Raku

The Vegan Miso is great. The staff is friendly. I hear they just reopened. Good luck!

Are all of these people crazy?
Not only is a cheaper now, it is better than it was even before.

A Raku Haiku:
Raku made me sad
Raku failed on all attempts
Raku food was bad.

So when you get your groupon, you always think I will get here someday and try it out. Well it turned out this past Sat was the time. a $ 20 for $ 40 groupon was to be used.
Unfortunately my dining companion was not hungry so it was upto me to order several items to please my palate. He had miso soup and kimchee (he thought it would be something else)
I ordered Asahi Select beer and the following food with my take on each as they came out.
chicken wings in teriyaki sauce — crispy and the flavor of the teriyaki sauce comes through
spicy tuna on wonton chips — more like scoops of tuna on wonton chips, sometimes a little goes a long way or at least give me a lot of wonton chips. The presentation was unappetizing.
roast duck on teriyaki sauce — presentation was 3.5 stars but the roast duck with mash potatoes and asparagus was not very flavorful. It was cooked fine, presented fine but lack the oomp.
For dessert we got green tea ice cream (this he finished) and chocolate mochi ice cream (kind of a chewy version of ice cream but tasty).
Overall, I still went over by $ 13 (I guess the beers plus the dessert put me over). Including tip, it was at least 40 bucks (always tip on the original cost of dinner).
Maybe next time, this would be better with a group to share, the tuna might have worked better. I did like the wonton.
P. S. Sat night, almost empty, not a good sign but i think for a quick chow before going out on Hillcrest, this place is not bad. besides parking was easy.

Same spot as the old Yakitori Yakudori, Similar food. They call it fusion but from what i ordered it was pretty traditional Japanese Yakitori restaurant food. Although that’s my style, guess i wasn’t looking for anything fusion.
My meal
Sapporo Draft =)
Beef tongue — Tender, not overly salty.
Chicken Wing — Crispy, Salty /​Sweet flavor.
Karaage (fried chicken) — Crisp tender.
Bacon Wrapped Asparagus — Dlish
Kakuni (braised pork belly) — Super «melt in the mouth» tender, i even ate the fat!
Bowl of rice.
I enjoyed my entire meal, my favs were the kakuni, bacon wrapped asparagus.
I think most people would appreciate the fact that the menu is in english only, but i think it takes away from the experience. For me it makes it feel less authentic, because the items are not called by the Japanese name (with the english description on the side) I know i’m splitting hairs, but its just a different feeling. Guess im used to ordering Japanese food by its Japanese name, especially when its made by Japanese Chefs.
Anyhow a great meal, Great service, the Waitress /​Hostess is a totally cutie, very bubbly personality, I asked about the different organ meats, she breaks out a hand drawn diagram of a chicken with all the parts labeled coinciding with the #‘s on the menu. LOL

3 ½ stars
Came here with a Groupon on a Wednesday night. No wait! That’s a plus!
My first time at Yakitori so of course I Unilocaled this place to check out what I should get to eat:
Beef tataki (thinly sliced seared filet minon with ponzu): Being the fancy meat lover that I am — maybe not so much the fancy — any meat will do, really haha — I splurged (with the help of my groupon of course) on this $ 9 5 slice tapa. I loved the meat, but I think I didn’t like the ponzu. It tasted kinda sour to me — is that what it’s suppose to taste like? Either way, I could do without the sauce, but yes yes yes to the filet minon. The only downside was the small portion. I guess I can’t really do fancy that well. haha
Kakuni Stewed Pork Belly: Nothing too impressive to me since this is really simlar to something my BF’s mom makes, but I have to give it props for the tenderness of the Pork Belly. And the egg… mmm… delicious!
Beef Tongue: One of my favorite meats. This was was good, but not as tender as I would have liked. The flavor was good though
Shitake Mushrooms: This one was one of my fave! The smokey chared flavor with the soft and tender mushroom was delicious! Wish I had ordered more of this.
One of the specials: Shisito Heart Attack — some tuna stuffed in fried peppers — this was actually really good. Not so much a heart attack as you don’t really know which bite is going to have the spicy kick. But overall, this was one of my faves for the night.
And 2 bowls of rice — good filler especially since the multiple plates can add up to pricey.
Overall, this place was pretty good. I didn’t love everything, but nothing was bad either. I think what really got me was the small portion size (I know, it’s suppose to be that way) but when you leave a resturant with a barely satisfied stomach, it’s kind of hard to look back. Maybe tapa’s just arn’t my thing.
I might give this place another shot one day, but the cheap-​o in me is going to go to a more fufilling place for now. All the small dishes really do add up!
Tip: check in on Unilocal and they give you a free capico drink… but unfortunately not in conjunction with your groupon :(

