Roku’s New Yummy Eats! Itadakimasu!

On November 12, 2013, Roku celebrated its first year of operations with a fun and star-studded party on Oracle building's 5th floor. The Japanese restaurant has enjoyed its beautiful and classy crowd (what with its prime location in front of Ateneo) for some time now, and so as expected, most of the guests who attended were from the school of white-and-blue.

Blogger Eyah's from an opposing school, I wager.

As a blogger, I got to rub elbows with the mother-daughter powerhouse team behind Roku: Shiela and Milka Romero! Hi Aldous!

Oh wait, look, it's Vince Hizon! Giggity!

Now that fangirling is over, let's talk about Roku's newest offerings now, shall we?

 

1. Firecracker Roll Try the spicy-savory medley that crunchy tempura flakes and spicy tuna chunks can offer. This sushi is terrific on its own or dipped in Japanese soy sauce.

 

2. Ebi Gyoza It's the regular Japanese dumpling filled with fresh shrimp! Its deliciously mild flavor is addicting.

 

3. Chicken and Beef Tsukune These flavorful, bite-size meatballs are perfect with a swig of Japanese beer or even rice wine. My favorite among the two? The chicken meatballs, mostly because I prefer chicken.

 

4. Sailboat Roll Roku puts yet an interesting twist to the average Japanese sushi! This time, you get a mildly spicy flavor subdued by the crunchy "sail" attached to the sushi. It reminds me a bit of the firecracker roll, only with a much milder taste. A bit of criticism: The sail tasted a bit stale, but it may just be me.

 

5. Salmon Yakitori Interestingly enough, the term yakitori is grilled skewered chicken in Japanese. So I was a bit blown by this item on the menu: skewered salmon pieces that somehow taste a bit like chicken. I love the flavor of the cooked salmon as it blends well with the tangy-sweet sauce covering the bite-size pieces.

 

6. Sushi Trio A serving composed of three different sushi, with one of fresh salmon, shrimp tempura, and crab stick salad. Among the three, I much prefer the one with the salad, although the salmon nigiri is quite delicious too.

7. Green Tea Cheesecake Here's everyone's favorite, the one saved for last, the best dessert that was ever made (so far?), the one and only green tea cheesecake. We were served bite-size pieces of the delectable dessert, but I am quite sure that it's usually served by regular cake slices. The dessert is composed of heavenly matcha-vanilla cheesecake topped with whipped cream cheese frosting and drizzled with white chocolate.
 

Stomach rumbling yet? Maybe your mouth's now watering? Check out Roku along Katipunan today!

Address:  5/F Oracle Hotel, Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City Phone: 352-5780

 

Kampai!