03/29/09

Great price and atmosphere!

by misfitcooper

I have only been there a couple of times, but both times the service was excellent. Our server was VERY attentive, and made some excellent recommendations. I appreciated that although we tried a couple of different varieties of sake that neither myself nor my friend cared for, we were not charged for them. We have only been there when it was not crowded, I have no idea what happens to the service level when it gets busy. Heading there again tonight for a friend's birthday!

• Pros: Fair price, excellent service
• Cons: Food is too pretty to eat!

01/11/09

you HAVE to go!!!

by ieatchcolt

OMG!!! I remember when the Rain sign was dangling in the air...just before it was a landmark! I thought it was going to be a fish store...then I discovered sushi there! IT was amazing!!! I ate so much I was going to explode! I used to go once a week and was always treated like a best friend! one of the reasons to go is that the owners will never forget your face- nor the wonderful server who is still there! I went last night after not being there for a very long time- I HAD to get my new husband to try Rain sushi so he would know why I do NOT want to go to Blue C...anyway- we did and after all this time- I was greeted with a huge hello from everyone and a "so wonderful to see you again!" We ate- our mouths explored the new flavors of the rain drops...OMG!!! We had HH and then some and left paying a whopping $38 for a an amazing meal and experience. I made my husband promise we will go at least once a month- We are going to start at the top of the menu and try each roll...the only difference in the restaurant was that it was not as loud as it used to be (that was nice) and they do not serve alcohol anymore...it was a really relaxing experience and we were actually able to talk to each other as well as the chef- AND an old friend of mine is now the bartender there so I was reunited with him- awesome! We are going back on the 23rd for the live music! And of course...the BEST sushi in town! The best sushi I have had anywhere! And if you are not a raw fish kind of person- there are so many other wonderful , exotic entrees! Part of the experience is the presentation! Every plate is beautiful! JUST GO!!!

01/09/09

Best sushi in town!

by angel09

I use to not like sushi. I came to the rain and the best tasting sushi ever! I love their raindrop roll...I could eat it every night! Jenny is great she always treats us well! Great attitude and smile on her face. The other employees make it enjoyable to go and have sushi! Make sure you try RAIN if you love SUSHI!!!

12/18/08

Small, Hip, and the best Sushi!!!

by England88

One of my friends and I were visiting Seattle over our college's fall break. Our friend who lives in Wallingford near U-district said we had to try the sushi at this place down the street called Rain. Little did we know that we were about to have the BEST SUSHI of our lives! It was so good, I can't remember the name of everything we ordered because we went a bit crazy... but it was all GREAT! The vibe of the restaurant is very hip and eclectic. It is also a small restaurant, which was nice. The wait staff were very nice and attentive. It seemed to have a lot of local flair because it is not in the middle of the city. Overall, a great place!

• Pros: Small, great food, near U district
• Cons: none

04/20/08

Excellent Food, Sub-Par Service - Take Out Anyone?

by jimbogamumbobizzpop

As a local to Rain, living in Wallingford, I have dined there since month one. In the beginning the place always amazed me & my friends, and I often recommended it. But, like all good things, it came to an end. Rain's food is amazing, however, my visits have become less frequent; from once a month to maybe 3x per year. The service is unpredictable as is the crowd and atmosphere. Granted this isn't Rain's fault, yet when they blast music so loud it's more like Belltown on a Friday night. Talk about a shock walking in hoping for a nice meal only to feel like I was underdressed and not "cool" enough to be there. Or, maybe just not young enough (I'm 35). If you can avoid the late nights, you'll still have to deal with the unpredictable service. For example, when my girlfriend and I went there last fall, our server acted as though she were too busy to wait on us when we were one of three tables. Her attitude was poor and she seemed more concerned about chatting to the other customers who were obviously her friends. Once our dinners were served, the sushi chef and part owner (his name slips me) had to bring us chop sticks and plates. Then, I had to get up and walk to another table, all wihle our server watched, to grab dishes to mix the wasabi and soy sauce. At the end of our meal, our server knocked over my girlfriends's glass of wine, smugly said "sorry," or something of the sort and then didn't clean it up! To top it off, she charged us for the entire glass of wine and didn't offer up any type of explanation. My girlfriend and I swore to never return., but, we decided to give Rain a try once more on Valentine's Day. Everything was great this time...except, we tried to speak with the other owner (who's name also slips my mind) to tell her about our last experience and in the middle of our story, she muttered up a "pfft," shrugged her shoulders & walked off. Then, she returned with some free shots. An apology? Hardly. Do yourself a favor and order take out.

