Roc Restaurant

I often get a feeling deep churning within my gut when I walk into an empty restaurant in New York. I anticipate a terrible meal and food poisoning. We came in early on a Sunday night. That being said, we had a thoroughly enjoyable experience and the place did fill in a bit as the night wore on. The server was knowledgeable and friendly.
I had a classic tomato mozzarella, cheese was fresh and delicate, tomatoes were dressed in a light pesto. Good execution.
A sample of the butternut squash vegan soup proved that vegan can be super delicious.
My main dish of a pasta with lobster was perfectly prepared. Juicy, tender lobster and a lovely al dente squid noodle paired beautifully. The pinot noir washed it all down with style.
I don’t know what we had for dessert as it was my wife’s birthday but it was chocolate and delicious and disappeared in seconds.
Our party of 11 was thanking me for a great choice at the end off the meal. Definite recommend.

Found another favorite restaurant in Tribeca! Romantic, dimly light, great wine and delicious food. Staff is attentive and everything runs very smoothly. Great little candlelight bar with beautiful bartender. We will be back again and again!

This place is just ok. I have had better and worse. They overdo the guacamole here. Grilled octopus on guacamole was kind of strange. A scoop of guacamole on grilled tuna steak was ok I guess. Service was ok. A lot of different people came to our table. They all were very friendly. I guess I should not complain about that! If everything around the area is packed this restaurant will suffice.

Great atmosphere and attentive staff. Food was amazing:
grilled scallops and asparagus appetizer — rivaled the preparation of a key west restaurant.
Main courses:
1) shrimp and Kale fresh pasta was light with fresh vegetables.
2) pistachio crusted salmon on hummus was something I would have never thought of, but that’s why I’m not a cook.
Dessert and coffee:
The homemade tiramisu was best ever!
Great experience!
Thanks.

I was very pleased with ROC. I hosted our staff for a birthday celebration this past Friday night. Most people sat outside. I thought it was a little hot out for that. However, the inside was a little empty feeling. The food was very good. I agree that the scallops were a very small portion for the price. They baked a cake for us, and it was very much appreciated. Staff was attentive.

We arrived at 10pm on Sunday… To my surprise it was rather empty; however, my party of four decided to stay and give it a try. The service was decent and the food was a bit above mediocre. The cavatelli was light and enjoyable but had too much spinach. The salmon was a bit buttery. I would come back but not anytime soon.

My co-​workers wanted a place to wine-​down on a Friday after they got off and were set on outdoor seating. After not finding tables at a few places, we managed to find one here.
Service was very slow. We waited about 20 minutes for anyone to take our drink order, another 10 for them to arrive. Our waiter was fond of disappearing, but otherwise dealt with our increasingly loud group nicely.
The food is average. The grilled bacon wrapped scallops with mushrooms were delicious, but $ 18 for 2 scallops just rubs me the wrong way. I know a lot of places charge a ton of money for scallops but it is possible to find them at slightly more reasonable rates, so I always side eye charging THAT much. They were generously sized at least. The tuna tartar with avocado was hands down the best thing we had. Fresh and silky soft with a slight bite from the wasabi oil, it was great. The octopus appetizer was solid.
The best entrée was the gnocchi with tomato sauce and mozzarella. The gnocchi were perfectly soft without being too doughy, and the sauce was delicious. The fettuccine bolognese has a nice thick sauce, but was a little too al dente for me (which I was expecting, most nice places serve it that way, and I know it’s agreed upon that they should). The oxtail ravioli with a truffle butter sauce didn’t work for me. They were more like dumplings than ravioli, and I thought a different sauce may have done the meat more favors, but even the oxtail flavor was tame. I’d say the same for the cod, it was underwhelming in terms of flavor, but cooked fine.
The tiramisu was covered in chocolate syrup. Travesty!

Really lovely dinner here last week. Service was great and I loved the relaxed upscale feel of the restaurant. Everyone in our party enjoyed their entrees and desserts.
Also, they offer an excellent gluten free pasta for anyone who requires it. Nice touch to accommodate all diners.

Great experience! Food is so fresh, like gourmet freshly made from raw ingredients. I had the cavatelli, broccoli rabe & sausage and tried my wife’s ravioli in a mushroom cream sauce. I think the ravioli was homemade. They were both amazing! Tiramisu was the best I’ve had! It must be made there. It’s different from all the rest. Wait staff was great! I will be back. Wish there were restaurants like this at home. @rocrestaurant #rocrestaurant #nyc #tribeca #greatfood

Delicious food in a nice open atmosphere. Great spot to sit outside and watch the world go by. Authentic and tasty.

