Raku

A friend from LA recommend this place and said it's absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, we didn't know we needed reservations so we had to dine in at the family table with other people. It wasn't that bad. It made it a little more " NEW YORK" so it was a vibe.The food was 10/10. Drinks were also strongggg. The ambiance's so pretty! Very minimalistic and aesthetically pleasing.

I'm honestly not the biggest udon fan and I never go out of my way to get it but after hearing how many people love Raku I knew I had to try- and I must say it exceeded my expectations.They have three locations so it's relatively easy to snag a reservation (which I highly recommend since it gets busy and the restaurant is pretty small). I ended up getting the Chicken Curry Udon ($21) and it was the perfect meal for the nyc winter. The broth is thicker than the other udons and it's SO flavorful. It had a bit of a kick which I loved. The noodle texture is also chewier and flatter than traditional udon and it's delicious.I understand the Raku hype and will be coming here more often! I'm excited to try some of the other menu items as well.

This place tanked my opinion of NYC Japanese food scene (later redeemed by other places) and ruined my trust in reviews and ranking articles.My friend and I saw a line out the door and decided to try this place. After a 45 minutes wait (which we knew about and signed up for so that was fine), we got into the restaurant excited to try what people have told us is great udon in the 45 minutes we were walking around and wondering. I ordered the ebi tempura udon, a classic and standard option and my friend ordered a beef udon. Broth was weirdly sweet and not in a good way that comes out when the broth is well made but rather like someone added sugar. It threw off the balance of the whole dish. Udon was also nothing to write home about, it was just udon. Ebi tempura was one bodied and lacked the crispy flakes that is standard in ebi tempura. Beef for my friend was overcooked and just not great. I got take out for my sister and without us telling her we hated it, she noted the similar things regarding the taste.We also got fried chicken and it was juicy but there was no flavor on the chicken itself. Even for Japanese style karaage which are not typically as well seasoned compared to American and Korean style fried chicken, it was lacking in flavor.The servers were nice but they did not refilled our water and it was very cramped and loud atmosphere

Service: 4.2/5Food: 4.1/5Great service, as usual. Long wait for dinner service- at least there's places to walk around nearby. Basically the same as their EV location, decorations included. Udon noodles taste authentically hand-pulled + fresh made. Nice chewy texture + long length.What I Ordered:- kamonan (duck) udon: pretty tender, not too salty- kani ankake (snow crab) udon: milder taste, not worth the crab. thicker broth which I liked, eating partner preferred soupy

Best udon in the city and even better than some I've had in Japan! Udon has that perfect chew, the broth is so fricking good and warms your soul, cold udon pairings are delicious (pork belly in buta shabu is charred so well), and appetizers are delish - especially the chicken. These gyozas are a different from the ones you may find at other Japanese restaurants - this one is plump with filling. It's fun to try a different udon every time since their menu is so big but my go-to are shrimp tempura hot udon and buta shabu cold udon!Beautiful interior, super warm and friendly staff (all of them). Only callouts here after being here many times are: (1) the wait can be long especially if you have a bigger party and it is usually accurate - I think you can make reservations really far in advance but that doesn't work for last minute cravings, and (2) the bathroom is downstairs and can be a little wet sometimes due to proximity to kitchen. Will be back, our family and friends love Raku too!

We came into the city without dinner reservations (just don't do that! Haha!) and we wanted ramen but ended up at Raku, a Japanese place known for their Udon. It. Was. Fantastic. Not only that, but we sat at the bar and the gentleman who took our order spent a ton of time explaining the menu and telling us his favorites and just being super genuine and helpful. He really started us off feeling like, wow, we made the right choice. Besides the udon, we got the gyoza- honestly the most outstanding gyoza I've ever had. Certainly elevated. And we got chicken tatsata-age which was delicious & juicy and, like the tempura, was perfectly crisp! Some good cold sake rounded out the experience. This place is definitely worth a visit!

Incredible udon and tempura. The maitake tempura tasted like bacon -- amazing! The waiter's recommendation for yuzu sake really rounded out the meal. Make a reservation or get there early because even on a random Thursday night, the line was out the door by 6:30pm.

Fantastic udon. Detailed breakdown below:**Service, 4/5** We got lucky on a Wednesday evening and our party of 3 got seated immediately. We were seated at the end of the communal table. It's a super tight space so 2/3 of us were asked to move multiple times by staff walking or reaching behind us. No biggie though, and worth being seated so quickly!**Price & portion, 4.5/5** Prices are as expected for the area (aka only reasonable if you're from NY or CA).**Taste, 3.9/5** I got the duck breast udon. I was surprised that the same seafood-based broth was used for the pork, beef, AND duck ramens since the protein choices didn't seem too cohesive with the broth. Each component was tasty on its own, but it didn't feel tied together as a dish. The duck breast was also completely and irreparably overcooked, and was extremely tough and chewy. The saving grace here was of course the udon itself, which was perfectly cooked, slightly chewy and bouncy, and had some of the best noodle texture I've ever had!

Delicious but busy spot where it's never super surprising to see a queue. My mom and I impulsively decided eat here and coming at 5:00pm helped make sure we got a table quickly. Otherwise, you can make a reservation, probably about 1-2 weeks in advance depending on the time you want. The food here is simple and delicious. The menu has a good diversity of choices for udon and appetizers and I'm not sure I had anything I didn't like. The karaage was lightly breaded and juicy and the udon broth was light and flavorful. Service is efficient and the staff are fast to get your order in and food to your table. I'd definitely eat here again.

The service was very nice and the food was amazing. I have never had udon noodles before and the staff was very friendly about talking me through the menu. Salmon sushi was outstanding and the nuki udon soup was also tasty. The music being played is very soothing and the ambiance is calming.