Raku-Asian Dining, Sushi & Saki Bar

DowntownBethesda.com User Ratings and Reviews:

• 4 Stars by cecmar351 on 01/01/09
  

  On a busy New Year's night, we were still able to get a table for two immediately. We recieved quick, polite, good service; there was good food and a wonderful presentation. It was an overall good experience. I definitely recommend this restaurant.

• 3 Stars by Pashtida on 03/28/08
  

  We had our first Raku experience last night, after plenty of recommendations from friends and coworkers.
  The place was practically jammed with people, it was difficult to move between the tables. The service, however, was extremely kind and professional. All our dishes arrived promptly and accurately, we had a baby on our party and the waitress treated her extremely nice.
  The disappointing side was the menu. Raku don't have a website (or at least we couldn't find one), so we couldn't browse the menu in advance and weren't ready to the dominance of the sushi in the menu. The sushi lover among us (me) had a great time, but those who don't share my enthusiasm complained about the narrow selection of entre'es.
  All in all, everyone agreed that it was quite a positive experience, but next time we're gonna look for a place that actually has something for everyone.

• 1 Stars by fiftyplusone on 03/15/08
  

  It seems that after its review in the Washington Post, Raku, the Asian-fusion restaurant on Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda, Maryland, has gotten a little too big for their britches. My husband and I walked in for lunch on Saturday March 15, 2008 and simply said "Two please." The place was crowded with a few glaring exceptions. There were 3 roomy booths sitting wide open. They said we would have to wait for an table to open. We pointed to the 3 spacious, unoccupied booths and said that we would like to sit in one of them, especially since they were the only tables open, with the exception of 2 crammed spaces at a bar, so tight that there was not room for knees and elbows, let alone food. And it seemed the wait could be long. They said that those booths were for parties of 4 customers -- exclusively. We explained that we too were customers and there was not 1, even 2, but 3 of those spacious booths available. The waiter said that he would not seat us. Astonished, we asked to speak to the manager on duty, thinking that surely 2 paying customers in the booth were worth 4 who had not yet arrived. Not to mention the fact that you never turn away a good customer (or two in this case). Aparently that's not how they think. "Policy, it's our policy." said the manager. AND THEY TURNED US AWAY! As frequent diners-out, I assured Mr. Manager that we would not return and we would spread the word that Raku was so breathtakingly arrogant that they could afford to turn away parties of 2 customers in anticipation of parties of 4. If you don't like their "policy" give them a call and tell them that you would be having lunch/dinner there, but you heard that "Parties of two, don't go to Raku, since Raku won't seat you."

• 4 Stars by Thesda on 01/18/08
  

  The sushi at Raku is the best in Downtown Bethesda, in my opinion- it always tastes deliciously fresh and they have interesting rolls. Service could be much better, but it's worth it. Try the soups, too.

• 4 Stars by bruna_mcr on 07/04/07
  

  I love their sushi, and drinks they have a pretty good menu! Except the host and manager - I've never seen them both being nice to costumers - the opposite of everyone else who works there.