Sushi Raku

We walked in at 6pm on Friday nite to have a cocktail and an appetizer… it was empty and we had to ask if the bar was open.
When you walk into a bar and they have dixie cups over all the liquor bottles and half the coolers are empty… it makes you wonder.
We got our first round and it started out all well and good, we ordered Japanese breaded fried chicken app, and things went down hill from there.
The chicken was dark meat and pretty much gristle… it was horrendous… and served with ketchup*. I asked for wasabi and was given rooster sauce. Then the bar tender disappeared… he never came back.
We had to ask the girl who was trying to eat her shift meal before clocking in if we could have our check. We felt so bad for bothering her, but there wasn’t even a hostess or another waiter to ask.
Given that it’s across the street from us, there’s a chance we’ll go back. I see people stream in and out of there during lunch time and see the reviews on Unilocal… and have walked past to see people seemingly enjoying themselves… but with so many other options around the area, it will be a while until it comes back up in the rotation.
Hopefully then I will be able to update this review with a more positive one.
*Yes I know… chicken at a sushi place? You get what you ask for. But it really sounded good, and I’m not a huge seafood fan… so we will give the sushi a try next time.

I seriously have no idea why this place has gotten poor reviews. I live within walking distance to Raku so I’ve literally been here tons of times, and I’ve never had a bad experience. The sushi is always fresh, the service is always good, the sake is delicious and the décor is really beautiful and swanky.
They also have a lot of creative special rolls, and will basically make you whatever kind of roll that you want, even if it’s not on the menu (I’m pretty high maintenance so I’ve definitely tested their limits on this).
What more do you people want from a sushi restaurant?!

Seriously the best sushi I’ve had in Houston. Prefer for lunch, bc it’s insanely crazy at night due to the prime Mid-​town location.
Parking is easy, which is rare in this area.
Your best bet is sitting at the sushi bar and telling Craig (the only white sushi chef I’ve ever seen– and one of the best) what you’re in the mood for an letting him create a masterpiece.
Drinks are great too!

Went in on a whim with the gf because we couldn’t make up our mind on a new place so we thought to revisit a place we liked before.
Upon arrival I checked in on Unilocal and it notified me that there was a free sake bomb for checking in. I excitedly told my waitress who then deadpanned me and informed me they no longer honor that. That’s annoying. Take it off Unilocal or honor it until it expires.
The rest of the night the waitress continued to dazzle us with her disappearing acts, her inability to tell us what the specials were, and her general «I dont care about what you want» service.
Ruined it for us. Probably wont be back soon.

Nice atmosphere for a Wednesday night. Cool DJ, she’s 12 years old!
Good place to chill and just hang out.
Good sushi and good not water down beats.

I’m ashamed to say, I’ve been dining/​drinking/​celebrating/​dancing… at Sushi Raku for almost 3 years now, and this is my first review!
The owner, Patrick and his awesome staff have been soo good to my family, friends, and I, that I forgot I was a patron too, and not just raku– family.
I agree with some other reviewers, in noting that countless other so-​called Sushi-​spots are more like cheesy nightclubs with california rolls and lots of imitation crab mix; you won’t find that here.
My favorite rolls off the menu: Love at first Sight, Orange Dragon, Blacken Tuna, Truffle Lover, and Geisha. If you can’t tell, I’m a tuna and salmon lover… and anything with truffle or cracked black pepper flavor! These rolls are soo fresh, flavorful, and clean… always the right temperature too. I’ve been to some places that have warm rice, and EVERYTHING is stuffed with crab mix. yuck! Raku, however makes everything taste good, and literally fresh from Japan.
2 WORDS: TUNA TARTARE. I would eat this for the rest of my life if I could.
The drinks: The only place in Houston I’ll order a Lychee Martini. It’s by far the best… ever. No Lychee ‘mix’ or ‘flavored syrup’. This is the real deal… and only $ 6 on Saturday (reg $ 12). Can’t beat that! Their fresh fruit mojitos are always tasty too, and if your in to Sake, they have a huge assortment.
Very authentic décor, friendly staff who always greets with a smile, trendy lounge with a live Dj Wed-​Sat evening/​nights.
Happy Hour Monday 4−10p, Tu-​Fri 4−7p, Sat. 12−6p, Sunday all day, and as of recently, reverse happy hour from 9p-​close!
I’ve celebrated mine and most of my families birthdays here for 2 years! Needless to say, Sushi Raku is my go-​to Sushi restaurant in all of Houston, and will be for years to come. I greatly value customer appreciation and service. THIS IS THE PLACE TO FIND IT!

