Vegas: Sushi Roku

The gastronomical delight of the December 2009 Vegas trip was, without doubt, Sushi Roku. Located in The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, Sushi Roku was my prime choice for sushi (based on reading lots and lots of Yelp reviews, among others). Going in, I knew it would be our most extravagant meal in Vegas, but I felt pretty confident that it would be well worth it.

I can't even describe this to you as a meal...it was beyond that...it was an experience. An experience that I dreamt of for days if not weeks afterwords. No, that's not true because I still dream of it. I consider it the most perfect restaurant experiences I have ever had. The service was unbeatable. The food to die for. The atmosphere, perfect. Each course was our favorite, until the next one came. Presentation was beautiful without being overdone. I can show you, but it won't be the same...you need to experience it as well.

No reservations were needed when I called, so we decided to play it by ear and stroll in whenever we were hungry. We showed up exceptionally early for the rest of the Vegas dining crowd, maybe around 6pm. Noticing there were only a few other diners in the restaurant, I requested seats at the sushi bar. Here we were greeted by a very pleasant man who helped us order a carafe of sake and paid very close attention to us all night, quickly coming over to refill our individual cups of sake and our glasses of water.

At first A and I were going to order the Omakase, the chef's tasting menu, but then we spoke with Benji, our totally awesome sushi apprentice. Since we wanted a meal of primarily sushi, he suggested that we give a price range along with any likes and dislikes (um...none!) and leave the rest to him. This was by far the best decision for food ever made. I should first say that both of us will eat ANYTHING, and I really mean that. I think because of that, we found it very exciting not knowing what we were being served or even how many courses. Let me take you through our evening, one course at a time.

While preparing our first course, Benji noticed us eying a drink a fellow diner was drinking. He promptly order us a complimentary Mojito. It wasn't the same drink we were looking at, but that didn't matter. This was the best Mojito I have ever had, not too sweet and the perfect amount of mint! I was impressed, not by the free drink, but because of the amount of attention Benji was paying towards us while he was concentrating on our meals.

Our first course was beautiful (just like our second, third, fourth, and so on). Honestly, they looked so nice I really thought they must be for someone else. But then the two outstanding identical dishes were placed in front of us. For us? Whaaaa??? But they are too pretty to eat. I'm not even sure how long I stared at it before taking pictures or after taking pictures, but I'm sure Lt. was getting anxious to eat. This first course was a trio of:
Foie Gras Wrapped with yellowtail, topped with truffles and gold leaf. Oh. My. De. Li. Cious. And beautiful. The textures perfect!!!

Scallop and Caviar ontop of Lemon Slices. I love love love raw scallops. These were huge and sliced about one quarter of an inch thick from what I recall. The saltiness of the caviar and tartness of the lemon along with the scallop was perfect. Ugh...I wish I had more of this right now.

Tuna and truffles with slices of parmesan cheese. The combination of the salty parmesan cheese and creamy tuna was perfect!!!

Next up was a beautiful salad, although this photo does not do it justice. Within the sweet chili paste covered leafy greens, whitefish and octopus could be found. Delicious!

Third course was Amberjack with a citrus paste. Mmmm....

Fourth, Snapper. Yum!!!

Fifth, Spanish Mackerel. I really wish I had written down exactly what I loved about each piece of sushi, but I didn't. All I know is that I claimed each piece as my favorite and couldn't wait for the next.

Sixth, Blue Fin Tuna.

Seventh, Toro. Delicious fatty tuna belly.

At this point Benji asked how we were doing, if our bellies were satisfied. We could have stopped there and been satisfied, but we were too curious to see what would come next. We wanted more!

For our eighth course, we were presented with a tempura shrimp roll topped with shrimp and cilantro rolled in rice paper and topped with a spicy chili lime paste. Love it!

Ninth, another favorite, Chilean Sea Bass. Delicious, delicious, delicious!!! So soft and flaky and fatty. Lighty tempura battered sea bass and edamame with a somewhat sweet, but not too sweet sauce, this hit the spot.

During our meal, we had good conversations with Benji about food, knives, cool places to live, and restaurants in Manhattan to try. He was an awesome dude, and I recommend that you request him if you go to Sushi Roku. Just tell him the cool kids from Jersey sent you. We really enjoyed his company and service, and before he headed out for his break, he said his goodbyes and placed our surprise dessert order from the kitchen.

Our desserts were amazing also. Somehow we knew exactly what each of us would have wanted. I was served an amazing Chocolate Soufle with homemade ice cream.

A was served a beautiful Banana Flambe!

I hope I was able to explain how amazing this dining experience was. Although we were there for a few hours, I could have stayed all night. I loved having our own chef meticulously catering to our wants, carefully timing each course with our last, and fitting right in with our personalities. When we arrived, we were expecting and willing to spend a few hundred dollars. We told Benji we had a budget of approximately $100+ for each of us, but once our food started coming, I was quickly able to forget about cost and just enjoy the evening. And I believe that's how it should be, especially if your throwing down multiple Benjamin's. Even so, money not being a consideration during this meal, I was shocked by our final bill. With a few carafes of sake, mojito, our set $200, and our multiple additions to that, plus desserts, a total of $254 was ridiculously low, and we have Benji's hookup to that for that. Sweet!!! I can't wait to go back. If your in the area and are craving some amazing food and service, you need to check this place out.

Sushi Roku - The Forum Shops at Casears Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

$254

1 Mojito
2 Carafes of Ozeki Ginjo Sake
7 Courses from Benji's Sushi Bar
1 Shrimp Roll
1 Chilean Sea Bass
2 Desserts

Food 9.5
Presentation 9
Atmosphere 9