RVR

“There’s a reason this place is hard to get a res. The food is very very good. Best broccolini in the game. The Wagyu skewers are also amazing. Ramen is lovely. I don’t recommend the pate unless you really love a strong gizzardy flavor. Hand rolls are overpriced and I prefer them when you can eat them crispy and fresh at a hand roll bar. But everything else on the menu is great. Plates are small. Cocktails are solid and so is the wine selection. You will spend a lot of money here but it will be great. Atmosphere and service is solid. Sit upstairs if you can on a nice day, downstairs if it’s night time. Bring friends, share, have a bunch of drinks.”

“Got a reservation here for brunch and got here at about 11:30. The restaurant was hardly busy. Our server was really nice and attentive and patient in explaining the menu to us since it was our first time visiting the restaurant. We started off with the hand rolls - uni, tuna, and pork. They were just okay. I had high hopes for the uni. However I was a little disappointed because they rolled it with shiso leaf and it overpowered the sweetness of the uni. We got the tuna sashimi plate and the pork gyoza, both were okay. I like the citrus sauce that came on the side and it went really well with the gyoza. The server highly recommended us getting some vegetables and I'm so glad we took his advice. We got the roasted broccolini and sweet potatoes. The broccolini was surprisingly good and had a nice char to it. It went well with the sauce and was a very tasty dish. The sweet potato dish was a standout, very balanced, not too sweet. Overall the two vegetable dishes were surprising standouts. We also got to try an off-menu item: the Japanese curry with beef topped with an egg. It was hearty and we were pretty full by the end. Even though the server recommended us getting 6-9 dishes in total, excluding the hand roll, we felt like we ordered the right amount of food. They course out your meal for you so you definitely get full by the end. We spent about an hour and a half there in total and had a great time. We also enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant with music from their vinyl record player. Great vibes.”

“We came for a few light bites between meals, and it was nice - we enjoyed the tuna sashimi and the mushroom gyoza, though it’s definitely a bit pricy ($60 for just those appetisers). Service was fairly quick, and the waiters are friendly. The vinyl records vibe is really cool, I’m sure it gets very vibey at night.”

“Came here on a Friday night with my husband and the place was packed. We had a 7:30pm reservation, but there was still a long line out the door for both walk-ins and reservations. We were seated upstairs on the heated patio, though it was still pretty chilly. After being shown to our table, we were given water and menus and then… nothing. We spent about 20 minutes trying to make eye contact with a server before anyone came to take our order. Not the best start to the evening. As for the food, RVR serves small plates in an izakaya-style format. Everything was fine, but nothing stood out or felt memorable, especially given the price point. One hand roll is $16 and was just okay. I’d skip the crispy aji sando. The highlight of the meal was the persimmon panna cotta, which was genuinely excellent. I hate leaving a negative review, but after seeing RVR on several “top 50” lists, the experience felt overhyped and didn’t quite live up to expectations. It's a place you come for the ambiance, have a few bites, and expect to leave hungry unless you spend +$100/person.”

“Nothing great except the atmosphere. Ordered the beef tongue, mushroom gyoza, cauliflower, and duck ramen. It came out in that order, with at least a 15 minute gap between each food. I was quite confused as all the dishes are ones that are easily prepared.. Beef tongue was thick and dry. Mushroom gyoza had thick flour skin. It was an attempt to make customers feel like they're eating gyoza. It does looks good and the filing was'nt half bad. Cauliflower was actually quite decent. Sauce was nice and tangy. Cauliflowers had a good crunch to them. Duck ramen had a very offputting smell in the meat and broth. All in all. Food looks great but tastes mediocre to bad. Food comes out incredibly slowly and separately at that. Very pricey for just a decent vibe and good looking photo (I guess even the photos are difficult because of the impossible lighting)”