Pearl Sits

I managed to get through a vigorous Yoga class on Saturday despite an ongoing cough and lethargy. Combined with an afternoon drizzle, I decided that it was time to get some warmth-generating food. I headed over to Raku at Queen and Augusta.

This location of an NYC-based restaurant is non-descript with no signage. There is just a small menu set in a wall and a recessed door behind some fluttering drapes. Inside was equally small but more welcoming with a clean minimalism: a few tables and a row of seats by the other wall. There may be smaller diners in Japan itself but even in pricey Toronto, this was a small space.

Since their specialty is Udon, I ordered a wakame udon bowl ($13) and some kinpira gobo ($6). Japanese ramen shops are fully established here over the last 10 years. But I can't think of any other Udon noodle houses except for student-haunt Manpuku by OCAD University. So I used that for my frame of reference, considering that a bowl here is 3-4 times more expensive than the latter.

The gobo combination of burdock root, carrot, and daikon was a nice start. It was crunchy with a rich mouthfeel from the oil dressing. As for the soup, at first I wouldn't say you can tell it apart from the cheaper ones at Manpuku. Definitely, the seaweed and broth were fresher and tastier but it was a subtle difference (though the well-balanced richness of the broth became more obvious with each slurp). I actually didn't like their tororo konbu flakes as much; it was a bit of a gooey mess that was unpleasant texture-wise. But when I got to the noodles, there was no doubt as to its superior quality. Thick, slightly flatter than mass-produced udon, it had a wonderful chew. Each bite was fun and enjoyable. It was even better than most ramen restaurants, though it might be an apples-and-orange deal to directly compare them. Raku is a gem of a place even if it's easy to miss from the outside.