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| - We love robata grill, so Raku seemed a must visit on our latest trip to Las Vegas.
First, the service at Raku was slow. Not just slow, but mind-numbingly slow. Our meal lasted three hours, including an inexplicable half hour delay between the first appetizer of fresh tofu and our next course of blue fin tuna sashimi. Since this was our first visit, I'm not ready to pass judgment. But in any case, I probably wouldn't recommend you visit Raku if you are on a tight timeline. But if you are going to provide slow service, you better make sure it is good -- and Raku came through. Although she steered us to the "safer" menu items, our server was friendly, helpful, and, when she was around, attentive. When she wasn't, we were on our own for large stretches of time, or offered the wrong dish by one of the other servers who consistently confused our table.
However, the food overwhelmed any service issues. It was, in a word, amazing! We started with the fresh tofu -- it had the consistency of ricotta but what drove it to the next level were the myriad layers of flavor added by the various condiments. Although I never thought I would say it about a "plain" tofu dish, this is a must have.
The blue fish tuna sashimi special was also very good. It was fresh and delicious but while we enjoyed it, it probably wasn't even close to the level of the tofu. Combine that with the near extinction of blue fin tuna and the price, and it probably won't be on our next order. Same with the sea snail, which was interesting, but not especially flavorful. And while we are big fans of eel, the unagi teriyaki was not as good as the ones available at other restaurants.
The fried flying fish and agedashi tofu reinvigorated our meal. Both were excellent. And the accompanying broth was delicious to the last drop. It typified our experience at Raku, where the multiple layers of texture and flavor combine to create a large complex symphony.
The grilled skewers were also great. The tomato with bacon and enoki mushroom with bacon were exactly why we love robata grill. The only other vegetable we ordered, the asparagus okaki was also excellent. The beef outside skirt with garlic was good, the duck with balsamic soy sauce was better, and the foie gras with glazed soy-base sauce was absolutely, melt-in-your-mouth amazing. The pork cheek was also good, but the pork ear was a little bit to chewy and cartilaginous to be our cup of tea. Surprisingly, the Tsukune-grilled ground chicken was bland -- a let down compared to the rest of the meal.
We finished off with the green tea creme brulee, which was the perfect dessert. Not too rich or thick, it was exactly what we needed after the rich skewers we had just eaten. And it had the same depth of flavors that we had enjoyed in the other dishes. I also recommend you try the sake flight. It was interesting and all of the sakes were excellent -- you can order most of them by the glass, as well as by the bottle, if you find one that you like.
Overall, Raku was a great, if lengthy experience. We will try the Kaiseki meal (and make sure we have a four hours to spare) the next time we visit.
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