You may remember that Rain Sushi closed up shop a month or so back, and the spot was taken over by Miyabi, a Japanese Noodle shop with an existing location in Tukwila.
It turns out that rather than buying Rain and converting it, Miyabi was able to simply take over Rain’s expiring lease. It made for a much less expensive opening for Miyabi, no doubt, but left Rain chef-owners Jenny and Takashi (pictured at right in front of an octopus) with a restaurant without a location.
But thanks to the indomitable American ingenuity (OK, Japanese-American Fusion ingenuity), and a chat with their friend Andrew, owner of the SeaMonster Lounge, Rain is back! We got this text message from Jenny Thursday afternoon:
In case you haven’t heard, starting today, we will be serving Rain’s cuisine at Seamonster Lounge! We have the Wallyhood Roll on the menu still. And would love if you could come by for sushi and drinks! Our hours of operation will be 5 pm – 10 pm, 7 days a week! See you tonight for the opening night!
How ’bout that? We popped our head in to take a look around and get the scoop, and it certainly seems they’ve hit the ground running. The house was full while the Seamonster’s evening music set up on stage.
The menu will be a slightly scaled back version of their previous, and after 10 pm, they’ll still have a bar menu available of pre-packaged Alaskan Rolls and such. They’ve also added a new item the their menu: The Seamonster Roll, natch.
Welcome back!
wooo hooo. The Sea Monster has a good heart.
So are we supposed to believe that Miyabi behaved unethically by taking over Rain’s lease? Tell me what I should do as an Ethical Seattleite™. Am I supposed to be boycotting Miyabi or not?
Why would it be unethical to rent a space that someone else was vacating?
Good question!
To the above posters: The article never stated anything was unethical, just the happy news that Rain customers can now follow their favorite chefs and when they do, they will find that they now have easy access the best music in Seattle.
As a Seamonster regular, I am thrilled with the new configuration, new clients and additional revenue source and exposure for those amazing musicians.
No regrets about the Cuban menu? Have never eaten there, but understand that’s what you’d find there now, unless Rain has already moved in.
lollygag: in a previous post, someone alleged that there was something unethical about the way Miyabi took over the lease. I’m still waiting for this to be explained.
http://www.wallyhood.org/forums-placeholder/comment-page-1/#comment-166409
Will they package sushi for pickup? My kid would love to have the sushi again!
What happened to Rain’s owners was both sad and unethical. They put the hard work in to find a buyer for their restaurant and had a sale agreement. Unfortunately the building landlord and Miyabi owners cut Rain out of the deal, leaving Rain with no money and no restaurant. Rain owners had put alot of love and hard work into their successful business and did not deserve this. Fortunately, Andrew was wiling to put time and money into a beautiful remodel of Seamonster and the opening was fantastic, food great as always. Anyway, any support from the community would be greatly appreciated!