| rev:text
| - Japonais was actually on my "to try" list....but in New York. I remember passing by it near Union Square and wondering if the fusion would be too coy for my taste...or maybe too koi? OK, I thought that was funny. Anyway, I don't have to waste a meal on my next trip to Manhattan since the owners opened an outpost here in the Mirage in Vegas. I can well imagine this place has the same, coolish vibe as its sister eateries in New York and Chicago. But you have to bear the ongoing hum of the casino and the unending stream of foot traffic passing by. The verdict on the food? Pretty good but kinda spartan on the portions.
Jamie W. and I were at the Mirage to see the Cirque de Soleil show, this one an elaborate Beatles tribute called "Love" just right across the floor. The hotel concierge was pressing Japonais on us as a dining option, and our apathy made us cave. They offer a Lounge Dinner for Two for $45 - which allows you and a companion to eat at the bar and have two appetizers and then share an entree and a dessert. That's not really a terrible deal - but the meal did leave us hungry after the show.
We tried the Lobster Spring Rolls and the Sweet and Sour Calamari for starters (see my photos). The three rolls were good and crunchy, though I honestly couldn't tell if they did contained lobster in them. However, the mango relish and blood orange vinaigrette were nice tropical accents. The calamari had nice texture and came clumped together in a sweet sauce undercut by a wasabi vinaigrette. Against all odds, it worked especially with the black sesame seeds sprinkled on top.
For our entree, Jamie and I split the Chestnut Chicken which was nicely marinated in a lemon ginger sauce. It came with a shiitake rice casserole with corn and peas and some sauteed brocollini (see my photo). Tasty though hardly what I would call fusion. Just wish I got more than half a breast. For dessert, it was the Chocolate Indulgence, a little mousse cake heavy on chocolate and ginger (see my photo). We were probably out of the place in less than forty minutes, and I have to say the service was perfectly adequate. You could do a lot worse in Vegas. After all, what you eat in Vegas stays in Vegas, at least in their city sewage system.
FOOD - 4 stars...pretty good for a lounge menu, but I would have paid more to be truly satisfied
AMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...coolish, trendy with lots of loud tourists around the bar
SERVICE - 4 stars...never felt ignored, that's for sure
TOTAL - 4 stars...still seems pricey for what you get, and splitting dishes in Vegas just seems so wrong
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)