Maggie H.
Yelp
Robata is a small place with an ample parking lot size for its seating, or close to ample. I think there may not be enough seating for its customer demand... that's a sign of a popular place.
Happy hour prices + the food quality are what had my friend invite me here. Some rolls are half off and so are a few beverages, like hot sake. I had never had hot sake. I've only had any sake once. I liked it fine, but I didn't want a second order after I finished the first. I was disappointed that Robata was out of plum wine. Instead I ordered what was described as a white sangria, but it tasted more like a brandy. I had a few sips and gave it to my friend. I had 4 vegetarian sushi rolls. Only the asparagus was included with happy hour. My 3 other rolls were takuan, pickle plum and BB. As much as I like plum (keep reading), and takuan was a pleasant surprise, and the asparagus was good, the BB, which has tempura asparagus, cream cheese, and sweet soy, was my favorite item of the evening.
I was happy to see umeboshi onigiri on the lengthy menu. These were of a good size, but I think it perhaps would have benefitted from a higher pickled plum to rice ratio. (The only time I've had it has been from a food truck and I don't know how representative it is of onigiri.)
Each order of food took a while to come out. My friend had trouble getting the server's attention when she wanted to put in more orders. Robata is not a place for a quick happy hour bite. It's going to take a while, especially if you're ordering in multiple rounds like we did. When the kitchen got too busy, my order another roll was denied. That happened well before dinner service ended and it was disappointing. I would have waited a bit longer. But it was probably good to get cut off from sushi at some point.
We were a little confused by the bills. My friend may have overpaid (not gotten happy hour price) for some of her items, and there was some question about whether mine had been billed correctly, but in the end we decided that mine was probably correct. Hers, though... we aren't sure.
I think I'll return to Robata for the BB roll, plum wine, and maybe something new, but I will be sure to have plenty of time, order a bunch all at once, and check the bill.