ROC Kitchen

All kinds yummy Chinese and Taiwanese dumplings and dishes! The flavor is actually pretty good! If the price can be Lowe, it will be perfect!

ROC is delicious. I went there with coworkers and ordered nearly everything on the menu. I was not disappointed with a single dish. The spicy chicken dumplings and the pan seared chicken dumplings were my favorite. The service was really fast, they continuously brought food the second it was finished. And the best part is that it was very reasonably priced. $ 138.00 for 11 people. Not bad.

If I had never been to SGV or Monterey Park, I’d think this was terrific food. As it is, it’s perfectly adequate; in a pinch, when you’re craving fried rice or dumplings, this’ll do fine since it’s close to home. But it’s really only average.
It’s fun to watch them form the scallion pancakes. I just wish they tasted a little more interesting.

Gets 5 stars in my eyes. I’m no soup dumpling expert but these are the next best thing to Din Tai Fung and it’s local to me!!! :)
Glad there in town and opening more up! Especially the one in Playa Vista!!! Go Roc! You Roc!!!

4.5 stars. First time and the experience was stellar. We ordered way too much food but had to try all the tempting dumplings and specialties offered. Our favorites were the sautéed shrimp and shishito peppers, the soup dumplings, asparagus with garlic and mushrooms and the shu mai steamed dumplings, and don’t miss the beef rolls! More ordinary were the popcorn chicken and the glass noodles.
Can’t wait to return and order more treats!

Another ROC location… they seem to be popping up everywhere nowadays. Apparently they’re opening up 2 more locations, one in Playa Vista and one in Downtown Culver City. Are they trying to be the westside version of Din Tai Fung? They must be doing something right.
I was craving xiao long bao (XLB) badly and I just stumbled upon this place after driving by. There’s a makeshift sign outside so you might miss it thinking it’s an advertisement or something. For $ 8, you get 8 pork XLB, which isn’t terrible. I love the fact that there’s so much soup inside the XLB, it was really good! However, that meant that the meat inside was tiny, literally the size of half of a penny. The skin of the XLB wasn’t too thick either which was a plus. Put more meat in your XLB!
We ordered a couple more items, spicy pork dumplings and string beans, and they were alright. The dumplings weren’t spicy at all. They just put a paste on top that had a really neutral effect. The dumplings itself were ok. The string beans were decent, kind of bland and could use a little more salt on top. I wish we would’ve ordered some fried rice to eat with the string beans or something.
ROC is a decent place to go to if you aren’t trying to venture out to 626.

Dumplings or «dumplettes»? After reading the reviews for this restaurant, we were sure that we were about to eat some good food. Well, the food was fairly good, but the portions were really small. All jokes aside, we were served some of the smallest dumplings I’ve ever seen. For a hefty price of $ 7, we received 6 small Spicy Chicken dumplings, which I prefer to call «dumplettes». When they arrived to the table, I looked at my friend in shock, and was tempted to ask the server if these were samples. Again, the dumplings were fairly good, but nothing to write home about, in my opinion. In addition, we ordered the Three Cup Chicken ($ 12.50) which consists of chicken thighs, chillies, basil, and garlic. Similarly, this dish had small portions. We requested that it be made mildly spicy. No wow factor with the Three Cup Chicken, which we ate with brown rice.
We were underwhelmed with the food. However, the service was nice. The staff was quite attentive. Our food arrived in a timely manner, and was served hot. Would this food be considered authentic cuisine… probably not. Given the price points, and the food portions, this place probably won’t be put on my go-​to list of restaurants.
All in all, this is a decent restaurant and, perhaps, we ordered the wrong items. Given what we paid for the items, we just expected more. Prices may be slightly higher because of their location. Anyway, I’m a fan of dumplings, and they can keep their «dumplettes», but we may visit again to order different items.

