Wednesday 21 August 2013

Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant (Far East Shopping Centre) | ThumbsForFood

It's quite difficult to find something different to eat in Orchard. We often struggle to think of a special place to dine in. We decided to try Rakuichi as a friend heard that the restaurant offers good Japanese food.

Rakuichi is situated in Far East Shopping Centre, which is just a stone's throw from Ion Orchard. The building is quite old and worn and the escalators were not working when we were there. Nevertheless, we managed to locate Rakuichi on the 3rd floor.

Even though it was a Friday night, we were quite surprised that the place was not crowded. In fact, we were one of the three tables there were occupied that night. We ordered the dinner set which came with Tempura, Teapot Soup, Assorted Sashimi of the day, Yakitori Sticks and some Shishamo and Edamame. We thought that the portion was on the small side considering the cost of the meal.

Appetizer
The Yakitori sticks as seen below look really appetizing. They are grilled really well with the insides of the meat juicy and flavorful. The only thing I wish was it was given in a bigger portion. The sweet potato at the side gave a nice balance to the dish.

Yakitori Sticks 
The bowl of assorted Sashimi that came caught us aback! It was presented in a large bowl of ice and out salmon and yellowtail fish sashimi was placed neatly on top. Presentation and effort is worth 10 points! Sadly, they did not have my favorite swordfish sashimi that I was craving for. All of us felt that the temperature of the sashimi could be cooler. It was strange because with the amount of ice, we thought that the sashimi would be much cooler. I could never have enough of Salmon Sahimi!

Assorted Sashimi
The Grilled Salmon was nothing special. It was fresh nevertheless, but, not memorable. I think we are rather big eaters, so the small grilled salmon was a bit sad for us.

Grilled Salmon
We have read about the delicious Wagyu Steak in Rakuichi and just had to order a slab to share! It was served with some fried sweet potato strips as a complement. The steak was done quite well which robbed it off some of the tenderness we were looking for. The marinade was good but we felt it wasn't thorough enough. Our verdict? Tasty but not that great to die for.

Wagyu SteaK
Another hot favorite: Aburi Sushi! Yes, everyone loves Aburi sushi, which is sushi that is torched lightly. It was our top dish of the day as well. The burst of flavor when you put a piece in your mouth is really too much to describe.

Assorted Aburi Sushi
We had some Assorted Sushi set as well which came with Teapot Soup, Tempura and Shishamo. Well, I am not a fan of Shishamo actually. The idea of eating a pregnant fish is just too overwhelming. The assorted sushi were alright. Similar to the Sashimi, we would prefer the temperature of the slices to be cooler. The tempura was fried to perfection but, we were a little disappointed that it was not served hot.

Assorted Sushi Set
I guess many patrons of Rakuichi are more familiar to the branches at Oasia Hotel and Dempsey. Of course, if you compare the sets to high end Japanese restaurants Tastsuya, the price that they offer is quite reasonable for sets ranging from $40-80. Well, I would recommend you visiting Rakuichi for lunch as I feel that their lunch sets are quite similar to dinner and more value-for-money. 


Exterior of Rakuichi
We hope to try Rakuichi at the other branches. Please share with us what you feel about Rakuichi by leaving a comment below. :) 

Overall Rating: 6.8/10

Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant
#03-11 Far East Shopping 
545 Orchard Road

6737 0757

Opened Daily 11am- 10pm

Cheers, Y

2 comments:

  1. Just discovered your blog today, love it! Try the spicy aburi salmon maki from rakuichi, it's my fav dish there!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anon :)

      Thank you for visiting our blog! We are sure to try that the next time we are there! :):)

      Cheers!

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