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| - I was kinda waffling on Roka based on some of the negative reviews, but figured, what the hell...the food pics seemed interesting enough.
The interior is quite a sight...open, trendy-sophisticated take on Japanese dining with a regular bar straight ahead as you walk in, an open-kitchen to the left partly surrounded by sushi bar seating, and a well-spaced dining room...meaning you're not sitting on top of neighboring diners.
Unusual, but very professional, courteous and efficient waitstaff routine...we started off with one waiter who explained the menu to us, our primary waiter who actually took our dinner orders, and several other waiters who either delivered our apps/entress, and/or refilled our wine/drinks. Like I said, unusual, but very efficient. If our primary waiter was busy with another table, the slew of waitstaff promptly attended to our needs. Nice touch.
Our party of four ordered several appetizers including the Butterfish Tataki w/white asparagus and yuzu, Yellowtail with ponzu, Burnt Compari Tomato salad, and fried squid with chili and lime. The Butterfish was very fresh and the contrast in texture and flavor with the white asparagus and yuzu was surprisingly good. The fried squid was very tasty with a light coating and nice spice from seasoning, raw jalapenos and citrus. The Yellowtail and tomato salad were just okay.
I ordered the New York strip steak (yeah, I know...why the hell am I ordering a NY strip in a Japanese restaurant? So, sue me, I felt like NY strip), while others in my party ordered the Yuzu Miso marinated Black Cod and the Deluxe Chef's choice sashimi platter (market price) for two.
I always enjoy the open-kitchen atmosphere and we were sitting sufficiently close enough to see them prepare our meals. They properly cooked the NY strip over an open fire grill, let it rest properly, and surprisingly, brought it out to me already sliced. They basically took all the work out of eating a NY strip. All I had to do was pick up and chew. A nice warm, red center - medium rare, accompanied by a black truffle aoili. I thought the aoili overpowered the NY strip, but that's just me...I just prefer it with just a little salt and pepper. Overall, nicely cooked and presented NY strip. Like Flemings and Ruth's Chris, Roka serves their meats a-la-carte. I ordered a side of grilled Asparagus with sweet soy and it was a tasty, albeit a tad salty.
I tasted the Black Cod and although it was very flavorful, I thought the Yuzu Miso overpowered the flavor of the cod. Still, the cod was perfectly cooked...tender, yet flaky with a nice texture.
The Chef's choice sashimi platter was impressive in both presentation and content. It was presented on a large stone bowl with crushed ice as well as a small ice sculpture mimicking a stairway. Nice selection of fresh fish, shellfish, including o-toro, king crab, uni, and a variety of other fish that I couldn't recall. From what my dinner companions told me...everything was very fresh with nice texture and taste. With this platter, they also served freshly grated wasabi and freshly ground salt. They encouraged a small dab of fresh wasabi and salt on the sashimi rather than the ubiquitous soy...which tends to drown out the flavor of the fish.
Quite an eclectic crowd as well...some folks were dressed very casually in jeans while others were dressed much more formally, and one party even that looked like they were dressed for the prom...wait, maybe they were going to the prom???
A solid choice if you're looking for high-end Japanese cuisine in Scottsdale...not the best Japanese I've ever had, especially coming from LA, but damn good for AZ. The waitstaff should really be commended for their professionalism, courtesy and attentiveness.
I give it a solid 4.5 stars. Great Christmas Eve dining experience. I docked a half a star since Roka is, IMHO, a tad overpriced but it is Scottsdale...
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