Raku — Restaurant in New York

We went there on Wednesday night. The poor service started even before we were seated. When there were plenty of seats inside AND outside and there were two parties in front of us. One party of 2, one party of 3, and our group. The first party and our groups happened to be Korean, but the middle group wasn't. Raku immediately seated the 2nd group in line first, although the very first group wasn't even seated. The first group even had a pregnant woman, but Raku decided to prioritize the middle group first. The first group and our group was seated right in front of the opened door while the second group was seated furthur inside that was a bit warmer. The outdoor seating area was about 30% full, so I am still not sure why they seated us right in front of the door when other parties were seated in warmer section.

During our meal, we just had a bad service from our server Yuki from the begining to the end. When we were seated and was ready to order, my friend gave us some homemade cookies as a holiday gift. Since no one came to take our order and we were getting hungry, we shared one cookie that she brought. Yuki said we aren't allowed to have outside food, so we immediately put it aside, but he was keep giving us the attitude when he took our order.After taking our order, he didn't come back to us throughout our meal to check on us. Not a single time during our meal. Given that we ordered over a $100 of food including appetizer, drinks, and one udon per person, we weren't there to just sit and chill. When we were ready to leave and saw a tip section, we tipped 18% out of curtesy despite getting poor service. But guess what, the other server who came to take our order saw us tipping 18% and left without saying anything - not a single have a good night, no nothing. We still tipped after being treated poorly and that's how you are treating your customers? I regret tipping 18%. Their service deserved $0 tip.

I will let others who see this review to decide what this treatment was all about, but I can surely tell you that I will never return or recommend this...

Recently, I had lunch with my mother and my mother’s friend’s family in Raku. We were 5, and it was the first time for us to eat in Raku. We all had the noodle with soup. The warm soup noodles were the best choice because it was a cold day. The texture of the noodles was incredible. I have never eaten the noodles with this chewy texture. What a soup base it is! The warm and deep-tasted soup was delicious and made my stomach comfortable. So, I could give five stars for the food. However, I would rate the service only one star. When my mother and I arrived, the server requested us to wait outside until the rest people came. As I said previously, it was one of the coldest days. Even though my companions arrived in 15 minutes, the cold kept us frozen. I couldn’t understand why we had to stay outside, though some tables were vacant. Another thing I really upset about was the server’s attitude. When my mother asked if the noodles she chose came with soup, the waitress looked dismissive and said harshly, "Yes." My mother told me later that she was embarrassed. It might be a ridiculous question if this restaurant had only noodles with soup. However, not everyone knows that; especially those coming for the first time, like us, definitely don’t know it. Also, the server was responsible for explaining the menu and food. All the rates of the excellent food were written off with the rude attitude of the server. I am curious why noodle soups became a soul food in Japan and Korea. In Japanese cuisine, Ramen and Udon are traditional noodle soups among Japanese cuisine.

So do Kalgugsu and Janchigugsu in Korean cuisine. Compared to Western food, Korea and Japan have developed a variety of soup dishes. I think that soup noodles are the best of the...

Been here plenty of times over the years and have always had a great time! They recently expanded and the interior with the bar at the entrance and separated booth seating right next door.

Raku is one of my top 5 udon places and has never failed me when I crave a good bowl of noodle soup. This time, I had the tantan udon. The photo doesn’t do it justice since the broth pretty much is all you see in the photo. Packed with ground pork, scallions, and peanuts, every bite of the perfectly chewy udon had so much flavor. It also had a bit of spinach and a poached egg, runny yolk and when popped into the broth made it a little creamier. The broth had a nice little kick to it but wasn’t overly spicy or salty. Mmm good!

Every time, the chicken tatsuta-age is a must for an appetizer to share (or not share!). Big bite sized pieces of crispy chicken, topped with lemon juice, and spicy mayo on the side! Every piece of chicken was juicy, not dry, and best when consumed piping hot.

For dessert on the menu (by patisserie fouet), four of us shared the soba pudding and matcha tiramisu. The soba pudding was very light and had a caramelized black sugar base- sweet but not overpowering. If you want dessert that’s not too sweet, and tastes close to vanilla ice cream, this is it!

The matcha tiramisu is every matcha lover’s dream. 🙋🏻‍♀️… and so worth taking a lactaid for (lactose intolerance). With layers of mascarpone, green tea sponge cake and topped with toasted rice puffs, every bite was an explosion of very rich matcha taste. You need to love matcha to really enjoy this dessert and I absolutely loved it. It also wasn’t too sweet either!

Overall, I can foresee myself coming back here again and again and am glad they expanded...