Raku - (DC - DuPont)

We stopped in for dinner at Raku Friday night with a few friends. It was a welcome blast of spontaneity amid the predictable order of Restaurant Week.

Raku is a mad house. Everything there is in a state of chaos.

From getting a table (no reservations, no call ahead, none of the 2-3 people keeping "the list" talk to each other, etc.) to getting your food (mains arrive before starters, hot and cold arrive together, one diner gets all of their order while another gets nothing, etc.) you are never quite sure what is going to happen. Then again, that is part of the fun.

The menu is billed as "Asian tapas." My disdain for anything smaller than an entree being referred to as "tapas" is well documented elsewhere, so I will spare you the rant here. That said, they have a selection of sushi as well as noodle dishes, small plates and entrees representing a panoply of Asian influences - Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, etc.

Our party of four ordered sushi, spicy green beans, Dan Dan and vegetable spring rolls. The waiter was polite enough to handicap the likelihood of receiving each dish as we ordered it. For example, an order of stir fried chicken was met with a disapproving wag of the finger and the disclaimer, "the stir fry station is jammed - if you order that, it will come out last."

[It is worth noting here that food at Raku goes in on one ticket and arrives whenever it gets cooked. Nobody is behind the scenes expediting and orchestrating the timely arrival of each of your dishes. It gets cooked when the chef gets to it and promptly arrives on your table irrespective of the status of anything else you ordered.]

On this occasion, the spring rolls came out first, followed by the simultaneous arrival of the string beans and Dan Dan. This left one of our party with their starter, one of our party with their entire meal and two of our party with a beer in hand. All around, uninitiated diners complained about this haphazard service. Don't bother. Embrace the chaos and go with the flow.

Eventually our sushi arrived and everyone was happy. The Dan Dan was a little greasy, but altogether very good (though probably a poor choice for when it is 90 degrees and humid outside - and 88 degrees and humid inside). The green beans were excellent, as always - then again, it is hard to screw up green beans and chili peppers in a wok. The sushi was good as well - there is certainly better sushi in DC, but this was passable.

That, in a nutshell, is Raku - a complete lack of order, solid (though not exceptional) Asian food, and lots of confused diners placating themselves with alcohol. The mix is equal parts train station, beer hall and Chinatown.

If you go to Raku, bring your patience, some good friends and a designated driver.