We stopped into Raku for an early dinner this past weekend and sat at the bar. It was empty when we first came in, but the place filled up quickly. It was a good sign to see that most diners were Japanese families.
We ordered the following…
*Yellowtail Jalapeño: This was basically seared yellowtail sashimi topped with jalapeño. It was nice and fresh.
*Albacore Takaki: This was prepared the same as the yellowtail minus the jalapeño and topped with green onion. This was also nice, fresh, and delicious! I love tuna.
*Takowasa: I found this dish to be a little odd at first but it grew on me. It was a small bowl of chopped baby octopus drowned in a wasabi sauce. I think this could have used some rice to pair it with, since the wasabi sauce got to be a little too much!
*Grilled Scallop & Mushroom: This was actually served in a huge scallop shell! Two large scallops with enoki and shitaki mushrooms in a miso broth. It was really good.
*Chicken thigh with leek: These were two undercooked and under-​seasoned skewers.
*Brown Rice Parmesan Risotto: Ok, this isn’t Japanese at all, but it was really good… buttery, cheesy, and flavorful. We thought it was funny that it was served in a hallowed out foot long Parmesan cheese wedge.
Serving sizes are small (more tapa like). I don’t think they are meant for sharing for more than two people. Each dish is pricey given the portions and your bill can easily add up. Also I think rice should be complimentary (they charge $ 2).
Service is friendly but really, really slow. They dropped off the menus but didn’t return for drink orders. Once we got our drink, they didn’t return for our food order too. Also they brought each dish out one at a time. We would have liked to have a few options on the table at the same time. Their sake choices weren’t very good either.
Overall, I think Raku is okay. I’m on the fence if I would return or not.

Had a very good experience here last night. Went in with a Groupon.
Parking was easy, a couple places were open on the street and there is a lot about 100′ south on the same side of the street where you can park for $ 1. We were quickly seated. Started with a sake sampler. It was interesting, but not enough for $ 12. I think you would just do better ordering a few different Sakes. The good news is that they have Kirin Black… which is yummy. My gf ordered the speciality drink spritzer and liked it.
We started with the hot garlic edamame. It was very good. Then the spicy tuna on fried wonton. Those are like three stacked wonton crackers with a dollop of spicy tuna on each… with the plate having some nice sauce around it. Quite good.
Pork Belly Skewers. Tasty.
Grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon. Awesome, but small.
Beef Tataki. I liked it. the ponzu sauce was good and the beef perfectly seared.
Shishito Peppers with bonito flakes. YUM
Then our favorite dish– Kakuni Stewed Pork Belly. This comes with a single shishito pepper, a single quail egg, some sort of root vegetable, and a large piece of pork belly in some sort of stew at the bottom of a bowl.
That just about filled us up. Total bill was $ 86.00 so not a cheap night. But it was fun and different and I will be back.

3.5…
I haven’t had yakatori in a while and I was invited for a nice dinner. We walked in and were greeted by the staff. We opted to sit at the sushi bar. Note: The bar only had about 6 seats at the counter. We were sitting next to a couple that apparently was on their first date. We couldn’t help but to laugh and make fun of them. Poor girl…
Ordered the following:
–House sake ($ 4): Yes, it was the cheap kind. I had a couple shots and I couldn’t take anymore. Bad aftertaste… BLAH!
–Chocolate Raspberry Martini ($ 8): I’ve def had better. Decent, but had a weird sour aftertaste to it. Maybe it was too much raspberry…
–Beef tongue ($ 5): The tongue was good. A must…
–Liver ($): Grainy taste. I haven’t had liver in a while, so I had to get acclimated back into the flavor.
–Shishamo ($ 3.50): Fish full of eggs. I ate a lot of fish growing up and my bros and I always fought for the eggs in fish. Well, my friends, this fish is FULL of eggs so there was no fighting here!!!
–Beef Tataki ($ 9): Cold beef. It was pretty good. Recommend…
–Fried Calamari ($ 7): As much as I love tentacles, these tentacles were TOO BIG. It was an octopus! I was grossed out…
–Hatsu (chicken hearts) ($ 5): My FAVE!!! Placed 2 orders. DELISH!!!
–Takoyaki: I didn’t care for these (octopus) balls too much…
–Green Tea Crème Brulee ($ 4.75): Ehhh, the only thing yummy about this dessert is the crust. I’d hit up Babycakes if you’re still in the mood for dessert.
The staff was friendly and service was prompt (there was really no one in the restaurant at the time of our visit). I did have to ask to refill my water a couple times, but they were quick to refill.
Come with a dollar bills, because this place is a little pricey.
Metered street parking, but after 6p on weekdays and Sundays, it’s free.

