Raku Kitchen

Words and photos by Josie Wu
Translated by Niccole Yang

1, JingMao 2nd Rd., 3F, Nangang Dist., Taipei City
(02) 2788-1000, ext. 5666 or 5667
Hours: lunch, 11:30 am-2:30 pm; dinner, Monday to Friday: 6-9:30 pm
Saturday and Sunday: 5:30-9:30 pm
Charge service fee 10%, credit cards are acceptable.
Menu in Chinese and English are provided.

Seeing the potential of the Nangang Commerical Center, this five star catering team decided to open a buffet restaurant extending to east of the Commercial Center. Raku Kitchen is located on the third floor of the Taipei Nangang Exihibition Center, with four meters high ceilings, and including a buffet area and banquet hall. Raku Kitchen is about 317 square meters, hosting 250 seats and two rooms that can each fit 12 to 18 people (minimum charge of NT$10000 and NT$16800). The price of dinner and lunch are both NT$780+10%.

The newly opened Raku Kitchen is what neighborhood residents have been hoping for: catering service from a five star catering team in a new space. What people care about the most and see as most practical is the catering service they provide in the restaurant, which is not exactly on a luxurious level, but truly savory and satisfying. The hot dish area serves several exotic cuisines including western Italian stewed lamb shank, French braised chicken with red wine, Chinese braised beef tenderloin chunks with soy, steamed chili fish, Thai green curry, pumpkin red curry with chicken, Japanese sukiyaki and other different options. Besides American beef shoulder chops, the restaurant also provides Hawaii BBQ pork, grilled turkey and ham at the freshly cut area. There is another area serves sashimi, Nigirizushi, Temaki, traditional sushi, and other Japanese baked and deep fried dishes.

Those who love sweets will be amazed by the roughly 70 different desserts the restaurant serves. The executive chef of the western pastry, Huang Shou Fu, creates European, Japanese, and Chinese desserts with handmade skill and creative thoughts. The recommendations for the Japanese style dessert are brown sugar wagashi, traditional Japanese warabimochi, and green tea pumpkin pudding. And for the European style dessert, the recommendations are cheesecake and freshly baked soufflé. The handmade tofu pudding is made daily by organic soybeans strictly selected by chefs, which usually sells out in minutes. Another must-order is the freshly made waffle and the pumpkin pancake.

A. There are four areas at Raku Kitchen, serving desserts, cold dishes, hot dishes, and Japanese sashimi and sushi bar--providing more than 130 dishes for the customers.

B. The restaurant put the concept of kaiseki into the cold dishes, which is exquisite. The recommendation is the smoked salmon, salted with pink salt, and smoked with hickory for four to five hours.

C. About 70 different kinds of European breads and exquisite desserts bring visual and tasting satisfaction to the customers, providing a completely different impression of an-all-you-can-eat restaurant. People with a sweet tooth will be stuck in the dessert area at Raku Kitchen.

D. Raku Kitchen has a child and parent friendly playground area, furnished with Flexa kids furnishings from Denmark, which passed the European Union safety test and meets international safety standards. Parents should have no worries about their kids playing in the playground area. The playground includes a sliding area, bird's nest area, castle fantasy area, and a reading corner. The restaurant also provides utensils and special seats for kids.