Curious about a new dining place in Davao? This week’s feature is Robata Davao by Chef Alexander Sebastian at the Azuela Cove. This review is based on two separate occasions that I visited them and my general feedback is that I love Robata!
Robata is not a new restaurant. In fact, my friends told me that they have branches in General Santos City and Kidapawan City. Robata is one of the recent restaurants that has been the talk of the town for some time now. Despite running for a few months now, you will still need to queue up during peak hours to get inside!
Robata is a Japanese resto. No, it has nothing to do with that song by Styx that sounds like their name but they are super different! Kidding aside, Robata or robatayaki generally translates to barbecue or slow grill. As their name suggests their specialty dishes are smoked-flavored grilled items.
Robata or robatayaki generally translates to barbecue or slow grill. As their name suggests their specialty dishes are smoked-flavored grilled items.
How was my experience? Here is my quick rating!
Food is at 9/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Food is served at the right temperature, with really good presentation, and great flavor! There is also a variety of appetizers, mains, and specialty dishes. Food variety has been well thought of! It brings new experiences from your usual Japanese resto.
Value for money is 9/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐. This is not street food level pricing but it is also not intimidating. You can have a good meal that you can even split with your friends. Of course, level your expectation to what you pay for. You don’t expect Angus beef to be cheap but you won’t break the bank for it.
Dining experience is at 7/10 ⭐⭐⭐ – The area can get crampy during peak hours. You would see the effort of trying to squeeze more people that would leave small elbow room but more often, it is tolerable if you are not very picky. I guess you can always visit during off-peak hours if your appetite can handle that.
Some areas for improvement
While I highly recommend Robata for your next dine-out, I think there is still a small area for improvement that you may also want to watch out for during your visit:
- Their service staff tends to get rattled when the resto is at full capacity. Again, tolerable if you are not picky but I think they can benefit if they receive more training and exposure. Of course, we extend patience when we follow through on our orders and make sure we listen when our order is being repeated.
- The physical menu is a little confusing. It is confusing in the sense that you are not able to see continuity in your order and you are also unable to identify food highlights. During our visit, we had to scramble around the menu where are the salad or appetizers, where are the mains or their signature dishes. The physical menu does not do justice to their presentation. It does not represent how delicious and mouthwatering their dishes were!
- Special requests are difficult for them to accommodate. During our second visit, we have my goddaughter and we requested them to remove chili or spicy flavors that would not be child-friendly. While this may be a special request, we thought that since they agreed, they are able to accommodate it. Our order came and it was spicy. They made amends but I think it should come as a practice that if a service staff notices a child, certain attention must be given either by suggesting food that is friendlier or setting expectations that they cannot serve child-friendly dishes.
Overall, I love dining at Robata. You should come and visit them at Azuela Cove.
G/F Azuela Cove, adjacent to G Center entrance.
11:00 AM to 9:00 PM except Saturday and Sunday (closing at 10:00 PM)
No reservations, walk in on a first come, first served basis
Accepts cards, cash, and e-payments
