Rayaki Ramen & sushi — Restaurant in Glassboro

Rayaki is a quant restaurant tucked away in a ShopRite shopping center. Walking in, there is a sign that instructs you to wait to be seated. Music from various Asian artists and anime played in the background. After waiting a few minutes a random waiter will point to a table to sit at. You are given one menu for mainly sushi and one other for things like appetizers, dinner, and drinks. Without any instructions you will figure out that a pencil must be used to select the food that you desire. The waiter will find the time to grab your menu with the circled items. The drinks were brought out first. We were given Coca-Cola instead of the Sprite my daughter wanted. No big deal, just got a ginger ale after the waiter took the Coke. The warm sushi came out next. Sushi was great! We never received the sweet potato roll we circled. No big deal, since we weren’t charged for it. The main course came last. The ramen had good flavors, but the noodles and temperature were lacking. The shrimp udon was tasty but a bit too… simple. Shrimp, gooey noodles, a savory sauce, bell peppers, and onions made the dish what it was. A little while after the ramen and udon were sitting on the table, my daughter’s chicken teriyaki came last, allowing us all to finally eat together. Letting my child watch me eat as she’s hungry is wrong in my book, so the temperature of our food was affected by this waiting period. Overall the food had no wow factor, the service seemed to be lacking, but the cool anime stuff made a geek like me kind of happy. I can’t recommend this place if you’re expecting good food and good service. I can recommend this place if you’re into trying something new without the worry of...

The food is pretty damn good. Best noodles other than my own tbh. I liked the combos they had available on the menu. I had the steak ramen and even the steak itself was nice and tender. I can tell they marinated it which is what you should do when you include steak with ramen. However, the only thing that keeps it from being a 5 star is the fact that I had noticed and if you can see for yourself by looking at my picture, my bowl of ramen is kinda less than halfway full. Only a few noodles. Not enough and only a few pieces of steak. I still found myself hungry after leaving. That's how much food I really had in this bowl. The customer service was good but could've been better. It had nothing to do with the attitudes of the workers. They were nice and welcoming but when we had sat down, I noticed they only gave us one napkin each and didn't give forks until my mom and my wife had asked. I had no issue using the chopsticks 🥢 but some people don't like using chopsticks or don't know how to use them so you should supply forks right off the bat just for that alone but I can't why they don't because they really wanna encourage you to use the chopsticks because it is a Chinese restaurant. So I get it but as far as the napkins go, they should automatically supply more than just one. So for the quantity of food you are getting, I was actually about to give a 3 star but the food was so good, I think that would be a little too low and also, even though you aren't getting a whole lot of food, the prices are reasonable for the amount you are getting too. $15 for ramen is not bad especially if it is this amount of food you are getting. Do I see myself coming back?...

Short version: Good place. Go. Try something new. 🙂

Longer/Meandering Version: I've always been curious about Japanese cuisine. This was my first little attempt to begin to learn. It's an attractive space that feels open and airy. The anime theme isn't overdone if that's a concern for anyone. The menu offers sushi and skewers and entrees. I admit to coming in with a preconception that I should order lots because I was hungry and there was no way the dishes were going to be filling. I was wrong. I ordered takoyaki for an appetizer and the pork belly over rice as an entree. Portions were generous. I couldn't finish. The pork belly has been described as melt-in-your-mouth-tender. I can confirm this.

My hostess/server was gracious and understanding when I asked for silverware because I just can't manage chopsticks. (Thank you, thank you, a thousand times, thank you. 😁 )

The takoyaki was a new experience for me. I was curious. My curiosity was satisfied. It wasn't my personal favorite, but it may well be the favorite of many others. I'll be trying the skewers next time. There's a great deal to choose from and that's definitely a positive.

If you're in the Glassboro area and are on a "hey, gonna try new stuff" kick like me, stop in, try it out, come back, try more stuff out. 😉

Good place. Great people. Give it a shot... a few shots...