Raku Japanese Restaurant

I was excited to try this place but it failed in every way possible. I was so disappointed in this place for many reasons. More than anything, this place had very poor quality sushi comparable to a Chinese buffet with a side of all-​you-​can-​eat sushi. The tuna tasted like it came out of a can. It’s definitely not tuna slices when the roll is supposed to be topped off with tuna. Also, they were stingy with the fish such as eel. I couldn’t even see the eel in the eel avocado roll. The service was okay. I won’t be returning to this place.

Got the Playboy and chicken tempura roll. Both were excellent. Can’t wait to come back!

Service was terrible. I think we got about 10 words out of the staff. They dropped our plates off without looking at us or repeating the name of the plate like is usually done by waiters when giving you your plate.
The food tasted great but the Megu Sashimi was too soggy/​mushy.
Upon receiving the bill, we got an «ok thank you» with no eye contact and started laughing from how bad the service was.
Nice décor, terrible service, and fairly good sushi.

Food and service are consistently good. We especially like the specialty sushi rolls. This is a regular spot for us.

I ordered quite a few sushi items on the menu. such as salmon, scallop, escolar, and ika (squid). Only salmon was fresh and good. The rest was awful. be careful don’t get sick there.

I really want to like this place, but they have some work to do.
A lot of reviewers commented on their poor service, but our server was very nice attentive. I tip solely based on the quality of the service, and he deserved a good one. The food on the other hand…
The worst part was their ramen: it’s horrific. It was overcooked noodles in what tasted like won ton soup. I asked the server what kind of broth it was, and he said chicken and later asked the kitchen (they said pork). Hmmmk… Whatever it was, it had no body or flavor at all. I took one bite of the noodles and a few sips of the broth and sent it back. I rarely send anything back, but it was straight up terrible.
The sushi we had was okay, but they have a tendency to really smash the rice until it’s almost mochi. Easy with the Hulk hands!
They seem to be rather popular and busy, so I hope we caught them on an off night. We’ll give them another shot with the sushi, but I’ll probably avoid the ramen.

Slllloooowww service around lunch time had one lady inefficiently running around serving 18 or more tables. Water glass never gets filled. Lunch sushi and bento box deal is good tho… worth the wait normally if u have time and lots of patience price is economical.

This location does take reservations, which is helpful because they get busy. Definitely order the specialty rolls! This past time I visited, we ordered 4 rolls. A basic shrimp asparagus roll, Sun Kiss, Fire Roll, and Captain Crunch. They were all delicious, but my favorite was the Sun Kiss. It had eel, shrimp, avocado and mango on top.
We were seated in these cute white booths up against the windows, with good people watching views. I was pleased to see a female sushi chef. She was right back there with the other man knocking out rolls all night long. They have a full bar, so order a drink with your dinner and enjoy

This is my go to Sushi place. Excellent menu variety, the Manhattan roll is my favorite. The food is awesome but the service is so slow. I’m never greeted when I walk in and usually have to wait a few minutes for someone to walk in from the back to seat us. When it’s a busier time there needs to be more staff serving. Again had to wait awhile for someone to take my order.

The sushi was quite good, but the place is seriously lacking in atmosphere. Also, our server was not attentive and we sat without soy sauce for far too long. He also reeked of cigarette smoke. Gross.
Next time we will go to our fave twin cities sushi joint, Fuji ya, even though it’s a 15 – 20 min drive while this place is about 3 min from our house.
Not quite sure how Raku is still open.

The quality has gone down. The shrimp they served before were whole battered. But the one I got yesterday were small and with lots of batter to make it look big! The spicy tuna roll was more like spicy tuna added crunch! Barely any tuna. The seafood soup tasted like water down clam chowder.
Was a disappointment.

