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On December 3, 2006 · 24 Comments · In Eating

RakuIf you hap­pen to be in Hol­land Vil­lage and because you can’t decide what to eat, and stroll in to this Japan­ese Restau­rant called Raku, please, walk out again unless money and qual­ity of food is no mat­ter to you.

I’m not say­ing that the ser­vice was bad or any­thing like that. But there are sit­u­a­tions where even Going the Extra Mile for Ser­vice is not going to make any­thing worth $114 for two, and this is one of them. Not even the nice decor and quiet ambi­ence is going to make up for the dis­ap­point­ing food.

First of all, a refresh­ing raw salad of cab­bage leaves, radish, car­rot and cucum­ber sticks was served as an appe­tizer. Then our order of Ikura Sashimi (Salmon Roe) was served and tasted like the stuff you can buy in super­mar­kets, which might have been alright with me if I had bought them in the super­mar­ket myself for a lot less than $20.

Then came the $16 Cal­i­for­nia Maki and the $20 tem­pura, the for­mer being slathered with fly­ing fish roe that tasted syn­thetic, and the lat­ter being just a bit too oily.

But the killer had to be the Ocha (tea), which was prob­a­bly made from teabags which had been left to steep too long, which would have been alright if I had bought the teabags from the super­mar­ket and boiled the water myself, but for $6 a cup, no, no, no! To add insult to an inju­ri­ous bill, the raw veg­etable salad was not com­pli­men­tary, but itemised as ‘Yasai Stick’ at $6, which is a bit like going to a karaoke place and being billed for the ‘com­pul­sory’ fruit platter.

So, you heard it here (as well as here). Don’t go there. And no, I wasn’t grumpy before we dined there. I am now. We could’ve gone and had a real Nabe meal instead of this nabeh one.

Oh, wait. I’ve just been reminded that if you find the Ocha too exor­bi­tantly priced, you can order a glass of warm water at a more rea­son­able $3 a glass, though we’re not sure if it’s free flow.

iTunes is play­ing an ille­gal copy of Japan­ese Sand­man from the album “Ger­man Pro­pa­ganda Swing Vol 1 1941–1942″ by Char­lie And His Orches­tra of which I have the orig­i­nal CD.

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  • http://whitebait.typepad.com White­bait

    So glad I didn’t make it to this place!

    Hol­land Vil­lage seems to have gone even more upmar­ket in the last year or two (I had to drag Tezza away from that Aesop shop haha). Still, I found a really good laun­dro­mat and Aunty in Block 15(?) just across the big carpark — thought I’d men­tion that just in case you can’t be both­ered walk­ing and want to drive to Hol­land Vil­lage to get your clothes cleaned …

    Apolo­gies for not get­ting in touch directly on my recent Sin­ga­pore trip but the time went by quicker than usual and I think you were in Shang­hai (nice pho­tos) for much of the same period. Maybe next time.

  • http://whitebait.typepad.com White­bait

    So glad I didn’t make it to this place!

    Hol­land Vil­lage seems to have gone even more upmar­ket in the last year or two (I had to drag Tezza away from that Aesop shop haha). Still, I found a really good laun­dro­mat and Aunty in Block 15(?) just across the big carpark — thought I’d men­tion that just in case you can’t be both­ered walk­ing and want to drive to Hol­land Vil­lage to get your clothes cleaned …

    Apolo­gies for not get­ting in touch directly on my recent Sin­ga­pore trip but the time went by quicker than usual and I think you were in Shang­hai (nice pho­tos) for much of the same period. Maybe next time.

  • http://nalineebarrett.blogspot.com nal

    Wah, heng man!

    We were going to try the place out next Sun­day. You just may have saved me my year end bonus!

    Thanks for the P S mes­sage. Keep them coming.

    By the way, wanna share an appalling Christ­mas cam­paign. Click here:-http://nalineebarrett.blogspot.com/2006/12/little-knowledge-is-dangerous-thing.html

  • http://nalineebarrett.blogspot.com nal

    Wah, heng man!

    We were going to try the place out next Sun­day. You just may have saved me my year end bonus!

    Thanks for the P S mes­sage. Keep them coming.

