Restaurant Review: White Robata Riyadh
Grab those chopsticks…
Riyadh has an amazing selection of Japanese restaurants, but rarely any with the gravitas of White Robata Riyadh.
Located in foodie neighbourhood Laysen Valley, White Robata is a Japanese concept inspired by international flavours. Originally from Kuwait, the venue previously ranked on the list of MENA’s best restaurants.
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Walk in and you’ll be greeted by a massive dimly-lit space inspired by ’90s anime, complete with figurines of UFO Robot Grendizer placed across the space. Look up and you’ll see an innovative undulated ceiling concept.
With the sprawling open-plan kitchen, diners can pick between being seated right by the heart of the operation or admiring the skilled chefs from afar.
Once we sat down, we were welcomed in by the cheery staff and a huge menu of food to pick from. But before we got overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices, our experienced waiter swiftly guided us through each of the offerings. One thing’s for sure, make sure you come hungry.
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The food
We started by sipping on mocktails made at the bar tucked away at the end of the restaurant. We tried out the spicy, tangy Wasabi Lemonade (SAR55) and the sweet and flavourful Blackberry Dark Invader (SAR55).
Next, we tucked into the almost too-crispy spicy salmon crispy rice with scallion ponzu (SAR50), the omakase sashimi platter (SAR350) featuring fresh and tender salmon, otoro, sea bream, sea bass, and hamachi.
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You can’t go to a Japanese restaurant and not get sushi, so for our roll, we got our chopsticks together for the incredible and highly recommended crab avocado (SAR95), and incredibly tender and flavourful short rib gyu Kushi (SAR130).
From the nibbles/grazing menu, we tried out the smoked brisket matcha bao (SAR70) and fuji fries (SAR65), though we’d recommend saving your tummy space and money for the mains. For us, a clear standout was the black Angus tenderloin with chilli honey soy glaze (SAR260), the meat just falls apart in your mouth and makes for a divine bite.
For dessert, our philosophy is the more the merrier. So we tried out the deliciously unique matcha creme brûlée (SAR95) and the signature (and frankly to die for) vahlrona chocolate fondant (SAR80).
All in all, we’d say White Robata is definitely worth the trip to Laysen Valley and you’ll likely see me tucking into another chocolate fondant there very soon.
White Robata, Laysen Valley, Sun to Wed 6am to 12.30am, Thu to Sat 1pm to 1.30am.