I get more calls about where to eat good sushi in this town than I do for anything else, and though the options are growing, they are still relatively few.
First on my list is the fabulous, and fabulously expensive, Nobu in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Then comes a Hawaiian transplant, Sushi King, in the Stardust, followed by a few joints for locals, like Henderson's I Love Sushi and the always dependable Osaka chain.
There also are all-you-can-eat sushi places, such as Todai in Desert Passage and Makino on Decatur Boulevard, but somehow, as none of these places cater to an overwhelmingly large Japanese clientele, the authenticity gets, to use a Sofia Coppola phrase, lost in translation.
One of the newest entrants in the sushi parade is Sushi+Sake in Green Valley Ranch, the second restaurant managed by longtime Vegas pro, Tony Lee. Maybe dining here isn't quite like being in Japan. But the food and service, furnished by a team of young, handsome Asian-Americans, works like a charm.
The restaurant is just off the main casino floor, and unlike its neighbor, China Spice, Sushi+Sake doesn't have rooms in which to escape the clang of slot machines. Most of the action is at the 12-seat, U-shaped sushi bar, behind which headband-equipped sushi chefs ply their trade at speeds considerably slower than at comparable bars in Tokyo, New York or Los Angeles.
The design is striking. One wall has a futuristic aquarium, another an offbeat glass sculpture with a fluorescent lighting mechanism that changes colors while you pick at your aji (Spanish mackerel) and uni (sea urchin). There are tables scattered around on a parquet floor. The coziest are at the half dozen or so booths, but who wants to eat in a booth at a sushi bar?
Meanwhile, back at the black granite-topped bar, you'll be handed a list of appetizers, nigiri sushi and hand-rolls, to be handed back to the chefs after the desired items are checked. Then it is up to the chefs with regard to order and swiftness, unless otherwise specified.
All the sushi I tried was quite good, moist rice and fresh fish, so I'll overlook the one misstep I experienced: a complimentary zensai (appetizer) of cucumber and surimi, artificially colored and flavored crab, which tasted like straw.
Amaebi (sweet shrimp) are unusual and delicious, and after eating the melting, sweet raw flesh, the sushi man will fry the heads for you. Shiro maguro is a fine albacore tuna, deep red with the texture of pure, soft butter. Uni is pale orange, with an organ-like texture and iodine tang reminiscent of salt water.
As for the gaudier hand-rolls, I initially balked when the chef recommended one called Sun of a Beach, a combination of salmon, cream cheese and green onions, wrapped in soy paper with sushi rice and then deep-fried, but I couldn't stop eating the bite-sized pieces.
The presentation was unusual, as well. It came with two sauces: a yellow mango-chutney and a spicy red-chili sauce, presented to look like ketchup and mustard. The other hand-roll I tried here, Ginza, is lavish and rich with pieces of soft-shell crab and avocado, one of the most irresistible combinations I know of.
There is much more than sushi here. In fact, an entire menu can be prepared in an unseen rear kitchen. Naturally, there are appetizers like tempura: various batter-fried fish and vegetables, crunchy and served with an oroshi soy (grated radish) dipping sauce. Beef tataki, a corruption of tartare, is seared, thinly sliced roast beef, and completely delicious.
For an unusual starter, try shiromi baiko age, batter-fried, whole white fish stuffed with leaves of sweet basil and fairly drenched with lemon juice. The lightest starter is edamame, boiled and salted green soy beans that go well with beer, and are fun to pop out of their pods.
Sushi+Sake also does various hot dishes and rice bowls. My favorite rice dish is unagi don, broiled fresh-water eel done with a sweet glaze, on top of a small mountain of short-grained Japanese rice.
Udon, thick, starchy wheat-based noodles, and soba, pale-green, light-textured buckwheat noodles, are served with toppings like beef or tempura in a light soy broth, and slurping is allowed. You also can have noodles cold, Japanese style, in a cool dipping broth, either the udon or the soba, both perfect hot-weather dishes.
One advantage to this restaurant not being 100 percent authentic is a nice dessert list. Normally, cut fruit is the only sweet offered at a sushi bar. Here, though, you get the full benefit of Green Valley Ranch's crack pastry chefs. One of the best desserts is a trio of crème brûlées, generally green tea, coffee and chocolate. A fine molten chocolate cake has a raspberry truffle center. For a light ending, go for chilled lychee fruit with a cooling tangerine sorbet.
Add one more spot to my short list of good sushi joints for recommendation.