Aburiya Raku, Las Vegas

On my second night in Las Vegas, I had a great late night dinner at Japanese Robata grill and restaurant, Aburiya Raku, located just west of the city's Chinatown area.
We started with a series of cold dishes before sampling items from the grill. First was a bowl with poached egg, mountain yam, nameko mushrooms, okra, sea urchin & salmon roe. This was a wonderful slimy bowl of briny, eggy, fatty goodness. All the components blended so well together.


We ordered a serving of Raku's housemade tofu. They offered to split the portion into a cold portion which arrived first and a hot portion for later. The cold tofu was reminiscent of fresh mozzarella in texture and in it's clean flavor. At the table, you had the option of toppings for the tofu including: green tea Hokkaido sea salt with shitake & seaweed; yagenbori shichimi, a blend of seven kinds of chile powders, koregusu, an oil with Okinawa chili, Awamori, and island peppers; and a soy sauce deuced with plum. The tofu also came with bonito, onion, & shredded daikon.
I found myself using the green tea salt the most.

That evening, there were some specials. We first got the kampachi, or amberjack, sashimi. It's a mild white fish with a good flavor to it.
We also got a small salad of hotaru ika, or firefly squid, sunomono style.






Out last cold started was the Kobe beef liver sashimi. It was sliced thin with a very thin slice of garlic on top. The texture reminded me of tuna sashimi, and raw, the liver does not have a strong "offal" flavor. It's much cleaner tasting.
We got the second half of our housemade tofu "agedashi" style. It's lightly fried and served in a dashi broth with salmon roe and onions. It was good, but I did prefer the tofu straight up simply because it was so fresh.

We started our grill items with vegetables. First up was roasted tomatoes. They immediately blew me away. With this as a start, I could taste the flavor imparted by their Japanese charcoal smoke throughout the flesh and skin of each tomato. It was remarkable.
The following bacon wrapped asparagus was a little underwhelming to me after the tomato. The bacon hid the smoke flavor I think.




I liked their shishito peppers. It's one of my favorite items to get at izakayas. Eating them is a bit like Russian roulette. Some are very mild, but every so often, you get one that is really spicy.
The directed flamed Japanese eggplant was just alright. The texture of the eggplant was soft and pleasant, but it seems to be very bland, hidden away in the forest of bonito.



Next up were our meat skewers. My tablemates ordered the apple marinated lamb chop and the duck with balsamic soy sauce. The lamb was wonderful. It was soft, juicy, and packed with flavor.
I found the duck not as memorable. The sauce was good, but the meat was alright. I think the flaming dried it out a little.





Raku has two options for Kobe beef from their grill. The first we tried was the Kobe beef skirt steak with a thin piece of garlic. The beef prepared this way was great.
I also had the Kobe filet topped with fresh wasabi. This was less fatty than the skirt, and with the kick of the wasabi, reminded me of pit beef with horseradish.





We ordered one chicken item, the tsukune- ground chicken sausage. It was light, juicy and delicious. I do prefer my tsukune with a little cartilage, but unfortunately, Raku's did not have any. It was still quite good.
I got my cartilage fix with the next course, the pig ear. This was awesome- fatty with a little bite of the cartilage on some pieces.
I also really loved the Kurobata pork cheek. I was in piggy heaven. The pork was so rich, it felt like eating 1 centimeter thick chunks of bacon.
My favorite of the robatayaki was the Kobe beef tendon. I got two large chunks. They were incredible, and each chunk had different flavors. The first piece I had was very smoky, savory and meaty, whereas the second piece was more juicy and sweet. The flavor contrast blew me away.
For dessert, we ordered two "sorbets". They were more like slushies, but both were very good. The first was tangerine which was pleasantly sweet with a little tang. My favorite was the strawberry. Maybe this was because it was topped with condensed milk.








5030 Spring Mountain Road # 2
Las Vegas, NV
(702)367-3511 ‎

Kimko Seafood, Korean Style Sashimi in Ellicott City, MD

I often find that going to Korean restaurants can be challenging. Usually, websites for their restaurants are completely in Korean, and at the restaurant, their menus are only partially translated. However, with research and the blessing of Korean speaking friends, I'm discovering incredible Korean places nearby.

