Rakkii Izakaya,
Icon City,
Bukit Tengah,
Penang.
Tel: 04-5054167
Email: rakkii.izakaya@hotmail.com.
Hours: Open from 1pm to 11.30pm daily, except Mondays
SERVING modern Asian cuisine with a Japanese touch, Rakkii Izakaya will excite its patrons with its creative menu.
Located at Icon City in Bukit Tengah, Penang, the Japanese bar serving otsumami (food eaten as an accompaniment to alcohol), offers a new take on the vibrant izakaya (a type of informal Japanese gastropub) tradition.
A relaxing place where sake and food share equal billing, the outlet caters to the lifestyle needs of urbanites.
A typical izakaya normally serves light snacks but not Rakkii, which is proud of its eclectic and exciting offerings.
They encompass soup, salad, otsumami, kushiyaki, main dishes, rice, noodles and desserts.
Owner and executive chef Samuel Cheong is a culinary virtuoso crafting edible works of art that are both beautiful and delicious.
The presentation of pressed pork belly is just as good as its taste.
Every plate is a perfect symphony of flavours towards a novel taste experience.
However, Cheong said the emphasis at the outlet is on otsumami to go with premium Japanese beverages such as sake, shochu, umeshu, whisky and beer, of which choices are aplenty here.
Favourites include dong po pork belly mantou (pork with fried bun, cucumber, hoisin and coriander), home-made pork and shrimp gyoza with spicy vinegar glaze and seared foie gras with smoked duck, miso caramel and burnt quail egg.
Other winning interpretations include truffled tamagoyaki (omelette with truffle mayonnaise and chives) and tsukune (sous vide duck egg with scallions).
Sample the curried shishamo (a type of saltwater fish) fries served with lemon wedge, tartare sauce and arugula or try the Hokkaido scallop crudo with arugula oil, Szechuan pepper, red radish, smoked salt and cress.
For something more substantial, go for the main dishes.
Diners will love saba (mackerel) tataki served with tomato and mango salsa, wasabi salt, extra virgin olive oil pipette and scallions, and 40°C torched salmon trout which comes with sautéed spinach, mushroom, miso cauli puree, scallion, hajikami and cress.
Then there is wagyu tataki (top pic) which comes with miso cauli puree, wasabi salt and garlic aioli.
Meat lovers will be delighted with the new additions.
The nori-wrapped lamb loin is a delightful dish for meat lovers.
They can choose either pork belly with raisins and cabbage, honey aioli and teriyaki balsamic glaze or nori-wrapped lamb loin with green pea puree, wasabi butter and honey infused demi-glaze.
The Dopper lamb loin is another intriguing creation with its medley of tastes — sweet when paired with the honey infused demi-glaze, earthy with the green pea puree, and spicy with the wasabi butter.
Foie gras chawanmushi
Do also ask about the monthly specials like foie gras chawanmushi (foie gras custard, dashi glaze, lumpfish roe and chives) (top pic) and smoked shrimp with lime and chili.
The chawanmushi is simply scrumptious.
The dashi (smoky, fishy stock) glaze topped with shredded Jinhua ham for that sweet and savoury combo perfectly balances out the creaminess of the foie gras-blended custard.
The smoked shrimp with lime and chili is one of the monthly specials.
The kushiyaki (skewered and grilled) selections of teriyaki chicken, miso-cured pork belly, stuffed shiitake and sesame unagi are equally appetising. The minimum order is four sticks.
Also on the menu is the delicious XO garlic butter fried rice with Alaskan crabmeat and nori.
Another option is soba carbonara with parmesan cream, smoked bacon, sous vide duck egg, nori, shicimi and peas.
Set lunch consisting of soup, appetiser, main dish and dessert is also available from 1pm to 4pm and priced at RM39++ per person. Add on RM4 for refreshing guava or orange juice.
Private seating is available on the mezzanine floor.
