Robata — 炉端 — literally means 'fireside'. It is the grilling way of the Tohoku fishermen: the fresh catch grilled right over the coals, then handed across the hearth to whoever sits opposite. No gas, no pans — just charcoal, fire, and hands.
On Lê Thánh Tôn, in the middle of Japan Town, Robata AN keeps that ritual. At lunch, office crowds come for sashimi rice bowls and skewer bowls; at night, the charcoal counter fires up for chicken skewers, leeks, and cold sashimi platters. Two faces of one house — fire and ice.
The room is low-key: dark wood, low lamps, a long counter facing the coals. Anyone who has sat here remembers the sizzle and the smell of binchotan — the unmistakable scent of a true robata house.