Malak Alzahrani

RIYADH: Robata officially opened its doors on May 21 in the newly opened shopping center, The Canopy in Hittin, Riyadh.  

Arab News Japan visited the restaurant last month, where an elevated Japanese fine dining experience was presented . 

The restaurant made headlines recently when Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently signed for local team Al Nassr, stopped by for dinner. 

The restaurant is led by the incredibly well-trusted team behind the award-winning World’s 50 Best Restaurants MENA list (Myazu), Chef Ian Pengelley and Executive Chef Barry Andrews. 

Pengelley is a 30-year experienced chef director of Myazu, Robata, and Kayzo by Myazu. He started cooking at the age of 16 and spent 11 years cooking in Asia, and the United States. He also worked in London, where he had a partnership with Gordon Ramsay. Pengelley came to Saudi 9 years ago. 

“In the past 5 years everything developed so quickly in Saudi. Every international brand from Coya, Beefbar, Billionaire, Signor Sassi, and Giovanni. They all came to Riyadh. The restaurants scene has exploded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,” Pengelley said. 

Executive Chef Barry Andrews from Glasgow, Scotland has been a chef for about 18 years. He was the executive chef of Nozomi for about 4 years. Currently he is the executive chef of Myazu (2 years) and Robata. He started cooking traditional Scottish food then shifted into Asian food. He has worked in Glasgow for 4 years, Asia and Australia for 1 year and a half, and then worked in London for 7 years.  

“In Robata, we are a contemporary traditional restaurant. We take the best ingredients from traditional methods and reinvent it,” Andrews said. 

Robata or Robatayaki is a traditional Japanese cooking technique originating from the culinary traditions of the Ainu people of Hokkaido, which translates to “fireside cooking.” Pengelley was inspired from his last trip to Tokyo where he experienced the robatayaki concept. Robata uses Japanese Charcoal, which is considered the world’s best fuel for grilling, and has 5 open grills inside. 

Once guests enter, they are welcomed warmly, and a professional bartender at the mocktail bar serves drinks. The restaurant’s atmosphere had dim lights allowing the customers to relax and the interior was modern Japanese.  

Some drinks inclu: Korada, which is coconut, toasted hazelnut, and chicha. Raimu, which has pineapple, blue raspberry, apple, lime, and mint. Agabe, which contains watermelon, hipocras, cranberry juice, and agave. Finally, a drink called Mika, which has mint, yuzu, mandarin, chili, mango, and vanilla. 

Diners are welcomed in a Japanese way by being served wet towels. It is a two-story restaurant with a beautiful bar and an indoor and outdoor terrace that overlooks views of the Riyadh skyline.  

Their menu offers a gluten free menu, as well as a wide range of delicious Japanese dishes and grills such as grilled skewers (chicken and lamb tsukune and lobsters), A5 wagyu gyoza (aged 21 days), popcorn chicken, edamame, maki rolls, sushi, sashimi, mushroom takikomi rice, and more. 

Opening hours are from Saturday to Wednesday from 1:00pm to 12:00am and Thursday to Friday from 1:00pm to 01:00am.  

For further information please visit @robatasaudi