I eat at Rakiraki almost every week or every other week, either for a late night Saturday meal or lunch with my aunt. I recently ate there this past Saturday and was given an invitation to their Little Italy location's soft opening.
The new Little Italy location is in a great spot: up the block from Crack Shack, next door to Bottle Craft and down the street from James Coffee Co. The actual space is split up into two restaurants; Pokirrito on the left side and Rakiraki on the right. Tables are in the middle of the two and they have some outdoor seating. Both restaurants have their own ordering counter so if you want something from both you will need to order twice. Once you place an order you're given a number and then you find a spot to sit at. A food runner will bring your food to you.
For a soft opening it seemed like everything was running fairly smooth. Soft openings can be hit or miss since restaurants are still figuring out the kinks but Rakiraki/Pokirrito had at least one veteran server helping out. The head chef from the Rakiraki side was also walking around checking up on customers which was nice since it showed that they cared about the food. And even though they were packed food came out fairly quickly.
The Pokirrito side is exactly like their Convoy location. Same menu and concept. The Rakiraki side has changed the most. The Little Italy location has a paired down menu which works better for counter ordering. The menu features their most popular ramens, curry rice, yakitori/kushikatsu, appetizers and drinks. If you want to grab a ramen burger or a rice bowl it's best to stick to the Convoy location.
We decided to stick to our favorites to see how different they were to the Convoy location. We chose the tsukune katsu curry and the black fermentation ramen (and a beer for me because I love a beer with ramen). The ramen was basically the same as Convoy: noodles had a great chew and the broth was just as savory although with a tad less garlic oil. The curry was the most different though still delicious. The included katsu sauce tasted more tomatoey and had sesame seeds in it and the boyfriend said that the curry seemed a bit spicier which isn't a bad thing for us. The tsukune tasted exactly the same as the Convoy location: crunchy on the outside, moist and flavorful on the inside.
Overall it was a great meal and a good addition to Little Italy since the only other ramen place there is Underbelly which I'm not too fond of. I don't know if I would personally make the trip down to Little Italy to eat here (I live 5 minutes from the Convoy locations) but it's a must visit for Downtown/Little Italy natives.
Rakiraki Ramen/Pokirrito (Little Italy)
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