raku on

It was 1145am on a public holiday. A good time for an early-ish lunch, since I was to be at work a little earlier (230pm) that day - although I ended up sitting around for 1 1/2 hours not doing anything.

We decided on the Greenwood area - near my house, free parking, a decent variety of food choices.

But it was just too early. Most of the places only open at noon. Sebastien's had people sitting al fresco for breakfast, which ends at 11. But lunch service only starts at 12. So after milling around for a while, and walking up and down trying to decide on what to eat, we end up at Raku, an understated Japanese restaurant. Yeah, the one that is not Shiro - the other Japanese restaurant in the stretch, famous for being reservation-only.

You blink as you enter Raku, giving your eyes time to adjust to the low light. And then walking to your table, greeted by the sushi chefs and waitstaff, you notice how Raku is very sleek, done up with a modern touch, with muted tones and soft lighting.

You wonder if this will carry into the food, as you are, after all, opting for the set lunch, which some places are known to stinge on and not bother too much with.

This place is a little different though.

The $25 set starts with some sashimi (several restaurant-quality slices of fresh tuna and salmon), a sashimi salad (a bed of finely sliced cabbage and Japanese cucumber, with a scattering of cubes of seared ginger tuna, and topped with a soya-based salad dressing) and a dish of petin tofu, which I might be spelling wrongly, but is a very light, creamy cold tofu rectangle, topped with some century egg-based sauce.

I went for the ebi tempura option and the prawns were fresh and tasty. The gindara mentai was a slice of cod encrusted with mentaiko (spicy roe) - very nice.

And the meal was rounded off with some fruits, as usual. (But of course, we officially ended the meal with gelati and a latte at the store a few doors down.)

Raku has other options inlcuding ramen sets at $16, curry sets, and other bento sets at various prices. The $25 set is the most expensive option, but I think it's pretty good value for money.

Raku Japanese Restaurant and Bar
10 Greenwood Avenue.
Tel: 6219-9447