Raku — Restaurant in Toronto

For my first visit, I kept it simple with the nameko ($16) where it arrives with a clear refreshing broth that’s still richly flavoured so it’s like you’re sipping on consommé. The bits of delicate Nagasaki nameko mushrooms were perfectly paired with the soup and I finished it to the last drop.

Adding on a poached egg ($2), it arrives on the side to keep it from cooking more but also means it’s absolutely cold. I threw it back into the hot soup to attempt to warm it up a bit, but at least it was done quite nicely where the insides were solid but still has a bit of runniness to it.

But, it’s the noodles… oh that udon … that makes me realize I should have added an extra serving to the bowl ($3). While most udon is cylindrical, these are oval. Maybe it’s something to do with this slightly flattened shape, but it has such a lovely silky texture while still incorporating a chewiness that’s retained to the last bite.

The broth is also amazing and what makes Raku different is that with so many options, the soup actually varies as well. Having a sip of my friend’s bowl, the niku ($20) is salty and beefy complementing the short ribs and tripe. It’s one you’ll like if you enjoy Shanghai braised beef noodles.

On a follow-up visit, I went completely in the other direction with the kani ankake ($26) where the broth is made of a thickened egg drop soup with pieces of crab strewn throughout. It’s a bowl for those who are sensitive to salt as I found it much blander than the other soups. I was really hoping for something savoury but all the toppings – spinach, scallions, and even the crab – were also rather tepidly flavoured.

Maybe it was the mochi ($4) I added to the bowl… it just sounded so intriguing that I had to try it! The two large rectangles of rice cake were soft and sticky, but really doesn’t go with this soup. I can see it working really well with the tan tan noodles: topping one of the cubes with my friend’s spicy miso pork really helped to give it a much needed saltiness.

Raku also offers a great selection of appetizers to tide you over as the noodles arrive. Of course, there’s the traditional gyozas ($8). The wrapper is nice and thin and arrives with a lovely crust. However, both the vegetable and pork ones are too delicate for my liking. The vegetable filling is made from micro finely shredded vegetables that would be better if they incorporated some meaty mushrooms. Meanwhile, the pork was forgettable and needed something (chives or scallions) to...

Was able to get a walk-in 2 top at 4 PM on a Monday, which was nice, I’ve heard this restaurant is hard to get into. As far as the food goes, my partner and I had the fried eggplant which was very unique for us and delicious, I wish we had gotten 2, rather than sharing one, it was that good. We shared the pork katsu rice bowl and one of the hot beef udon’s. I cannot express enough how wonderfully textured the noodles at Raku are. I would go back just for that chewy texture. The broth, however, could’ve used some more flavor. The katsu rice bowl was full of yummy, caramelized, onions, but what surprised me was that the pork was not freshly fried, you could tell the pork had been fried and then reheated. I’m not sure if this is the traditional way to do things, I assumed it would be crispy and so I was letdown at the reheated cutlet texture of it all. The flavors were amazing though and made up for it, I just wished that I knew about the pork before I ordered it. The rice bowl comes with a nice cup of miso soup, which is lovely, but oddly has spinach in it… I wished that it was seaweed instead of spinach, spinach does not belong to miso soup, in my opinion. Would love to return and try some more things and definitely will return. All and all I thought everything could use just to hit more of salt but nothing crazy. As far as atmosphere goes, my partner, and I felt a little smooshed into the corner that we were sitting in, we were so close to the table next to us that their conversation was distracting to us lol… Maybe they were just loud talkers… I understand that this restaurant needs to fit many people into a small space but it just felt like we were breathing the same air as them, and didn’t feel like we were on a date, but rather we were at a group table. If you’re looking for an intimate setting, I would not pick this restaurant, that being said now that I know this, I will not go into it with any romantic...

The springiest udon noodles that you can endlessly slurp live here at Raku. I wish there was a bottomless bowl of these noodles for me so I never have to stop.

Their udon noodles are unique from the normal rounded noodles that you will find elsewhere. It is a more flat-ish ribbon. Their udon noodles are exclusive to Raku and no where else. They are prepared especially bby Japanese udon noodles experts and flown in straight from the land from udon.

The restaurant storefront and interior feels like they plucked a store from Tokyo and plopped it right in the middle of the Queen West neighbourhood. It’s a wonderful thing and I am so glad that Raku is here.

The inside of a restaurant is cozy and everything about it reflects that Japanese sensibility. The cozy booths and bar seating, the quick service by the staff, and the way they let the food speak for itself.

Their take on the karaage, the chicken tatsuta-age, is really awesome here. The chicken pieces are generously sized and they are juicy af when you take a bite. You can dip it into the slightly spicy mayo to add a little more spice to your life.

I really had a hard time picking which udon bowl I wanted but eventually settled on the nameko due to my love of mushrooms. I couldn’t resist trying nameko mushrooms flown in from Japan.

The udon broth they use is really light and flavourful. The udon noodles really hold their own in the broth regardless of whether you are a fast or slow slurper. I ended up ordering a kaedama (extra serving of noodles) because I knew I was going to want to keep enjoying the experience.

Simply put, the whole thing was delicious. I didn’t even leave a drop of broth left in the bowl.

Overall, Raku is a really welcome addition to the food scene here in Toronto and offer a very unique udon...