    By the way, wanna share an appalling Christ­mas cam­paign. Click here:-http://nalineebarrett.blogspot.com/2006/12/little-knowledge-is-dangerous-thing.html

  • http://www.littlemissdrinkalot.blogspot.com LMD

    Try Shin Kushiya (02–120) at Vivo City. The refresh­ing raw salad is refresh­ingly free.

  • http://www.littlemissdrinkalot.blogspot.com LMD

    Try Shin Kushiya (02–120) at Vivo City. The refresh­ing raw salad is refresh­ingly free.

  • http://miyagi.sg Mr Miyagi

    Free salad! Yay!

  • http://miyagi.sg Mr Miyagi

    Free salad! Yay!

  • cow­boy caleb

    I had the same meal cou­ple of weeks back. Totally dif­fer­ent expe­ri­ence though. I thought the food was pretty good. And they let me have free sam­ples of the raw beef.

  • cow­boy caleb

    I had the same meal cou­ple of weeks back. Totally dif­fer­ent expe­ri­ence though. I thought the food was pretty good. And they let me have free sam­ples of the raw beef.

  • abody­mous

    i found the place really enchant­ing when i went there with my hubby. per­haps if you had been nicer to the staff? Wait­ers and servers are human too — we had a great time.

  • abody­mous

    i found the place really enchant­ing when i went there with my hubby. per­haps if you had been nicer to the staff? Wait­ers and servers are human too — we had a great time.

  • esael

    Thanks. Won’t go there! One of the things I hate is pay­ing XXX money on bad food. There are really a lot of GOOD food going for just under $5.

    Just went to Sushi Tei at Seran­goon Gar­dens. My favourite afford­able Jap restau­rant. Ordered a $28 crab but taste fishy. One cus­tomer com­plained and the counter girl checked with me how I find the crab when I pay the bill. I told her it is bad and she took it off my bill. That’s $88.80 to $54.65 I think. I typed these fig­ures just in case some one needs num­bers for 4D.

  • esael

    Thanks. Won’t go there! One of the things I hate is pay­ing XXX money on bad food. There are really a lot of GOOD food going for just under $5.

    Just went to Sushi Tei at Seran­goon Gar­dens. My favourite afford­able Jap restau­rant. Ordered a $28 crab but taste fishy. One cus­tomer com­plained and the counter girl checked with me how I find the crab when I pay the bill. I told her it is bad and she took it off my bill. That’s $88.80 to $54.65 I think. I typed these fig­ures just in case some one needs num­bers for 4D.

  • http://miyagi.sg Mr Miyagi

    Abody­mous, there was noth­ing wrong with the ser­vice, nor the staff. It was the food and the price I had issue with.

  • http://miyagi.sg Mr Miyagi

    Abody­mous, there was noth­ing wrong with the ser­vice, nor the staff. It was the food and the price I had issue with.

  • http://girlemancipated.blogspot.com Girl E

    Oi Uncle, dun say until lid­dat lor. The exec­u­tive chef, Peter is a really nice chap. As are some of the wait­ers. Price is a bit steep unless you know what you’re order­ing — but when you do, you get stuff at a level beyond what you pay for.

    The thing about Raku is that the counter ser­vice is supe­rior, as are some of the dishes — how­ever, you won’t get to know them until you take the time to sit at the bar counter and ask Peter what’s up fresh and good.

    I do agree with you that some of the dishes are very aver­age — do as I do, avoid them, or don’t take any­thing with­out rec­om­men­da­tion. Two things at Raku stand out — the yaki­mono grilled items and the sashimi and sushi.

    The Chi­rashi Zushi is superb and fresh, with vari­ety. It’s bet­ter than Yoshida, Akashi and higher qual­ity than Botan at far east square. For one thing the Dashimaki Tam­ago is the most heav­enly thing on earth. Peter makes them him­self with real pride. If Naomi or your­self cook, he’s also a good per­son to get recipes from.

    And, with prices what they are, I don’t drink any­thing except the non-alcoholic stuff at Raku ($10 a glass — mid priced for a japan­ese restau­rant). All in all, i end up quite happy, pay­ing the same price you do.

    Hope this helps you give it another chance.

    PS. My first visit was like that. Indif­fer­ent food, indif­fer­ent ser­vice, expen­sive. The trick is, get to know Peter.

