Aburiya Raku - West Hollywood

[PorkyBelly]

Had a great meal at Raku this weekend. The food and especially the agedashi tofu was just as good as vegas. The service was a little slow but I expect that to improve in the coming weeks. I can’t wait to try more of the menu.

update 1

The kanpachi was so fresh it signed an endorsement deal with febreze

Tsukune

Pork cheeks

Pig intestines

Agedashi tofu

Beef tendon

Kanpachi kama

Foie gras egg custard

update 2
Adding this from the weekend thread

Sea robin sashimi

Enoki wrapped bacon

Teba wing

Hamachi

Pig ears

Pig cheeks

Pig ribs

Tsukune

Kobe bryant with garlic

Fries with eyes

Fried sea robin
The fish was so fried it made snoop dogg look sober.

update 3
Stopped by for a late night snack, you can’t beat raku if you happen to be hungry at 1am. I’ll have to come back for the soba and chawanmushi.

update 4

Kanpachi

Ken salad

Sea bream sashimi

Agedashi tofu

Chicken thigh

Chicken wing

Chicken breast wrapped with skin

Pork cheek

Fried sea bream

Tsukune

Iberico pork

Foie gras custard

Bowl of uni, just because

Kobe filet, so hot al gore is using it as evidence for global warming

Green tea soba

Fluffy cheesecake

update 5

Daily special oyster

Shima aji, outstanding. Chef Matt is killing it.

Grilled salmon belly, highlight of the night, crispy fatty, smoky and just melts in your mouth.

Pork cheeks and iberico pork, so porky it started stuttering

Portobello stuffed with asajime ground chicken

Deep fried asajime chicken

Teba wing

Agedashi tofu

Foie gras, the skewers helped me shove this down my throat.

Udon with foie gras egg custard

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Poached Egg with Sea Urchin, Salmon Roe, Okra, Mushrooms, and Mountain Yam
Slimier than Rod Blagojevich on an episode of Double Dare.

Oyaji Tofu

sashimi moriawase

kampachi kama

Ken2 salad
How hot does it have to be for me to order the salad? oppressively fucking hot

Enoki Mushroom Wrapped with Bacon

Asajime Chicken Teba Wing

Kurobuta Pork Cheek

Portabella stuffed with Asajime Ground Chicken

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Sashimi moriawase
Excellent as always, the shima aji and otoro were outstanding.

grilled oyster
Super fresh and tender perfectly cooked with a nice smoky flavor from the grill.

agedashi tofu

salmon belly
This salmon had so much fat it got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Get this.

cheeks

bacon

tsukune

fillet with wasabi

chicken thigh

teba wings

foie gras
Force-feeding never tasted so good

cheesecake

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One of the reasons why raku has such great sashimi is because of sourcing from guys like this who does his own ikejime.

Here’s a clip from the migrant kitchen which is worth a watch:
https://www.kcet.org/shows/the-migrant-kitchen/what-is-ikejime

aji - spanish mackerel (fukuoka, japan)
Awesome knife work and presentation from chef matt. Let this be a reminder to all fish - stay in schools.

#holeymackerel

grilled yellowtail belly
Damn this was awesome. Crisp skin and tender moist, fatty meat. If you like the salmon belly this is another must-order.

fresh alaskan king crab
This was like crab candy, the meat was so sweet. The pieces of meat that touched the grilled also had a great smoky flavor.

ushio jiru
White fish and tofu in a light delicate broth.

asajime chicken thigh

asajime chicken teba wing

kurobuta pork cheek

portabella stuffed with asajime ground chicken

takana inari
This was great, soft, slightly sweet and pickle-y.

miso yaki onigiri

yaki onigiri

homemade mandarin orange sorbet

Toto

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sashimi marinated in soy and fermented Bonito guts, soy bean salad

Dried Tatami Sardine Salad
Japanese caesar salad. I love it when my salad stares back at me

The croutons have eyes

Aji

Head

White asparagus, black truffle
Surprise highlight of the night. The asparagus was so white, it made barry manilow look like james brown.
It was tender, sweet and had a great smoky flavor, underneath was an awesome creamy, truffle-y, egg yolk, fish guts sauce.

