Restaurant Review: Raku Japanese Charcoal Grill (Las Vegas)

With only 3 days to celebrate my birthday in Las Vegas, we left nothing to chance by researching what not to miss in Sin City and tops of that list was Raku, a Japanese robata (charcoal grill) restaurant in the Chinatown district. Within one-hour of our plane landing we were seated at the most beautiful restaurant and ate, what turned out to be, the most delicious meal of our entire trip. Raku was a serious find and thanks to the Las Vegas Weekly's Most Important Restaurants, we'll be back to try the remaining 17 restaurants (we hit 2 other restaurants on the list).



We absolutely loved all the charcoal details of this charcoal grill restaurant, from the little charcoal chopstick holders to the charcoal piece in the water pitchers (what do you think Brita filters are filled with? You guessed it - charcoal).

My siblings were in town helping me celebrate my birthday, and it was good thing because we wanted to order everything off their robata menu, as well as their appetizer, cold, hot and special sushi menu. But since this was a robata restaurant we decided to stick to their specialties. We learned Raku is known for their homemade tofu (the best you'll ever have, stated the waitress), so we ordered their house specialty tofu and their agedashi (fried) tofu. The housemade soft tofu arrived first, as the fried tofu was going to take 20 minutes to prepare. Immediately we were all smitten. The tofu tasted of soft ricotta cheese and the flashed-fried-to-order garlic in chili sauce was simply delicious and balanced well with the delicate texture and flavor of the soft tofu. Once we tasted this we were all ready for the rest of the meal!



Next came the uni (sea urchin), ikura (marinated salmon roe) and poached egg. Stellar! We immediately broke the soft poached egg and mixed this all up. Absolutely delicious.



Then came the robata (grilled) items. There was the fun enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon. Silky smooth and squeaky, another stellar dish.



The butter sauteed Scallop in Soy Sauce, was adorable served in the scallop shell, charred perfectly and hard to share the small single bite.



Now if you check out Raku's robata menu, you will understand how difficult it was for us to narrow down which cuts/parts of chicken, beef and pork to select from. We opted for the pork cheeks, mainly because of the waitress's description of fatty and chewy. Man, were these skewers delicious.



We have an affinity for Japanese chicken meatballs and Raku's were pretty good. Ground chicken can be dry, but these skewers were perfect.



My absolute favorite dish of the night (and possibly the whole trip) was the Steamed Foie Gras Egg Custard. This was like eating bacon pudding. Delicate, flavorful, light and utterly divine.



As we waited for the Agedashi (fried) tofu, we decided to order their crispy fried chicken. Pieces of marinated chicken were rolled (like a porchetta), breaded and fried. Served on a lightly dressed bed of spinach, which added a nice citrus balance to the dish. Addictive!



The Agedashi tofu finally arrived and it was well worth the wait. Served in a light broth, this tofu was absolutely the best we have ever had.



By this time we weren't stuffed, but pleasantly full, so we decided to move onto dessert. We ordered their green tea creme brule and their fluffy cheesecake, while Mike ordered his dessert of choice ikura don or seasoned salmon roe on a bed of fluffy rice. Since it was my birthday weekend, our desserts came with a candle and sparklers!



The creme brule wasn't packed full of green tea flavor, but the detail of Raku just killed me. Check out the sprinkles of green tea powder on the top of the green tea ice cream. Our whole meal and evening had that extra punch of detail.



The fluffy cheesecake was where it was at. We've never had cheesecake like this before, tart, and of course fluffy, light and refreshing, a complete definition of the meaning palate cleanser. If all cheesecakes tasted like this I would become a cheesecake lover, surpassing my love of macaroons and cupcakes.



And of course the boys shared the ikura don, which they said was absolutely amazing.



Raku's decor was absolutely adorable and the service was stellar, down to the tiniest of details, such as the sake cups, to the kitchy, yet sophisticated wall inserts and the fully tiled bathroom with a huge fishtank. Raku completely surpassed our expectations and left us psyched about the week long vacation ahead, if all our upcoming meals come remotely close to this one, we're gonna never want to leave.

Raku Japanese Charcoal Grill
5030 W. Spring Mountain Road #2
Las Vegas, Nevada 89146
702.367.3511
Open 6pm - 3am (hell yeah - 3am!)
Closed Sundays

California Dreaming

California sunlight, blooming bouganvilla, palm trees, warm Pacific Ocean breezes, fresh avocados, Meyer lemons and Spanish American architecture - hoping to find this and more!

All images - Pufik Homes

Hanami

In the dead of winter, Mike kindly reminded me that the cherry blossom hanami season in Japan would be a perfect place to celebrate my birthday. But I selfishly thought Mike was making the suggestion because he was aching to go back to one of our favorite places in the world. I quickly kiboshed the idea, stating I'd rather be on a beach somewhere. That is until my instagram feed filled up with images of hanafubuki or falling cherry blossom petals.

Sakura season to many Japanese represents a concept called "wabi-sabi" or a sense of imperfection, impermanence and incompleteness. A reminder that beauty is fleeting and in constant transformation.  Very fitting for a spring birthday, don't you think? Spring also represents new beginnings so I think I will start planning my next birthday now because when the cherry and fruit trees in Portland start to burst I truly feel a sense of renewal. 

Photos from Hello Sandwich here and here.

Life, As of Late and a Random Easter

Easter in Portland is a total crap shoot, you really can't depend on the weather to cooperate. This wasn't the case this year, it was absolutely perfect! Plenty of sunshine, temperatures in the 70s and a slight refreshing breeze, oh spring you truly are showing off this year. Easter seems to be a holiday filled with lots of good food and candy. We didn't partake in any candy, ham or Easter eggs, but we did have donabe. A more random Easter for sure, but a great one also. Hope everyone's early spring and Easter was great!

Chef Naoko Bento Cafe

Hey Mike, why the disinterested look on your face? Was it because I kept asking you too look up from your phone so I can try and focus my new lens (which wasn't working and is going back to the photostore) to capture the glorious moment we discovered Chef Naoko's Bento Cafe? This must have been taken before our lunch arrived, because our meal was amazing! Thanks to our friends who suggested Chef Naoko's cooking because her food is healthy, natural, organic and insanely good. If you want to read about Chef Naoko's history with eating natural foods, which started when she was born, you can learn more here. For us, this bento lunch was simply heavenly.

Mike ordered the halibut with shitake mushrooms and kale bento special which came prepared two ways, but by the time we arrived the broth poached halibut was out and only the cream poached halibut was available. Dairy is on the restricted list, after a bit of explanation he decided to order the cream poached anyways. Boy am I glad he did because the halibut was fantastic, like eating flaky, soft silk!

I ordered the menchi-katsu (mixed vegetable and chicken fried cutlet). The bento box ensured the meal was well balanced with each and every component shining on its own. There was a warm soft tofu topped with a sweet miso paste, a ridiculously simple and delicious salad with barley pearls to add crunch and nuttiness, a slice of sweet folded tamago (egg omelet made with sweet dashi), chopped green beans with a tofu paste, hijiki salad (that Japanese black colored food element) with root vegetables and a mixed brown rice for some heftiness to the meal.

This meal was so healthy, even the berry & lemon tart with almond paste and crust was gluten/dairy/egg free. Not only can we eat this once a week (at least) but I think we will be. The staff had relayed Mike's issues with some of the food items, which prompted Chef Naoko to introduce herself and discuss with us some of our restrictions. I really love living in Portland, for the simple reason that we have farm to table options like Chef Naoko's cafe at our fingertips. Here's to more healthy eating! Kampai!