Rakuichi Bento

OK, no more bad poetry, I promise. Here's the review proper. Rakuichi proved to be a luxurious lunch, right after Jones the Grocer at Dempsey Hill. Luxurious both in terms of cost and food quality. The Rakuichi Bento (S$32.90) I had was a very pretty set. The tempura, so dainty and nicely arranged, was light and tasty.
The bento came with some of the sweetest and freshest sashimi I've had in a long time. In addition to the chrysanthemum petals, I was delighted to taste fine shavings of yuzu zest - the dream-like citrusy notes simply took the luscious fish to greater heights of flavour. Trussed up like a garden over scintillating ice, the sashimi array even offered various sorts of seaweed as accompaniment. Loved every bit of this.
A modest slab of silver cod, grilled to near perfection. The delicate meat held its shape only to survive the journey on the chopsticks to melt in your mouth. I only wish it was a more generous portion. Hubby wouldn't touch this though, as he doesn't like "strong-flavoured" fish.
Appetiser of stewed or blanched vegetables in clear broth. Pleasant but the flavours were really too subtle for my liking.
The set also comes with chawanmushi, white miso soup and rice. I really have to commend their chawanmushi for its extremely silky texture and beautifully delicate taste. It was also chockful of ingredients - kinoko (mushrooms), gingko nut, chicken, prawn, crabstick, and I forget what else. In all, my set was fantastic value for money - good quality food and the effort taken into presentation aesthetics. And it comes with the scoop of goma (black sesame) ice cream. The Rakuichi Sushi (S$28) was less than stellar but we could have been too full when we ate it (it took a while to come). Inaniwa udon (S$12) was decent and refreshing.
Hubby thought the place was competent but pricey. But good things rarely come cheap. I like this place better than Akashi and Tatsuya. I might visit the Rakuichi outlet at Far East Shopping Centre in town next time, a much better location.
RAKUICHI
Blk 10 Dempsey Road #01-22
Tel: 6474-2143
(another outlet at Far East Shopping Centre)




























