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There’s something to be said about a place that specializes in desserts that’s more than an ice cream shop or a cute cafe with baked goods. A place that oozes affordable decadence with desserts you’d expect to pay easily double for. A place that prides itself on an ever-changing menu of fascinating edibles so that every visit is a new experience. Sweets Raku is just such a place in Las Vegas. I’ve been frequenting this tiny, no reservations spot for a few years now. Originally the idea was that $19 would land you a 3-course dessert, as well as a fancy edible menu served with some of the best, homemade fruit sauce imaginable. While gone are the 3-course desserts (replaced with a much more manageable 2-course set for $15 with a la carte extras available) and the edible menus (save for special occasions), Sweets Raku has consistently delivered high class seasonally rotating desserts, an expanded savory menu, one of the nicest bathrooms in town, and just happens to play background music from Ni no Kuni on a regular basis. Sweets Raku is the brainchild of Chef Mitsuo Endo of Las Vegas’s beloved izakaya, Raku, and Pastry Chef Mio Ogasawara. Ogasawara’s offerings also include various to-go options (such as pound and roll cakes, macarons, and assorted cookies), a wondrous selection of tea and coffee, and my favorite lunch deal in town. While the desserts may be a little bit on the pricey side (a “main course” dessert by itself will run you $12), more care and attention to it you might not find. Desserts are made and assembled to order, and sitting at the bar area allows you to watch Ogasawara and her staff work on them in front of you. An almost sterile white atmosphere allows the bursts of color from the dishes themselves to be overwhelming, and they’re happy to tell you what the dishes consist of and the optimal way to eat them. The current dessert set offering lands you a daily sorbet (usually seasonal fruit such as mango or raspberry, with the option of blueberry champagne showing up), and a main course dessert chosen from a set of 5. Quick it may not be, but it’s a good way to spend some time relaxing after a long day. For their lunch special, $23 will get you a 3-course lunch and the 2-course dessert set, a mind blowing amount of well made fresh food that might make your regular lunches seem lame in comparison. The lunch set consists of a tiny amount of soup (their lobster bisque is so good that it’s frustrating you get so little), a green salad with a side of Japanese potato salad, and a sandwich or wrap of your choice. The sandwiches are served on croissants that are made in house, and everything has the same care and attention to detail that the desserts do. Over the years offerings have included: The Red Rock: a raspberry lava cake featuring a sugar string veil, with homemade ice cream  The Mount Fuji: their take on a mont blanc cake  The Baton: a chocolate wafer tube filled with fruits, nuts, and cream  Apple Pie: served with honey ice cream and a hollow sugar apple filled with whipped cream and caramel  The Sunset: champagne jelly, whipped cream, assorted fruits and a homemade pastry puff  The Soleil: a hollow orange ice cream ball filled with chunks of fruit and creme de cassis  The Angel Cream: a cream cheese mousse with pear and cookie bits  The Mars: a chocolate sphere hiding a mound of fruits and cookies, which is melted by pouring on fire cognac atop it  The Carib: Panna cotta and various fruits in a wine glass, topped with a chocolate disk and hot mango sauce  The Jack in the Cup: caramelized bananas beneath a chocolate souffle, filled with a cinnamon cream, served with a side of coconut ice cream  The Spring Mountain: a pistachio and chocolate version of their Mount Fuji, served with kiwi and berries  Various seasonal sorbets (the blueberry champagne one is the best)   The Salmon and Ikura sandwich (one of my favorite sandwiches available in Las Vegas)     I can’t recommend this place enough. I’ve taken so many people who’ve come to visit Las Vegas here, and every time has been wonderful. If you’re ever in town, stop by, and be delighted. And if you really want to have a fancy cake, they’ll do custom orders for you to enjoy at home.