• Pros: Consistenly Great Food
• Cons: Wavering Service

03/30/08

Best sushi In town, Great atmosphere!

by mandt

okay lets talk about the waitresses. They are all young and super busy with a, abundance of people to serve and i could see how some would see that as bad service, But when you have 30 tables and 100 peope in there ?? how could you possibly think that the place is bad and the service is worse? Obviously the waitresses cant be at the snap of your fingers when they are trying to accommidate all these people. This is not the place for the average 45+ croud that is willing to pay 20 dollars a roll and have a nice quiet meal. Thsi is a place for the younger croud that enjoys the louder seattle life syle and awesome food! We've never been there when its not totally crouded, and thats what makes it fun. They are abviously doing something right to have so many loyal customers.

I've never been to any other sushi restraunt where the food is this good and the prices are so reasonably low, and let face it this is seattle parking is never the best but it can be done and its worth it!!

We have never been disappointed with anything we've ordered from rain and we recommend it to all of our frinds!!

03/17/08

Avoid at all cost

by seattledinner

I have heard great reviews of rain and decided to treat my girlfriend to a night out last saturday night. The service was appaling, it took 15 minutes after being seated to get a menu. It was impossible to talk inside, it must be the loudest restaurant in seattle. Anyhow, the food arrived and not only was it over priced it looked horrible and tasted even worse.

I would not even recommend this place to my ex girlfriend, and i really dont like her.

• Pros: I will not have to go here again
• Cons: Everyhthing

03/09/08

Raw fish in a meat market

by SporeBuster

Okay folks, let's be serious. The only reason why people like this place is because it's filled with singles and arrgessive hormonal exchanges. If what you're looking for is a place so loud that no one will notice your information-age attention span and inability to maintain conversation, this is the place for you! If you miss the homey pick up joint atmosphere of LA, make your reservation today! This is one of those places for people who don't really know food to rave about the food. I have news for all of you who gave this five stars; no matter what kind of sauce you put on fried calamari, it's still just fried calamari. Okay, so I had a reservation, and 45 minutes later we weren't seated. We finally left. (Although, I must say the owner did comp us our sake and gave us some free fried calamari.) My friends and I refer to these places as being filled with spores. Where do these people who go here come from? Do they really live in Seattle? You think you know what to expect in relaxed Wallingford, then you walk into a spore zone. It must be something about the combination of unbearable noice and cutesy cocktails that attract spores. They fly through the air until they have that plate of fried calamari to land on, then they sprout like mushrooms. If you want great sushi, Seattle is the town for you with it's plethora of cozy family run places, and more glamours upscale joints. But hey, I never really tasted the food because the atmosphere ruined my mood and appetite, so if you like spore joints, you might give it five stars too.

• Pros: lots of hype
• Cons: everything else

02/27/08

I don't like sushi, and I loved this place!

by blacky42

Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of sushi. However a friend really wanted to go and I was willing to give it a try. Someone said that maybe I haven?t had good sushi so I was willing to give it a shot.

I loved Rain! Personally I am big on texture, but the flavors got me past the texture. Finally I understood why people liked sushi. The subtle flavors got me past the texture and it finally felt like eating a delicacy. This was what sushi was supposed to be about.

We tried a variety of dishes and the only thing I didn?t like was one of the soups. I have had the same thing on the streets of Tokyo and this one wasn?t up to snuff. While it is easy to get ramen or soba noodles right, it is also very easy to get wrong. A minute too long in the water and you ruin the noodles.

When you take everything into consideration, I think we should let the soup slide. If you are going to get anything wrong, that is the thing. They had all kind of interesting rolls and a few new inventions that the people of Rain came up with. My friend would say what was traditional and what wasn?t so Rain brings in a good mix of the old and the new. Rather than the old ?Asian-fusion? cliche they fuse the old with the new. No one wants a sushi burger or some of the same old stuff coming out of other places.

If you like sushi, you have GOT to try this place. And if you don?t like sushi, this should be the last place you should try. If you can?t like it here, you won?t like it anywhere. And if you like it here, this is the only place for you.

02/21/08

Best sushi in town!!

by K1111

We love it here! The food is all sooo great and fresh. Try their signature Rain Roll. Their Get Wet Roll is good too. The resturaunt is cozy and inviting. The only downfall is the service is very slow and we have ahd to wait an hour to get our food before. The food really makes up for it though.