Chances are, if you’re eating Korean food in Las Vegas, you’re doing barbecue—the most prevalent local style of this specific cuisine. But if you’re eating at Q Bistro on the outskirts of Chinatown, you’ll probably be dining on a delicious duo of fried chicken and pizza.
Q’s chicken comes in wing and popcorn formats ($7-$20 depending on size), both delivering juicy poultry in a crispy package. The bite-size popcorn version is well-suited for chopstick use, and the gochujang-based supreme flavor is my favorite, with hints of heat and sweet. Then there are the Korean pizzas, nothing like their American counterparts. Get the bulgogi, a vegetable pie topped with sweet marinated beef. If you’re feeling adventurous, check out the sweet potato pizza ($13) with pineapple and sweet corn. It’s not as funky as it sounds.
Q also offers a large selection of more traditional dishes. The kimbap ($6) is essentially a Korean sushi roll with your choice of tuna or bulgogi swaddled in nori with vegetables. If you’re drinking, there’s nothing better than the jerky combo ($15), an addictive combination of grilled squid and fish jerky served with an assortment of nuts and dipping sauces. Seriously good with some Cass or Hite.
And if you’re really missing the grilled stuff, there’s banchan—side dishes commonly accompanying Korean barbecue—from refreshing pickled daikon to slightly salty jangjolim, a funky hard-boiled egg simmered in soy sauce. Selections vary. What won’t is how much you like Q.
Q Bistro 3400 S. Jones Blvd. #12, 685-9876. Daily, 5 p.m.-3 a.m.
