Food Blog | Roka Dubai | Business Bay | Dubai
Today I’m sharing the sister restaurant to Zuma (which I blogged about previously) - a restaurant that I’m a big fan of. I would say as a straight comparison, Zuma is the more upbeat place with everything happening quickly and Roka is the more cozy/comfy place.
I’ll be talking more specifically about their business lunch offerings - do visit the blog next week because I’ll be sharing the business lunch of Maine (French Restaurant) - which is a few steps away from Roka.
Context: Came here with my family (4 pax) and ordered 4 business set lunch deals.
Where it Is
It is located in Business Bay - but more specifically in The Opus by Omniyat. In short, it’s the building that has a cool hole in between the two main buildings - a really cool piece of architecture if you ask me personally. If you’re eating here/Maine, I’d recommend just leaving your car with the valet (both on the front and back side of the building) and giving your valet receipt once you finish your meal.
Address: Level 1, The Opus by Omniyat - Al A'amal St - Business Bay - Dubai
What it Costs
The total of our bill for 4 came up to AED712.53. The breakdown is like such:
2 Regular Lunch Menus (AED115 x 2)
2 Premium Lunch Menus (AED175 x 2)
2 Add-on desserts (AED29 x 2)
1 Bottle of still water (AED30)
Municipality Fee 7%
VAT 5%
So a few notes about this. How their business lunch menus work are that the selections of mains is the same in the regular and premium lunch menus. The only difference would be in the selection of appetisers that you get. The appetisers in the premium lunch menu are similar conceptually to the equivalent dish in the regular lunch menu - but using more premium ingredients (this is the case with the gyoza especially).
Normally the desserts are in the 40-45AED range, but if you add-on desserts on top of the set lunch, you can get them for AED29 each. Trust me, I think it is very worth to add on the desserts. (Note: I believe you can order everything except the platter as your add-on dessert).
You can take a deeper look at their offerings by clicking on this link right over here.
How it Tastes
So, starting off with the appetisers. both salads are roughly equally tasty. The dressing tasty, and both serve as great palate cleansers to open up the meal. (One from the premium and one from the normal lunch set) Both salads are pictured above.
Then, next up was the sashimi that came with the salmon tartare dish. I would say that I would probably place their sashimi in the tasty, but nothing to shout about category. The salmon tartare also came with some kind of cracker with seaweed on it. I would say that its pretty tasty and has that salty pinch that makes it really tasty.
Next up is the gyozas - and there are basically 2 different gyozas. One of which (premium) is the one with king crab, black cod and prawn dumplings with roasted chili dressing. The other one is the (regular) beef, ginger and sesame dumplings. I would say that the premium one here is actually really yummy. You can really taste those flavours bursting out - I would say that the regular one is alright.
Then, the sushis. You have a spicy maki (with a chilli padi on top, which I thought was pretty unique) for the premium sushi (I would say that there’s actually quite a bit of heat). I would say that this one leans more in the fusion type of sushi rather than the authentic kind of Japanese sushi. The maki in the regular set lunch would be the ebi furai to avocado maki (prawn and avocado). I would say both are in that category where they’re alright but don’t really knock my socks off.
I can’t for the life of me remember what this last appetizer was - to be fair, in hindsight, I’m not even sure whether this was complementary or part of the regular set but this one’s super tasty. Nice saltiness that gives it that very umami touch.
For the mains, we got:
Hinadori no lemon miso yaki (cedar roast baby chicken with chilli and lemon)
Kankoku fu kohitsuji (lamb cutlets with korean spices and sesame cucumber)
Tai no miso-yaki (sea bream fillet, ryotei miso and red onion)
Sake Teriyaki (salmon fillet teriyaki with sansho salt)
I think the one that I found personally the best was the baby chicken. Super yummy sauce - a huge burst of flavours the second it enters your mouth. Honestly just so tasty. Great roast, great sauce, great moisture and I would say it was definitely my favourite among the 4 that we tried.
I would say that the fishes would be tied for second for me. Both have the crispy skin and a really tasty interior. I would say I was actually surprised about the sea bream fillet. I would say that texture-wise, it was closer to a chicken than what I would have expected - a bit tougher that your everyday fish. I mean this as a good thing in the sense that it tastes almost like there’s more texture than your usual fish that would basically break down once you put your spoon through it.
The teriyaki sauce for the salmon teriyaki is beautifully thick and yummy. Not too sweet and goes really well with the salmon. I would say it’s also great because there’s rice as part of the sets as well - so for those people who can’t live without rice, there’s that for you guys too!
I would say that the lamb cutlets would be the only dish that was a bit flat for me. I would say that the lamb itself wasn’t that tasty, you don’t get too much of the flavours and I definitely think that the sauce can be a bit more stronger - I would say that I couldn’t extract too much flavour from the sauce. Normally I would expect that signature gochujang taste to be stronger.
Lastly, onto the dessert. Just a quick note on the sticky toffee pudding. It actually comes separately (the granola and the toffee sauce) and they assemble it in front of you. The picture reflects the by-product of the process.
I would say that at AED29, add at least one dessert even if you’re sharing! It’s super worth it. Both taste really great - I particularly liked the mango yoghurt cake. It is baked upon order (I believe they say to give it 12 minutes) and it is super yummy. That kind of melt in your mouth decadence that can’t be beat. If anything, I would say get that mango yoghurt cake because it is so darn delicious.
Star Rating
7.5/10. Another note would be that the service was great. Very attentive and quick to attend to our requests. The food is great but I would say that Zuma probably still gives you that bit more bang for your buck - but I would say the concepts are still quite different. Zuma is about the bright lights and hip atmosphere. Roka is a bit more laid back and cool.