Roka

There are very few restaurants in London where you’re guaranteed a good time no matter the occasion. Roka on Charlotte Street is one of them. The atmosphere at this modern Japanese restaurant is always electric with chatter, laughter, and wicked banter from the counter chefs as they produce your dishes for you (if you manage to get a seat at the counter).

The menu is made up of the usual crowd pleasers of sushi, black cod, and so on, and is what we like to call in technical terms ‘perfectly good’ for the price you pay. But we tend to forgive Roka for being a little too expensive and for basically being a Nobu copycat, because we always tend to have a great time here. And we’ve usually downed at least a few fruity cocktails by the time we get out of here.

It’s a good spot for dinner with a few mates or a date - the Charlotte Street location also has a cocktail bar called Shochu Lounge downstairs, which a great spot for pre-dinner drinks or to carry on with the party post dinner.