My friends Anna & Davis told me about a Korean style sashimi place deep in Ellicott City, just west of the Enchanted Forest site. It used to be called Bethany Seafood Restaurant, but they recently changed their name to Kimko Seafood. They told me that this place will often have San Nakji, the live octopus sashimi, as well as lobster sashimi.
We went this past evening with a group of friends and ordered a large sashimi course. Alas, they had run out of the octopus that night, but I tried several kinds of sashimi that were new to me.

After toasting with some shots of soju, we started with the bonchon appetizer courses. They warm you up with a wonderful cup of congee. We then proceeded to receive 19 different items on plates and in bowls to get us started. This included a large seafood pancake, a soup with seaweed, potato salad, salmon collarbone, cooked eel, and several other preparations of fish. My favorites were the plate of grilled chicken gizzards, and a hot stone bowl of rice with fish roe. It was an unbelievable spread.








They brought in the "large" sashimi platter which was a 1 meter long wood board chock full of sashimi. Anna told us that Koreans eat sashimi a little different that the Japanese. First, while they sometimes use soy sauce with wasabi, they prefer to dip the fish into kochujang, the Korean style red chili pepper paste.
Also, she told us Koreans prefer fish that tend to be more chewy than the Japanese. Whereas tuna is the staple fish in the Japanese palate, the most popular item for the Koreans is halibut. This was reflected in our "plank" of food as a quarter of it consisted of halibut. I estimate we were served about 40-50 pieces.

On the other end of the board, we received sashimi items, I was accustomed to from eating at Japanese places. We received about 60 pieces of delicious white tuna, salmon, and yellowtail.
In the center, they put the specialty items of the house. These sea creatures were stored alive in tanks in the front of the restaurant, and were dispatched only a few minutes before they arrived at the dinner table.

The first item I tried was the lobster sashimi. We were served only the tail. The rest would come later. It came split open and sliced into bites and topped with some roe. The raw lobster still has a wonderful sweet flavor, but since it is uncooked, the texture is different. There is a little resistance when your first bite in, but just past that, it melts in your mouth.

Next I tried the abalone sashimi. It's texture was close to being like squid or a mushroom. It does not have a very strong flavor.

I was very excited as well to try sea cucumber sashimi. I love cooked sea cucumber which has a slightly rubbery texture like tendon when prepared this way. In it's raw form, it is a completely different experience. It is very briny in flavor, and the texture is similar to raw octopus. I loved it.


Our last and final item might have been the least popular at the table. That was the sea squirt sashimi. I wasn't sure how to eat this, and I did not realize they had a soft shell which you could not chew. Instead you just eat the soft bits. My experience was varied with this item. The first piece I had was bitter, but subsequent bites were less so. I would say I am neutral to sea squirt sashimi.








When we had our fill of sashimi, the remaining parts of the lobster, the claw and the head, followed. Of course, we first welcomed 5 more plates of vegetable bonchon to the table.
With the lobster, they take the remainders and, with some fish, toss it into a spicy broth to cook the whole time we were eating. The resulting soup had a flavorful broth that, despite already eating my fill, I could not resist going for seconds and thirds.
With that course, the meal had ended. We were served sliced oranges for dessert, and we were done. It was an incredible dinner. I'm already looking forward to going back to try their San Nakji.

10176 Baltimore National Pike #116
Ellicott City, MD
(410)480-1442

Kochuan, Happo-en Park, Tokyo

This is basically a food porn post. While in Tokyo during the cherry blossom season, I went to a meal for my cousin's daughter's birthday at the very respected Kochuan restaurant inside Happo-en park.
We had our kaiseki meal in a traditional tatami room that overlooked the cherry blossoms in the park. The theme of the meal was Hanami.
We started with a nice glass of Sakura champagne, and the courses started coming.
This was a shrimp paste made tableside in broth.



This amazing dish was sea urchin, scallop and egg.
Bamboo shoots grilled and then served in the actual shoot.

Red bean and mochi.

108-8631 / 1-1-1-Shirokanedai, Minato-ku
03-3443-3111

Food Porn- Kanseki Meal in Nikko Japan

While in Nikko, Japan, the staff at the historic Hotel Kanaya recommended a local restaurant that served a special Kanseki style meal for us. They were also able to have a vegetarian course for Kelly.
The meal consisted of several courses including local vegetables, sashimi, tempura, rice with fresh wasabi, and a beautiful handmade mochi ball. One of the specialties of the region is yuba, or tofu skin.

It's worth your while to click on each pic to see them up close.