16 July 2026
Nestled on the corner of Miller and Amherst St in Cammeray Square, a new restaurant is combining fresh, home style Turkish flavours with cafe comforts.
The restaurant is the latest project for Atilla Zeyrak, a civil engineer and restaurateur, with his partner Nikki. The pair are no strangers to the hospitality industry, having previously operated a hole in the wall style cafe in Frenchs Forest for nearly three years.
“We wanted to expand our business and also we used to live around here… We know the area and my partner has been living here for around fifteen years. I’ve been living around here for seven years.” Zeyrak explained.
Roka will be filling a gap in the local market “There was a Turkish restaurant in Crows Nest, but they closed I think just after COVID. But people still love Turkish food,” he said. “When you say Turkish food, it’s very close to Greek, a little bit close to Lebanese, but Turkish food isn’t represented very well. Because whenever you say Turkish, they seem to think about kebabs. I thought we could do better.”
View this post on Instagram
The menu is a curated selection of family recipes and dishes designed to suit locals’ favourites. Zeyrak wants authenticity and quality, with many ingredients sourced directly from Turkey to ensure the taste is just right.
“My most popular item is the chicken shawarma bowl as well as the chicken skewers, lamb pita, the zucchini and pumpkin salad, Turkish breakfast, sujuk eggs and many more,” Zeyrak described. “We have classic coffee shop options” like croissants, eggplant bruschetta, avo on toast, eggs benedict and chicken burgers.
View this post on Instagram
For Zeyrak, the secret to Roka’s success lies in the detail and the origins of his cooking. “Adana skewers, chicken skewers, lamb pita, chicken shawarma bowl—that’s my family recipe… I got all of my recipes from my father, family, and my mum,” he shared.
He particularly highlighted the slow-cooked lamb pita, which has quickly become a local favorite. “We have an oven here so we put some seasoning, some veggies and we cook like overnight, very slow cooking overnight… Very soft. We top the lamb off with some veggies in there, including salad with some sumac onion. Sumac is probably something you’ve never had before. So kind of black color, kind of like a black pepper. Nicely different. So a little bit give you a kind of sourness and also a lemon taste.”
View this post on Instagram
The grilled zucchini and roasted pumpkin salad is also a unique, stand out dish “We roast the vegetables and serve it with chickpea hummus or pumpkin hummus, creamy burrata with herbs and spices… It’s very healthy. And especially for this area, sometimes people don’t want to eat very heavy food.”
Roku also has rotating specials. At the moment it is the Mucver—a zucchini and carrot fritter dish that has already seen strong demand.
View this post on Instagram
For drinks they serve quality coffee with beans from local, award winning supplier Only Coffee Project in Crows Nest. Authentic Turkish tea is baked up daily. They also have a liquor license, with wines, beers and cocktails available.
While Roka is currently focused on breakfast and lunch, Zeyrak aims to eventually expand into dinner service once the team is fully settled.
“I just want to feel successful and I want to give them good service, make a good impression,” Zeyrak added.