ROKA, the award-winning modern Japanese restaurant is opening at the Waldorf Astoria this coming Tuesday. If you want to know what kind of food they serve or their prices, their menu is available online and you can check it out here.
They also opened up reservations and it’s filling up pretty fast. As of this post, the next available booking is on October 12. If you want to book, here is the link.
20 replies on “Book Your Table at ROKA”
Did you get to exclusively try it out?
Not yet, i have a reservation for this week though
There is a lot of demand for fine dining and Michelin star restaurants in Kuwait. People here really want that kind of vibe but we don’t get it because of the alcohol ban.
Restaurants like White Robata, San Ristorante branch in Shaab, and Ave are getting a lot of buzz (even though they’re not considered actual fine dining but you get the point). Even the Melenzane By the Sea thing was so successful.
I think that it’s very unfair that Kuwait isn’t getting the international restaurants that open in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain even though we’re the most foodie country in the GCC.
Roka is hopefully the first of many that open here.
I don’t think people here are willing to pay for fine dining which is why we don’t have fine dining. That’s why I’m really curious to see how ROKA will do. We also haven’t been the most foodie country in the GCC for years, that title is long gone.
Kuwait has the largest percentage of citizen male chefs in the GCC and overall the largest percentage of citizens who work as trained chefs after completing the required education at cooking school. More importantly, Kuwait has the largest percentage of home-grown local restaurants and cafes in the GCC.
If we exclude franchises imported from Europe/America and focus on homegrown restaurants, yes Kuwait is the foodie capital of the GCC. If we exclude foreign expat chefs and focus on local citizen chefs, once again Kuwait is the foodie capital of the GCC.
This has nothing to do with alcohol, politics, religion, or anti expat drama.
At the end of the day, Kuwaiti people have a reputation as foodie connoisseurs and aficionados in the GCC (among local citizens).
The Michelin star system is Eurocentric and Western oriented, hence subjective and biased.
Yeah I don’t think so, only because it doesn’t add up. There are more saudi chefs than there are Kuwaiti chefs. There are more saudi grown concepts and cafes than there are Kuwaiti ones. There is a larger variety of dining experiences (low end to fine dining) in saudi than there are in kuwait.
I think this kuwait is the food capital of the world thing is really just an illusion. I used to believe it until I started going to Riyadh and seeing what they’re doing there.
Read my comment carefully. I said Kuwait has the “largest percentage”, I didn’t say Kuwait has the “largest number”. There are more Saudi chefs and more home-grown restaurants because Saudi Arabia has over 20 million citizens and Kuwait only has 1.4 million citizens. Saudi Arabia’s population is over 35 million. Kuwait’s population is only 4.4 million.
If you took a basic maths course at college, you’ll understand what “largest percentage” means.
Btw, Kuwait also has the highest percentage of home-grown restaurants and cafes that are exported to other GCC countries.
Facts are facts, regardless of how you may feel about Kuwaiti politics, islamists, conservatism, etc.
You’re the one that seems to need a refresher in basic maths. The fact is there are fewer Kuwaiti chefs than there are Saudi ones, and there are fewer Kuwaiti restaurants than Saudi ones. The percentage doesn’t matter.
Per capita Kuwait has the largest number of citizen chefs and homegrown restaurants therefore Kuwait has the largest percentage of local chefs and homegrown restaurants in the GCC region.
The percentage matters because you can’t logically and fairly compare countries without them especially large countries with over 35 million people vs. small countries with 4.4 million people.
I’m confused to what you are boasting about? Say say Kuwait has 20 chefs vs the 200 in Saudi for example… how is that an advantage?
I think the percentage plays a big role in identifying whether a country is great at something or not.
If it’s just about the number, then China would be the Food Capital of the World i guess.
Maybe if the percentage was the highest in the world or something but the highest compared to Saudi isn’t really an achievement.
k was talking about the number of chefs per capita and the number of locally grown concepts per capita. Obviously saudi will have more chefs and restaurants.
Yeah that’s what I meant.
Can’t agree that we are the most foodie country, when most of the food consumed is fast food, burgers and anything drenched in “special” sauce. Fine dining is the complete opposite of that.
There is literally not a single restaurant that doesn’t have either a burger or sliders on their menu, which btw is the best selling item in most cases.
While there are some people who would definitely enjoy proper fine dining and Michelin star restaurants, majority of the population is only into their comfort food.
I agree with Mark and MK that Kuwait has not been a foodie country for ages. We used to be in the ‘Golden days’ where Kuwait had it all and you could get foodkoma.
Totally in love with the place and Everything was just so good.. Lets hope Kwi can bring more Intl restaurants and fine dining moving forward.
you can check it out on @princessawakes
@ Mark
Kindly refrain from putting words into my mouth. I did not state that Kuwait having the highest percentage of local chefs and homegrown restaurants in the GCC is an “achievement” but I used it specifically to substantiate the claim that Kuwait is the foodie capital of the GCC. Kindly read my comments properly and don’t digress from the main topic.
Having the highest percentage in the GCC is not an achievement but it is an indicator of the country’s success in the F&B industry, whether you like it or not. I’d highly recommend that you just move to Saudi Arabia if you’re so unsatisfied.
First take a chill pill. Secondly you’re saying it’s not an achievement, but then stating it as an achievement. So is having a higher percentage than saudi and achievement or not?
As someone that works in the F&B industry and as someone that is seeing what’s going on in Riyadh right now, I’m saying we are no longer are the foodie capital of the region. You have a different opinion than that, great but that’s just your opinion.
Lol he should move to Saudi just cause he thinks the F&B scene is more successful than Kuwait?