Aburiya Raku is a Japanese restaurant located in a Chinatown strip mall not too far west of the Strip. An aburiya is apparently a restaurant that specializes in charcoal grilling, and Raku has many robata grilled items on the menu. They also have an omakase dinner for $75 or $100. According to my server the $100 omakase is about the same size as the $75 one but with more premium items. I went for the pricier omakase.
Tofu Salad
This consisted of slices of their house made tofu, along with tomato slices, on top of a bed of seaweed with a generous sprinkling of some baby sardines on top. This was really good. The tofu was soft and fresh, was instructed to add a little of the green tea salt and/or soy sauce to it, and they definitely enhanced the flavor. Looked (and tasted) a little like a Caprese salad, with an extra little salty crunch from the sardines. Tomatoes were ripe and sweet.
Sashimi
Kanpachi, Shima Aji, Bluefin Tuna, Seaweed Noodle, Microgreens
A few fish from the specials board. Very good, fresh fish. My favorite was the slightly fatty tuna which I think was chutoro. Instead of ginger there was pickled chrysanthemum as a palate cleanser, which was interesting. Sweet and not as strong as ginger.
Cherry Tomato Skewer
Tomatoes off the grill.
Alaskan King Crab
This was grilled, and had a bit of smokiness from the grill.
Yuba Skin
In a soy sauce broth and topped with a little wasabi.
Kurobuta Pork Cheek Skewer
This was delicious, my favorite skewer of the meal. Cooked so that there was still a bit of pink left inside and slightly crispy on the outside, lightly sauced and dripping with fat, this was fatty meaty goodness.
Wagyu Ribeye Cap Skewer
The outside part of a ribeye steak, ribeye cap is one of my favorite cuts of beef. This was really good too. Topped with a little line of wasabi. A little chewy.
Negitoro Don
Excellent, simple chopped fatty tuna with some chives and wasabi, over a layer of seaweed and rice.
Fluffy Cheesecake
Very nice dessert. One of the lightest most ethereal cheesecakes I’ve tasted. It had a little bit of raspberry sauce on the side.
In retrospect, while everything was delicious, I think I probably should have just ordered a la carte instead of omakase and tried more of their skewers. For example, I’m sure king crab is expensive but I don’t think that I’m that big of a fan of it.