I would love to give this place a 3 stars, but the fact that they had some major issues have brought me down to 2 stars.
A friend and I decided to stop and eat here for break, since we had an hour until we had to go back to class. The inside was beautiful ! Very modern and classy. BUT ! There was absolutely no one to greet us! We had to wait 3 – 4 minutes waiting for a hostess, which also was the waitress. She was running around everywhere, since she was the only one working in the front !
We order our food, I had their luncheon special which consist of a soup or salad, a appetizer, and a choice of the of selected dishes they offered. I had order the filet mignon and she had a crispy chicken salad. I kid you not it took them 50 minutes just to get our food out. The place wasn’t even busy. So I didn’t understand how it took them so long just to bring out a salad and the filet mignon.
Besides the bad customer service and the horrible wait time, their food WAS good. Very flavorful ! The miso soup didn’t taste all that great though, because the texture felt very grainy. Their shrimp tempura roll was good, but it had a fishy taste to it, questioning if the meat was still fresh.
It’s a okay restaurant, but they still have a lot of minor issues to deal with.

Ok I have to say the sushi is really good. I fell in love with the St. Louis Park Location and used to always get the narruto, my friend recommended the art of maki, both are rice less and amazing!
I only give this location 3 stars because me and my friend were the ONLY people in there on a Thursday night and they close at 10pm during the week. Not that I’m out during the week late, but it lacked atmosphere so I probably wouldn’t go again except for the fact that it’s closer to where I live but the SLP location is much busier and better for socializing.

Ugh… I hate to do this to a local, but I can’t hold it back…
When I first started going here, I had an okay experience… meaning my order came quick, prices were reasonable, staff wasn’t rude. Since then (last spring), every time I go there, it gets worse and worse. Let’s just say I have been here enough to start at a 5, and go down by ½ of a star until I got to a one. We have use Bitesquad a few times… and finally especially after tonight… I am done. We are done ordering from here as a couple, and I am done having HH’s and lunches here too.
Since we have started using Bitesquad. Our rates have stayed the same… but the quality, quantity and portions have not only decreased… but I spent 50 bucks and am still hungry. #nothappyyetagain

I’ve seen this place plenty of times and heard mixed reviews (good, bad, in-​between). I recently joined a gathering for a birthday celebration (18 people) and must say I wasn’t terribly impressed.
Raku is located on W 50^th Street, in the heart of the shopping area of Edina (you know… that place which has all the expensive, fancy shops?!). Parking can be tricky, you can park in portions of the nearby grocery store lot; otherwise, it’s street or ramp parking.
The interior design has a darker tone, the usual dim lighting and a strangely small bar (seats 6 total, tucked into a corner). Now with the large party we had, seating was tricky — we were placed in a long row of tables, roughly 10 on each side; not great for chatting, but we were seated!
What we ordered…
* Seared Pepper Tuna (cold dish)
* Hamachi Kama (yellowtail jaw)
* Sweet Potato Roll
* Fire Roll
* Snow Thrill
Overall, the sushi was fresh (time, effort went into each one), but the flavor was mild (almost boring in some cases) and the presentation was lacking (literally a roll on a white plate). Where was the creative spirit? The 37 pieces of flare?! Part of the sushi experience is presentation — ingredients are wicked important, as is the rice — I simply wasn’t feeling it at Raku. I did enjoy the Kama, fresh, tasty and decent size for the price. The Fire Roll was the best of the rolls we ordered — fresh avocado, great spicy tuna and crunchy shrimp tempura.
Our server was on top of everything the entire night — other reviewers had terrible service, but I will say this gentleman knew what he was doing. Managing a table of nearly 20 hungry diners isn’t easy, he was fast, attentive and didn’t miss a step.
All together, it was an a-​okay experience, wouldn’t be my first choice for sushi in the Twin Cities.

Horrible slow service. Food good, but not worth the wait.
I arrived at 7pm with 2 other ladies. We had a Groupon and think that may be why we had poor service. It took forever to get our food and even lounger to get our check. The restaurant was about half full, so we did not expect such a long wait. It took 15 minutes before we could place the order, 35 minutes for all our food to arrive on table. No tea refills at all.
If you read other reviews you can see a trend with poor service/​less food with people who have groupons.
I will try this location again without a Groupon to see if service is any better. I have to admit, I am not in a rush to go back.

