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| - Raku has a tiny secret I'd like to share (so I guess it won't be much of a secret then after all..)
There is a dish, a fish roe on top of salmon filet on a bed of rice. It is NOT the same one that they have on their menu; it isn't listed because of the time it takes and the type of customer who might order it. It takes about 45 minutes to make because they cook the rice only when you order it. By far, it is better than a lot of the dishes I tasted there including the amazing uni udon that Misti hadn't tasted ;) (you should though!).
We ordered several other dishes there, mainly from the blackboard that the server had brought over. Good blue fin tuna is somewhat hard to find and since it was a special occasion that we had dinner for, we decided to get it (despite it's health concerns with high lead content). I also had a kobe beef tataki from the blackboard that was the best that I had ever tasted, even though I heard that their kobe grade wasn't the highest, but still good.
A note for kobe enthusiasts: This is surprising, being a Japanese-owned restaurant. Typically, Japanese-owned restaurants from my knowledge and experience have an 8 or above grade for their kobe. Not Raku. It's not poor, but not the best. But they certainly made it taste like the best LOL.
The environment of the restaurant is, as another reviewer had said, has the same air of LA snob. That's true. But on the other hand, it has the same place as a quaint, hole-in-the-wall yakiniku in Japan. The restaurant is the smallest Japanese restaurant I've been to in Las Vegas.
Oh, and make reservations. On a Monday night, I called at 6pm to make a reservation at 8pm. They didn't have an opening till around midnight. WOW. I think that was just a rare moment though, I'm not sure.
Anyways, I gave Raku 5-stars because amidst the glamor and chef-renowned Japanese restaurants at the strip, the restaurant outshines them all in terms of their culinary fidelity to Japanese traditions and flawless service.
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