Rakuichi

Quality Ingredients Make This Japanese Restaurant Outstanding

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 9
Service: 8
Value for Money: 7
Spent about SGD $30 per person.





Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant has flown rather under the rader since 2005, when they first opened in Singapore. Partially, this is due to a rather visually unappealing website and menu photographs, which do injustice to the great quality of their food. It's only when trying the food at Rakuichi that you'll be able to appreciate it!

Ambience at Rakuichi is modern Japanese, and rather minimalist. There isn't much decor to speak of, and the central showpiece is the open kitchen, where you might catch a glimpse of the chef preparing your meal. I particularly like watching them grill / blow torch food.

Service at Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant is friendly and efficient, with staff regularly coming to your table to top up the green tea. Staff are knowledgable enough about the menu, and can make recommendations, as well as carry conversations. Pace here is slightly leisurely, and as food is prepared upon order, a slight wait is inevitable.

The menu doesn't do justice to the food at Rakuichi, as all their dishes look, and taste, much better than depicted in the photographs. The best thing about food at Rakuichi is the incredible freshness of the fish and seafood, and you get really high quality, great tasting dishes. Prices are slightly higher than other places, due to the quality of ingredients. Menu options are limited, but the focus helps them, as the food is consistently good.





The Green Tea and Chawanmushi here are rather average, decent enough to consume but not particularly memorable or different. I like that softness of the Chawanmushi, but it did seem like it was heated a little too long, because of the bubbling surface of the egg.

Green Tea

Chawanmushi

The fish is very fresh, which make their Sashimi Salmon outstanding. The Salmon Skin was decent, but a little too oily for my liking.

Sashimi Salmon

Salmon Skin

A nice helping of tasty Kitsune Soba, the perfect accompaniment to a meal. The beancurd skin is suitably sweet, and the soba noodles are smooth and slippery.

Kitsune Soba

Grilled skewers are a speciality here, and the most outstanding for me was the Negima Snapper Fish skewer and Yakitori Chicken skewer. The Buta Bara Pork Belly skewer, Unagi Eel skewer and Enoki Mushroom Bacon were tasty, but not memorable. And while I liked the doneness of the meat on the Wagyu Beef skewer, I felt it would be better if they omitted the black pepper sauce, so that the natural taste of the beef can shine.

Skewers Wagyu Beef, Buta Bara Pork Belly, Negima Snapper Fish

Skewers Unagi Eel, Enoki Mushroom Bacon, Yakitori Chicken

Highlights of the grilled fish include the excellent Gindara Teriyaki Cod and Grilled Salmon Head. Slightly more expensive, but worth the money for the taste and freshness.

Gindara Teriyaki Cod

Grilled Salmon Head 01

Grilled Salmon Head 02

They do a pretty good Tonkatsu Pork Cutlet, crisp enough on the outside but still moist inside. The Tempura Mix stands out for the freshness of the Ebi Prawn, as well as the use of Japanese Pumpkin. Probably the worst dish I had here was the Soft Shell Crab, overcooked, oily and too starchy.

Tonkatsu Pork Cutlet

Tempura Mix

Soft Shell Crab