This is what I call the hipster version of Din Tai Fung. The location, ambiance and staff make it completely different than your typical Asian restaurant (like the ones we usually go to in SGV or Rowland Heights); we were probably one of two Asian parties when we came here. I wanted to give this place a try since the food looked great and that the restaurant looked very modern.
The food is pretty amazing! Here’s what we got:
1) Dungeness Crab and Pork Dumplings — They look so adorable like the ones from Din Tai Fung. The soup wasn’t piping hot but I enjoyed the soupy dumpling at dipping in the vinegar as well as the sauce from the next dish: D
2) Three Cup Chicken — What amazing flavors! While it is traditionally supposed to be served in a clay pot, I liked how flavorful and spicy this dish was, though it was a bit on the salty end.
3) Beef Roll — Again, it is not your traditional dish where it is made with beef slices. This beef had a pulled texture to it and was very juicy. I really liked this dish as well.
We enjoyed the experience here but because we are from SGV we know we could get the same great food at a better price (while sacrificing customer service lol). It is a great one time try and the customer service here was good. The employees were super attentive but it was hard to take the female servers seriously when they were chatting loudly in the corner and wearing casual shoes like Nikes and Converse.

The first few weeks of their grand opening was awesome. They were attentive, friendly, and seemed like a great staff… Well upon a few incidents besides finding a bug in my soup and the server Ivan making an awful impression multiple times, this place is not what it was. Every Time we have gone here, something else happens and it seems like we cant just dine in confidence here anymore. Shame.
But, reading other peoples reviews and seeing this place is apparently a copy to Din Tai Fung with almost identical items on the menu so we are definitely going to try that out too! Are you guys copy-​cats? Not cool man…
Sorry to any Unilocalers who read my post boasting about this place and were disappointed in there experiences there! Don’t get me wrong the food was good but now that Im finding insects and not ordering them, Id rather opt out. Just my preference, I have a thing with attention to detail especially when it comes to things I place in my body.
Their claimed xiaolongbao is tasty but what I am learning which I did not know until recently is that these are actually really tiny portions especially the meat inside so as we learn we will update this!
Enjoy if you do end up going to try them out!

Best Chinese food ever!!! Brown Fried Rice with Chicken is glorious!!!
Dumplings and the Special Chicken is superb!!!

Dissapointing new location. Got a coupon from the original store with no expiration date. It was 20 dollars off per person. Well guess what… They didn’t honor it. Shame on them for bait and switch.
So this location is near the Beverly connection… It’s by Bloomingdales, off fifth, etc. translation… Terrible traffic. What makes it worse is that the parking in this lot has little parking and if you didn’t know, there is parking behind the building but I don’t know how to get there.
I think prices are a tad higher here than the other store. It’s not too busy… This place seems bigger but same décor.
The things we tried…
— green beans with garlic: more in quantity and tasted better than the other location
— crab and pork Xiao long bao: juicier than the other location.
— pancake was just as good
— beef roll was not good (need to be crispier on the outside and not served with spicy sauce)
— shrimp and pork dumplings… Skin is a little thick but decent
The worst is the bait and switch with the coupon. I will never return to this establishment again. That’s very dishonest of management.

I’ve been to both this and the other location, and I’m a huuuge fan. I’m actually gonna just copy and paste this review and post to the other one too lol same sames. They’re both worth a visit.
So ya it really is similar to Din Tai Fung for those of you who are in the know. If ya don’t know, look it up! I’ve tried several things from ROC, but those that stand out are: GARLIC CRAB FRIED RICE (it’s spelled in caps for a reason), xiao long bao (soup dumplings), and beef noodle soup. They have other delicious items as well, but I’m gonna just write about theeeese.
The garlic crab fried rice is amazing. Filled with crab meat and garlicky notes, it’s a subtle kind of delicious… so while it won’t smack you in the face with strong flavors, this fried rice is just so deliciously mesmerizing. If I had a whole order to myself, I might be able to finish it. Maybe.
The XLBs I don’t think are as good as DTF’s, but they are really similar and really really yummy. I love when that hot soup explodes AaWWWW ya. Also tried the XLBs with crab and oooooooomg apparently anything with crab is amazing. Try it.
AND not to mention, their beef noodle soup is so fire. It comes with this super tender beef, and the soup and noodles are soooooo flavorful and perfectly cooked. Delicious.

