On Friday night, we got into Las Vegas late enough that we could’ve braved the 24-hour casino restaurants. But why do that when we knew there were late night joints the locals went to? On our list was this fabulous little Japanese restaurant on the second floor of a strip mall in Las Vegas’ Chinatown: Ichiza!
It was a nice night to be waiting outside.
Handwritten specials.
We walked in at 9:30 PM thinking we’d sashay in but no, the line was about 1 hour long for a table for two. Sadly, the restaurant could only hold about 60 people max, hence the line. The wait allowed us to read the quaint hand made signs posted on the dark wooden walls and over the bar in Japanese with English subtitles. By the time we got our place at the bar, we already knew what to order!
I only have one thing to say about Ichiza: FABULOUS! My boyfriend and I vowed that every time we’re ever in Las Vegas, it was mandatory to have at least one dinner here. This time, we’ll call ahead for reservations.
I have to let you all know that my boyfriend is a very finicky eater. Needless to say, he didn’t go all out adventurous on me but that’s okay. We started off with miso soup. He had the very delicious Beef Bowl and Salted Salmon Steak Fillet and a container-for-two of cold house sake. He also ordered the Kushi-Katsu: pork chop pieces with onions deep fried with a crust of panko with a side of plum sauce and a ball of hot mustard. I ate that.
I, on the other hand–the adventurous one who eats rodents, went nuts. Most of the photos are of things I ordered. With that, on to the food porn!
Kushi-Katsu: Fried pork on a stick. Yum.
Seaweed salad with this very delicious special that was on the board right above our heads when we were waiting by the door. These two morsels of Heaven were called Seared Scallop Rock and Roll. Note the scallop wasn't seared but who cares! My tastebuds were rockin' and rollin'!
Grilled Salmon Belly and Aspara-Bacon!
Now let me tell you something about this monstrosity called Aspara-Bacon. How can anyone resist anything wrapped with bacon? It’s obviously not Japanese and one order is good enough for two. It’s one of their specialties and for a mere $3.95 per order, how could you not try to assault two of your bodily systems, your urinary and coronary systems, at the same time!? Talk about multi-tasking!
Madness?! This is Spartaaaa-- Aspara-Bacon!
What a yin-and-yang combination of bad and good! Nice crunchy spears dressed in nice crunchy bacon! My heart and kidneys were screaming for mercy!
Needless to say, we got out of there very round and very, very happy. Our entire feast, including Cokes, was around $70 including tip. Sure it’s a little pricey but we did order a lot of good food.
I have to admit, I was cheating the whole time I was in Las Vegas. No, not that kind of cheating but the kind of cheating where you pre-program your GPS unit with a list of restaurants with excellent ratings from Yelp.com. That’s how I found Ichiza. Boo! Some adventurer I was! But you couldn’t really blame me since I only had four days in Sin City to indulge in the my most favorite of sins: gluttony! Why spend a single day eating bad food, y’know?
The 411:
Ichiza Japanese Restaurant (map)
4355 Spring Mountain Rd # 205
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 367-3151
Open from 5:00 PM - 3:00 AM, 2:15 last call
Call for reservations unless you want to wait an hour!
Don’t forget to support The Traveling Filipina! She went broke at Ichiza!