This place was a disappointment: I was hungry and still sober when I left. AND my bank account was a $ 103 less.
Portions are small. The popcorn crab is tiny and they don’t give that many (maybe 10) they were tasty though.
Then my sushi came out: I ordered the spicy tuna hand roll and another roll that had spicy tuna salmon and black sesame. I love sushi and this was not it. Sushi means seasoned or flavored rice… it was not and the spicy tuna was lacking in flavor as well. When there are places like Oishii or Natto in Houston that will give you better and more food for your buck.
The drinks were ok as well. However, I was sober! I had a sake bomb (free for check in) two small hot sakes (lychee flavored) and then a shot of grand marnie which was watered down.
I like the place, it’s cool and the dj was good but I will advise you to eat before and maybe bring a flask.

Some of the most delicious Japanese food my husband and I have had in Houston! Great presentation and portion sizes (very unlike average Houston restaurants). We shared several items on Sunday evening:
— a delicious tropical roll (which includes mango)
— seared albacore, which melted in our mouths
— kobe beef skewers with teriyaki sauce (and they gave us a side of chili powder, which turned out to be a spicy combination)
— smoked duck (which melted and slid down our throats oh so easily)
— we ended our meal with an ebi fruit salad, which was also delicious with their home made dressing
All in all a great meal on a Sunday night. We decided to purchase the Unilocal Deal $ 10 for $ 20 worth of food and my husband showed the waitress the voucher on his phone and it wasn’t accepted :(So, we’ll be back with a printed voucher next time: D
It was a delicious time :)

Went here on a Friday for dinner. The décor and vibe are nice without being pretentious. Sat at a table near the bar and looked over the menu. It’s pretty big, there’s something for everyone-​from rolls with tempura and cream cheese (for those still not diving in to real sushi) to rolls that are inventive and delicious yet still healthy (which is why I love sushi).
I started out with one of their salads, it had walnuts and spring mix-don’t remember the name but it was very good. I then ordered a few temaki without rice (love when the server accommodates this request without looks of confusion) and one large roll that had mango in it. Almost like a rainbow roll with mango. It was amazing! Really, really good. Forgot the name but definitely look for ‘mango’ in the roll menu. Trust me– the mango and fish work well.
The place isn’t cheap, but that’s to be expected. I actually had a
coupon and when I presented it (at the end of the meal) it was accepted without question or a roll of the eyes (like at other places…)
Overall, great place that I’d make the trek back out to.

Came here for the happy hour on a Friday night. It is from 10−12am and the last few times I came they had free samples of vodka that they were promoting. They also had a DJ setup in the bar area. It is a good environment for groups to come hangout or pre-​drink before hitting the town.
Best place to eat is near the sushi bar area. You have the chef’s undivided attention and you get your food fast.

I am not a big fan of sushi but I love this place! They have great drinks and a nice atmosphere. I made a reservation on Open Table and when I got there they had the table marked with my name and the menus were stamped with a welcome messege to me. They service was very friendly and alot of fun. I dont like sushi but I do like the super tigers eye roll. Also I tried the Black Swan and it was delicious as well. Would definitely go back with a group of friends.

Came here for lunch one day and I must say it was the slowest service ever! The waiter was terrible because we were constantly always waiting on him… first it took forever to place an order, second it took even longer to get our check, and don’t even get me started on how long we had to wait for him to pick up the check!
Even though the food was decent I am leaving a 1 star because not only did the waiter split the check wrong he added tip to my check that I know for a fact I did not put on my credit card since my friend had left him tip in cash. Although it was only a $ 3 tip he gave himself, this is completely and morally WRONG!
Somehow my $ 8 dish turned into a $ 15 statement on my credit card. So MAKE SURE YOU CHECK YOUR STATEMENT SINCE THIS PLACE IS CAPABLE OF RIPPING YOU OFF!

Since Rickshaw closed I have been looking for a new favorite sushi spot. I think I have found my new favorite! I was super impressed with Sushi Raku.
A girlfriend and I came here on a Saturday night for dinner around 8pm. We were greeted by the very friendly hostess and seated immediatley. We started with a delicious unfiltered sake and began to look over the menu. The menu has numerous standard rolls with great prices and many specialty rolls that don’t cost too much more.
We decided on 3 rolls and some pieces of nigiri. I have to say my favorite roll was the spicy yellowtail. Served with fresh jalapenos and scallions, this was a unique spin on a simple roll. Even better was that it was only $ 6.
The atmosphere here is great. It’s a bit trendy and there is some electronic music playing, but it’s not too loud and not douchey. There is a separate front lounge area with a DJ spinning and then the back side of the restaurant is more intimate. The front area also has some curtains in which they can close off for a large private party. This would be nice for a birthday celebration or even a corporate cocktail hour.
I cannot wait to go back and try more! SO glad I found my new spot.

