Specialising in the long-standing tradition of Japanese charcoal cooking.
Head Chef Charles Lee has worked in a number of Michelin starred restaurants during his career before arriving at ROBATA. Possessing a strong command of Asian cuisines from across the globe, Chef Lee has devised a menu which shows the diversity of the country’s food, highlighting traditional cooking techniques and contemporary flavours, along with using the best of British produce.
ROBATA meaning ‘fireside’ specialises in robata grilled charcoal cooking, a Japanese tradition that was first introduced by ancient fishermen who took boxes of hot coals with them on their boats to warm their food at they gathered their day’s catch. While the cooking method has largely stayed the same, the menu is a modern interpretation of some of Japan’s most prized dishes as well as a number of ROBATA signatures sure to please Western palettes.
Support ROBATA during COVID-19
Safety precautions
- Surfaces sanitized between seatings
- Common areas deep cleaned daily
- Digital, disposable or sanitized menu provided
- Sanitizer or wipes provided for customers
- Contactless payment available
- Sealed or wrapped utensils used
- Limited number of seated diners
- Distancing maintained in common areas
- Extra space between tables
- Sick staff prohibited in the workplace
Popular dishes
Miso Aubergine
pickled shimeji mushroom & ROBATA red chilli
10 reviews
Sea Bass Ceviche
coriander yuzu soy, mango tiger milk & red chilli
4 reviews
Tuna Tartar
black caviar, quail egg & black truffle aioli
5 reviews
Offers
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Sun 12:00PM - 2:00PM 12:00PM - 11:00PM
Mon - Thu 5:00PM - 11:00PM
Fri 5:00PM - 11:30PM
Sat 12:00PM - 2:00PM 12:00PM - 11:30PM
Great taster menu! Great service and food! Going again
As my favourite food is Japenese, it's fair to say I've tried a vast amount of Japnese restaurants and the food was excellent here. Great location too.
Prefect all round. Decor, vibe, music, service and of course food.
We had a fantastic experience tasting the most wonderful dishes in the tasting menu. We would highly recommend it.
For such a small place tucked away in Soho the food is fantastic! A bit over priced but the serving staff was very helpful and attentive doing a good job in currently difficult circumstances.
Great lunch. Didn’t feel like we were socially distanced though at all
Amazing food and knowledgeable friendly service. Best tuna tartare ever!
Delicious food and great service, good atmosphere in an exciting part of town
Thank you for hosting an awesome dinner. Such amazing food. A genuinely great find!!! Everyone was soo lovely to our son, and we had a lovely birthday experience for my wife @tessmontgomery
Food was amazing. Well priced. Haven’t had sushi this good in a while!
Good small plates and nice vibe. Main courses average
Loved our visit to Robata in the heart of SoHo - great atmosphere, amazing food x
Food was excellent but it arrived very quickly. It was rather chilly as we were close to the door.
Yet another fantastic evening at Robata. Try the beef on the hibatchi grill, its gorgeous and a great contrast after the superlative sushi. I would highly recommend this restaurant.
Really wonderful food, especially the beef tataki. A good temporary outdoor set up with cover and heaters. The service was very friendly, potentially can tell that they are not used to operating the extra space but a lovely evening overall
Delicious food and quick service! Waiter went out of his way to give us a better table.
Food was good and delicious but service could have been better specially considering the fact that I did mention it was my partner’s birthday on reservation. The table we were given was just next to the door and with their outdoor service in full swing, we kept getting draft of cold air. Whilst many other tables were empty, when requested, we were offered just one cramped up table which we politely declined.
O M G the FOOD! IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE. We have been told that literally everything is made from the scratch in the house. No doubt that was one of the greatest food we have ever tried in London as a Japanese cuisine. Vibe was great waitress amazing/ what else do you want. SIMPLY MUST VISIT PLACE!
We got the set tasting menu and weren't disappointed! The amount of food was perfect.