Seafood Soup /​8
Shrimp, scallop, fish cake, crab stick, bean curd & vegetable in clear broth.
Yep $ 8 is what I would have paid for this seafood soup that had 2 tiny shrimps in it. Above is what it said it should have in it.
They knew I had a Groupon for $ 30, so they went cheapy. So hacky.
Alright, I am going to do this 1 piece at a time.
The service — Terrible. She said three sentences to us. «Are you ready», «Would you like more water», and «Are you finished» I haven’t felt that unwelcome in a restaurant in a long time. Listen, if you don’t want to do Groupons, don’t offer them! I so wanted to give this place 5 stars after reading reviews. The food is probably 4 to 5 stars, but the soup and the service just spells. Hack.
The Soup –
Broth with some cut up radishes and two shrimps. What if I really had to pay $ 8 for that. I would be outraged! The broth was good and veggies, but for a seafood soup, they were clearly leaving seafood out because I was using a Groupon. Lots of tofu though! «Yum!» (Sarcastic)
The tuna pizza — This was amazing, 5 stars! Fluffy, yet crispy crust with an avocado dip topping and raw tuna. Great concept, and the only thing that kept Raku from being one star. I told my wife. Negative 2 stars for service. Negative one for being cheap on the soup, and 5 for the tuna pizza equals 2 stars in my book.
The shrimp dumplings. — 3 stars, maybe 3 ½. Very tasty, but my wife and I were still burping fish taste an hour later. They were fun to eat though. They had plenty of fishy taste, but I loved the little bite sized pieces and the texture. Yummy! (Not sarcastic)
When our server basically threw my bowl of $ 8 soup with broth and two shrimp in it, for a SEAFOOD SOUP! It didn’t start out well. And she didn’t even look at us as she dropped the soup off.
Basically if you have a Groupon, they took your $ 16 and want you to F off.

It was my second time there. Please, whatever you do, do not frequent this place. First time I went with my wife for lunch, the service was slow. The waiters simply don’t care and I don’t know if the lack of management is the issue.
I went back tonight for a to-​go order and it took forever. No attention to detail. I had plenty of time to watch the staff and management and it’s not run professionally. The elder owners (man/​women) are not dressed professionally for the restaurant and have control of all the staff but to the point that the staff has no power. They have to look to the elders for permission to even seat people. I witnessed this several times.
Please, DO NOT go here if your goal is to go on a date night an impress your date. The décor is pretty and the location in Edina is nice but the service is a HUGE let down. I like to support Asian restaurants, but I can’t encourage anyone to eat here because they do not represent the quality you would expect from a quality Asian restaurant.

The only sushi place I’m willing to eat at and drive 30 min or more to. Both locations are good. I worked in high end sushi restaurants in NYC for three years. This is one of the better places in MN. I’d take CA or NY over this any day, but it’s still pretty decent. I give them 4 MN level sushi stars.
Tips to enjoy. Don’t order some crazy rolls. Stick to the basics. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy a spicy tuna roll, but that’s about it. Rolls are not sushi, they are called maki. If you have never eaten anything except rolls, you have not had sushi. How can you even taste anything? I tried some weird combo rolls once and it was just tasteless, sweet mush. Raw fish should not be enjoyed that way. All piled together and you can’t taste the difference or tell if it’s even fresh. Why do Americans make everything so sweet and deep fried? Yuck. Before you know it Midwestern housewives will be adding cool whip and pudding mix and serving it at PTA meetings.

Excellent food, reasonable prices, amazing atmosphere. It can be a little on the noisy side, but it’s perfect for a casual date or meeting up with friends. The miso soup and gyozas are both a must. Also strongly recommend the Captain Crunch roll.
Price is quite fair. $ 70 got three misos, a plate of gyozas, three regular rolls and two specialty rolls, which was about perfect for 3 people.
Parking can be a bit tricky on a Friday night, but it’s a small price to pay. I would say this place is a must for anybody looking for good sushi in a nice neighborhood. We will be returning.