ROC is just superb! Meeting my expectations in both food quality and service. This time, the price is awesome for the month of February with it’s coupon for $ 20 off per person, WOW! Are you serious? I thought maybe there were fine prints that I didn’t see on the coupon, but NOOOO. ROC delivered what it promised on it’s coupon. What bothered me was that some parties brought little kids that obviously were not gonna eat much and ROC still honored its $ 20 per person discount! ROC is sure the man/​restaurant of it’s words, sexy ROC!
For us, party of 2, we ordered seafood XLB ($ 12.50), vegetable dumpling ($ 8), crab winter melon ($ 9.50), Pork chop ($ 11.25), baby bok choy ($ 8.00) and red beam dumpling for desert ($ 6). Total came to $ 55.25 with $ 20 per person discount times 2 ($ 40), our bill came to $ 16.62…WOW, YAY!
Tonight was amazing, people waited till the last day of the coupon to come, and this place was jam packed. Though it was a night of never ending lines waiting to get in, ROC deligated and accommodated every party swiftly without any problem. On top of all, the food came out consistent just like a regular night. What really stood out was the red bean dumpling dessert. It was DELISH (of course I am bias because I love sweets… haha)!!
Though tonight was a special discount night, however, ROC on Beverly sure has won my heart with it’s authenticity/​price/​service and quality of it’s food. I highly recommend it!
BTW, parking can be a bit of an issue when the restaurant is packed. ROC validates across the street at the Beverly Connection. I haven’t parked there, so I can’t comment. I have always been able to find a spot on the parking lot.

Got a flyer in the mail for $ 20 dining credit per person and had heard good things about ROC and was very happy with dinner!
We ordered waaaaaay too much food for 4 people, but at least I tried a ton of items
Standouts — beef roll appetizer
Beef soup
Chicken pan fried dumpling
Crab rice!!! Mmmmm
Also had veggie steamed dumpling
Pork and shrimp soup dumpling
Green beans
Glass noodles
Spicy shrimp dumpling
Chicken fried rice
EVERYTHING was good, some items were damn fantastic.
Our service was good, quick and efficient. You wouldn’t know the place was newly opened based on how our service ran like a well oiled machine.
Park in Beverly connection — the lot at third street plaza is minuscule
Would definitely go back. Organic iced jasmine tea delicious too.

Overall: 3.5 stars (3 for food and an extra .5 star for service and décor)
Don’t expect ROC to be anything like DTF eve though the menu is almost identical! I was disappointed when I realize this is just another Taiwanese restaurant with the same menu as DTF and that’s about it.
Food: a solid 3 star. It’s not bad not stood out for us. We orders crab and pork XLB, shrimp and pork shu mai, pork fried rice, spicy beer noodle, and broccoli. The best of all these dishes was the spicy beef noodle for me as it was very flavorful and spicy! The rest of the dishes were just okay. Everything tasted like my cooking… bland and nothing exciting… whomp whomp!
Service: very friendly and professional servers! Also kind of remind me of DTF! Everyone wears black from top to bottom. There’s one server but lots of help from the kitchen to bring your orders to your table.
Décor/​ambience: a nice and open space. Décor is pretty contemporary and fresh.
Parking: park across the street and pay $ 1/​hr. Save yourself the hassle of driving around or trying to get into the plaza of limited parking spaces!

What does everyone always complain about when they move from the San Gabriel Valley to Mid-​City or West LA? «Why aren’t there any good Chinese restaurants out here?»
Well the problem is partially solved by this outpost of authentic and modern Chinese food near Beverly Grove. It has an open kitchen so you can see the fresh ingredients being cooked in front of you. The dumplings and pancakes are good, and it actually has non-​greasy vegetables, unlike some Chinese restaurants.
They don’t take reservations so you may have to wait in line a bit, but it is worth the wait.

I’ll stick to the location in Little Osaka on the Westside. Though the menu seemed moe expansive here, the food left a lot to be desired.
People go to ROC Kitchen on Sawtelle for the dumplings. So, I ordered shumai (which they turn into soup dumplings) and pork soup dumplings. The dumplings were a little gummy, and the soup was oddly seasoned, in an off-​putting kind of way.
That said, the chicken fried rice and the pork belly appetizers were really nice. Also, our food was ready in a timely fashion, so they get some points for that.
Parking is tough. If you’re lucky, you might find a spot in the little strip mall where this place is located. Otherwise, you can valet or park in a garage where you have to valet.