I’m one of those weird people that goes to an italian restaurant and never orders the pasta. Instead I debated between the beef ribs and the salmon. When the salmon came out I was slightly jealous, but happy with my choise of ribs. The portion was enormous and served me well through my next dinner.
The ribs were a bit lackluster and needed a bit too much salt, but I can’t expect much when you’re in a party of 10 and the kitchhen is clearly overworked. On the other hand, all the appetizers we ordered were great, including the Fresh Bufala Mozzarella, ROC truffle french fries and the fried calamari.
ROC was a great lunch spot for an intimate group setting, they’re not too busy during lunch so they were easibly able to accomodate us. No one had to yell over the other patrons, and the staff was polite to not interrupt until their was a lull in our conversation.

Packed like sardines in the front/​entrance area of the restaurant was our group of 10 and another group, around the same party size, squeezed next to us. Yep it was holiday time and holiday dinners for work, friends and family were upon us. Although we were by the door, on a freezing winter night, the restaurant was pleasantly warm. And thankfully, the immediate serving of bottles of wine helped warm us up as well. Thank you mister attentive server!
If you come here in a large group then you all gotta do it up family style. Sharing means caring. Or at least it means that you get to try a lot of their plates and it’s sooooooo worth it!
It was a busy night so our small plates took some time to come out. No photo ops since we were starved and started digging in right away:
Tuna tartare
calamari salad (a special that night)
eggplant parmigiana
crab cakes
beef carpaccio
I can’t say which one from above was my fave. They were all amazing with beautiful presentation. The calamari salad was so fresh and the tuna tartare was citrusy and wonderfully seasoned. The tuna was chunky like ahi poke and not ground up like some can be. Loved that!
On to the main course. Since dinner was on the boss man… there was no other choice. Go big or go home. If you can splurge, you gotta do it and get the grilled veal chop (medium rare) with roasted portobello and black truffle mashed potatoes. Huge portion of meat and cooked perfectly. So much truffle flavor in the mash and the sauce/​veal drippings that engulfed the veal chop was decadent! Totally tried to finish the dish but knew dessert was to be had next!
DESSERTS:
Lemon Tart — AAAAMAAAAAAZING!!! Just the right amount of lemony tartness and the whipped cream was so fresh. A MUST HAVE!
White Chocolate and Pumpkin Cheesecake — really had high hopes for this one. Probably could be better with a different sauce but that passion fruit sauce wasn’t a palatable combination with the cheesecake.
Tiramisu — possibly one of the best I’ve ever had! Another must have! Every layer of flavor shined thru. Creamy and light with just enough chocolate/​mocha to bring it all together.
If in NYC and you tell me you’re in the mood for some exceptional Italian cuisine, this is definitely one spot I’d suggest you try!

I had dinner here last week and the food was fantastic. I had the kale salad, the mozzarella appetizer and the vegetable lasagna. Everything was superb. My mouth is watering at the thought of the Vegetable lasagna… it was the best lasagna I have ever eaten. It was in a creamy sauce (not tomato) and was excellent! My companion had the Red Snapper and was restraining himself from licking the dish when he was done.
We had the Tiramisu and the white chocolate and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. OMG… I can’t even describe how good they were!
The server was a lovely, friendly girl whose name I can’t remember. :(
I highly recommend ROC!

I had dinner at the restaurant last Saturday night first of all when I arrived at the restaurant I was greeted by a great hostess. Since I was early I met the owner who was so nice and he offered me a drink and engaged me in a conversation which was so nice.
After my friends arrived we were escorted to a prime table which was so nice. We ordered our meals and what a great and wonderful meal it was I had the Sea bass dish which was so delicious.
After the meal I ordered for dessert the lemon tart Mmmm! It was great and I can’t wait to return .back for another meal.
Great restaurant thanks for a great evening.
Cheers!
Nirro

Perfect lunch spot for a girl looking to escape the office, for a glass of Rosè on this beautiful afternoon.

