Raku

Raku is one of my go-tos when I want a consistently delicious + authentic bowl of udon! Walked in with a friend on a Saturday afternoon and waited only ~5 min before a table was ready for us. We were planning on just splitting one bowl of udon, since we weren't too hungry, but Raku has a one order per person policy, so we ordered their an app + udon to share. The Agedashi Tofu melted in my mouth - it's a soft fried tofu with a ginger soy sauce, topped with bonito flakes. The Yasai Kakiage Hot Udon came with a lovely plate of veggie tempura (carrots, sweet potato, onion, eggplant) + the broth was SO YUM! Clear and not heavy at all. Service here is fantastic. This is the only location I've been to where they had a separate dessert bar. If you plan to only have dessert, they give you bar seating at the front of the house. Great experience!

Great service! I don't think my water glass was ever empty and I drink a lot of water!We stopped by early when they opened and dined in the communal table as a party of two prior to a show. The fish was fresh and the soup was filling and warm. We elected to have dessert and the basil apple desert really worked together with its flavors!

Had high expectations for raku but I personally don't think it is anything special. The appetizers were my favourite part and the udon was good but nothing to return for. Would skip the mango cheesecake because the mango flavour was not strong.Love the design and ambiance of the store and our waiter was also extremely welcoming with great suggestions!

Raku in east village is one of my favorite udon places in New York and I was excited to see them open a new location in midtown. This location does take reservations and they are much more spacious compared to the East Village location. In addition - they have desserts and coffee in the front. I would recommend making a reservation online since they do get pretty busy. They will only seat you when your whole party is here or almost here. The staff was very friendly and welcoming and the decor of the place is amazing!For food - I usually either get the Kiku or Gyunan. This time I got the Gyunan, once again the noodles are delicious, perfectly bouncy in your mouth and the soup is so rich and flavorful. The bowls are huge and there is a good amount of noodles and fillings in there. We got sushi to share which was also very good and the truffle wontons are slightly on the expensive side but they are very truffley and good! For dessert we got the Matcha Tiramisu and the Earl Grey Panna Cotta. I thought the Tiramisu was just alright but the panna cotta was really good especially if you are a fan of earl grey! Overall - great vibes and yummy food. Highly recommend checking this place out!

Udon noodle texture just as good as the other location. Nice decor and more spacious as well. Got the kitsune and the tempura udon - broths had nice depth. Pretty full for a weekday dinner, but service was still quick and efficient.

Arrived here on a weekend night with a party of 5 without a reservation and the front staff were so sweet and seated my party right away. Inside has a Japanese modern design, 2 restrooms, and a coat rack to hang your winter coats. For appetizers, I ordered the chicken and the mackerel sushi, which was my personal favorite dish. I liked how they seared the mackerel and gave it a really nice flavor despite its simplicity. For mains, we ordered the JaJa cold noodles and the Tantan hot udon. The Jaja dish was refreshing and had a good flavor and the tantan dish was alittle spicy and I loved the bouncy texture of the udon. Overall loved coming here on a cold winter night with friends, but would recommend getting a reservation if you can. I would come back to try more desserts and coffee!

Great Japanese place in Hell's Kitchen. Everything we had was high quality and exactly how it should taste.We had the trio salad with spinach, hijiki seaweed, and burdock which were all solidFried chicken which was super juicy and crunchy. The sauce has a hit of spiceThe shrimp tempura was good but I would have liked it to be crunchier. The broth and udon was superb.My friends got the ribeye udon and it was slightly reminiscent of pho.

My friend made a resso for our party of four for a Tuesday at 6 PM. I was excited to check out this location since I really liked the udon over at their EV location. The restaurant is hidden in the back of a bakery so if you see a Japanese sleek/minimalist-looking cafe, you've come to the right place. To start, we shared some appetizers:-Kani (snow crab, spicy mayo, toasted seaweed) - too much dashi so you couldn't really taste the snowcrab flavor-Chicken tatsuta-age (marinated deep fried chicken) - this was good. You really can't go wrong with fried chicken-Ankimo (monkfish liver, scallion, ponzu sauce) - no one else wanted to partake, so I ate this on my own but I'm pretty sure it's just meant for one person because it's the size of a piece of sushi. I enjoyed this dish and for $10, I would say the price is pretty on par with an a la carte sushi piece at a higher end sushi restaurantFor my main, I had the Niku udon (beef short-ribs, honeycomb tripe, tendon), which seems to be the one that everyone gets. It was good but was it worth $27? ABSOLUTELY not. The portion of noodles was so small. I was still hungry after dinner. Plus you have to add $1 to make it spicy, which is just them adding chili oil. Sure the udon was good but it was not as amazing as I remembered it, and certainly not worth the price tag.For dessert, we shared a matcha cheesecake (with cherry compote). The cheesecake was good but I didn't care for the cherry compote. It was a weird combination with the matcha. There were only three options for dessert, which I didn't understand since they were just grabbing it from the bakery in front. There's a 90 minute seating limit, which I can understand since the place isn't that huge and there was a constant flow of people waiting for a table. However, they started rushing us out before our 90 minute limit was even up. Because of this and how expensive it was, I don't think I'll be returning to this Raku, or probably any of its locations.

Anytime I need to warm my soul, I like to come to Raku for some nice hot udon. The wait can get pretty long especially on the weekends, but I promise it's worth it. I would even claim it's better than all the udon I've tried in Japan (some say it's similar to Shin Udon in Tokyo, but I would say Raku's noodles surpass Shin's)Every dish is really delicious but my go to is the simple Kitsune (udon with fried tofu). The broth is light but salty and flavorful, contrasting the sweet tofu. But the star of the show is the noodles - perfectly cooked so they're extremely bouncy and fresh! I can't even describe how amazing the noodles are. Plus it's only ~$15! I usually do add tempura on the side or karaage as an appetizer- both are great.

So happy that Raku opened a location in HK! This location is a lot more spacious, and because it's newer, is not as crowded with a queue. No reservations, but you can put your name down and get sat immediately or wait in the area. I've never had to wait more than 15 minutes.The restaurant is pretty unassuming because it's located in the back of Patisserie Fouet. Food is great and I think this location is mostly cold-udon centric. Favorite dishes: Sabazushi, chicken tatsuta-age, yamakake udon, sansai udon, curry udon.