Food tastes were good; but servers were not professional. They forgot a couple orders…

Food is decent… however service is horrible. Tables are small so food should be brought out in intervals not all at once. Took 30 mins to get our food. probably will not come back since din Tai Fung is not too far away way better tasting

Food is great but the service SUCKKKSSSS!
They have no servers. Only runners who drop your food off and leave. When you need something, you have to flag someone down or catch someone running food. They’re not meant to handle a busy crowd. And the worst part is that we’re paying customers, but they hand out these coupons for $ 20 of free food per guest to promote their already busy restaurant that they can’t keep up with. Makes a lot of sense.
Get your shit together… In the meantime, I’ll Postmate ya.
Sincerely yours,
CH

I don’t understand the reason for the negative reviews. Quality of service and food is consistent with the Sawtelle location’s.
Must try:
— rice cake with chicken
— soup dumplings
— beef stew noodle
— garlic crab fried rice
— beef rolls
This location of ROC has become our regular go-​to for authentic Chinese/​Taiwanese food when we don’t want to make the trek out east.

Don’t bother with the soup dumplings here. Only if you’re looking beef noodle soup.
The XLB is unbelievably bland. Went a second time to see if the first was a fluke. I think this was the first time I DIDN’T finish a serving of soup dumplings. It’s such a strange and unsettling feeling when all the familiar textures are there but the broth and meat are completely devoid of taste.
The beef noodle soup, though, is excellent. Flavorful broth, good amount of greens, tender oxtail. A cut above most other places, not just in the area but in LA overall.

Service is helpful when you flag one of the servers/​runners. They are pretty efficient at serving the food in a timely manner. What’s disappointing about this ROC location is that there are no formally trained chefs or dumpling makers as they did at the Sawtelle location.
Soup dumpings were decent, well made, but the concept of lobster & pork was more novelty than satisfying. You bite into a filling, which you know is made with ground pork, but you could not distinguish any lobster in the dumpling, not the texture nor the flavor. The crab & pork dumpling was more successful. However, ordering basic pork or chicken soup dumplings would be satisfying without paying the higher prices for the specialty soup dumplings.
Green Beans had some flavor, but need to be tossed in a wok much longer than they normally do now. There’s none of that «wok heh» (the flavor essence produced from food being stir fried). The green beans seemed like they were just blanched or boiled. A miss.
The beef roll was tasty. However, the pancake wrap for the beef roll was made too thin. Add the moisture from the shredded beef mixture and the raw julienne slices of cucumber, and the wrap easily got soggy and broke apart, which made it very frustrating to eat. There should be finer julienned cucumber used for the rolls and not more than ¹⁄₃ of the filling should be the cucumber. Also, what’s with the serving of Siracha dipping sauce rather than the traditional Hoisin sauce?
Another huge miss was that Shrimp & Pork Steamed Dumpling (aka siu mai). Looks just like the ones Din Tai Fung makes, but ROC seem to use the same meat filing for the soup dumplings and then just top the dumplintg with a small shrimp. Eating was then a mess as the shrimp would fall off and the juices from the meat filling just gushed out from the top.
Beef Noodle Soup was actually good, except for the fact that one large piece of beef we had seemed to have a lot of the firm collagen, which was hard to eat due to the solidity of it.
The shrimp & pork pan fried dumplings were the biggest hit of the night. More like a Japanese gyoza than a Chinese potsticker. It was light and flavorful, with a good amount of stuffing.
The garli crab fried rice wasn’t bad. Would be so much better if they used rice that had less moisture in it, so that when it’s wok fried, it will be maintain the firmess that you get from fried rice done well. Here, the rice was too moist. So, when wok fried, it became clumpy and almost gummy to the bite.
Pickled Cucumbers had a nice bite to them from the added Szechuan peppercorns. However, there was just a tad too much vinegar and not enough sugar to prevent it from tasting tart and peppery. Also, would have preferred them to slice up the cucumbers in large julienne slices.
Spicy Dumplings. Thought it would be more like the Northern Chinese style won tons in chili oil, but no. Steamed dumplings with a sauce poured on top. Nothing special about them. They were definitely not spicy at all.
I was hoping that the food would be better here, but it’s not. Not sure if I’ll give them another try. If not in the San Gabriel Valley or in the Asian communities in the OC, I’d recommend that you venture out to Pine & Crane for the beef noodle soup and beef rolls, and Din Tai Fung in Glendale (or even ROC Kitchen on Sawtelle) for the siu mai, wontons in chili oil and fried rice.

