Raku is a really solid shabu shabu spot in the Cap Hill neighborhood. I went for dinner there with…read moremy husband, who is vegetarian, and he was very happy with their options for him.
When you go in and are seated, you order on an iPad at your table. I had the single set that included one meat option (I had the thinly sliced beef), one noodle (I had the fresh noodle) and one broth (I had the spicy mala broth) which was $36, and he had the single veggie set and chose the miso broth. I was surprised and impressed by the fact that they had more than one vegetarian broth option, when most hot pot places only have one.
You then wait for them to bring your broth and meat to you, which each come in individual pots that you cook on your own stove. The AYCE portion here is the veggie bar and the sauce bar. The veggie bar includes a bunch of fresh vegetables, tofus, and seafood balls. You can load up with items from the buffet whenever you'd like, but don't go too crazy as you get charged money at the end if you don't finish what you grab. The sauce bar has everything you need to make your own personalized dipping sauce. I appreciated that everything was clearly labeled (because differentiating one dark brown liquid from another can get pretty dicey without labels).
I found the individual stoves very responsive, which allows you to waste minimal time waiting for your broth to boil. It also makes it easy to turn your heat down when you're not actively cooking something, so that you don't have to worry about your broth boiling over or burning to the bottom. The vegetables are very fresh and delicious, and the meat that I had was lovely as well. I enjoyed the mala broth, found it to have a mild kick without being overly spicy, and my husband really enjoyed his vegetarian miso broth. Overall, the food here was great. I do wish that the vegetable bar also included things like noodles or dumplings, though, which I have seen at other hot pot restaurants. I do think that the veg bar selection could be larger, but the quality of what they do have is great.
The restaurant is very clean, and seemingly well maintained. One odd thing, though, is the seating arrangement if you go as a duo/couple. Rather than having standalone two tops, they seat groups of two French style at a four top, across from another group of two, where the two groups are separated by a physical barrier in the middle of the table. I have no issues sitting French style, and often prefer it, but what this means is that on a busier night you will likely spend your meal sitting right across the table from a duo of strangers. No problems with this in principle, but in practice this means that you can hear their entire conversation and they can hear yours, but you can't see them, which does honestly feel kind of awkward. I understand why the restaurant does it, to maximize their space, but it is the one thing I didn't enjoy about the experience.
The playlist here is also a bit random.
Service is solid, quite unobtrusive but they are good at keeping your water filled and the buffet stocked.
Overall this is a really solid option for shabu shabu, great for vegetarians, that we will likely visit again.