RUKA — Restaurant in Boston

Because we were staying at the Godfrey Hotel in the same building, we made reservations at RUKA before heading out to the Depeche Mode show at TG Garden. The online reviews were positive and how could we not be curious about a Japanese and Peruvian fusion? Well let me just say that "HOLY MOLY" does not quite sum up the level of quality, flavor, and service we received.

The wait staff was kind and professional throughout the experience. The food and drinks arrived in a reasonably quick and friendly manner. Our waitress was so helpful and warm, we fell in love with her right away, as she provided thoughtful and delicious recommendations.

First to our table was the Mongolian Beef. Normally I skip any beef dishes when eating out, but my partner loves this classic Chinese dish. The beef tenderloin arrived atop a bed of crispy puff noodles, smothered in a sweet chili butter, with perfectly cooked snow peas. It had a little heat, but nothing too spicy that the sweetness couldn't balance out. We couldn't get enough and devoured the plate as quickly as possible.

Trying to remain composed while pigging out, our second dish arrived. The Japanese Fried Chicken. Now when I said the Mongolian Beef was amazing, I hadn't yet factored in just how delicious the Japanese Fried Chicken was going to be. First it was coated in a savory quinoa tempura with a spicy aji glaze. There were hints of lime, sesame, and cilantro. But that sauce (which we kept repeating "THAT SAUCE" over and over like a couple of neanderthals), was so perfect with the fried chicken, it blew our minds. Come to find out later that it was simply a miso mayo, but it was so beautifully paired with the other flavors, that our taste buds sang with joyous flavor.

The waitress arrived shortly before we finished our plates to answer any additional questions, but we just gushed like newlyweds who were marrying the food. We then placed our dessert orders and again were blown away. We ordered the Peruvian Chocolate Cheesecake and the Fried Dough Cachangas. The experience nearly mimicked our dinners bite for bite.

First the Peruvian Chocolate Cheesecake was great. Like a beautifully edible piece of art. It was creamy, covered with purple cornmeal crumbs, guava-lime sherbet, strawberries, and came with these little Peruvian candies called Besos De Mosa. Delish!

But then we tried the Fried Dough Cachangas and again, our minds were blown. It was coated in miso-butterscotch (I guess I really like miso), with caramelized pineapple ice cream, and garnished with a couple dried pineapple chips. This dessert looked like pretzel bites coated in syrup, but with the consistency and flavor of sweet butterscotch French toast bites. Squishing the bites into the ice cream added another dimension of creamy flavor with the citrus of the pineapple rounding everything out.

Overall, we were both very impressed by the quality of food, service, and environment. An absolute must for anyone visiting the...

This was a wonderful experience from start to finish! I love restaurants that have smaller food menus, because they tend to do those extremely well, rather than trying to satisfy everyone with variety. Peruvian, Chinese, Japanese fusion is quite a feat, and moreso when you can actually taste those influences. Here's a breakdown of our dishes: Ruka Spicy Tuna sushi (10/10): love the lightly dusted, yet prominent spice they used, never tasted or felt anything like that before. Phoenix Sunrise (8/10): Nothing stands out, but tasted very fresh! Hawaiian Crunch (10/10): Fantastically balanced sauce, superior crunch, would've gotten more of this, had we not wanted to try other dishes. Miso scallops (10/10): Very few can pull off well cooked scallops, absolutely melt in your mouth. They seasoned/garnished each scallop individually lightly, too adding a light spicy, sour flavor profile, as well. Wagyu anticuchos (9/10): First time having wagyu, and was not disappointed. The cole slaw they provided along with it, is definitely something I could have over and over, as well; it does not taste like "American"/"picnic" Cole slaw, it's got light acidity to balance the creaminess. Again, they garnished each beef anticucho to give it extra flavor, but honestly, I could've just been satisfied with the plain wagyu. The only thing I might change is that the pieces of wagyu used had a thin tough "string" (tendon?) making it difficult to swallow without completely masticating the meat. But it is fortunate because I was forced to experience the full flavor of the meat. Tako meshi (10/10): Never experienced octopus so well textured. Almost melt in your mouth, but still maintained its rigidity without having to chomp too much. The rice? All I have to say, "smoke". It's like they grilled the rice with charcoal or something. Very rare taste you usually only experience in meats. Kamakura Cooler drink (10/10): My wife LOVES lychee and the fact they were able to compliment it with honey, lemon and mint. Akashi Tai Junmai Daiginjo sake (10/10): subtle flavors of lemon, sage and orange Clasico Pisco sour (10/10): my favorite drink is a whiskey sour. While this used a Peruvian drink, pisco acholado, it was quite, quite an elevation! 20 year Port (12/10): I was extremely, pleasantly surprised they had this for dessert option. Had port wine while in Portugal for first time, and think I had 10-year. 20-year is orders of magnitude richer! Great way to end the night. White black thunder dessert (9/10): It was like a white chocolate, caramel bar with ice cream, dusted with dark chocolate. Good balance of saltiness and sweetness.

Our waiter was awesome, keeping us informed of our order status, making round regularly to check in, and extremely friendly. Wish him the best!

We're definitely going to Boston again in the future, and this restaurant is already on our to-do list! Please eat here at least...

This isn't a review of the food because we unfortunately weren't able to eat a thing. This review only covers the establishment's customer service (or lack thereof in this case). We arrived for our 9 o'clock reservation for two to find that our reservation had been canceled. Our first encounter was with a woman we later came to recognize as a member of RUKA's waitstaff. She stood at the hostess stand. I told her we had arrived for our reservation. She looked at me confused and mildly annoyed, and without saying a thing walked off. A few seconds later, the hostess arrives back to the stand and greets us with a smile. I again said that we'd arrived for our reservation, as the woman passed the hostess but did not tell the hostess what I'd just told her. The hostess said she couldn't find our reservation and checked their system. She informed me our reservation had been canceled. I was obviously a bit baffled. She asked me if I remembered canceling the reservation (obviously I wouldn't be standing there if I had), and my answer was "no", I'd canceled our 10p reservation when the 9p had become available. Her response was that it'd been canceled. Fine - things happen. Then she paused, waiting for us to leave. There was no courtesy extended. No "I'm sorry that happened." No "Let me see what we can do." Just looked at me blankly, seemingly bothered that we were still standing there. I asked if we'd still be able to eat there. She said definitely not at a table but perhaps at the bar. No offer to allow us to wait for a table to open. The hostess then asks the same woman mentioned earlier, that doesn't speak a word to us like "hello", to show us the "sushi bar". There are two seats available. We sit there, and another waitress immediately offers us water. Great - finally something positive, but this is where it ends. There are 7 staff behind the bar. Yes, I counted. I only saw one helping a customer close a tab. The rest are talking or cleaning. Twelve minutes of sitting at the bar and not one person even spoke to us, nonetheless asked us if we'd like to order. That's when a young couple arrives to the bar and sits down 4 seats to our left. They are immediately handed menus. Not even a minute later, they were asked if they'd like to order. That's when we left. I refuse to support establishments with abysmal customer service. You can have the most amazing cuisine in the world, but if your customer service doesn't stack up, none of that even matters. My two cents for the owner: 1) hire a staff that cares about their job and welcomes your guests and 2) train your staff how you want them to handle difficult situations. Invest more time and effort here, and you'll see a big impact. You'll never get my money, but perhaps you can save yourself from other angered customers blasting you on the internet for your horrendous hospitality. Atmosphere is...