Yuraku Japanese Restaurant - Germantown, MD — Restaurant in Germantown

Having grown up eating in a half Japanese household, Yuraku’s food is the real deal. This is the fourth time I’ve dined here and it is the first time it’s been my birthday. Dinner service is quick and the food is excellent. After ordering, my mother went to take a quick 5 minute call and within that time all food and drinks were delivered. Miso soup, chawanmushi, beer, hot sake, water, and complimentary edame. All out in the first couple of minutes. A minute or two later, tempura out. A few minutes later, 3 special rolls and some more tempura. My mother returns to the table to find the entire order delivered. The tempura was light and crisp on the outside with the encapsulated fish, shrimp, and vegetable hot and lovingly soft. Sushi portions are generous and again delicious with no question of the quality and freshness. I cannot day enough about the quality of the food, regardless of the reasonable price. Dinner for 3 with soup for each, an appetizer, 2 alcoholic drinks, 3 rolls for under $60.00. And the items selected were gourmet due to the occasion - even on my note mundane outings here the quality remains superb. Each dish is plated with great care and showmanship. Many unique items are full of the chefs’ creativity. Now perhaps even more special than the food is the service. Every time, whether to my party or others, Yuraku gives out freebies. I mean free tempura, free sushi, etc. Why? Maybe they’re experimenting and improving their already superb menu. Maybe they’re just wanting to ensure you have an excellent time. Tonight was special. They knew it was my birthday, and they gave enough free ice cream for the party of three in attendance. Wow! Three spoons too. 4 of the wait staff then gave me an umbrella and sung happy birthday to me. Adjacent tables wished me a happy day too. When it came time to pay the bill I was about to take issue with how long it was taking. However, slightly earlier a couple adjacent to us had ordered some flaming sushi dish that had half the restaurant gawking. The waitress must have noticed my mouth hanging especially wide because she brought us the same dish with the check. I was stunned as she set down the plate and lit it up. And then once again she warmly wished me a happy birthday.

Every time I come to Yuraku it is a night to cherish. It feels like home. Never do I leave with a negative feeling. It’s in a way like going to a spa for your mouth and soul. They deserve 5 stars; an easy go to for special occasions or at which to start a...

TL; DR PAY IN CASH you get a discount, show up early on the weekends, wide variety of sushi, great service!

Yuraku is definitely a hidden gem! I live in Fairfax so venturing out here just for sushi, is saying something.

Their lunch buffet is usually what they are known for!! If possible, I recommend coming to this place during the weekday! Their wait times are about 5-10 minutes.

On the weekends, try to get there around 10:30am and wait in line at the door to ensure that you get a seat when they open their doors at 11am! I made the mistake of getting to the restaurant at 11:00am exactly and had to wait 1.5 hours to eat lunch... as you can imagine, I became very hangry. If you can't go early, I say plan to wait at least 30 minutes and bring a snack so you don't get hangry. (Defeats the purpose of going to a buffet and getting your money's worth, but at least you'll be pleasant to the people around you! )

When I first came to Yuraku, I saw multiple people line up next to the bucket of Tongs. The proper way was to walk past the hot foods and then to the sushi area (bucket of tongs). The buffet line can be a little intimidating due to its layout. I would say start at where the plates are, and make your way over to where the tongs are. If people line up right where the sushi starts, kindly tell them the line starts where the plate are, unless a waitress tells you otherwise!

This place has a huge variety of sushi, from salmon rolls to nigiri. Sometimes they even include their specialty rolls in the buffet as well! My only issue was that the pieces of fish for the nigiri were very small. As my boyfriend put it, "it felt like I was eating toy sized sushi." I've been coming here for about 2 years now and I have noticed that their quality has gone down a little and their prices have gone up. Even though their sushi quality wasn't what it used to be but their hot foods are very good! I love their japchae and fried bananas!

By now you guys know I drink a ton of water! The service here was impeccable! Cleared my plates almost immediately and I never reached the bottom of my cup!

The price and quality of the food are what keeps me coming...

What horrible policy is this? you take orders from uber eats and other delivery services. but you cancel the order after the delivery is due? I had ordered a nice dinner for my father who lives in another state for Father's day. After making the order and getting a confirmation, several hours before the scheduled order (3 hours to be exact), I received a cancellation message at the time the delivery was due. My father and the rest of the family members went hungry and had to then try to make something for dinner. When I called the merchant they told me that they were so slammed that they arbitrarily cancelled orders and turned off their machines. I'm not sure how this is ethical by any means in a food service industry. I am very dissappointed and upset that my father's dinner plans were ruined. Your system as well as the communication with merchants is obviously faulty and seriously lacking morals and customer service. I wonder how an owner of a restaurant can make such rash decisions: maybe more likely that the employees did this without the owner's knowledge? nevertheless, extremely sad that a customer's order can be received, given a receipt with confirmation numbers then suddenly cancelled after the time it is suppose to be delivered. At the least it should have been before the scheduled delivery time, so that the entire family does not wait for food that the restaurant will cancel RIGHT AT DINNER TIME. Absolutely horrible... I wish I could give negative stars...I will call the owner and speak to them in korean and give them a piece of my mind... so so...