SOUP DUMPLINGS YEY
I love the xiaolongbao here it’s soooo good. And since it’s a chain restaurant, there’s plenty of places around Los Angeles. Went to the Sawtelle one a while back and popped into the Beverly shop recently.
It’s so authentic and Taiwanese and it’s basically happiness in the form of food. Definitely worth going if you want to try out Taiwanese cuisine but don’t have the luxury of going abroad. Some of my favorite dishes include soup dumplings and soup dumplings and did I mention soup dumplings?
We also got the beef pancake rolls (basically the Asian version of a burrito) and shrimp fried rice. Go try it out, you won’t be disappointed!
Place was pretty empty on a Friday afternoon (but it was past peak hour times).

The ROC in Sawtelle is way better, although it is nice to have a ROC near us now.
Our food was a bit burnt /​overcooked. But the service was good!
If I’m craving ROC, I would probably head a little further just to go to the Sawtelle location.

I felt nauseated after my dinner here. This was caused by msg in the food, can’t tell how much but I felt sick and drank a lot of water. Ok, it’s my fault, I am eating in a Chinese restaurant and not expect msg in the food? I had someone wrote back to me on Unilocal saying msg is fine, it is a myth that it’s bad. I heard smoking is bad for you and that is a myth too… once upon a time.
At any rate the flavors here are bland. Great for Westsider palettes who do not like over flavored foods or know what great Chinese food taste like. If you are looking for authentic full flavored Chinese meals, look else where. Very disappointed with the food. Had high expectations since it had good ratings on Unilocal

The service here is really great, and this location feels larger than the Sawtelle location. I like the open kitchen look and the simple clean design of the interior space. There is also validated parking in the small plaza lot. Otherwise, parking can be a pain on the street during peak dinner hours. A possibility is to park in the Beverly Center garage, which is relatively cheap and secure.
I came with a large party and they were happy to accept the reservation for 9. The food came out quickly (almost too quickly) and the portions were decent. I would say that there were hits and misses, but in general the food was good. I always welcome Taiwanese food on the Westside, because it’s really a pain to trek to Monterey Park to have dinner.
Because we got a lot of dishes, I will just summarize some of the ones we had. The must-​gets include the pork soup dumplings, pork chops, and the beef roll. These were our table favorites. The crab soup dumplings I think could have had a stronger crab taste, and almost tasted like the pork only ones. The 3 cups chicken was decent, but not among the best I’ve had. The pea sprouts were fresh and tasty. The pork and shrimp Shoumai was a bit strange. It’s effectively a soup dumpling with a shrimp at the top. It’s interesting, but felt that the flavors didn’t quite work.
Lastly, the dessert we tried was the one with taro, red bean, and pumpkin in soup dumpling skin. Our table wasn’t a huge fan. The complaint was that it wasn’t sweet enough, and by that point, we’ve had so many soup dumplings, that it tasted like another round of dumplings. That being said, if you’re getting this dish, I liked the red bean the best.
The prices are moderate for this area. I recommend making a reservation because there was a line when we arrived.

I live right off 3^rd Street and was excited to have a 4.5 * Chinese restaurant in the area. Finally got around to trying R.O.C today. Sadly, it was not the best experience. I suspect part of the problem is I ordered the wrong dishes. Regardless, after leaving R.O.C. we had to go get lunch because we were starving.
Lunch began with slightly overcooked and dried out scallion pancakes. I was in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Dongguan two weeks ago and understand precisely how these pancakes should taste. These were thin, overcooked and needed more scallions/​seasoning. If you have never had the real thing you may find these scallion pancakes acceptable. However, if you are familiar with this dish it is obvious this appetizer was a mistake.
I then tried the winter melon soup which was okay, qualifies for 3 stars on it’s own. It is nothing I would order again; however, the taste was palatable with no major errors.
The glass noodles with Dungeness crab were a disaster. The crab alone was 1.5 stars. The noodles? Negative stars. Why? The taste was very fishy, almost slimy. 3 hours later and I can’t get rid of the taste. If you go to R.O.C. after reading my review make sure you don’t accidentally get this dish or your appetite will be shot.
The place was a bit noisy due to all of the glass walls with the kitchen exposed. The décor is pretty with comfortable seating. Service was virtually non existent. Would I eat here again? No. 75% of the food had to be thrown away.

