Church’s Chicken flew the coop at 7260 Manchester Road in Maplewood, and Robata swooped in to take its spot. Thom and Emily Chantharasy, former owners of now-shuttered Sekisui on South Grand, opened their ramen, sushi and yakitori restaurant Monday, Sept. 28.
The newly remodeled space features bar-height seating and dining tables to accommodate approximately 30 dinner diners. The sushi menu offers single servings of both cooked and raw nigiri, five- and six-piece sashimi and two-piece tempura styles, as well as 30 fully cooked maki rolls and 28 rolls with raw or partially cooked ingredients.
Steaming bowls of ramen can be built to order, starting with the noodle (fresh imported Japanese thin cut, regular cut, fat cut or a rice noodle), then the style (variations of pork, chicken or vegetable broth with toppings), and finally the option to add more vegetables or protein to your bowl.
The yakitori menu offers 16 chicken, pork and seafood skewers and nine vegetable skewers meant to be mixed, matched and shared around the table (the same goes for the sushi). The meat may be ordered plain (shiro) or marinated in a sweet, savory sauce (tare).
Robata is open Monday through Thursday from 5 to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight. Here’s a first look at what’s in store at one of Maplewood’s newest eateries:
-photos by Meera Nagarajan
This article appears in October 2015.