Belly

Pork cheek

butter sauteed scallop with soy sauce

Teba wing

Portabella stuffed with Asajime Ground Chicken

Takana Inari

update 6
New lunch menu

kaisendon salmon, kanpachi, bluefin tuna, scallop, spot prawns, ikura, tamago #twoheadsarebetterthanone

bento box - soy bean salad. tuna tartare. poached egg, uni, ikura. asparagus okaki. black cod, tuna tamago. kanpachi, scallop sachimi. grilled chicken thigh teriyaki, grilled asparagus. chicken onigiri. #twolunchesarebetterthanone

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update 7
#Raku

Roe v. @PorkyBelly. Spoiler alert porkybelly wins Poached Egg with Sea Urchin & Salmon Roe

The money shot #NSFW

aji sashimi

heads or tails

grilled salmon belly. fatty, salty, crispy, juicy, awesomness

duck with balsamic soy sauce

bacon wrapped tomatoes #salad

bacon wrapped enoki mushrooms

direct-flamed eggplant with bonito

chicken teba wing

chicken thigh

portabella stuffed with ground chicken

pork cheeks

matsutake dobin mushi with scallops, shrimp, conger eel, gingko nuts

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Poached Egg with Sea Urchin, Salmon Roe, Okra, Mushrooms, and Mountain Yam
Slimier than a used car salesman on Labor Day weekend.

Sashimi Sampler - Kanpachi, Salmon, Bluefin, Toro
This was fucking phenomenal, it was so soft it was like eating fish butter.

Agedashi Tofu

Live Uni Udon
I finally got to try this and unfortunately it was a major disappointment and the only miss of the night. For $30 bucks I got maybe two pieces of uni in a watered down insipid broth. The udon was they only saving grace. Stick with the uni udon at kinjiro.

Deep Fried Asajime Chicken

Duck with Balsamic Soy Sauce

bacon

Pork Ear

Iberico Pork

Asajime Chicken Breast wrapped with Chicken Skin

Asajime Chicken Thigh

Kurobuta Pork Cheek

Butter Sautéed Scallop with Soy Sauce

Salmon Belly

Kanpachi Kama

Pork Intestine

Tsukune - Grilled Ground Asajime Chicken

Kobe Beef Filet with Wasabi

Asajime Chicken Teba Wing

Steamed Foie Gras Egg Custard

Kamameshi - Kettle rice with Salmon and Salmon Roe

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Seki saba - line caught Saganoseki mackerel murdered ikejime style
The fish had a firm texture and very mild clean taste, fantastic. It’s ridiculous how good the sashimi is here.

Asajime thigh

Portabella stuffed with Asajime Ground Chicken

Butter sauteed scallops with soy sauce

Grilled hamachi belly
So tender, crispy, and salty

ears

Enoki mushrooms wrapped with bacon

Iberico pork

pork cheeks
Fatty porky goodness with just the right about of smoke from the binchotan

Buri daikon - braised winter yellowtail
This was a miss, the fish was dry and overcooked. Next time I’ll order the braised yellowtail hold the braise.

live uni udon
I wanted to give this dish one more shot and i still don’t get it. I watched them make this and saw a pre-made broth poured into the shell and topped with two pieces of prepackaged uni. Not sure how this is “live.” Unfortunately, like last time the broth was watery (I’m thinking this is how it’s intended), didn’t taste like uni, and barely clung to the udon. The two pieces of prepackaged uni and udon were fine but not worth 30 bucks. I feel like i got gypped out of some 'nads.

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update 10
fried tofu skin

shima aji

spot prawn

head
do i need to tip extra for getting a little head at dinner #askingforafriend

tofu

belly

thigh

breast

wing

skirt

tendon

Oyako Bowl-Asajime Chicken & Egg

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Katsuo - Bonito
Meaty but super tender, the inherently strong flavors paired well with the raw garlic.

aji - spanish mackerel
The ultimate #fishstick

Ask them to fry up the bones, because who doesn’t want some crispy fish chips and some head.

Oyaji Tofu
I’m not sure why i’ve never ordered this before but wanted to give it a try. It was delicious and right up there with their agedashi tofu. I loved the texture and spiciness from the chili-garlic sauce.

asajime chicken breast wrapped with chicken skin

asajime chicken thigh

asajime chicken teba wing

pork intestines
Ate the shit out of these intestines, so good.

kurobuta pork cheek

tsukune

hamachi belly

foie gras with glazed soy-based sauce
Awesome, silky and smooth, the foie gras really de-livered.

chicken livers
Poor man’s foie gras.

wagyu rib cap kushi
A special for the night and they were delicious, super tender and juicy with a little bit of fat. They were pretty much the opposite of their “kobe” beef skewers on their regular menu, which i think are just okay and not as flavorful.

