Rofuto: First Impressions

Last night me and Sam were fortunate enough to be invited to Rofuto's first look cocktail party at their new Izakaya style restaurant on the 16th floor of the Park Regis Hotel at the end of Broad St/Five Ways.

Claiming to be the highest restaurant in Birmingham - defeating Marco's steak house and with huge floor to ceiling windows it gives a great view across all of Birmingham. Rofuto aims to serve high quality dishes using some traditional Japanese techniques but serving them in a creative modern style.

Upon arrival we were greeted by the friendly staff and were shown to the bar where we had a choice of three signature cocktails - a Lychee Martini with vodka, Melon Fizz with Midori, vodka and topped with lemonade (my personal favourite) and finally - Ronin Out of Time which included Nikka whisky and plum sake (Sam's favourite). I was extremely grateful that I had the chance to try all three. I also had a look at the wine list and was really impressed that they had an extensive choice of Riesling.

I also loved that the kitchen is open plan so you can watch your food being cooked over the coal grill. We were served a variety of canapés all evening, the standouts for me were the crispy chicken with kimchi sauce and lime, yakitori chicken and the halibut champagne yuzu miso. They also served some knockout desserts - matcha tiramisu and cardamom panna cotta.

Me and Sam have booked in for lunch at the restaurant soft launch this Saturday and after seeing the full menu I am very excited to try it! I will keep you updated!