The Yasai By Rakiraki

So my trip to San Diego was with a few other girls and between us, we had ALL the religious dietary restrictions. Two vegetarians, a chicketarian, and a no piggies please. One thing that we could all agree on, surprisingly, was sushi. This was the first time I realized how vegetarian friendly most sushi restaurants were. This one in particular was VEGAN. yes. The other V word.
It still turned out to be some of the best food I've had and one of the most memorable meals from the trip! And also - aren't they too pretty to eat?!

Stressed out rolls - oh so good!!
Vegan chicken karaage - wouldn't recommend.
Wish I lived in San Diego to try out the vegan ramen!

WOW. WOW. AND WOW. The best vegan sushi rolls we've ever had. The best ramen we've ever had. Really amazing fresh and creative vegan dishes. The bento box was bomb and the sauces alone were to die for!

The only thing I would recommend is to include some kind of clue as to what sauces go with what dishes.

PLEASE open up a location in South OC!!!!! In the meantime, any and every time we're in SD, we will be eating here!

I was craving for soup and as always, Downtown is always my go-to place to Dine in. We went to RAKIRAKI last week in their location in Little Italy . It isn't our first time at Raki-Raki, we've been to their other location before, mostly we go to Convoy, but at this location it is our first time.

We were 4th in Line, but it was quick. We Got seated and was handed a menu.

We Ordered:

*TONKOTSU RAMEN

*SHOYU RAMEN

*CRISPY UNDERBELLY

At first I was craving for SOUP, but when I saw their CRISPY UNDER BELLY on their Menu, I ordered that instead. My husband and Son Ordered their Soup. From my picture it looks like a small portion, but if you look at the Bowl it goes deep and it's really just the right amount. Both of son's and husband's soup were really good, the meats were tender,and the noodles are cooked nice, not soggy and the noodles themself were flavorful. But my CRISPY UNDERBELLY bowl was so Flavorful! The Marinate sauce they use is so amazing. I can taste a bit of the sweetness in my Meat, but it wasn't an overpowering sweetness.

The place is not as Big as the other Locations, but the wait time here is at least not as long as the other branch they have.

The parking is on the side of the street, but in front of their Restaurant across the street is actually a Paid Parking.

We will definitely be back to this location.

My partner and I are self-proclaimed vegan sushi and ramen connoisseurs and this place was amazing. The tantanmen ramen was the best I've ever had - the broth, the noodles, and toppings were all absolutely delicious. We also had the queen dragon and the king minato rolls. The king minato was our favorite and had a perfect smoky flavor. The ramen is a must and I wish we had this place near where we live!

I love it here! The food was amazing!! Im definitely coming back
Presentation was beautiful, the food tasted so good, the ambiance was cute and the service was great.

My first Vegan Japanese experience and it was all worth it !

Starting with the ambiance a calm hug roofed interior with vegan and non vegan customers seated in different sections!

The service was as such the menu was explained and even suggestion were given! We needed that because wanted an assurance that even if it's named eel sauce in a vegan menu was it vegan based? Yes it was

The best part was the food! Crispy and yummy apps and mouth full sushi was a mind-blowing experience I can't forget!

Their vegan menu is amazing, and this was one of the best meals I've had in San Diego. I tried the streamed buns, spicy ramen, and "million dollar chick'n" ... Ramen was a 4 out of 5 for me, as I think it's like a tofu version better than the one with impossible meat. Still, it was v very good. The faux chickn app was incredibly good and a nice big portion that was filling. The steamed buns were one of the best bites of food I've eaten. The soft pillowy buns, marinated filling, crunchy pickled onions... perfection. I'd eat a platter of those any day. Looking forward to going back for some of their vegan sushi and more buns!

Every dish was amazing! Not a single dud in any of the items we ordered. Everything was delicious in their own unique way.

I called same day to make a dinner reservation for 4 outside. I was surprised they let me do that in the first place. When I got there, they said they had the reservation down for 2 not 4 so there would be a 20-30 min wait for a table for 4. But they were able to seat us after only a 15-20 min wait. Though the seating was a little awkward, I really appreciate how accommodating they were!

We started with the super jumbo karaage. The no-chicken was so crispy good and the sauces that it was drizzled with were a delicious complement. MUST HAVE!

Next we split the caterpillar roll, stressed out roll, amakara roll, and the original ramen (+black edition). The rolls were so unique in presentation, ingredients, and flavor, it was hard to pick a favorite out of all three. The ramen was chewy and bouncy and the fermented garlic added a nice depth to the flavor. Everything was a hit with everyone!

The only thing is sitting outside means you're right underneath a flight path for San Diego airport and it can get loud and annoying (and a little scary). I'm not sure if this is something folks just get used to being in downtown SD more often but it feels like the planes are SO CLOSE!

You get like 5 menus when you walk in because it's a bunch of restaurants in one. It gets a bit overwhelming and confusing. That being said, I recommend sticking to ramen and sushi. The popcorn chicken is really good as a starter. The kimchee ramen is unique and delicious; the other ramens are just okay. We ordered everything at once and the chicken and ramen came out quickly. The dream box of nigiri took a super long time to arrive. I appreciate the chef taking time in making sure his creation looks perfect but we had already finished eating and waited on this item for 40 minutes after.. we asked for it to go at that point, so that was kind of sad, since the chef had JUST finished it and had to transfer it over to a box. It was beautifully presented, even in a to go box, and delicious too. Docking a star for how slow it was.