Black Roe: Review

This month, Mayfair restaurant, Black Roe Poke Bar & Grill, has launched a brand-new menu, bringing the finest cuisine from the Pacific Rim to the capital with dishes inspired by Hawaii, Japan and Southeast Asia. Created by founder Kurt Zdesar, these new dishes celebrate the variety of exotic flavours, spices and skillful cooking techniques found along the Pacific Rim. Crispy squid is tossed in katuriko, a Japanese wheat-free substitute for flour, and served with an oyster dressing, while delicate slices of langoustine and scallop are cured in a tangy mix of lemongrass, ginger and lime for a fresh, vibrant ceviche.

Enter left us! We had the pleasure of sampling some of the treats on the new Black Roe menu which features main dishes such as succulent Waimea’n sticky lamb ribs, named after Waimea Bay in Hawaii, and tea-smoked quail with a Sichuan miso and nashi pear glaze, both barbecued on the restaurant’s own Kiawe wood grill. The sweet and sour crisp “kalua” hock pays homage to a dish that is often centrepiece in many Hawaiian feasts, here, cooked with chilli, spring onions and coriander, and seafood highlights include a warming bowl of steamed mussels with a fragrant coconut stock, and a whole lobster served in a ginger-scented broth.

For our starters we tried a variation of dishes and tried first the salmon Poke, Black Roe is credited as the first restaurant to bring Poke to London. The Poke was an amazing dish of several different textures, the softness of the salmon chunks, the crispy textures mixed with the short grained rice is amazing. If you are looking for a fresh dish, with amazing new flavours then this is the dish you must try. Following our Poke we ate the sweet and sour crisp kalua hock which is boiled and then deep fried chunks of pork served with chill, spring onion and coriander. The chunks of hock were literally melt in your mouth and tasted out of this world. To follow we ate the Langoustine and scallop ceviche, cured in lemongrass, ginger and lime, the dish was so fresh and perfect for sharing.

For our mains we tried two new dishes from the new menu, the Waimea’n sticky lamb ribs and the Cajun style blackened sea bass. Let’s start with the ribs, they melted off the bone and were sticky and sweet, the flavours were amazing, the chef has found a winning lamb recipe. The Cajun style blackened seabass was served with a pineapple salsa, I am not sure if anyone has tried creole food, but if you have you know that the seasoning is what makes the dish. The fish was seasoned to perfection and the saltiness complimented perfectly our side order of sautéed kale. I wish we had space to try more of the new menu, everything we were served was great and the service in Black Roe was efficient, friendly, just great customer service all around.

Now onto the dessert, seriously I have renamed the dessert the ‘Oh my days’ its real name is the Shake & Bake and it has to be shared between two people. Think of all the desserts your parents would say no to and then amplify it by 100! This dessert was basically a sexy knickerbocker glory and Eaton mess rolled into one. A giant glass filled with rum soaked sponge, with ice cream and topped with meringue, fresh cream, popcorn, macaroons, marshmallows and chocolate syrup. Now you can understand why I have called it the ‘Oh my days’, I cannot aptly describe the heavenliness of this dessert apart from the name change. You cannot leave Black Roe without trying one, no dessert will come close to it again.

If you want great food, good service and to say ‘Oh my days’ at the end of your meal make sure you head down to Black Roe.

Black Roe
4 Mill Street, Mayfair
London W1S 2AX

Tel: 0203 794 8448
Email: [email protected]