I recently went to Roc for a business lunch. The service was attentive and respectful. She and I each had a glass of wine served in a short, stocky wine glass. I would have preferred it in more classy glassware, like a large glass partially filled, but I’m not splitting hairs.
For starters, she had proscuitto and melon and I had minestrone soup. The meat was not wrapped around the melon, so it was up to the diner to combine the two which was a little awkward to cut the thinly sliced cold cut. My soup was served hot and chock full of veggies. I really enjoyed it.
For entrees, we each got a special of the day — she, fusilli Carbonara and I, grilled swordfish served with a chicory salad. The fish was cooked nicely. It was served promptly, great because we each had to get back to work.
I was a little surprised that my dish was $ 40 which, if I we’re paying, I would not have appreciated. Also, the salad was kind of bland. We liked the breadsticks and focaccia bread they put on the table. I just wanted a little more of a «special» experience. But food was good and service was very attentive. The TriBeCa location is also lovely and the outdoor seating is just perfect.

I came here for a business dinner. We all sat at a table that was a little too small for all of us, but I think it was the largest they had. The bread sticks they served before dinner were yummy. The waiter was «aloof» and didn’t seem very friendly. I asked for a Moscow Mule and he had never heard of it, so I got a vodka tonic. Before my dinner, I started with Pasta e Fagioli and it was not that good. It was just bland and didn’t have much flavor. I wish I would have gotten the house salad, it looked delish. I got one of the specials, scallops with truffle oil, that was very good and saved my dining experience, otherwise this place would have been 3 stars. I had a few bites of my friend’s gnocchi, it had a light tomato sauce and was pretty good. You are allowed to order half sizes of all the pasta dishes :)

So, I’m not a fan of Italian restaurants. I am from Italy and visit it a good three months out of the year. Call me snobby, but I avoid them like the plague here in the us. (Can you really blame me though, I mean why do people need to eat pasta here with an effing spoon?!)
Great staff. They were really nice about letting us having a table outside and most of them were Italian.
I got the linguine alle vongole (ho-​hum) The taglioni neri e aragosta (YUMMY) The tronfie al granchio (delicious but creamy so can be heavy) and then the special which was a tomato based fish sauce with penne. The special was divine! For dessert GET THE LEMON TARTE! It’s utterly amazing, refreshing and deliciously sweet. Don’t feel bad about Skipping the tiramisu.
I will most definitely becoming back.

The hostess is super-​sweet and very welcoming (or at least the one I saw on my recent visit, not sure if they have more than one). They have a lot of appealing salads on the menu, including the watermelon salad.
The gnocchi is delicious. My friend didn’t love her dish (tagliatelle) but she let me taste it and I thought it was good. I think it was just not what she was expecting.
The wines are very good. If you want wine by the glass, just ask. (They don’t list those on the WIne List) I didn’t have dessert but a lot of the desserts on the menu sound wonderful so I’d like to try something next time.
The service could be better. They are very nice there but they don’t come over often so sometimes you have to look around the room to try to get someone’s attention (even when it’s not that busy in there). They are also a bit slow to bring the check, which is nice in a way (it’s nice when you don’t feel rushed out), but I’d prefer not to have to flag someone down.
So a few improvements to be made but I enjoyed my meal and would eat here again. Will update the review as I go more often.
P. S. July of course is a good time to go if you want to be seated without too much trouble… many restaurants (including this one) are not super-​busy!

Great place! My friend and I came here yesterday for dinner, drinks and some socializing. I haven’t seen her a about 4 months. Anyway, we had a 7:45 pm reservation and came in about 5 minutes late. The host was very nice about it and seated us.
Our waiter was a huge jokester. My phone was about to die and I needed to charge it ASAP because it’s my GPS when I’m in NY. I asked the waiter if I could charge it and he replied «Yes, but we charge $ 5 per kilowatt used.» And later when I asked for my phone back, he pretended like he never got a phone. Let’s just say, I flipped out. Other than that, he was very attentive to our table and we never had an issue with waiting too long.
We ordered the fresh bufala mozzarella with plum tomatoes and basil to start. It was delicious! The flavor, texture and temperature (it was a bit cold) of the mozzarella combined with the juiciness from the warm plum tomatoes was just AMAZING. The only disappointment was the portion of the appetizer. There were three mozzarella balls and 3 half slices of plum tomatoes. Then again, this is Tribeca and that’s probably a full dinner portion for some people.
For our entrees, I got the Gnocchi alla something, sorry can’t remember the name. It was pretty tasty. Very simple pasta dish that you really can’t go wrong with. My friend ordered their special for the night: duck with mushrooms and mashed potatoes. I would highly recommend getting that dish. Everything was perfect. It was a bit too expensive for me though. For dessert, we ordered the first thing on their dessert menu. It was a chocolate cake with espresso cream. Basically, heaven in my mouth.
Overall, I would recommend coming here. They have great food and service is pretty decent when it’s fully packed.