Where to Eat and Drink in Las Vegas, Nevada
Amid all the buzz about its big-name chefs and its outposts of classic American restaurants, one thing gets lost in the mix: Las Vegas just might have some of the best Asian food in the country. Every year, a splashy casino opens a megasize modern Asian palace staffed by chefs skilled in teppanyaki grilling, hand-pulling noodles, and delicate sashimi-knife work. And while we know you go to Vegas to hit the Strip, the strip malls branching off Las Vegas Boulevard are home to some seriously authentic Asian dining, with pho joints, Filipino turoturos, ramen houses, and sushi bars dishing up the real deal. So if you’re looking for winners, here are the spots you can bet on.
Every May, Bon Appétit joins forces with the best resorts and chefs in Las Vegas to host the four-day citywide feast that is Vegas Uncork’d. Now that we’re in our seventh (as in lucky seventh) year, we’ve upped the ante. Here’s a taste of the 20-plus events taking place May 9-12:
At Bellagio, Michael Mina is throwing a sprawling block party, with the likes of Todd English, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Julian Serrano doing their take on potluck.
At MGM Grand, we’re cutting the ribbon on opening night at the luxe Chinese restaurant Hakkasan, and Joël Robuchon will teach you how to cook with Michelin-starred flair.
At Mandalay Bay, you can learn the secrets of modern Mexican with Mary Sue Milliken and hoist a pint in Hubert Keller‘s beer garden.
At Caesars Palace, Gordon Ramsay, who we assure you is a kind and gentle host, is holding an intimate dinner. Caesars is also the spot for our legendary poolside Grand Tasting with all of the culinary stars in Vegas.
We’ll be there…will you? For tickets and a complete schedule of events, go to vegasuncorked.com.
Hugh Garvey is articles editor at Playboy and a frequent contributor to Bon Appétit.
1/9Fuse it or Lose it
Hotelier Steve Wynn has transformed Okada into Mizumi, an upscale theme park of Japanese food: There’s a sushi bar serving o-toro tuna, a robata grill fueled by binchotan charcoal (pictured), a teppanyaki grill, and views of a Japanese garden snaking through a man-made lagoon. But the formal dining room in back is where chef Devin Hashimoto brings it all together. His 72-hour Wagyu short rib kakuni is high roller-ready, while the tuna and yellowtail bibimbap with a 63-degree jidori egg is the most personal dish on the menu, an homage to his Korean-American wife.
2/9My Dinner with Andrés
We don’t quite get the logic behind José Andrés’s China Poblano, but we like it. At his restaurant at the Cosmopolitan, he mixes Mexican and Chinese flavors in a casual, urban setting that feels like the takeout restaurant of your dreams. (Think dueling kitchens with bar seating and cooks hand-making tortillas and dumplings.) The Asian side of the menu has some of the most cheffy Chinese food in town: The 20-vegetable fried rice has micro carrots and other seasonal ingredients cut into a precise, Escoffier-worthy brunoise. A rou jia mo street sandwich of red-braised pork is served on a griddled flatbread that’s greasy in the best possible way. While great cocktails are a rarity at many Asian restaurants, here you can get an iconic Singapore Sling by the pitcher.
3/9China Poblano
4/9A La Cart
Of all the post-binge meals available in Vegas, few soothe with such efficiency as dim sum; each stainless steel cart is laden with rich, starchy steamed and fried hangover remedies. Ping Pang Pong, inside the under-loved Gold Coast Casino, serves the city’s best. Its har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings), salt-and-pepper shrimp studded with fiery chiles, and salty-sweet pork buns will prime you for that restorative nap. Go with a crowd (friends, wingmen, showgirls, strangers). Point. Eat. Recover. (Above: Salt-and-pepper shrimp studded with fiery chiles at Ping Pang Pong)
5/9Thai One On
The most famous Thai restaurant in the country just got some serious competition: The former GM and sommelier at Vegas’s lauded Lotus of Siam has opened Chada Thai, his take on southern and Bangkok-style Thai cuisine. At this tiny small-plates spot in Vegas’s Chinatown, a ten-minute drive from the Strip, you can try fried pig’s ears, garlicky Cornish game hens, and brothy noodles. Wine is a big deal here. And once you sip an off-dry Riesling between bites of rice noodles and sweet-and spicy crab, you’ll taste why this is one of the best food and wine pairings of all time. (Above: Rice noodles and sweet-and spicy crab at Chada Thai)
6/9Chada Thai
7/9Tastiest Strip Mall in the West
Sometimes you need a break from the Strip. Grab a cab, and in 15 minutes you can Zen out at another strip–a mall, to be exact–housing some of the best Japanese restaurants in town. There’s Monta Noodle House; Raku, the favorite hang of local chefs; and Trattoria Nakamura-Ya, serving Italian-Japanese dishes. The newest tenant is Kabuto, an Edo-style sushi joint serving simple, impeccably sourced fish from chef Gen Mizoguchi. The acoustics are hushed, even though the room is packed with diners extolling the omakase, featuring fish from Tokyo’s Tsukiji market. (Above: Sushi at Kabuto)
8/9Chef Gen Mizoguchi of Kabuto
9/9There’s No Place Like Nobu
Here’s a first for Vegas–and perhaps the world: an entire hotel built to the specifications of a celebrity chef. The new Nobu Hotel is a serene, Japanese-inflected 181-room hotel within a hotel at Caesars Palace. With the largest Nobu restaurant in the empire (almost 13,000 square feet) and a room-service menu featuring green tea waffles, tamago-style omelets, and the chef’s spin on a club sandwich (i.e., rolled up and sliced sushi style), you might not want to leave.