Main reason for this visit was because I had a groupon. The place was really small, but it didn’t fill tight which was nice.
We ordered:
Beef tataki: tasted weird don’t know what the taste was, blood maybe?
Edaname: spicy garlic, nice touch on the spiciness, but it may change ur taste with the other food
Agedashi tofu: very light sauce just the way I like it. What’s different is that they give u
tempura Shishito Peppers and a tempura shitake mushroom to the dish. Nice change from the traditional dish.
Shishito Peppers with bonito flakes: not sure what the sauce was but it was super good. I could 15 orders of these it tasted so light.
Beef tongue: very chewy but still delicious. Yes I know it’s suppose to be chewy but this was slightly on the «I’m tired of chewing» side.
Black pork sausage: tastes sausgage, lol, can’t say more than that
Shiitake mushroom: Love mushrooms, this was pretty flavorful
Chicken Breast: It was alright, nothing crazy to mention
In the end we finished our meal in a timely manner, the service was okay, it could have been better. The meal was satisfying and good, however have I had better? Yes! Hell yea! But this place is still considered good too.

Very depressing on the service side of things.
The food was good enough. If the service wasn’t so bad, I could even see giving this place 4 stars.
We had 3 different waiters/​waitresses. Every time a dish came out, it was a chore for a large party to figure out who’s dish it was. I understand that the fare here is more conducive to sharing, but we obviously weren’t set up that way and it was a simple step that our server (s) could have taken care of to make sure things ran smoothly…
One dish comes out for one person; then there’s a five minute wait for one or two dishes for some others. This left people stuck observing some social etiquette of waiting for their friends food to come out.
They forgot several orders; so people ordering 3 or 4 dishes were missing things, and I was charged twice for a single dish.
The server had asked if I would like rice with my dish, and saying yes i would think that rice would come out with my dish instead of me waiting to flag down the waiter or waitress after a few minutes and ask for the rice I ordered with my dish.
I could understand confusion if the place was super busy; but the place wasn’t even at 30% occupancy. Perhaps the server (s) should have stopped taking sake shots with one particular patron and instead focused their energies on getting our orders right.
Sorry for the scathing review, but you really pissed me off.

Wandered in at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night and the place was hopping. We sat at the bar and were happily surprised to learn of their late-​night happy hour menu that starts at 10 p.m. every night. Large sake carafes were $ 2! And beers were $ 3. They had a handful of food dishes on the menu as well. The staff was friendly and helpful.
We had fun sitting at the bar watching the cooks make the food. It’s a great place to enjoy some drinks and snacks. I will def be back more often just for drinks and apps, especially because they are open till at least 11 p.m. A nice welcomed addition to the late-​night dining options in Hillcrest. The atmosphere is lively and fun, not as stuffy or divey as other late-​night places in town.

Nice little place in Hillcrest. As with anything in Hillcrest, parking is horrible.
Staff here is so friendly and sweet.
Check in with your Unilocal app and get a free drink :)
Food is not bad, did not blow me away but i would def go back for their
happy hour-​great prices.
NO SUSHI here, dont make the mistake i made. Still, not a bad place.

Robata fans never quite recovered with the closing of Yakitori (Hillcrest location). Well, here’s a decent altnerative in the area.
Needs a little bit of work (stewed pork belly needs to be more tender) but the skewers are delish (chicken gizzards, chicken hearts, and beef with shiso). The beef rice bowl was delicious at Yakitori; Raku grills the meat to order but it’s only meat and rice =/​
Very pricey (shishito pepper were tasty but small in portion). Skip the green tea crème brûlée.
Skip the sushi — they use the same cutting board for raw pork and raw fish (that’s served raw). Don’t get any raw vegetables… they use the same board. Yeah, disgusting but hey, at least the food is good =)

