| rev:text
| - Ladies and Gentlement, Start Your Engines! You have 90 minutes to eat at the Tokyo Japanese Restaurant AYCE menu! Ready-Set-Go!!!
My cousins were in town from Hawaii and we all wanted to get some Japanese food, but didn't want to fight the crowds at the large popular hotel chains. Tokyo Restaurant is located about 1-2 miles off the main strip. First thing you need to know is that this restaurant is more home-style cooking. Restaurant owner, Becky, was a nice but a firm Korean lady. She has owned the restaurant for 9 years.
I ordered the AYCE Dinner ($26.95) and was given a 90 minute time limit on my meal. No problem. All dishes are mini tapa-style plates, and the sushi orders are about 1/2 size of what is normally given in regular sushi bars. Fun, as you can try many different things with plates this size. Eat, to the pumping sounds of ABBA playing in the background.
Sashimi Plate: A combination of hamachi, maguro, salmon, tai snapper, and several other fishes. This was probably the highlight of my meal. Nice fish and beautifully presented. Grade: A-
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tokyo-japanese-restaurant-las-vegas?userid=jI5grCzPrcpYgqtNVygWRQ#kg6j-ewkDX6ygzsDtUuRUQ
Grilled Hamachi: A 3"x3" piece of grilled Hamachi yellowfin tuna. The fish was a bit tough, not because it was over-cooked. I don't know if it was the quality piece of meat. Grade: C
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tokyo-japanese-restaurant-las-vegas?userid=jI5grCzPrcpYgqtNVygWRQ#RPqgVOKjCs6iB2G4aCXhhg
Grilled Saba: A 3"x3" piece of mackerel grilled. Nice flavor, but again, may not have been the quality piece of meat. Grade: C
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tokyo-japanese-restaurant-las-vegas?userid=jI5grCzPrcpYgqtNVygWRQ#XM1z19dOYh5xOoXfnPCyJg
Spicy Sashimi Plate: Koreans call this hwe dol bop. It's a few pieces of fish sashimi tossed in korean hot paste, served on a bed of lettuce. Fun to eat. Grade: B
Spicy Tuna Sushi: Bits of tuna mixed with spicy sauce. Little flavor. Grade: C
Scallop Sushi: Paper-thin scallops topped sushi. Grade: B
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tokyo-japanese-restaurant-las-vegas?userid=jI5grCzPrcpYgqtNVygWRQ#T_QEUfdmEiP2-7o9JWCeLw
Shrimp & veggie tempura: Two pieces of shrimp and three pieces of pumpkin tempura, served with a dipping sauce. Another one of my least favorite dishes. The shrimp was tough and chewy. Grade: C
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tokyo-japanese-restaurant-las-vegas?userid=jI5grCzPrcpYgqtNVygWRQ#cAB5ziDvm1ss_OaT4RiNaQ
Garlic Ahi sushi: WAHOO! This was the bomb! This was maguro sashimi topped with some kind of garlic paste. Delicious, flavorful, awesome! Grade: A!
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tokyo-japanese-restaurant-las-vegas?userid=jI5grCzPrcpYgqtNVygWRQ#ghvX6UwmxCi6e46uaP_ZYg
Uni / Sea Urchin: Delicous, but a bit skimpy serving of sea urchin. Tasted like it was topped with a bit of truffle. Grade: A-
Uni Shooter: A piece of uni in a shot glass, filled with ponzu sauce and spicy sauce. Topped with green onions. Grade: B
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tokyo-japanese-restaurant-las-vegas?userid=jI5grCzPrcpYgqtNVygWRQ#Keu64HHs2kP4olzXFa17cw
Hamachi sushi: good pieces of yellow tail ahi served on a minimal piece of rice. Grade: B+
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tokyo-japanese-restaurant-las-vegas?userid=jI5grCzPrcpYgqtNVygWRQ#nMHxlfLj691YInD-HJX1IA
Ikura / Salmon Eggs: Super salty (in a good way) salmon eggs, and again it tasted like it was topped with truffle. Nice. Grade: B-
Amaebi / Sweet Shrimp: Two pieces of sweet shrimp sushi, accompanied by it's heads being fried. The shrimp was a bit old-tasting, but yet still fun to eat. Grade: B-
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tokyo-japanese-restaurant-las-vegas?userid=jI5grCzPrcpYgqtNVygWRQ#9bKQ1lDhjkmLWRTtWSknLA
Hamachi Lover Roll: Krab sushi roll topped with hamachi. Little flavor, not a favorite. Grade: C+
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tokyo-japanese-restaurant-las-vegas?userid=jI5grCzPrcpYgqtNVygWRQ#QrhveoJdp82xp_zkX4Z4Dg
The meal comes with ice cream - vanilla, green tea, and a few others.
What I liked best about the restaurant, was that it was a family-owned environment. Everyone is welcomed. One of the female patrons sitting at the sushi bar stood up and shouted. Then she went around the sushi bar and ended up head-butting her head on the glass counter. This caused 7-8 glasses of Sake-Beer shooter glasses (*prepared by the sushi chef) to foam immensely. Everyone at the bar, including the sushi chefs, yelled GAMBATTE and everyone grabbed a glass and shot the sake-beer drink. Lady - I hope your head is OK as that was a pretty big bang on the sushi bar. Impressive!
Food Grade: B / B+
Service Grade: A- (Thanks, Aaron!)
Worth the money Grade: B+
Overall Impression:
|