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carmakase part iv #covid15

james sugishita binchotan searing some kinmedai

jūbako bara-chirashi
chutoro
shima aji
kinmedai seared with binchotan
simmered anago
ikura marinated in dashijoyu
simmered shiitake mushooms
datemaki
kinshi tamago
kyuri sunomono

anago

datemaki

simmered shiitake

kinmedai seared with binchotan

chutoro

shima aji

after-chirashi fried chicken bento

fried shrimp

crispy asparagus okaki

grilled tomato

mushroom

tamago

okra

blue crab roll

fried chicken

takana inari

steak don

Aburiya Raku
521 N La Cienega Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90048
213-308-9393
https://aburiyarakula.wixsite.com/weho

[PorkyBelly]

And for some reason i can only post one picture at a time

[PorkyBelly]

[PorkyBelly]

[robert]

This is the new place at 521 N La Cienega Blvd?

[PorkyBelly]

@robert

This is the new place at 521 N La Cienega Blvd?

Yes the new location of the Vegas raku

[ilykejordans]

When you say service is slow? How slow is it compared to the Vegas location, because in Vegas its notoriously known for being slow.

[Chowseeker1999]

Thanks porkbelly!

Looks delish. Do you have their contact info? I’d love to try getting reservations soon.

[PorkyBelly]

@Chowseeker1999

Thanks porkbelly!

Looks delish. Do you have their contact info? I’d love to try getting reservations soon.

Their number is (213) 308-9393 but it kept going to VM the first few days they were open so I just showed up on Friday and grabbed a seat at the counter.

[PorkyBelly]

Service was slower than Vegas, but I give them a pass since they’ve only been open for less than a week. The food however is still outstanding.

[anon69875053]

I live four/five blocks away. I went two nights ago. Although it took me almost an hour and a half to get a seat, and almost two and a half hours to complete my meal, I kinda sorta wanna walk back over there again tonight.

[PorkyBelly]

What time did you go?

[anon69875053]

I walked over around 7 to put my name down. I went home, came back, and was seated around 8:45. Ordered five dishes around 9:05. First dish at 9:20. Last dish served at 10:45. Yay for time stamped photos!

[chrishei]

Went last night. Waited around half an hour. Service was slowwwww - meal took 3 hours, from 7-10pm, but otherwise was good. Food was on par with the Vegas one, which is all we can ask for really. Full menu was available, though it sounded like stuff started to run out around 9pm. Will definitely be back, and often.

[Chowseeker1999]

Cool chris. what were your fav dishes?

[chrishei]

Here’s what I got last night, that I usually order on my visits (to the Vegas one):

Tofu, both agedashi and cold

Foie chawanmushi

Skewers: pork cheek, beef, beef tendon, tsukune (w/ poached egg on side to dip), foie. Really can’t go wrong here. At all.

Daily special sashimi - had the bluefin tuna, which they usually have (served with wasabi as well as soy-marinated kombu and pickled chrysanthemum leaves - nice play on soy and pickled ginger). They also had kanpachi and another variety last night. For some of the varieties they usually do the sashimi two ways - sliced and chopped (like namero).

Daily special fish, grilled and fried - had the inada. Half of the fish was grilled over binchotan, and the other half was fried and served agedashi-style with king mushrooms (the mushrooms were surprisingly awesome). Forgot which other variety they had last night, but they usually have multiple varieties of this as well.

[chrishei]

Need to try the off-menu kamameshi as well - looked awesome.

[TonyC]

@djquinnc

I walked over around 7 to put my name down. I went home, came back, and was seated around 8:45

dude, that’s a lot of heart just to eat some tofu and skewers. i would’ve said “F” this and gotten a bowl of Tatsu.

[Chowseeker1999]

Thanx chris! made a note to try those when I get a chance to visit.

[anon69875053]

I know. I was giving myself a funny look as I typed this. At least I got to chill out at home until they were ready to seat me, sort of. Like @chrishei, I see myself returning.