The sake flight was great and we ordered some cocktails and extra on top. My sister had lots of questions and staff were patient answered them well. A great experience during a tough time for my sister's birthday
Outdoor dining post Covid lock down
Not overly impressed, part of the food order came out late as they forgot. The black cod when it did come was burnt on top and the manager told us it was the skin which is crispy, i told him the skin is on the bottom at the glaze on top is burnt. Had black cod a few times at although it is crispy when made it should never be burned. The order was all over the show, I had a steak on the fire which I was trying to time to make up for the fact that the cod order had been forgotten and tried to use the edges of the grill to calm the heat but it just ended up being rubber. Drinks were good and the atmosphere is very busy so an enjoyable ambiance just with rubber steak and burned cod.
amazing food and service. very much recommend and will come again
We ordered the 5 course tasting menu. We’d been there a little over an hour and ordered a glass of wine. The waitress brought the wine and came back 5 minutes later to say we have to leave in the next 10 minutes because there was another reservation. My friend was still eating when the bill was plonked on our table. When I said we hadn’t finished we were just given a shrug and then asked how we wanted to pay the bill. I appreciate times are tough but for £170 this is a new low level of service I have never experienced. Avoid at all costs. It’s despicable.
Great food and service but quite expensive
Food was amazing and the sushi was to die for. The service though from the hostess was a little disappointing. The waitress we had was great from start to finish but at the end of our meal we were told very abruptly and a bit rudely by the hostess that we needed to pay and leave at that moment. Would have preferred to have just been asked a bit politer rather than feeling shoved out the door.
We had a really nice meal here. The food was delicious and such good value for money! The servers were all very friendly and it was all COVID safe. Highly recommend
We had a fabulous time at Robata. The food and service were incredible! I would highly recommend an will be back as soon as possible.
The service was terrible. We asked if we might be able to move tables when we arrived and they said yes, a waiter helped move all our belongings and cutlery etc across to another table, then minutes later someone else came back to tell us in a very rude tone to move back again saying we shouldn’t have moved, even though we were moved by another member of staff! Then they told us there was no taster menu at all, and some dishes weren’t available, with no apology, even though we’d booked because of the taster menu. The food arrived slowly and we were still getting food brought to our table when we were told we had to leave asap as our time was up and they had more people coming. We had two whole dishes left to eat! Again, no apology. Very disappointed as I booked for my girlfriend’s birthday and the way we were spoken to really tainted the evening I’m sad to say. The food was amazing! But service really needs to improve dramatically to match the excellence of the food. We were not treated like customers, and I wouldn’t recommend the restaurant to friends unless the service gets better.
The food was amazing, however the service was extremely poor especially given the current circumstances. We turned up on time for our reservation only to be told to come back in 20 mins, we then went back only to be given a table that was free when we originally arrived! we then waited over 40 minutes for our food to arrive whilst people around us we're getting there second orders due to final orders having to be taken as it was nearing to 9.30. We couldn't quite understand how everyone was getting there last orders & we hadn't even received one plate.
The food was very good we were just very let down by the service
The food was quite a let down - the bao bun had an off smell to it. I’m guessing the chicken or cucumber inside was not fresh. The truffle mayo had a horrible fishy taste to it too which was very strange. Everything else was mediocre in taste, I was hoping for new flavours and something exciting.
The atmosphere and service was nice, but I wouldn’t come again for the food.
The place is not worthy. Food not really good for the prices. Don’t waste your time/money
The food here is really excellent - but I just found the service to be really bad, the place was really really noisy too. From the photos it looks super chilled and quiet but I was quite surprised how loud the music was. Food is really special though.
We did not enjoy the food. Found it to be very overpriced, and not enjoyable. The seating is uncomfortable, and the restaurant was very cold. The experience was not good and we will not be returning.
More of a place to go before clubbing than cosy and nice place for dinner. The food was okay, but it's not one of the places I'd recommend going if you are after authentic Japanese cusines.
Our waiter was outstanding, so attentive. Everyone that served us from walk in till we left was so lovely.
I’ll defo be back because of the service. The food is good but I was not mindblown, the portions are rather small for the price, if it was a little cheaper, it’d have been perfect.
Tasty food and nice atmosphere. I would definitely come back to try some other stuff on the menu
Fantastic service and food! Highly recommend the bottomless brunch.
Sushi had no taste. Clearly not high grade sushi. Not worth going there to order sushi.
Great service and food - I arrived early and the team made me really welcome. Service fast and friendly throughout meal. We will be back !
Tried a number of the small dishes and all were fantastic. Excellent friendly service too. Can’t wait to come back again!
FAQs
ROBATA is rated 4.4 stars by 375 OpenTable diners.
ROBATA does offer gift cards which you can purchase here https://robata.giftpro.co.uk/.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.