Aburiya Raku Review

Aburiya Raku is the kind of restaurant in Las Vegas that seems unassuming, but is beloved by those “in the know”. A dinner only yakitori place, its small space is constantly filled with foodies, local and celebrity chefs, and many a Hollywood star. I finally was able to get a reservation with my boyfriend (gotta book weeks in advance if you want to eat anytime between 6 pm and 1 am), and see what the fuss is all about.
 
Raku, the mother restaurant to my dearly beloved Sweets Raku, couldn’t be more different from Sweets from the interior: dark lighting, dark woods, and leather. We were seated immediately, and told about the various condiments on the table. Raku offers a ponzu, a chili sauce, a shichimi, and a green tea sea salt, all specially made for the restaurant. If they sold the green tea salt I’d buy a billion jars, it’s that good. We were shown the daily special board, offering a variety of sashimi, whole fish dishes, and other seafood for the night. Deciding to skip such things, and instead focus on the grilled skewers and homemade tofu that built Raku’s reputation, we ordered off the regular menu.

Ordering off the menu allowed us to order everything we wanted to try in one go, which had the bonus effect of allowing the staff to serve us the items in a set order (drawing from kaiseki and other yakitori traditions, skewers precede fried dishes precede rice dishes precede soups, with other dishes added accordingly). We started with Raku’s homemade tofu. It arrived to the table still in its wicker forming basket, with fresh, real wasabi, chives, and bonito shavings on the side. The tofu by itself was a firm and unsilken affair, with a texture unlike any tofu I’ve eaten at home or in another restaurant. It also had its own faint taste, which complimented the condiments it was presented with. If there was a tofu I’d want to give to people to make them change their minds about it, this would be it.

The next dish was the Popeye salad. Served in a hot bowl, it was cold baby spinach topped with sautéed mushrooms, crunchy fried onion strips, and a really good vinaigrette. We were told to mix the contents, which wilted the spinach just enough without getting too mushy. I rather enjoyed it, and was surprised at just how much salad there was. It could easily be split into 3-4 good sized servings. The vinaigrette was just tangy enough, the crunch of the onions blending nicely with the softness of the mushrooms and spinach.

Thus arrived our skewers for the evening: bacon wrapped enoki, kurobuta pork cheek, tsukine ground chicken stuffed mushrooms, and wagyu beef tendon. Sure, they’re a bit more unconventional and out there, especially when the menu offered wasabi skirt steak and chicken thigh skewers, but where’s the fun in that? Just like my desire to eschew (apparently really good) sashimi to taste what made their reputation instead, I wasn’t about to let the chance to go a little wild slip me by. Each of the skewers were covered in the same salty sweet glaze, tasty but not overwhelming. The enoki were crisp at their edges, and the bacon chewy.

The pork cheek was tender and fatty. No gristle to be found here. Pork cheek is akin to a richly marbled pork chop, or maybe more like a pork tenderloin.

The ground chicken filled mushrooms were kind of a mess to deal with. They arrived quite hot (fresh from the grill, to be expected) and squirted out as we tried to bite into them. Once they cooled down a little, I found the mushrooms to be surprisingly not watery and the chicken full of flavor. The beef tendon, I didn’t share. I wish I had ordered several of them. Beef tendon is gelatinous without being fatty or greasy, sometimes just a bit chewy, and tastes mildly of beef. I’ve had it many a time in pho or at dim sum, but grilled is a whole new beast. The crispy edges contrasted with the chewy bits in a mind blowing way, giving a hearty chew to a normally “almost no chewing required” cut of meat. I wish this and pork cheek were more common in American markets; we’re really missing out.

I forgot to take a pic, so I stole this from Nieves D. on Yelp

Up next was probably the most disappointing (but still good) dish of the night: braised pork belly. I love pork belly. I love braising it. While the dish had a lot of flavor thanks to a delicious sauce that could be sopped up by more spinach sitting in the dish, the pork belly itself was much too fatty for my tastes. It was, at times, like eating just soft fat. I’m willing to chalk it up to us getting bad pieces, but the overall underwhelming-ness of it (plus the price versus the fact that we only got 3 pieces) makes me wary to order it in the future.

This was followed by a dish I ended up with mixed feelings about, Raku’s kaarage. Served on a bed of even more spinach was a rather beautiful looking roll of fried chicken thigh. The chicken was juicy, the skin perfectly crisp and not soggy, but the flavor lacking. A hit of the green tea salt helped immensely. The weird part however was that the spinach was doused in some sort of sauce; maybe the spinach prevented the chicken from getting any of it?

Next up was one of Raku’s signature dishes: foie gras custard with a slice of grilled duck breast. I know foie gras is a bit controversial to some, but I happen to enjoy it every now and again. The custard was wonderfully eggy and creamy, the sauce thin and clinging to every spoonful. The duck breast slice was perfectly cooked, but a bit tough to eat along with a spoonful of custard.

Here’s a stock photo from their website because I forgot to take a pic of this as well

As our dinner winded down, we were presented with our grilled rice balls in broth. It was a really simple dish: a grilled rice ball, in dashi, with a bit of wakame along for the ride. The rice balls had soaked up the broth, rendering what crispy edges might have been there down to merely firm. It also caused the rice balls to become engorged a bit, making eating them with spoons a necessity. The dashi was a bit too salty for my taste, but the texture of rice was a welcomed one.

The final dish of the night was a soboro-don: ground chicken and mustard leaf over rice, with seaweed and a raw quail egg on top. Mixing the bowl led to a wondrous, savory mix of everything, without a hint of the sweetness that had pervaded the other dishes. Each bite felt like a hearty one, ensuring that if we weren’t full yet, we would be after this.
 
Raku’s service was also top notch throughout the night. After a bit of a slowdown between the salad and the start of the skewers, food came out at a nice, steady pace. The waitstaff was quite helpful, and our water glasses constantly refilled. The meal totaled $105 after tax and a hefty “it’s the holidays” tip, rendering it expensive but not outrageously so for two people. We both left full and relaxed, and I was quite pleased to have finally gone to Raku. Hopefully I can return soon.
 
-Janette (anarchymarie)

Aburiya Raku
5030 W.Spring Mountain Rd #2,Las Vegas, NV 89146
Mon-Sat 6 pm to 3 am
Price range: $$$