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| - I've heard less and less about Koi over the years, but only recently made it in for a meal. I've been to the lounge for a few events that had passed apps but decided to get the pre-fixe meal for our dinner date here.
APPETIZERS: Edamame, miso soup, and shishito peppers. Standard dishes, nothing unusual. The shishito peppers were better than expected, but could have used more of the sweet soy sauce.
SIGNATURE PLATES: The Hamachi Fusion was the same as the hamachi carpaccio with jalapeno dish that is popular elsewhere. The signature Koi Crispy Rice is a favorite of mine, but BF found the rice to be dense and gummy. I was disappointed that there were only two pieces in the order. The Creamy Shrimp Tempura was a surprise, lightly fried and lightly sauced instead of covered in mayo as I had feared. Light flavor, large portion.
SIGNATURE ROLLS: Baked Crab Roll could also be called the basic crab roll but at least it was fresh. The Geleno roll (spicy tuna, spicy albacore, jalapeno, crispy onion, spinach chips) sounded like it would be nicely spicy but it was pretty tame, and lacked the texture I had anticipated from the onion and spinach. The Sunfire Roll (lobster, snow crab, cucumber, cilantro, mango, avocado) was light and refreshing but could have used a sauce to pump it up a bit more.
We also added on the salmon carpaccio dish with black truffles and citrus- it was probably the best dish of the night despite the heavy-handed use of truffle oil. The sashimi was nicely fatty but very thinly cut, the microgreens added texture, but the dish overall needed more citrus and less oil.
DESSERT: The Koi Cheesecake was very cheesy, as in not sweet as a dessert is typically expected. The white chocolate walls, whipped cream, and fruit used in the plating were necessary to make the cake itself palatable.
Overall, we were let down by the food. The atmosphere is nice and staff were attentive and polite, but the dishes just didn't impress. While their fish quality may be high, I didn't notice enough of an upgrade to compensate for the lack of flavor- I've had more interesting rolls at off-Strip AYCE spots.The signature dishes were okay, we just expected better.
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