I was craving an izakaya style Japanese restaurant a few days ago and ended up picking one that stood out on Soho’s Old Compton street, called Robata. The restaurant is named after a Japanese charcoal fireside cooking style known as robatayaki, with robata being the shortened form. I saw a few ads on instagram showing meats cooking on charcoal , sushi , Bao buns (my faves), so I went on Opentable and booked a table for two. Here goes my latest blog post about Charcoal fireside cooking at Soho’s Robata restaurant
I loved the sign below, so had to take a picture. ” you were my cup of tea but I drink Sake now “.
On seating at our table ( we couldn’t sit by the open flames , due to their Covid measures ), the first thing we did was to order a 350 ml bottle of plum sake. Perhaps it’s the massive glowing sign telling you to drink cups of it. We had our first sip , smiled and went to town by ordering a few dishes on the menu.
A bowl of Truffle fries with nori, porcini and rich truffle mayo arrived at our table .We managed to finish this in a few minutes. That truffle mayo was divine. I actually dipped some of the different meats into this mayo throughout the course of the evening. It was that good.
Elisha ordered a prawn tempura roll with a masabi mayo and unagi glaze that was delish. I know it was tasty because I ate most of it . She didn’t complain, but I know she will bring it up when I moan about her finishing my bottle of Port.
A beef fillet skewer with sweet spicy soy and a lamb breast skewer with Japanese 5 spice and lime promptly arrived at our table. I took a few bites of the tasty skewers and dipped the rest in that porcini and truffle mayo. It was well worth it.
I used my spoon to touch the egg yolk and it immediately dripped all over the rice and kimchi. Excited, I mixed it quickly and took a few mouthful. The dish was satisfying , comforting and warm. I will call this a must order dish.
I ordered their signature dish for my mains, a wood flamed iberico pork pluma , black pepper and sweet pickled green apple. The pork was soft, moerish and intensely flavourful. The black pepper sauce really compliments the pork. This is the best dish of the night in my opinion.
Restaurants are shutting down again due to Covid-19 in a few days, so grab a seat while you can. I enjoyed my time at Robata and look forward to visiting again. It seems like others enjoyed it as well according to the TripAdvisor reviews.
Stay safe and see you soon
