![“Right now, a lot of people are coming from different parts of China. We have different regions like Sichuan, Shanghai, Beijing. So we’ll make a mix [of flavors] and make everybody happy.”](http://media.lasvegasweekly.com/img/photos/2019/12/11/1212_Food_Mott32_by_Wade_Vandervort_r190x108.jpg?865431e890af804dfed7ccab93b8b85c95853c35)
You can taste Wakuda with your eyes. Inspired by Tokyo’s Shinjuku Golden Gai nightlife district, Wakuda is grace, glitz and graffiti in perfect balance. I could visit just to admire the Blade Runner-like neon mural in the entryway, would stay a while for the cocktail, and would happily take up permanent residence for the food. Wakuda’s Summer Journey tasting menu, a privilege at $120, is the next best thing to moving in.
Spread over five courses, Summer Journey plays to all Wakuda’s strengths, by design.
“We wanted to create a menu that touches all areas of the restaurant—from the sushi bar, robata, the tempura, down to pastry,” says executive chef Lue Xiong.
It begins with a delectable sashimi—a perfectly fatty kanpachi carpaccio farmed from the waters off Kagoshima and a rich king salmon truffle. They set a high bar.
Next up is seabass tempura, a delicately battered Glacier 51 toothfish served with a tangy Nanbanzuke sauce of rice vinegar, sugar and yuzu kosho; to say this Antarctic fish melts in your mouth is to undersell the flavorful alchemy that occurs. And you’ve scarce time to contemplate its magic before the third course, a choice of mains: grilled salmon with a pepper wasabi sauce, a filet mignon with mustard miso and a teriyaki roasted chicken. Go with a friend and get the salmon and filet; they both dazzle.
The chef’s selection sushi course comes fourth. We enjoyed Ehime Madai (red sea bream), a mildly sweet treat from the Uwa Sea; a flame-seared king salmon, fished from New Zealand’s Big Glory Bay; and a crunchy shrimp tempura roll that I could devour by the dozen. Dessert is a mocha coconut miso soft served in a housemade waffle cone, a sweet kiss goodbye … but not farewell. You’ll be back soon, with neon in your eyes and a bellyful of giddy anticipation.
WAKUDA Palazzo, 702-665-8592, wakudajapanese.com/las-vegas. Daily, 5-10 p.m.
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