Fuck, I was so happy to finally come here.
I’ve become SICK of all the sushi restaurants in town being taken over by a certain promotion company that simply turns everything they touch into a night club. I was a little desperate for some REAL quality sushi. FRESH fish. REAL wasabi. INNOVATIVE dishes. And most importantly, NO mob of 20 something year old Asian kids yelling and hollering while playing some absurd drinking game that most restaurants would kick you out for.
Sushi Raku is, simply put, eloquent and mature dining.
I love the decore. So clean, so contemporary, and so inviting of a good time. Very high ceilings and spacious seating give it an open air feel. Seats and tables are top notch in quality. Spacing of tables and the restaurant layout create a nice intimacy for your table. Japanese artwork and miniature samurai armor stands set the place off.
Staff is young and attractively dressed. My waitress was definitely a systematic and efficient go-​getter. Competent staff = WIN
The food, according to my $ 95 tab, was fucking fanfastic.
A friend and I ordered:
–Salmon nigiri
–Tuna nigiri
–Tropical roll
–Devil roll
–Bacon wrapped scallop skewers
–Truffle fried rice w/​sea food
–King Salmon Carpaccio
–Black sesame crème brûlée
The SALMON and TUNA were so good. Sooo good. Perfect, dare I say? Both fell apart in your mouth, NO teeth required. Marbling posed no problem. Salmon was deliciously buttery. At $ 5 – 6 for 2 pieces, they were big ass pieces.
TROPICAL roll was great. Very refreshing… it was a crab mix/​salad stuffed roll with salmon and MANGO on top. Even the crab salad was good!
DEVIL roll was OK for me. Friend loved it. Cucumber, scallions, and soft shell crab with spicy salmon and wasabi tobiko on top. Eel sauce and sriracha. A tad too spicy for me since I feel it drowned out the flavor some.
BACON WRAPPED SCALLOP SKEWERS were pretty good, but not great for the price ($ 8.50). Bacon is great and all, but it just didn’t fit the rest of our meal. Also you only get 4 tiny pieces.
TRUFFLE FRIED RICE was f’in awesome. Wish I had some now. I generally don’t like paying for fried rice, being Asian and all, but damn it was so worth it. The shrimp in it was AMAZING, and I’m fucking allergic to it. Mmm.
BLACK SESAME CREME BRULEE was decent. Great after taste and not too sweet like most CB’s. Comes with a large black berry and a strawberry thinly sliced. Pretty darn good for a crème brûlée, but came out colder than expected.
Now for the star of the party…
***** The KING SALMON FUCKING-​DELICIOUS CARPACIO. *****
This was the best salmon I’ve ever had. It is a seasonal fish, so get it while you can. The carpacio part is OFF THE MENU, so ask for it! It is SO worth the $ 18 if you are a salmon fan. Very little marbling in this salmon. Thin strips laid in a soy based lemon/​ponzu sauce with pea sprouts. This salmon was so buttery, so flavorful, so soft, so everything amazing. It made my entire night.
Parking: A+ (parking garage, lot, and street parking)
Décor: A+
Clientelle: A+
Food: A+ (obviously have not tried many things. I’ve only gone once!)
Service: A
Experience: A+!!!
Just fucking go.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the free sake bombs with our Unilocal check-​ins. Getting a tiny tiny buzz before the entrees was a nice cherry on top… and a great way to get me to spend more money, haha!

I am so over the trendy sushi restaurants… but the only reason why this place still gets good marks is that their appetizers are pretty tasty and somewhat unique.
On the weekends, half the restaurant is a lounge. Good to go for clubbing pre-​parties… not so good for intimate dinners.

Not to be confused with the netflix player, roku, the interior of this place reminds me of LA pretty. nice cushy chairs, cool windows and chic asian interior. Its a really nicely put together place.
Enter the food. *gong*
I had the raku ramen.
nice presentation, shallow bowl and upon first taste of the broth, too bland. buckwheat noodles were pleasantly cooked and yea thats about it. I also tried their tropical roll. it had slices of mango and salmon on top with something in the middle which i didn’t really taste. the fish tasted well… like it was 4 days old fishy and the mango was just a weird combo on top of that. i tried to like it despite how well presented it was. but didn’t.. I also tried the unagi and it was just ok. After that episode, i stopped ordering.
really beautiful place.

