THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED NAMES Hakone

THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED NAMES Hakone Restaurant Review:

THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED NAMES TO RAKU JAPANESE RESTAURANT. It's only fitting that such an elegant venue as the Maui Prince Hotel should have a first-rate Japanese restaurant, and in Hakone, it certainly does. Designed with Zen spareness---blond woods, lots of white, generously spaced tables and a beautifully laid-out sushi bar---Hakone is quietly handsome, yet casual enough for comfort. The service is topnotch---you barely have to wiggle your eyebrow and someone will be refilling your water, or bringing you a hot towel. The sushi is fresh and well-prepared and the cooked dishes live up to the quality of the raw ones. Tempura comes to the table crisp and greaseless, cooked to a turn. The ostrich katsu is served with a sweet-and-sour sauce and the hirame usuzukuri, thinly sliced halibut with ponzu sauce, is delicate yet flavorful. We also enjoy the kaiseki dinner, which comes in three varieties: seven courses, nine courses or a sushi version. You can have a complete nabemono dinner cooked tableside for a minimum of two. Monday nights, there's a Japanese buffet only featuring 25 specially-prepared delicacies.