Rakuichi

Far East Shopping Center Rakuichi, has a wonderfully nice staff, Grill Chef - Gary and Sushi Chef - Henry are exceptionally nice. They'll recommend you which foods to eat and tell you how to eat them! Sit at the sushi bar, it's nicer cause you can chat with the chefs, and perhaps if you are lucky get free food!

They are a traditional Japanese restaurant, some of the things on their menu will be difficult to find elsewhere; by the way, this place isn't cheap at all! Less the Sake, the bill would have still came out to be about $130ish.

1 Sawa Gani Karaage - $10.00 - Little Fried Swamp Crabs (can be eaten alive as sashimi dish also)
1 Asupara - $3.00 - Grilled Asparagus
1 Gyutan - $8.00 - Grilled Cow's Tongue
2 Tebasaki - $6.00 - Grilled Chicken Wing
2 Buta Kakuni - $8.00 - Grilled Simmered Pork
2 Bishomen - Large - $32.00 - Sake with a tint of sweetness, leaveas a bit of a sour after taste.
1 Hamachi Belly Sashimi and Fresh Aji Sashimi - $80.00
1 Hiraki Nasau Dangaku - $8.00 - Grilled Eggplant Whole
1 Tofu Mentaiko Cheese - $13.00
Service Charge 10% - $16.80
GST 7% - $12.94
TOTAL ----> $197.70

I must say though, as Satellite also knows, I don't usually eat Aji, Japanese Horse Mackerel cause I don't like the taste of it; there's the particular smell to it and a particular texture that I don't like ... but low and behold, I have found the Aji that has blown away my typical attitude towards that fish. Such a small fish, so little meat .... but at least at Rakuichi, they deep fry the carcass for you so you can enjoy the rest of the fish, as well as they add a few extra sweet fresh water mini prawns around the dish for you as well.

Delicious and sumptuous a meal it was!

Another must try is the Buta Kakuni --> It's pork belly which is simmered in a sauce, then placed onto the grill again ... topped off with a bit of sweet like yakatori sauce. Yeah yeah I know, I'm not the biggest Yakatori fan either, but it was nice, and honestly, I've never had this before! I'm so naive to the world of food ... so much more things for me to try!

Another great hit I must say is the wonderful tofu mentaiko cheese, it's a tofu, that is baked on a hot plate with a codroe cheese sauce on top. This dish was nice, but I feel that the tofu could be a bit firmer, it's a bit too soft. And yes my picture does it disjustice.

Ah if you ever ordered the minced raw tuna (maguro no tataki) , it's usually with rice and a raw quail egg (maguro no tataki don), however they served us just a bowl of minced tuna with some warm seaweed to roll it in ourselves. I got to say, it was delightful!

Here's a recipe for Maguro No Tataki Don courteosy of http://www.deliciouscoma.com/archives/rice/ --> there's a lot of good recipes here check it out!

Maguro no tataki don (Minced Tuna and Herbs on Rice)
Serves 2
5 oz/150 g sashimi-quality raw tuna
1/2-inch piece of ginger, grated
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped green onion
1 myōga bud, thinly sliced
1 shiso leaf, thinly sliced(or substitute 2 Tbsp fresh herbs for myōga and shiso)
1/4 tsp soy sauce, or to taste
1 cup freshly-cooked Japanese rice
1 quail egg or 1 organic chicken egg yolk

Goma Ice Cream - they make their own ice cream, the milk they used actually tasted like Hokkaido milk, as their is a rich creamy sweetness to the milk, the black sesame, was a bit weak, as they should have added a bit more. All in all, although I rarely eat ice cream and deserts in general, I enjoyed it.

The Fried Swamp Crabs were ok, but I think I'd like to try the live one next time, as it's too crunchy to actually enjoy it ... seeing that it's $10 for a plate of 5, you're better off buying the Japanese snack, although that definitely has a whole lotta preservatives.

The only fall back for the evening was experiencing a slight black out period, however the staff rectified that within a minute of the blackout by placing little birthday candles on glasses for all the patrons. I must say, it was quite romantic.