’s a decent portion and comes with deliciously thin taro chips. Not to mention its perfect amount of saltiness from the truffle caviar on top! The truffle flavors really brought a level of depth to such a refreshing dish.

The Shishito Peppers with bonito flakes were beautifully charred and had the slightest bit of punch from the pepper’s seeds. We kept this on the table throughout our meal and it served as a great transition between the other dishes!

Then we ordered 2 maki rolls — the seared king salmon and dungeness crab roll as well as the himachi serrano chili roll. This ended up being the perfect accidental pairing, as the creaminess and fattiness of the salmon & crab roll was a delightful turn from the mild, but sharp heat of the himachi roll.

If you order a steak or the lamb, which I highly recommend you do, do not forget to add bone marrow as a side. The marrow is cooked to perfection and melts in your mouth, as it should, but the most interesting element of the dish is the sweet garlic soy sauce. It blended excellently with the fattiness of the marrow to produce a deeply savory experience that made my eyes roll back in my head.

My partner’s mother recommended we go for the Omakase, but we were so eager to try the Wagyu Tartare and Shishito Peppers that we just decided to make our own journey —it’s incredible either way, no doubt, but we will definitely give up our trust to the...

This place became an instant favorite. INSTANT. With an amazing ambiance and even more amazing food and cocktails, there's no doubt Roka Akor is a restaurant that I would like to return to again and again.

Obviously, the plan of the entire space was very well thought out. The bar/lounge downstairs has the perfect balance of light and dark so that it's both inviting, interesting, and chill. The bar itself is easily obtainable as it's in the middle of the entire floor, decorated with vats of aging sake to keep with the restaurant's cool Japanese theme, and the large party tables stay close to the wall - so uncomfortable crowds can be avoided for your own good time.

The staff is incredibly friendly and more importantly, the cocktails are delicious and strong. ;-)

I love seafood and order it almost everywhere I go and I have to admit, Roka sets the bar super high. They cook and prepare everything to perfection. Beautifully presented and intricately seasoned, each piece served has a unique dimension of flavor and aroma that is, no doubt, unforgettable.

My personal favorite, which I will order every time, are the:

Madagascar Tiger Prawn - the size of my arm. Like "prawn heaven" if there ever was one.

Wagyu Beef - Melts in your mouth. So good!

Roasted King Crab - Yeah, it was a fancy place but that didn't stop me from using my hands because it was just too good not to eat every morsel!

The Dessert Platter - A taste of everything on the dessert menu. Trust me, you won't want to miss anything on the dessert menu and this platter ensures that you won't. It's meant to share but... uhmmm... You will secretly want to keep it all to yourself.

Before coming to this restaurant I didn't even know what "Roka Akor" meant. Now I know it means "SUPER DELICIOUS...