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| - So apparently this little strip mall called Seoul Plaza is the Asian Food mecca of Las Vegas... There are no less than 5 outstanding restaurants in this mall according to Yelp - the already famous Raku; Kabuto which some claim is the best sushi in town; the unique-in-Vegas Trattoria Nakamura-Ya; Monta Ramen which had lines waiting to be seated; Big Wong's representing Asian street food culture, and the little gem that is Japanese Curry Zen. I guess jury is still out on Chung Gi Wa, a Korean restaurant that translates to Blue Roof, since I can't find a Yelp review on it.
We were really looking for a donkatsu place (can anyone suggest a good one in Vegas?), and found this place around the corner from where we were. Not exactly a katsu joint, but we like curry so decided to give it a try. 4.5 stars on 270+ reviews can't be wrong, right? Well, the only thing I'm wondering at this point is - what happened to the other .5 star? Because honestly this is the best curry I've ever had. I am quickly realizing that Vegas has L.A. beat when it comes to Japanese food not named sushi. Only if Udon West (NYC joint with the absolute greatest gyu don ever) came to the West...
Anyway, upon walk-in you are greeted by practically everyone working there - including the older gentleman behind the counter who appears to be the owner-chef. The all-male crew is super friendly, attentive, and speedy. The décor is simple clean. Domestic beer is $2.50. Off to a good start. We order a curry pan, a katsu curry and a shrimp curry. Curry pan comes in literally 2 minutes, and it's piping hot (on a side note, I realized then that "pan" is Japanese for bread - which I should have guessed because "ppang" is Korean for bread...). And this thing is AMAZING good. Koreans call this croquette, but none that I've had in a Korean bakery comes anywhere close to this little piece of addiction. I should have gotten 3 more of these and called it a day. But then, I would have missed out on their equally amazing curry.
The curry dishes come 5 minutes later, and I'm initially a bit disappointed. 3 smallish pieces of fried shrimp with a lot of rice and curry sauce. A smallish piece of donkatsu with a lot of rice and curry sauce. No side dishes, veggies, nothing. At $9.50 per, I was expecting Wako size I guess. I force myself to recall that Curry House was $15, and this is not a bad deal. A bite of the shrimp with rice on curry sauce and I'm convinced this is a good deal. Perfectly fried shrimp and pork with perfectly cooked rice smothered in the BEST curry sauce ever. And 20 minutes after I've completely forgotten how small the meats were, I am full and fully satisfied. One word of warning: they have spicy scale of 1-10, and they recommend a 3 for those who like spicy food. I would heed those recommendations!
So after a beer, bottle of water, appetizer and two main dishes, we get a bill for under $27. Okay, this is a great deal. We're coming back here over and over. But in between, we'll have to resist the temptation and also try Raku, Kabuto, Monta, Nakamura-Ya, and Big Wong's. Maybe Chung Gi Wa too.
Table-for-1 Factor: There is a bar with half-dozen or so seats, behind which is where the cooking happens. I think it's perfect for eating solo.
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