Black Roe Poke Bar & Grill launches new menu

This month, Mayfair restaurant, Black Roe Poke Bar & Grill, launches a 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.

Main dishes feature 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.

Credited as the first restaurant to bring poke to London, Black Roe’s new additions to the menu sit alongside their signature dish, a favourite in the Hawaiian islands. Traditionally consisting of marinated chopped ahi tuna on a bed of seasoned short-grain rice, Black Roe’s take on poke is an innovative twist on the original with variations such as beef tataki, vegetable and the unique Black Roe Ahi and Yellowtail Poke with fresh and cleanly diced tuna, marinated in a sweet yuzu sauce and topped with the eponymous black roe.

Black Roe’s crowning glory is the poke bar at the entrance of the restaurant, where an expert chef skillfully prepares raw fish alongside other fresh seafood and oysters. From there, the dining space is decorated with warming dark grey walls and distressed luxury touches of worn wood and leather booth seating. Working closely with farmers and fisherman to source the freshest, quality fish, the restaurant’s walls are adorned with their portraits that hang on the walls throughout.

Downstairs, a large chef’s table offers an exclusive dining experience for guests on the lookout for a truly unique dinner, looking into the open kitchen through a glass wall, enjoying the exceptional service and quality dishes of the restaurant above.