ROTM: Tonkatsu Kiyoshi

Tonkatsu Kiyoshi

7780 S Jones Blvd
Ste 103
Las Vegas, NV 89139

(702) 837-7300

tonkatsukiyoshi.com


We wanted to look for a cheap, fast, easy dinner that's by us. We found this place with Yelp. This place serves nothing but Katsu - a breaded pork dish made famous in Japan. It is found in restaurant menus and in Japanese homes. 

It was fried to perfection, not greasy at all and the meat was moist. The mixture of the sauce (with addition of hot mustard) really makes the dish. If you are a fan of fried food, I would definitely recommend this place. They do offer a variety of side orders as well, like Edamame, Beef Tatami, Crab & Cucumber Salad, Cold Tofu, Shshito Peppers, Japanese Style Potato Salad, and Panko Crusted Soft Shell Crab.

Oh, and Kaelan got a Melon Cream Soda Float, which was delicious, and I forgot to take a photo of that.

Firs thing on our table we see is this.

One is sesame seeds and one is katsu sauce.

We were told to grid the sesame seeds in the bowls and then mix in the sauce for dipping 

special of the day, a Croquette with mashed potato corn with ground pork

Katsu Donburi  Pork Loin Katsu-Don $11.00A rice bowl of Katsu with sautéed eggs and onions. And a side of Miso Soup.

Hire Katsu and Ebi Fry Katsu Dinner $16.00

Pork Tenderloin and Shrimp Katsu 

Served with Bowl of Rice, Miso Soup, and Japanese Pickles

ROTM: Ramen Tatsu

Ramen Tatsu

3400 S Jones Blvd
Ste 6
Las Vegas, NV 89146
Chinatown

Phone number (702) 629-7777


We stumbled across this place by accident. The restaurant we want to go originally for Chinese New Year celebration was closed that night. After looking around the plaza, which had three 4 star restaurants on Yelp, we decide to eat at this place.

We love Japanese ramen. Our regular spot are two of the best ones in town, Monta and Ramen Sora.
We decided to give this place a try and see if it's just as good.

We ordered two spicy ramen, and man was it spicy! Most Japanese places when they say spicy it is not to the spice level like you would encounter like Thai food.  But this place uses habanero peppers to spice up their soup, not like chili oil in some places.  Our mouths were on fire! But a good spice!
The both were really flavorful and the noodles were cooked perfectly.

We also ordered a side of tonkatsu, edemame, a soft boiled egg (for Zoey), fried rice and karrage.
What I love about this place beside the friendly fast service, is that they have a set of utensils, bowls and sippy cup for your kid! I don't always remember to pack these in my diaper bag when we go out with Zoey and not many restaurants use plasticware, and Zoey has broken a dish or two in the restaurants. I find it very considerate to provide cute utensils for your little ones!

This is place is definitely up in the level of Monta and Sora and mines the long lines!
If you are regular to those you will know there is ALWAYS a line to wait in those to places. I think this is definitely a place waiting to to be discovered! Since it is hidden away in this busy plaza!

Pork katsu  - Japanese friend pork chop

karaage - Japanese fried chicken with ginger salad

Spicy Miso Ramen

Miso Ramen

Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen

ROTM: Abriya Raku

• • 5030 Spring Mountain Rd
    Las Vegas, NV 89146
    Chinatown
  • Phone number(702) 367-3511
  • www.raku-grill.com

  
  

  
  

  This is one of the highest rated traditional Japanese Charcoal Grill restaurants in Las Vegas that's been around since 2008.  This restaurant is very hard to get in, you absolutely need a reservation and in advance. We've been trying to get a reservation for months now, every time we call couple days beforehand, they can only get us in at 11:30 pm or midnight. This is a nice and intimate restaurant that we cannot bring Zoey to, so we finally had a chance to plan out a dinner celebrating Kaelan's birthday and made the reservation 2 weeks in advance for 6 pm.

  
  

  

  
  

  Kaelan and Val both went for the 
  

  
  

  $100 

  
  

  Omakase menu, it's a prefix menu roughly of 9 courses. The server asked us if we had any food allergies and anything that you don't want to eat beforehand so the chef and prepare your menu.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  I opted to order off the regular menu so we can try a bunch of different items.

  
  

  

  
  

  They also have a daily special menu that had fresh seasonal imported ingredients like blue fin tuna and several fresh fish. We ordered the Waygu Beef Sukiyaki and Opal Eye 2 ways off the board, and they built it into the Omakase menu, which was very nice so you don't have to pay extra for those special items.

   
• Special Menu for the night:
•  
• 

  
   

  Here is what's on the Omakase menu:

  
  

  

  # 1 Fresh oysters with caviar.

  
  

  

   #2 Baby squid salad.

  
  

  

  
  

  close up of baby squid. 

  

  
  

  

  #3 Opal Eye two ways - first option sashimi style. Beautiful presentation!

  
  

  

  #4 Grilled Tomatoes ($2).

  
  

  

  #5 Fried Shrimp Balls with Okra.

  
  

  

  #6 Opal Eye two ways - 2nd option, grilled.

  
  

  

  #7 Sauteed Scallop in butter and soy. Buttery and Delicious, cooked to perfection!

  
  

  

  #8 Kobe Skirt Steak with Garlic ($7.50).

  
  

  

  #9 Grade A5 Waygu Beef Sukiyaki. ($45)

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  Yummy perfection, cooked table side.

  
  

  

  #10 Foie Gras Rice Bowl ($18)

  
  

  The last course, dessert, which I forgot to take a picture of, was a fresh strawberry sorbet, which was delicious also!

  
  

  Here is what I ordered off the menu:

  
  

  

  Duck with Balsamic Soy Sauce ($4.50).

  
  

  

  Enoki Mushroom Wrapped with Bacon ($3).

  
  

  

  Kobe Beef Liver ($4.50).

  
  

  

  Pork Intestine ($2.50).

  
  

  They make their own tofu here, it's so smooth and silky. They instructed us to try it two ways, first is using their special seasoning salt, Green Tea Salt.  And second way is to try it with the toppings of bonito flakes, chives, ginger and their homemade special blend of soy sauce. This was very good, the soy sauce definitely enhances the flavor.

  

  Raku's Tofu - Whole ($5.50).

  
  

  

  Special Raku seasonings. (L to R) Green Tea Salt, Tokyo Chili Powder, Sake Peppers, Japanese Plum Soy Sauce.

  I had ordered a Apple Marinated Lamp Chop ($6) which I devour it down before I realized to take a photo of. It was grilled and seasoned perfectly, even Kaelan gave it a thumbs up for someone who doesn't eat lamb.

  
  

  Overall - this was expensive as you can see but it's definitely worth the price! So if you are a foodie, and adventurous when it comes to food, this is a must try splurge for you. They also had a huge selection of Sake, pages among pages. We ordered a bottle to share at the table so our total came to  $300 before tip. I would totally go back again and again and try all the other items on the menu. Every plate was beautifully presented and with such caress. Service is attentive and excellent. I can see why this place is so highly rated, it deserves every star on the 5 star scale!
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Raku also have a dessert restaurant called Sweets Raku, located couple doors down, we went over after our delicious meal, which I will post about in my next blog.