ROVI

Rovi was absolutely the best meal of our recent trip to London! We sat at the bar for dinner and enjoyed the savory Broccoli with Jerusalem artichoke, miso ssamjang and yuzu vinegar to start. The Burrata was good but probably the weakest link of the meal. I loved the polenta encrusted mushrooms and the kale bhaji. Even though we ate all vegetarian dishes, they were quite filling and we ended up cancelling our order of gnudi.

The wines were equally inventive and we thoroughly enjoyed a robust red wine of some kind from Georgia (former Soviet state).

Highly recommend!!

Rovi, one of Yotam Ottolenghi's London restaurants, is a short walk from Oxford street. Though you'll have to brave the crowds to get there, the restaurant is well worth the trip (especially if you are on a plant based diet or if you're simply looking for a delicious meal without feeling awful after.)

If you're a fan, the restaurant offers signed cookbooks and other merchandise. If you're just looking for a nice dinner, the room is dimly lit, beautiful, and far quieter than the chaos a few blocks away.

The drinks were amazing, the service was great, but the highlight should be on the food. Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes are famous around the world for a reason. We got three plant based dishes and one meat dish. Simply put, I don't understand how they managed to make vegetables taste so darn good. Each onion, pepper, spice and garnish felt intentional.

Rovi was exceptional.

Another utterly wonderful London meal.

We ordered the
GRILLED ASPARAGUS, watercress, sunflower & miso cream, dukkah (Vg) 15.5 CAULIFLOWER, burnt caraway butter, hazelnut cream, wild garlic, pickled golden raisins
CELERIAC SHAWARMA, bkeila, fermented tomato
BEEF CARPACCIO, 'grass fed', meyer lemon, horseradish, black radish
PRESSED LAMB SHOULDER, rose & cardamom, fig leaf vinegar, fennel yoghurt
URFA CHILLI GNUDI, chamomile and lemon cabbage, sorrel

My cocktail was the
ROVI BELLINI // Sottoriva Malibran prosecco, rhubarb, lemon zest -
Who wouldn't want a rhubarb cocktail?!

The ambiance was upscale and lovely.

I must while visiting London. The kimchi Gruyère fritters, celeriac shawarma, crispy pink fir potatoes and wolves lane tomatoes are a must. Great service and delicious food - every dish had "wow" and "mmm" factor. We had a late dinner so didn't get to try all the items. When I'm in town next, I want to the other items! Oh, the deconstructed mint chocolate ice cream sandwich was delicious too!

Amazing rustic Israeli food. I was beyond impressed with the whole interior and the food. They have a nice bar in the center and its an open kitchen concept which makes it feel like you are part of the whole experience.
The service was great, it gets pretty packed around 5-8 so be sure to make reservations.
Had this tomatoes crostini dish that was by far the best way to start the meal. For main we shared the Celeriac Shawarma which was outstanding. It was meaty and flavor.
Also had ton of drinks, a tad pricey but delicious. The prices are comparable to NYC prices.

I got the celeriac shawarma sandwich, which wins its prize for being one of the best things I ever put in my mouth - really. It was phenomenal, amazingly soft, and just gave a huge amount great amount of flavor. I wouldn't be able to put it into words. If you're coming to ROVI, please do yourself a favor and order the shawarma!

One of our favorite meals during this trip to London! We ordered quite a few of the dishes on the menu and loved all of them - the radicchio salad with the partridge was especially excellent and the pairing of kimchi with gruyère in the fritters was super tasty. Service was fantastic and we were surprised at the end of our meal with the fudge; we had not planned to order a dessert as we were quite full from the meal but we had to find a bit more room for the fudge which was delightful. Will definitely plan to visit Rovi again!

Without a doubt, one of my favorite restaurants in London. I wanted to visit here because Phil Rosenthal (Somebody Feed Phil) ate here and raved about their celeriac shawarma. He said something to the effect of "if all vegetables tasted like this, I wouldn't need to eat meat again", and he was right. It was worth the hype, and one of the best vegetarian dishes I ate of the year.

Other must order dishes include:
Polenta crumbed mushrooms: oyster mushrooms fried with polenta crust
Side of warm chickpeas: great tangy seasoning
Miso fudge dessert: Bite-size rich chocolate caramel squares
Barberry pudding: Hard to describe this one, but a mix of ice cream, fresh apples, and many other goodies.

With that said, Rovi has quite a few dishes I'd skip, meaning that this restaurant can be very hit or miss - so order carefully!

Skip:
- Jerusalem mixed grill
- Collard greens
- Sourdough (get the pita instead)
- Trifle dessert
- Spaghetti squash

If you stick with my recommendations I guarantee a 5/5 lunch or dinner!

Interesting menu. For me, overly self-conscious combinations. Personally, I'd rather have good, straightforward executions of good, straightforward dishes.

Ottolengi's is probably very hyped up and I kept that in mind as I know these kind of places can end up being average. I was deeply disappointed in the food and service. The grilled mackerel was overly salted and the seasoning/garnish flavors did not come through because it was so salty. The pita was good but it was a stingy piece, smaller than the palm of my hand which did not make sense as the entree was so salty. The grilled cucumber was okay, quite edible.
The west 1 cocktail was honestly the highlight. If I was just getting drinks, it would've been fine. I paid 65£ and it simply wasn't edible enough.