Rakuya - Washington

I attempted to place an order from this restaurant last night, but when I inquired about the vegetarian broth listed as kelp broth, I was informed that it was actually fish-based. The menu was quite confusing and not very vegan-friendly.

The menu has limited vegan options. I inquired about the veggie futomaki, which came with a lemon basil sauce that turned out to be non-vegan. The server was initially unaware, so I pressed for clarification, and the manager confirmed that the sauce was not vegan. This update is based on a review from June 2, 2022.

I went to Rakuya with a group of friends because we were nearby and wanted to have dinner somewhere enjoyable for everyone. The reviews on Google made it sound quite vegan-friendly, so we decided on Rakuya. When I checked the menu, I was excited to see several vegan options, and they sounded delicious. However, I first tried to order the veggie bento box, only to find out it wasn’t vegan since both the tempura and tofu were fried with eggs, and they couldn’t make any substitutions. I didn’t want to make a fuss, so I opted for the veggie sushi board, which sounded impressive, but I was quite disappointed. The veggie sushi rolls were much smaller and less satisfying compared to what my friends ordered. They were mostly filled with just avocado and cucumber, and there was one sashimi-like item with a leaf, and that was it. I remembered the menu mentioning mushrooms and other enticing ingredients, so I felt underwhelmed and left hungry after having just some brown rice with avocado and cucumber. To be fair, my friends' dishes looked great, but the menu didn’t clearly label vegan options, and they weren’t very accommodating for making items vegan. I wouldn’t return if I had the choice.

We often have a beautiful plate of avocado and gurkensushi! the server brought us a fish-free sauce without asking if we only order sweetsushi.

I stopped by for a quick bite during happy hour and was impressed by the shishito peppers—they were fantastic, seasoned just right with salt and lemon. The agedashi tofu was also impressive; the tofu was cooked to perfection, and the accompanying sauce and sides were great. The deluxe spicy tuna roll had good-quality tuna with a nice kick, but there were way too many tempura flakes, making it feel like I was eating a mouthful of Rice Krispies. The avocado eel roll was messy and had very little avocado. Overall, the appetizers were good, but the rolls were a bit disappointing.