I’ve been to Raku a handful of times and have given it one chance after another hoping that management will finally read these reviews and shape-​up the restaurant. I love the décor and location, but the food is definitely not worth the price. I celebrated my birthday at Raku on ¹⁄₇ and thought it was nice to see my name on the reservation sign, the waiter was great, and my friends really liked the ambiance, but I feel like the pros still don’t outweigh the cons.
PROS:
1. Of course, the décor. I love the Samurai painting in the bar area.
2. Parking is free and always seems to have plenty of available spots
3. ⁵⁄₆ times I’ve been I received good service. There was one time, though, that the waitress seemed like she was in a rush even though there were hardly any customers in the restaurant.
CONS:
This place seems to have everything on point except for the food, which kinda defeats the purpose of a restaurant. Several times, sushi has come out warm. The rolls aren’t anything special; I could go to Ra or Aka and get better quality for the same price, if not cheaper.
On my birthday I ordered the Kobe steak and my boyfriend ordered the Chilean Sea Bass (I think that’s what it was, either way, both entrees were probably the most expensive things on the menu). My steak wasn’t hot anymore when I finally got it, and the sauce they put on top is too thick and too much, you can hardly appreciate the meat. Moreover, the portions are not worth the price.
Happy hour is… decent. I feel it’s what they should really be charging for the quality. The house wines are great for $ 3 a glass. I usually get the pinot grigio. The tartare and chips I ordered one time during happy hour was extremely odd tasting– don’t order it. I will say that the Kobe sliders were great, though. The happy hour menu needs more variety, but again, it’s decent. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here like I would for other places though.
The negative reviews on here are pretty accurate. My biggest regret, though, is not telling management how I really felt. Maybe I’ll give it another chance when reviews say that it’s «grown-​up» a little bit.

Came here for Restaurant week last week and it was good. The décor of the restaurant is very chic. When we arrived at our table, there were a small picture frame that said reserved with the name on it and +1. I thought this was very unique since I don’t think any other places have done this during Restaurant week. Hehe…
For appetizer, we got the uni sake shooter. It tasted like sweet vinegar with a kick and of course this was the second time that I tried uni and I really like it. The first time I tried Uni– it tasted horrible, but I’m guessing since they have seafood coming from Japan, then this Uni must be really fresh.
We didn’t do the Restaurant week menu, and instead I got tempera asparagus roll, a cucumber roll, and a spinach roll. As to dessert, we did try Black sesame crème brûlée– this was so delicious (5 stars). I thought that the black sesame would be over powering but it isn’t. It just gives you a hint in your mouth. Yum!
Of course next time if we come here, I will definitely come here and try more things out but I wasn’t really impress with their sushi. It was okay. Hehe…

I was pretty impressed with this place during the Unilocal Elite event, so I recently decided to initiate a gathering during their Monday night all day happy hour. Sushi Raku is a little bit sophisticated than my usual happy hour spots, ha ha, so I even kind of dressed up a little.
I think the other Unilocalers have described this venue better than I ever will, but it is a rather nice sushi joint, modern chic-​like, and hallelujah, garage parking so no need to hassle over street parking. The bar/​lounge area has two semi-​secluded long tables for larger parties — nice touch.
The happy hour specials aren’t really that phenomenal because they end up being comparable to a great deal of other places’ regularly priced drink and food specials — but then again, you are paying for the ambiance. I had the edamame hummus cups and they were pretty all right, all and all. Most of my friends on this particularly Monday were ravaged so they ordered several of the appetizers each to satiate themselves. Hunger eventually got the best of me and I ordered the avocado rolls — hard to really make anything avocado not delicious, but they are rather tiny, so just a little FYI.
The service was commendable — our servers were definitely on top of their game and even chit chatted with us a little — I like friendly servers!
In closing, Sushi Raku is a pretty legit venue for sushi (apparently they fly in the fish and all that fancy stuff, but I’m not too knowledgeable about all that since I don’t eat the fish) and a classy kind of joint. Will I come back here? Maybe!

Went on Tuesday night for happy hour and had the most amazing time. I definitely love the décor of the place. We sat in the Geisha room, which faces Elgin (I think) and has a beautiful picture of a Geisha on the wall. The place was very peaceful, a little too peaceful!
Our server Ismael, was great! He was right on point with his recommendations and very attentive. We had quite a few rolls: California, Tempura, Crunch Tuna, Spider, and the Houston roll. We also had the the sushi sampler, Calamari, Ebi Mayo and Chicken Yakitori. To drink we had reaspberry sake and tea. Everything was great! Everything tasted super fresh and delicious. The sake was definitely interesting.
I really loved this place. Ismael let us know that Mondays they have happy hour from 4pm to closing. Tuesday to Friday from 4pm to 6:30. Saturday from 12pm to 6:30pm and all day Sunday! This can definitely become my favorite sushi place in Houston… lets just see how it goes…