A solid choice for those not interested in a trek to SGV. No lines, at lunch anyway, high probability of finding parking (small lot but metered parking close by). Convenient to the Beverly Center area too.
Now… About the food. $ 8 – 12 per order so best to bring a friend if u want to sample the menu. Each order has 6 – 8 pieces so pretty generous portions.
Had the shrimp and crab soup dumplings, pork and shrimp potstickers, and sugar snap peas. The broth in the dumplings well seasoned and not too salty. Best potstickers I’ve had in awhile. Tender skin but still crispy. Sugar snap peas with yummy mushrooms perfectly cooked and pleasingly snappy.
Cool vibe… Again it’s a solid choice with pretty and tasty food, but not 5-​star for me… It’s a bit pricey, hard to eat an 8 piece order before it gets cold, and the restaurant doesn’t smells ok but just doesn’t smell yummy and authentic.
I will go back ’cause it’s close and it’s good but will ask for them to leave the steamer covers on to keep the food HOT.

Food was good
People were nice
There’s restaurant parking
Portions are small for the price
Very clean restaurant and wash room

Oh my god. We have been to ROC in Sawtelle before. It was okay back then but this location in Beverly Grove is pretty underwhelming experience. Our XLB was so so and looked sad. String beans – Over priced and I can do better than this. This is solid Two star experience and not even close to three stars. Sad.
My husband just said, «i liked the chili paste though. I did not come all the way to just taste chili paste.

Considering ROC is not far from work, it’s nice to have this place in the ‘hood to jet to for lunch. My friends and I came here when it first opened since half of us love this other place where they have phenomenal XLBs. You should come ready to eat «shared plate» style so you can enjoy the pork XLB dumplings and fried rice. We were such pigs so we had a lot — shrimp and chicken fried rice (liked the shrimp one better); crispy pork chop (will pass next time because it was a bit too crispy and needed some salt); green beans; pickled cucumbers (interesting twist with jalapenos); three cup chicken with thai basil and ginger (tasty); and chow mein.
Service was «meh”– brought out everything way too fast and almost all at the same time despite us asking that they didn’t do that. We came when it was pretty empty yet we still got pretty slow and scant service. Sometimes that is the trade off you can get when it’s empty I know. We had to ask several times for basic things like water, utensils, etc. Made the experience not as inviting, especially when the dishes including their XLB were uneventful.
ROC K at this location has a good amount of parking in the strip mall here off the corner of LaCienega and 3^rd. But, that’s all I can say about dining here. Not running back here too fast for a repeater that’s for sure.

Thank you ROC for opening up in the neighborhood. We needed you here badly!
The food & service is excellent.
The crab XLB was scrumptious and juicy. It was full of flavor and the joyful soupiness inside was close to… Dare I say it? Din Tai Fung. I’m craving them as I write this.
Green beans with garlic was crunchy and a perfect side dish. It’s a little bland so I just add a little chili oil. Now I’m craving this too.
Also had the beef noodle soup. The noodles were thick and chewy, the beef cooked tender, and the broth was seasoned nice.
So yes, two thumbs up for ROC. Can’t wait to go back soon!

After all the money we saved from shopping with huge discounts at the Beverly Center (BC), we decided to grab a late dinner close by. What do you know (thank you Unilocal btw), we found ROC just down the street from the BC. This is a new location and it’s located inside of a strip mall on 3^rd.
Since I’ve never been to this location, we decided to give it a try. We ordered the XLB ($ 8), crab winter melon soup ($ 9.50), baby bok choy ($ 8) and the red bean XLB for dessert ($ 6). ROC’s food is very consistent. This location tastes exactly like the one on Sawtelle. Everything is delish!
If you like the one on Sawtelle, you’ll like this one. Great food and excellent prices. I highly recommend ROC!

I still hadn’t tried the Roc in sawtelle since it’s always busy so I was happy they opened one closer to me.
This one is spacious and very clean. Service was great too.
Had the scallion pancake, crab/​pork soup dumplings and beef noodle soup.
Everything was pretty good!
It’s located in the plaza access Beverly connection but they don’t have signage yet.