-Janette (anarchymarie) Sweets Raku 5040 W Spring Mountain Rd #3, Las Vegas, NV 89146 M/T/Th/F: 6 pm to 12 am, Sat/Sun: 12 pm to 12 am Price range: $$ Along with being handed a map of the SLS at check in, I was also given a wristbanded, with the words START AT UMAMI BURGER printed on it, so that’s where I headed. The gist of the event was “go to your start point, then wander freely around and sample food and drinks at all the restaurants”. Along the way, I realized there were several spots on the casino floor itself serving up bites as well.  Those Iberico hams hanging from the ceiling combined are probably worth more than that guy's yearly salary The first station I saw had caviar-topped Iberico slices.  I grabbed one, and made my way into Umami Burger. Thankfully it wasn’t terribly packed when I arrived. I situated myself with a beer, and waited as food was brought out.  Here I tried a truffle slider, and Umami’s cheesy tots.  Both were a bit salty, pairing nicely with the beer I had, and quite delicious. From there, I figured the best bet would be to head to the far end of the casino, and travel back up to Bazaar Meats to end my night. Turns out, everyone else seemed to have that idea as well. Lines EVERYWHERE in my sight lines, setting a panic in that I wouldn’t be able to hit everything within the 90 minutes I had to do so. I gritted my teeth and decided to wait it out though. On the way to Ku Noodle, Andres’ take on Chinese food, was a stand serving up an interesting cocktail containing beer, tequila, green tea, and Chinese five spice syrup.  It wasn’t a large cocktail, but was quite flavorful. I then waited in line at Ku. Thankfully the wait was entertaining, as Ku has a large window looking into the kitchen. I could watch people make shumai and hand pulled noodles for hours.  When I finally got inside, they had a mix of stations set up with dishes, as well as passed bites. I decided to stop drinking alcohol at this point and put my focus on the food.  Two types of dumplings were served (a shumai and a fried dumpling), shaved ice and a noodle dish each got set up in individual takeout boxes, and fresh scallion pancakes topped with roasted duck were dished up at a furious pace.
Nothing particularly memorable, but also nothing terrible.  Considering they have a three course lunch special for under $20, might be worthwhile heading back to for a full meal. Next door was the Northside Cafe, featuring Mexican inspired goods. Their line was set up so as we passed a set of windows we’d be able to pick up our tacos and margaritas. Here, a quail egg adorned an al pastor taco, and a just sweet enough barbacoa taco were served.
Eating these while keeping the line moving was quite a trick; I went for the “eat the taco in 1 obnoxiously large bite” route and was glad to see I wasn’t alone. I don’t know if either were good enough to justify a second trip to for a real meal though. Next up was Cleo, the SLS’s Mediterranean spot.
The surprisingly short line outside led past a serving station with lamb tangine atop couscous, and brought us into the restaurant’s bar area. Here, more cocktails (which I didn’t partake in as I remembered I drove myself to the SLS and drunk driving is a no no), as well as a perfectly fried falafel ball and an octopus dish I can’t remember the name of.  Both had housemade hummus, and both quite good. I hadn’t heard much about Cleo either positively or negatively, but good hummus makes me real happy. I then traveled the short way to Katsuya. I’m upset more pictures didn’t save, because there was so much good food. Inside we were welcomed by trays of scallop sashimi, wagyu beef tataki, and the most delicious chawan-mushi I’ve ever had.  This bluefin is judging me pretty hard Then a line snaked around the sushi bar, handing us honest to god bluefin tuna nigiri.  Right outside the restaurant was another line leading to a roulette table covered in more nigiri, everything freshly cut and plated at a rapid pace. 800 Degrees was probably the most disappointing bite of the night. It was pizza and beer.  That’s… all there is to say about that. Not bad pizza by any means, but considering everything else I had tried, it seemed a little mundane. Thankfully, a nearby stand offered up some sort of junk foody goodness in the form of Andres’ own potato chips covered in sloppy joe meat and cheese.  10/10 would eat like 3 more. Bazaar Meats was probably the highlight of the night, and I partially regret making my way here last. Andres’ steak house is a force to be reckoned with, and he was pulling out all the stops. There were two lines of goodies to try, with the first walking right a massive open pit grill so hot you could feel the heat just walking by.  Now *this* is a grill This first line led to a wonderful mix of steak tatare sliders and Spanish charcuterie (fancy cheese and meats).
On my way to the second line was a small cotton candy machine set up, dishing out Andres’ famous cotton candy foie gras (a ball of foie gras surrounded by cotton candy).  She kept handing them to me. Best chef I probably had like 6 of these by the time I was done, they were delicious in an oh so wrong sort of way. Whilst waiting in line, an oyster shucker shucked oysters and topped them with housemade sauces.  Fun fact, she's wearing a cut proof metal glove Then, I got to the main line.  A huge table that included gazpacho shots, two kinds of stuffed olives, more Iberico and cotton candy foie gras, and Andres’ beloved croquettes.  I thought really hard about getting back into the line for another round, but it was time for desserts. The Center Bar all night was showing off specialty cocktails, and I arrived to a bull on a ladder who then led a conga line around a part of the casino.  Why he's on a ladder, I will never know Desserts for the night included some sort of caramel popcorn bacon pudding thing, a rum chocolate push pop, a pina colada cake, and a cake pop.  Nothing overly sweet, and all a good way to end the night.
I hope the SLS and Andres repeat this event. It was a fun way to spend a night running around the casino, it raised quite a bit of money for some charities, and I got to eat things I’m certain I won’t get to eat ever again. -Janette G (anarchymarie) |
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