RESTAURANT REVIEW: Sushi Roku

9200 W. Sunset Blvd. | West Hollywood, CA 90069  | 310-271-6000 | innovativedining.com | Prices: $$$

By MICHAEL AUSHENKER | Contributing Writer

Inhabiting what used to house the original Hamburger Hamlet and, until recently, the short-lived rural Tuscan experience RivaBella, this sexy new version of Sushi Roku (about a month old) is neatly tucked away just off of Sunset Strip on the West Hollywood/Beverly Hills border.

Roku occupies 8,000 square feet of sheer elegance and eloquence—a vast, smartly designed environment wherein each room could be a restaurant in itself.

The main room, with its tables and a row of circular booths down the middle, is very inviting.

The sushi counter in back is bathed in golden refined Japanese décor—truly a cinematic version of what a sushi restaurant should look like.

Even Roku’s exterior—sleek and postmodern with pagoda-like wood paneling—radiates elegance.

At Roku’s parent company Innovative Dining Group, they are experts in creating event dining simultaneously larger-than-life and scrumptious.

Innovative Dining is the entity behind Katana on the Sunset Strip (which received a stellar review in the Sept. 3 issue of the Palisadian-Post) and BOA Steakhouse (June 4 issue of the Post).

So how does this incarnation differ in experience from other Roku restaurants, such as those located in Pasadena; Newport Beach; Las Vegas; and Scottsdale, Arizona? One word: teppanyaki.

Yes, West Hollywood is the first of the Roku restaurants to feature that style of Japanese iron-griddle cooking that is part performance, perhaps best associated with Benihana restaurants. In fact, our friendly chef Buri—the architect of our Three Course Teppanyaki lunch— had previously worked at multiple Benihana locations.

Unlike a hibachi grill, the teppanyaki surface is more suitable for subtleties, such as cooking up fried rice and chopped vegetables. It showed when I wanted butter on my mix of cooked broccoli, carrots and Brussels sprouts while our photographer Rich didn’t. Buri easily fine-tuned and customized our orders.

Sure enough, the cooked vegetables, spiced up with some soy sauce, tasted delicious, as did our generous side of Vegetable Fried Rice (also available as Chicken Fried Rice).

Definitely order a side of either fried rice dish because you get it in a hearty stone bowl that keeps it nice and hot for you.

A hot bowl of Mushroom Consomme and a Kale Salad ($5) with crunchy mushrooms preceded our meal.

Roku offers a delicious range of teppanyaki. In a glorious burst of flames (one of several impressive special effects), the cook embarked on whipping up our Grilled Faroe Islands Salmon ($23), Chilean Sea Bass ($28; cooked with Thai chili sauce) and Hibachi Shrimp ($12).

There is also some prime yakiniku: 40 Day Dry Aged Prime New York Steak ($32) featuring divine morsels of mouthwatering meat. For another $10, you can order the Executive Combination version: steak with Organic Jidori Chicken Breast.

The results were savory and scrumptious—the shrimp buttery and the salmon and sea bass filled with a depth of flavor. The New York steak, however, was definitely my personal highlight.

On the yakisoba side, the Lobster Garlic Noodles ($12) dish is adequately tasty, if not as memorable as some of the aforementioned parts of the meal.

What would good food be without good drink? Roku has every sort of delicious libation you could want with a Japanese meal—from beer to hot sake to a roster of specialty cocktails that seal the deal nicely.

Our favorite was the Old Osaka ($17), a straight-up whiskey drink nicely adorned with a dried orange peel, that goes down smooth and warm. The colorful, layered Double Standard ($15) delivers a showier mix of Patron Silver tequila, agave, fresh lime and Angostura bitters float.

You can also choose among the El Silencio Mezcal and grapefruit-based Silent Smoke ($15), the Bulldog gin-based Stranger in Paradise ($15) and the Bloody Mary-ish Shochu Tomato ($15) with cherry tomato, basil and lemon.

The restaurant recently segued from seasonal Pumpkin Fritters to Banana Fritters ($12), balls of fried banana goodness with a sidecar of milk chocolate ice cream and hazelnuts.

However, for a fun do-it-yourself dessert, order the S’mores ($11). It arrives with a solid flame burning long enough for you to compose skewers of marshmallow, chocolate squares, green tea-dusted chocolate, graham cracker dust and chocolate and white chocolate dips.

Sushi Roku manager Hannah Bae skillfully put us through the paces of composing said dessert delicacy with a spotless grace.

In addition to lunch, there are dinner, Happy Hour and even gluten-free menus to explore at Roku. However, for a complete lunch experience where both food and atmosphere are attractive and exquisite, Roku off the Strip destroys all comers.