  • http://girlemancipated.blogspot.com Girl E

    Oi Uncle, dun say until lid­dat lor. The exec­u­tive chef, Peter is a really nice chap. As are some of the wait­ers. Price is a bit steep unless you know what you’re order­ing — but when you do, you get stuff at a level beyond what you pay for.

    The thing about Raku is that the counter ser­vice is supe­rior, as are some of the dishes — how­ever, you won’t get to know them until you take the time to sit at the bar counter and ask Peter what’s up fresh and good.

    I do agree with you that some of the dishes are very aver­age — do as I do, avoid them, or don’t take any­thing with­out rec­om­men­da­tion. Two things at Raku stand out — the yaki­mono grilled items and the sashimi and sushi.

    The Chi­rashi Zushi is superb and fresh, with vari­ety. It’s bet­ter than Yoshida, Akashi and higher qual­ity than Botan at far east square. For one thing the Dashimaki Tam­ago is the most heav­enly thing on earth. Peter makes them him­self with real pride. If Naomi or your­self cook, he’s also a good per­son to get recipes from.

    And, with prices what they are, I don’t drink any­thing except the non-alcoholic stuff at Raku ($10 a glass — mid priced for a japan­ese restau­rant). All in all, i end up quite happy, pay­ing the same price you do.

    Hope this helps you give it another chance.

    PS. My first visit was like that. Indif­fer­ent food, indif­fer­ent ser­vice, expen­sive. The trick is, get to know Peter.

  • http://thisistherationalneurotic.blogspot.com ratio­nal­neu­rotic

    so, to get a good expe­ri­ence at Raku, you got to know the Exec Chef? it doesn’t make sense right… Imag­ine Bill Gates say­ing, “to get the supe­rior soft­ware you’re sup­posed to receive for pay­ing through your nose, please try to get to know me first.”

    Any­ways, I think Miyagi’s issue wasn’t with the ser­vice — he very clearly said that there wasn’t prob­lem with the ser­vice, but the food. I don’t think the prices will be an issue if the food is worth it. It doesn’t even has to be fan­tas­tic I think, just worth the price one forks out for.

    Since cow­boy says he had it once (and he doesn’t know Peter), per­haps they are some­times good and some­times bad? Incon­sis­tent good­ness? Don’t know if that’s bet­ter than just being lousy though.

    I do wanna try it for myself, so why not you intro peter to me? =)

  • http://thisistherationalneurotic.blogspot.com ratio­nal­neu­rotic

    so, to get a good expe­ri­ence at Raku, you got to know the Exec Chef? it doesn’t make sense right… Imag­ine Bill Gates say­ing, “to get the supe­rior soft­ware you’re sup­posed to receive for pay­ing through your nose, please try to get to know me first.”

    Any­ways, I think Miyagi’s issue wasn’t with the ser­vice — he very clearly said that there wasn’t prob­lem with the ser­vice, but the food. I don’t think the prices will be an issue if the food is worth it. It doesn’t even has to be fan­tas­tic I think, just worth the price one forks out for.

    Since cow­boy says he had it once (and he doesn’t know Peter), per­haps they are some­times good and some­times bad? Incon­sis­tent good­ness? Don’t know if that’s bet­ter than just being lousy though.

    I do wanna try it for myself, so why not you intro peter to me? =)

  • http://girlemancipated.blogspot.com Girl E

    To get what you pay for at a Japan­ese restau­rant that’s worth it’s price — you always have to get to know the chef at the sushi counter (usu­ally the boss man exec­u­tive chef).

    He’ll tell you what takes pride of place at the restau­rant and what­ever else is just filler.

    So, just go and sit at the counter and talk to Peter as you order the entrees. That’s the way it’s usu­ally done.

  • http://girlemancipated.blogspot.com Girl E

    To get what you pay for at a Japan­ese restau­rant that’s worth it’s price — you always have to get to know the chef at the sushi counter (usu­ally the boss man exec­u­tive chef).

    He’ll tell you what takes pride of place at the restau­rant and what­ever else is just filler.

    So, just go and sit at the counter and talk to Peter as you order the entrees. That’s the way it’s usu­ally done.

  • http://miyagi.sg Mr Miyagi

    There are fillers for cus­tomers who don’t bother to make friends with the chef. Hmmm.

  • http://miyagi.sg Mr Miyagi

    There are fillers for cus­tomers who don’t bother to make friends with the chef. Hmmm.

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