ps99472
New member
Able to experience a wonderful meal recently and dare to say, it was one of my top 5 meals of all time. It was at Raku (http://www.yelp.com/biz/raku-las-vegas), a small Japanese izakaya off the strip in ghetto Chinatown.
Raku Tofu
Fried Ice Fish
Chicken Breast with skin
Itoyori (Threadfin Bream)
Chicken thigh meat
Pig ears
Chicken wings
Crispy fried chicken
Kobe beef filet
Kobe beef skirt
Itoyori part 2
Tsukune (ground chicken)
Cold Somen
Foie gras
Side condiments
Worth every penny
The tofu dish was what brought me here, saw it featured on food network, one of those 'Best thing ever eaten' shows. It's served cold, and the tofu is freshly made daily. A delicate dish, the server recommended the green tea salt. Not bad, added the bonito shavings, onions, ginger. A nice start, though not groundbreaking to me. The Fried Ice fish came next, a good dish with beer, not a strong tasting fish, can eat these all night.
The next dish is the grilled chicken breast with skin, this was when I realized Raku is a few tiers above Honda-Ya (cried a little). The meat is tender and still juicy, which is very hard to do when grilling small pieces of chicken, especially white meat. The skin is to die for. Smoky, fatty, crisp, the flavor of the Japanese wood charcoal is trapped in that little piece of skin. 3 bites and we're done, wanted more but know there is more food coming so held off.
Itoyori is the 'fish of the day' special. Off menu and written on a miniature chalkboard the server brought to our table. Never heard of this fish, server said its like red snapper. Decided to have it two ways: half grilled in white teriyaki sauce and the other half deep fried and served in a light broth. I'm not a fish fan, especially when I have to deal with bones but this was freakin delicious. Not fishy at all, the light flavors paired well with the airy flaky fish. This, a bowl of rice, and a cup of hot tea will be a perfect Japanese breakfast for me.
Hard to follow after the fish, the chicken thigh meat (yakitori) came next, and again it is much better than Honda-ya. The pig ears were the only disappointment of the night, since it's served hot, the texture became very soft/chewy. Kinda like chomping on a piece of tasty fat with cartilage but with a lot of smoke. Needed a lot of beer to wash the oily taste out.
More chicken dishes follow: the wings were decent, and I dare say about same as Honda-Ya (nice!). My family devoured most of it before I can taste the meat, only got a little piece of it off the bone. Next dish is the juicy fried chicken, one of the best of the evening. Rolled chicken (french technique?), not sure how they got the skin to stay on like that. It was the best Japanese fried chicken I ever had. This dish will make me want to drive the 3.5 hours into 110 degree weather.
The Kobe beef skewers came next. Tasty but not as tender as I had imagined. The wasabi brought a nice contrast to the beefy taste. Not a fan of the fried garlic on the other pieces, bit too overpowering for me. I would probably skipped these and get more chicken dishes next time.
The other half of the itoyori came next, it is deep fried and then stacked in a light soy broth. Another wonderful way of cooking this fish. Wish I can eat this all night.
The next chicken dish is tsukune or ground chicken lollipops. It was decent, has a high herb flavor. Thought my kid would like this, but she favored the $33 itoyori more. Nice.
Grilled foie gras came next to last, a good thing since this will wipe out your palate for the night. Rich and very creamy like all foie gras, it captured the wood charcoal taste as well. Need to balance out after this, luckily the somen came last. Perfectly cooked noodles in an ice bath, dipped in the light sauce then dunked in the raw quail egg. Look at how the side green onions are chopped and uniform. Great attention to detail. This is simple pure Japanese flavors.
We were lucky to get a 6:30 pm reservation. I called them 20 times before I got thru to make it. Was told that we have until 8:30 pm to eat, was taken a back by this comment since we never eaten for 2 hours before but after this meal, I now understand why! And we also got a private booth in the back, our own little foodie heaven
Raku Tofu
Fried Ice Fish
Chicken Breast with skin
Itoyori (Threadfin Bream)
Chicken thigh meat
Pig ears
Chicken wings
Crispy fried chicken
Kobe beef filet
Kobe beef skirt
Itoyori part 2
Tsukune (ground chicken)
Cold Somen
Foie gras
Side condiments
Worth every penny
The tofu dish was what brought me here, saw it featured on food network, one of those 'Best thing ever eaten' shows. It's served cold, and the tofu is freshly made daily. A delicate dish, the server recommended the green tea salt. Not bad, added the bonito shavings, onions, ginger. A nice start, though not groundbreaking to me. The Fried Ice fish came next, a good dish with beer, not a strong tasting fish, can eat these all night.
The next dish is the grilled chicken breast with skin, this was when I realized Raku is a few tiers above Honda-Ya (cried a little). The meat is tender and still juicy, which is very hard to do when grilling small pieces of chicken, especially white meat. The skin is to die for. Smoky, fatty, crisp, the flavor of the Japanese wood charcoal is trapped in that little piece of skin. 3 bites and we're done, wanted more but know there is more food coming so held off.
Itoyori is the 'fish of the day' special. Off menu and written on a miniature chalkboard the server brought to our table. Never heard of this fish, server said its like red snapper. Decided to have it two ways: half grilled in white teriyaki sauce and the other half deep fried and served in a light broth. I'm not a fish fan, especially when I have to deal with bones but this was freakin delicious. Not fishy at all, the light flavors paired well with the airy flaky fish. This, a bowl of rice, and a cup of hot tea will be a perfect Japanese breakfast for me.
Hard to follow after the fish, the chicken thigh meat (yakitori) came next, and again it is much better than Honda-ya. The pig ears were the only disappointment of the night, since it's served hot, the texture became very soft/chewy. Kinda like chomping on a piece of tasty fat with cartilage but with a lot of smoke. Needed a lot of beer to wash the oily taste out.
More chicken dishes follow: the wings were decent, and I dare say about same as Honda-Ya (nice!). My family devoured most of it before I can taste the meat, only got a little piece of it off the bone. Next dish is the juicy fried chicken, one of the best of the evening. Rolled chicken (french technique?), not sure how they got the skin to stay on like that. It was the best Japanese fried chicken I ever had. This dish will make me want to drive the 3.5 hours into 110 degree weather.
The Kobe beef skewers came next. Tasty but not as tender as I had imagined. The wasabi brought a nice contrast to the beefy taste. Not a fan of the fried garlic on the other pieces, bit too overpowering for me. I would probably skipped these and get more chicken dishes next time.
The other half of the itoyori came next, it is deep fried and then stacked in a light soy broth. Another wonderful way of cooking this fish. Wish I can eat this all night.
The next chicken dish is tsukune or ground chicken lollipops. It was decent, has a high herb flavor. Thought my kid would like this, but she favored the $33 itoyori more. Nice.
Grilled foie gras came next to last, a good thing since this will wipe out your palate for the night. Rich and very creamy like all foie gras, it captured the wood charcoal taste as well. Need to balance out after this, luckily the somen came last. Perfectly cooked noodles in an ice bath, dipped in the light sauce then dunked in the raw quail egg. Look at how the side green onions are chopped and uniform. Great attention to detail. This is simple pure Japanese flavors.
We were lucky to get a 6:30 pm reservation. I called them 20 times before I got thru to make it. Was told that we have until 8:30 pm to eat, was taken a back by this comment since we never eaten for 2 hours before but after this meal, I now understand why! And we also got a private booth in the back, our own little foodie heaven
. You shoulda made a trip.
, we like Maestros. 
