From the moment you walk in the doors at Doanburi, a sense of calm pervades. Light and dark wood and gold and leather accents line up in perfect harmony.
On the uncluttered shelves behind the backlit bar, each bottle is neatly in its preordained place. And behind the sushi counter, chef Jae Doan looks up from her skillful knifework every now and then, with a slight smile and no trace of worry on her face.
“In sushi, we have a mentality that everything needs to be calm. When you’re not calm, everything collapses,” she says. “I trained myself to not look stressed because for sushi chefs, it’s a show.”
Uni toast
Doan and her partner, Katie Ray, opened Doanburi in the southwest valley in January, transitioning from a cloud kitchen that since 2023 had built its reputation on high-quality, precisely plated, home-delivered sushi. Prior to that, Doan worked at the popular Ra Sushi at Fashion Show mall, under the legendary Masaharu Morimoto, and as sushi sous chef at Mizumi at Wynn.
For 13 years, she and Ray have been dreaming about opening a restaurant showcasing their version of hospitality. The dream has come true, evident through Doanburi’s elegant menu. Everything from soy sauce to simple syrup is homemade, and many ingredients are imported from Japan. Each dish is a work of art—the tweezers and edible flowers are out.
“The eye eats first,” Doan says.
Even simple vegetables are transformed and elevated, like cucumber salad ($9) with yuzu vinaigrette and sesame seeds. Hokkaido uni toast on homemade brioche ($39) whets the appetite with a taste of the sea. The gorgeous ama ebi scallop caviar ($45) with sweet shrimp, quail egg, truffle oil and truffle salt comes in a treasure box for a stunning reveal and preparation. Wagyu makes several appearances—perhaps the most notable in the Surf & Turf roll ($45) with lobster tempura and chimichurri aioli.
And true to Doanburi’s beginnings, the sushi is top-notch, from the shiromi carpaccio appetizer ($25) to limited-supply Treasure Boxes of nigiri, sashimi and chirashi ($70-$90).
Don’t skip dessert—the Japanese strawberry shortcake ($18) is a perfectly sweet and fruity indulgence.
When Doan got her start, she was one of the first female sushi chefs on the Strip.
Jae Doan
“I had to work with colleagues who believed that this was a man’s job. For me to be a young female and their leader, it was tough for them to listen to me [and] hard for them to swallow,” Doan says, adding that people thought she was crazy when she left to start her own project.
Despite the naysayers, Doan stuck with the sushi delivery business and adhered to an incredibly disciplined regimen, “working in a 200-square-foot room every day,” she says. “You have to come in with hope.”
She carries that dedication into Doanburi, where she works seven days a week, making everything from scratch with the most premium ingredients she can get.
“Just follow your dream. Don’t let anybody tell you what not to do,” Doan says. “Believe in yourself, but at the same time, do the work. When what you say is not what you do, it’s not OK. Give [the customer] what you show in pictures.”
DOANBURI 5840 S. Rainbow Blvd., 702-915-7453, doanburi.com. Daily, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
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