Ju-Raku

A Polite but Puzzling Place

Erika Chong

May 3, 2026

Location:

Bayview Village

Notes of Interest:

Really weird interior design. How do they make money with such few tables?

What we ordered: (3 people)

Beef Curry Udon – $20
Kaisen no Tempura Udon – $20
Kaisen Donburi – $23
Golden Dragon Maki (8 pieces) – $20

Total damage to wallet – $83 + tax + tip

Thoughts:

Honestly speaking, we only come to this spot because it’s close to church. This restaurant took over the old O&B, which had been there for a really long time, but the layout of the restaurant is quite odd. They have very few tables for guests tucked away in the back corner, and a huge open space at the front and kitchen in the middle? If you’re going to make it public, why not let patrons watch? It looks pretty but I have no idea how they could be profitable/expand with so few tables. Asian restaurants generally thrive when they “look” busy – not the other way around. I guess they make most of their money from teppanyaki at night (we have yet to try).

They have a nice lunch menu, and the ingredient quality seems quite good. Certain dishes can be hit or miss – we don’t like the curry udon (not enough flavour, and the texture is oddly chunky). The Kaisen Donburi was fresh and similar to a chirashi, one of Simon’s favourite dishes.

Maybe it’s the mall/area the brings out the the pickest type of patrons, but it seems like everytime we come, there’s are CEO-type women on their off-days that have a bone to pick with the service or food or whatever at the tables near us. They’ve missed an order of ours one time, but this time around they were very polite and courteous, refilling yummy genmaicha frequently (I mean, they better for so many servers and so few tables).

It is definitely missing something to push it over the edge to be a GREAT restaurant.