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| - For the uninitiated, this bar is patterned off of Japanese 'cosplay' subculture, where ordinary folk dress up in Japanese anime-oriented costumes for cocktails, dining, traditional socializing, or even cuddle parties. Except, J-Pop lacks any actual CosPlay costumes, the authenticity of any real Japanese food, any actual enjoyable socializing, & anything resembling a cuddle party. (much less anyone I'd actually be interested in cuddling for that matter)
IT'S RAININ' MEN!
Because ultimately, this place is SAUSAGEFEST 2009. Yep. Kielbasa City. It's basically nothing more than a drive-by pitstop for guys leaving conferences being held at the Mandalay Bay convention center. Christ - I've seen more guys holding deal negotiations over cocktail tables here than I have at the damned Rhino. Not surprising being that J-Pop has all the allure & excitement of a United Airlines Red Carpet Club.
OKAY. SO THE SCENE BLOWS. WHAT ABOUT THE SUSHI?
I'd like to hack Mandalay's web site to rename J-Pop to "California-Rock-&-Roll-Mayo-Avocado-Spicy-Tuna-Philidelphia-Crème-Cheese-Roll-Bar" because it's so far from being authentic, it doesn't even deserve the right to use the letter 'J' in its name. I kept finding myself looking for the "all-you-can-eat" deal I suspected they advertised during 'happy hour' along with 2-for-1 sake bombs. Looking at the chef's technique, this is clearly the Junior Varsity team. I wouldn't be surprised if they served better Kim Chee & Bulgogi than sushi.
WHAT ABOUT THE SERVICE?
I tipped the waitress $10 saying that I was in a hurry, because I'd been there once before & knew from past experience that J-Pop had slower-than-banana-slug service so I thought I'd accelerate things. Wellllll, they sure showed me. It turns out $10 doesn't do jacksh-t for service speed at J-Pop, leading me to believe the slow service is an aspect of having inexperienced sushi chefs, less so their wait staff.
AND HERE IT COMES.
But all that aside, what blows me away are the prices relative to the quality. Highway robbery doesn't even begin to describe it so I must assume that they think Mandalay Bay patrons are all effing idiots. And, well, meanwhile all these 4-Star reviews do sort of prove that most jackasses visiting J-Pop are willing to consume sub-par sushi & still be willing to bend over & take it up the butt when the check arrives.
I mean, this is the only joint in Las Vegas that's failed EVERY BASIC SUSHI TASTE TEST I threw at them:
- Toro: Bricks. Each piece = SOLID. Yet it was $25. FAIL.
- Uni: Bitter & barely a solid. Usually a sign that it's old. FAIL.
- Mirugai: Tough. Nearly shoe leather. FAIL.
- Yellowtail: Fishy & in need of serious chewing. Astounding considering how much Yellowtail most restaurants serve. FAIL.
- Tamago: Didn't have any that day. Big surprise. FAIL.
For the record, I've been here twice to try different days during the week in the event fish deliveries are made only once a week. And it didn't even remotely matter. And I'm not even going to go over the utterly pathetic selection of sake. Anyone that buys this rotgut deserves whatever bill they get.
WERE THE PRICES REALLY THAT BAD?
How about $4-$7 for 1 piece? Look - I really don't give a damn if the meal is $800 for 2 people. I've signed credit slips like that more times than I can remember in Vegas, LA, NY, & Seattle. No - this is about principle: If someone served me the Holy-Grail-of-Lobster, I'll pay them Jeezus-Christ-Mother-of-God prices. But when some tool serves me a McDonalds hamburger at Bradley Ogden's like it's a gotdamned Folgers Crystals coffee taste test switch "just to see if I'll notice", then has the audacity to ask me to turn over my 401k to pay for the meal, y'damn right I'm gonna speak up.
CONCLUSION:
I really want to know where it is that all of these other reviewers ate at that allowed them to liberally give this place 4-Stars. This isn't even 3-Star sushi. Pile on the horrifically slow service & you've got yourself one of the weakest sushi restaurants in Las Vegas.
1-Star.
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WHY? WHY 4-STARS?
Is anyone else getting as puzzled as I am by reviews that stamp a place like J-Pop with inflated & celebratory "OMGTHISPLACEISAWESOMEWEGOTSODRUNK!" reviews only because it's obviously better than their neighborhood "Spicy Sushi, Sake Bombs, & Sapporos R' Us" old standby, thus inflating J-Pop's summary rating? I almost think people ought to list where they believe they have the "best" sushi just to establish a baseline of a reviewer's experience/tastes.
Otherwise, there's some folks that apparently will eat whatever food fills their stomach & as long as they serve booze & the meal doesn't give them food poisoning, hey, it's "5-STARS ALL NIGHT LONG BABY!" (They remind me of those guys on eBay that reply with thoughtless feedback that reads, "Great Communication A++++!!!")
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