I’m not so sure about Vegas Yelp. It seems most of the highest-rated local restaurants on the infamous website deserve their stars—Soho Japanese, Baguette Cafe, Raku—but others are inexplicable. (Earl of Sandwich? Please.)
Four and a half stars with over 400 reviews is hard to ignore, especially for a Hawaiian-Korean-Chinese eatery next door to one of the best Thai restaurants (Weera) in one of the best Thai food cities in the country. So perhaps it was inevitable that Yelp would lead me to Island Style, a family-run restaurant with friendly service packed with lots of different, happy eaters. I quickly became one of them.
A meat jun and kalbi rib combo plate at Island Style.
It’s tempting to order island fusion favorites like a fried rice omelet, loco moco, Spam musubi or combo plates with kalua pork, teriyaki salmon or chicken katsu. But it’s more rewarding to mix in some Korean specialties like deep fried mandu dumplings ($3.95-$6.95), sweet and spicy bulgogi or the homey meat jun ($10.95)—tender, almost caramelized slices of beef fried in a fluffy egg batter. Spicy cold noodles ($10.90) and japchae ($13.95), thin rice noodles with meat and vegetables, are standouts, too.
And then there’s the extensive Chinese menu, an entire restaurant’s worth of goodies like chili shrimp, soy and black bean-sauce stir-fried noodles ($9.95) and hot pepper scallops ($34.95). No wonder there are so many groups and families chowing down here; something for everyone is an understatement at Island Style. Yelp’s win percentage is on the rise.
Island Style 3909 W. Sahara Ave. #1, 702-871-1911. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
