Raku Robata Japanese Tapas

3739 Sixth Ave. (Hillcrest)
619-692-4189
Prices: Tapas, $3 to $8; chef specials, $5 to $10.50

Frank Sabatini Jr.
Restaurant Review

“Are these prices for real?” I asked my dining companion while leafing through several different menus handed to us upon settling in at Raku.

“Unbelievable,” he responded in the face of a lengthy list of meat skewers priced under $5 as well as complete bowls of food costing only a buck more. Clearly, this hip Japanese-fusion restaurant upholds what most Spanish tapas houses started out doing years ago: selling small plates of sustenance for cheap. The only thing is that nowadays, you’re lucky to get a ramekin of olives for these cushy prices.

Raku rocks the senses with a litany of modern and traditional menu options that lean largely toward shareable nibbles — chicken hearts and beef tongue not excluded. Several sushi rolls and chef entrees are contained separately on Xerox paper while a laminated drink list spells out the beer, sake and soju choices in both English and Japanese.

The restaurant’s name translates to “fun,” and indeed the steady train of tapas delivered throughout our meal lived up to the concept. Nearly every dish we ordered posed savory surprises such as a hardboiled quail eggs that appeared like white porcelain marbles on their skewers and tasted pretty much like fresh chicken eggs.

Pinwheels of juicy pork encasing swirls of shiso (Japanese basil) boasted the prized flavor of pork belly – and perhaps it actually was. On yet another pair of skewers was shiitake mushrooms cloaked in melted Swiss curds. When’s the last time you came across cheese in a Japanese restaurant?

Missing from the menu altogether is tempura. “Too common,” the chef later explained to us as the reason. We actually didn’t miss it while poking into so many interesting dishes that generally evade San Diego.

Shisyamo proved an adventurous seafood choice. The thin, silvery fish (also skewered) were served with their heads and tails intact. Flash-frying resulted in crispy skins while their scant flesh resembled fresh sardines. Much to the delight of my companion, one of the shisyamo harbored eggs in its belly, which according to our waitress, are fine to eat. And in Japanese tradition, so are the heads.

Soon into our repast we ordered a small bottle of super-dry Suijin sake that is new to the menu and extraordinarily versatile. It paired with everything we ate; meats, seafood and vegetables as well as the wasabi that we employed for a plate of albacore sashimi draped in lively onion dressing. The tuna turned out to be the most expensive item we ordered, priced at a reasonable $9.50.

From the bowls category, we opted for beef teriyaki, though knowing full well that the sauce wouldn’t be of the cloying American-barbecue ilk. It was instead subtly sweet, non-monotone and with hints of smokiness fueled partly by the tender beef broiled over real charcoal. Underneath was traditional short-grain Koshihileari rice, cultivated in Japan and cooked here to accurate creaminess.

Raku presents food choices ranging from familiar to delightfully obscure. Other options include chicken soup with mushrooms and leeks, fried gyoza and katsu, boiled chicken skins with ponzu sauce and the aforementioned chicken hearts and beef tongue. Benihana it isn’t.

Service was swift and the all-Japanese staff makes you feel right at home as they shout out gracious “hellos” from across the room the moment you step inside the door.