Raku turned our frown upside down.
Just left its neighboring ebisu sushi and was most definitely disappointed. We’ve been to Raku a few times before and have always enjoyed it.
Babe: you wanna go to another sushi place?
Me: what a disappointment, we should’ve gone to Raku.
Babe: yeah! We should go right now
U-​turned and parked. Raku’s staff is über cool and friendly! As always. Tip: Sit at the bar. It’s always so homie feeling. The food is getting better each time we visit. We got lucky this time and was able to get their last 2 orders of chicken veins. Yes, chicken veins! Sound gross but its the most delicious thing ever besides their other special, pork toro, which is pork cheeks. They rarely have that as well. Both these items aren’t on the menu… just ask. We like to dip it in their special beef bbq sauce with added lemon juice and pepper powder. A couple of large sakes rounded off our meal perfectly. Great food. Great company. What more can you ask for?
Thanks Raku for turning our night around! =D

Yakitori Yakudori has changed ownership and now goes by a different name. It was my first time here, so it took me a few rounds around the block to finally find it.
The yakitori was delicious. Everything we had was very good and tasted fresh. Service was friendly. We even had a few shots with the cook. I only wished that my friend and I weren’t the only 2 patrons in the entire restaurant though. It was a Saturday night for Heaven’s sake. The change of ownership must have turned off some devout Yakitori Yakudori followers.
I will probably come back here if I’m in the area, but will most likely be going to Yakitori Yakyudori and Ramen
… in Kearny Mesa only because it’s a bit closer to home.
Must try:
Shishito peppers w/​Bonito flakes

Out with the old and in with Raku. This place is pretty similar to Yakatori Yakadori which previously occupied the space. Two big differences though… The staff is easier to communicate with and way less pissed off when they get customers that aren’t fluid in their native tongue.
They have a little bit of everything including ramen, skewers, noodles, rice, and some seafood. It’s totally overwhelming if you’re not familiar with Japanese restaurants, but when you finally decode the menu and order some stuff you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the food quality.
The most notable items for me included the spicy tuna, beef skewers, and cheese risotto, which I’d guess are not exactly what the experts order. If you’re green like me when it comes to this cuisine any of the aforementioned are safe bets to put in your mouth.
It’s not only great for sharing, but almost imperative that you do here. Don’t go with someone you don’t want eating off your plate cause it’s almost impossible not to. Other than that, my advice is to be open minded and enjoy.

So, apparently they changed management, the name and the overall atmosphere of this place.. . I actually kinda like it.
For some reason when I came here for dinner they seemed more welcoming and nice. Not to say that the Yakyudori management wasn’t but I remember coming a couple of times and them not greeting us once we walked in which was weird. Probably because they were so occupied with other things.
Anyway, everything is pretty much the same. The menu, the food. All I can really say is that the atmosphere is a bit more quaint and I love the new set up of the dining room.
Oh wait, the only downside about this place is that when they were cooking our yakitori, the smoke would blow towards our table and that was NOT cool at all. They seriously need to get a cover or a bigger vent because after I left, I smelled like yakitori. Ha.

We had a great dinner here last night. They are still in soft-​opening mode, so there were some small understandable hiccups, but all issues were met by the staff with grace, sincere apologies, and a genuine willingness to learn and get better.
Plus, the food was very good, especially the squid tentacle skewer (fantastic!), the pork with green onions, and the whole fish (don’t remember the name). And the prices seemed fair for what we got.
Overall, we enjoyed Raku and look forward to seeing how they grow and develop!

This used to be Yakitori Yakyudori but now goes by Raku. As if there is any confusion, there is a big ass banner on the window proclaiming «Izakaya + Yakitori» so for the most part, the food has not changed much. In fact, I’m pretty sure the menus are still the exact same ones as before. Not just the contents, but the actual laminated paper and foldout.
First change I noticed is that the menus on the wall are totally gone. It has a fresh coat of paint now but I kinda miss the Japanese and American menus, along with random specials that they might have. It’s like the bulletin board in college and most of it is useless garbage but it’s still fun to look through it. T_​T
Another change is that is seems a little darker now. Less lighting and combined with the dark new paint color makes it different. I don’t like it.
I ordered the usual beef tongue, chicken liver, fried oysters and they all tasted exactly the same as before — f*cking amazing. However, major letdown as they ran out of my favorite which is the butterflied chicken wings (teba). My buddy and I also had some other stuff and they were great as well. The shisyamo was pretty outstanding with a bunch of roe inside the fish. And you really can’t go wrong with asparagus and bacon with Japanese mayo.
I’m pretty sure the name change alone will cost them business since people are pretty loyal to the the Yakitori Yakyudori brand (myself included). But the food for the most part is EXACTLY the same, with the exception of them 86ing the free cabbage salad. It’s not cheap food but definitely worth it once in awhile.
Salty. Grilled. Goodness.
On. A. Stick!