Last December when Steve and Christina came over and we wined and dined, we had a plan to fly to Edinburgh and eat at The Kitchin, Tom Kitchin’s place that’s on my bucket list( the special appendix of the bucket list, the places to eat at before I die). Once we did the maths we sadly reached the conclusion that flying there, staying at a decent hotel and having a set menu in The Kitchin would be sickly expensive, so Steve suggested we stay at his  and Christin’s shabby old place in Surrey instead and eat somewhere in London, so many great places to choose from. So we decided on Roka, booked it 2 months ago and went last weekend.

I had sky high expectations.

We arrived a bit too early and had a drink downstairs in their Shochu lounge. A bit like a nightclub, Christina said, music far too loud to even attempt a conversation, great decor though. Once moved to our table upstairs we quickly opted for a set menu plus wagyu beef. First plate of yellowtail sashimi, super thin, with citrusy dressing and a hint of truffle oil stopped us talking, it was that good.

More sashimi followed with some delicious scallop tartar, then a deep fried sushi roll(!!!) stuffed with minced wagyu, fried in tempura and topped with caviar, served still warm. Divine. My favourite plate of the evening.

Their chargrilled scallops topped with a tiny bit of wasabi mayo I loved, shame we only got one scallop each, they were phenomenal.

There was also some gyoza, black cod, some lamb chops in Korean spicy sauce, then some chargrilled wagyu, which for me was a bit disappointing- I agree with Wagyu House, it can’t be served rare, the fat needs to have time to render down, here they didn’t give it a chance to do that.

The dessert was a massive plate of ice cream, sorbet, some chocolate fondant, poncy looking fruit and what not. Did not blow me away.

For the great company, that yellowtail, scallops and tempura roll it was definitely worth a visit.