Restaurant review - Yama Sushi Las Vegas

We looked for somewhere off the strip to go for our last meal in Las Vegas....and using Yelp, I found Yama Sushi.  It was spot on......all reviews mentioned the excellent service, fun roll names, and great food.  And they had an all-you-can-eat option which is really the only way to go.  It was $20, and if you get 2 rolls, you are just about there, if not over, anyways, so why not go for the ayce?  It is a very small place - so beware.  We went there around noon on Sunday and was able to get right in with a table for two.  People were waiting for seating at larger tables and waiting is outside, so with the heat in Vegas, waiting in not fun.

 I made this picture big so that you can see some of the roll choices with their very Vegas names.

 This was the teryaki beef. The sauce was great - not too sweet which some of these sauces can be.

 This roll is called Wet Dream. It was a baked roll and was SO tasty!! Warm, crunch, sweet, tangy....really amazing!!!  It did take a bit longer to come out due to it being a baked roll.

This roll was the Harry Potter.  It, also, was SO good!  See that light, thin sauce? It is their garlic sauce and is salty, garlicy and vinegary....SOOOO yummy!!  Kicked this roll up to the next level!!

My dinner - Tomato salad and grilled fruit

The whole theme of my dinner with  my friends was fresh, simple and healthy.  Since it was very hot out, I wanted to only grill, or not cook at all.  Below is a tomato salad I made as well as a grilled fruit dessert.

I used tomatoes from my garden.  I kept some tomatoes whole and cut some of them us.  I bought fresh mozzarella balls.  I picked the size that matched the cherry tomatoes.  It is important to keep your sizes of the pieces of your dish similar. I also cut up some basil from my garden.  I drizzled on olive oil, really good balsamic vinegar and some coarsely crushed sea salt.

Here is my grilled fruit dessert.  I grilled fresh nectarines, plums and pineapple.  I just put them on a hot grill (no oil on the fruit) and turned them every 5 minutes or so.  You know they are done when they have nice grill marks as well as softening up.  I made a great sauce to go with the fruit.  I used non-fat greek yogurt, vanilla, agave, cinnamon, a bit of nutmeg, and a hit of rum.  It really capped of this easy, healthy dish.

Restaurant review - Japonais, Las Vegas

Before dinner - we went to the Terry Fator show. What a great show that was.  He is a ventriloquist that had won America's Got Talent a couple of year ago. He was incredible....his talent is undeniable.  He sings, talks and you never see his mouth move...and it is all so clear.  I can't imagine how he does this!  The only negative thing was that in the middle of the show he put down the puppets and spoke about a kid that died of cancer then he sang a song he wrote was a dying kid who wanted to know if there were horses in heaven.  Can he sing? Yes. Can he write music? Maybe.  Was this a good idea to put a song like this in the middle of this fun show? Not at all!

We then went to Japonais. What I don't get it how early the kitchens close here (10pm).  We had to order pretty quickly in order to be able to get food from the kitchen.  Everyone looked at the menu and just threw out dishes to order.  Here are a few of our dishes....I didn't get pictures of everything.  It was a great meal - and I would like to go to Japonais here in Chicago sometime.  And it was also rather affordable for the freshness and creativity of our meal.  About $50 per person.  Not bad at all......

 This was the amuse bouche....raw shrimp with a peppered honey sauce.  It was delicious.

 This is called "The Rock" with waygu beef.  This rock is heated to about 600 degrees, and you put the thin slices of beef onto the rock to cook it.  It only takes seconds on each side.  It just melts in your mouth.

 This dish is sweet shrimp and diver scallop.  It was simply delicious....simplicity at its best.

 Here is soft shell crab rolls.  The crab was crunchy and tender.

 This is koby beef carpaccio.  It had yuzu and dark soy sauce on it.  This was a very delicate dish.  The pieces tore to pieces with one touch.  Tasty and fresh.