Rakuzen

A general rule of thumb when you are selecting a good Japanese restaurant is to check its popularity with the sizeable Japanese community here. People from Japan are passionate about their food and are extremely particular about its authenticity. Which is why Rakuzen gets the thumbs up from at least half the managers in my office.

I was lucky enough to be invited by my bosses (yet again) to this swanky eatery located a stone's throw away from my office. Rakuzen occupies the former shop space shared by Sushi Tei and Starbucks Coffee and feels deceptively roomy, thanks to its sleek and elegant use of space. Curved booth seats, private dining rooms and discreet blinds create comfortable alcoves that diners will find extremely inviting. At Rakuzen, every table has the potential to become "the best seats in the restaurant". It all depends on how many people you're dining with and the degree of privacy you prefer.

But enough of waxing lyrical about how amazing the seats are. The real reason why you should pay Rakuzen a visit is because of its food. Rakuzen serves modern Japanese cuisine, and the best way to sample food here is to round up a couple of friends and try as many of its dishes as you can.

Being the seafood manic that I am, I found the whole scallop grilled with cheese and mayonnaise very hard to resist. And it was utterly sinful because it was topped with generous helpings of shredded crab meat (scream). The seafood salad was a wonderful starter; it came with large chunks of sashimi and lovely ponzu dressing. Other must-trys include its beef tataki (so soft it melts in your mouth) and grilled mackerel.

A tip for fans of very fresh seafood: Rakuzen ships in its seafood every Tuesday and Friday, so mark these two days on your calendar for a dinner date! The restaurant also offers affordable lunch sets and special dining offers for customers who dine al fresco.

Almost forgot...Rakuzen is also home to a dishy Japanese manager. Great seats, good food, nice looking staff...need I say more?

So if you're looking to impress your business clients/score on your first date/propose to your long-time girlfriend over dinner or generally display your wonderful epicurean tastes, this is where you should be seen.

This Restaurant is helty.use Japanese Rice & Japanese Brown Rice.
Rice very different onother Restaurant.
only Rice can eat.and no smelly.
And fish also very fresh. I cannot forgot Salmon taste.
Another Food also nice .but Just nomal.
Service is very Good.
Some staff is no Good.
But average is very high.
I think singapore NO1sarvice.

As a lover of Yakitori, i think one should judge how good a restaurant is by the perfection each skewer turns out. Excuses should not be given for lack of quality of meat (that's why you're paying restaurant price right?) nor should blame be put on the number of people dining there.

Decided to head to Rakuzen after gym one day and ordered an array of skewers including tongue, and pork and aspargus sticks to name a few. The tongue was overdone, with hardly any flavouring, giving the meat a peculiar overwhelming taste. It was chewy and tough, with what seemed like sinews that got stuck in the teeth. Not a good choice for a first date as yanking hard on a skewer is definitely pretty unsightly for your dinner partner. The pork was barely seasoned and tough, and we were really disappointed with the rest of the sticks that we ordered. At this point can't remember which ones they were, but do recall feeling sorely disappointed.

Another thing to gripe about was the biased service that was given to us. Granted my partner and myself look young, that is no reason for them to give more attention to the seemingly affluent mature company next to us. One of the things Singapore service staff need to learn about is never to judge a book by its cover. And the staff at Rakuzen have a lot to learn. Our server not only gave our food to the people next to us, much to their confusion, she also did not apologize when they pointed out she made a mistake. Behind us at another table, there was a wait staff who spent a good twenty minutes idly chatting with a flirtacious old man and his tai tai wife while others waved their hands desperately to be served.

I would definitely NOT recommend anyone to waste money and time on a place like this - a joint that has spent too much money on beautifying the place but with bad food and service.

I would suggest this place to someone who goes for design and aesthetics and isn't too particular about how chewy their meat is. Sorry to be cruel, but I do hope Rakuzen ups their standards! They've got a beautiful setting!!

My advice: Head to Keyaki, Pan Pacific for excellent food and even better service to EVERYONE. For Yakitori sticks, head to Nanbantei at FEP or Shinryoku at Purvis St. For economical yet quality Japanese, I'd suggest Wisma Atria Food Republic. Fast service too.