When it comes to Japanese Izakaya these days, restaurants have become a dime a dozen. For those that aren't familiar, Izakaya by tradition is a sake bar that serves an extensive list of small Japanese food plates. It's rare to find a spot that takes this concept and pushes the menu toward modern sensibilities while maintaining traditional dishes. This brings us to Ichiza, found in the Las Vegas Chinatown. This place is almost hidden, found on the second floor of a shopping mall.
When you sit down at this place, the first thing you will notice are all the postings on the wall. No they aren't soliciting second hand furniture, at closer inspection they are actually food offerings. Although I love the menu's selection of yakitori, grilled fish and bowls of ramen, I can't help but go by the writing on the wall.
Here you'll find a menu that's a little more creative than what you'll find anywhere else. First written in Japanese, you also get an english translation. Even when translated, the dishes are just as foreign, adding to the intrigue. You'll find things such as marinated salmon belly, garlic kobe beef fried rice or even a seafood quesadilla.
Today I wanted to try something new, and for this I looked to the wall and found Unagi(eel) risotto. This is definitely not what I expected when I ordered though. Risotto is traditionally a rice steamed and cooked to a creamy consistency. This was more like a rice porridge with egg, 3 different kinds of Japanese mushroom and eel. The broth is light, probably a dashi fish broth which absorbed well into the egg and rice. The mushrooms were enoki, shiitake and shimeji all found commonly in Japanese soups and each with their own earthy nutty flavors. The whole reason I got this was the eel, which I'm a huge fan of. The eel was like anything you'd find on unagi sushi, with a slight bbq flavor and soft fatty fish texture. Eel definitely has it's own unique flavor difficult to describe, for the adventurous it's a must try. Although this wasn't what I intended to order, I quickly got past that fact with a great tasting and filling dish.
A few visits ago I found this little gem on the wall and it has become a favorite of mine. This is the deep fried marinated squid. Squid legs marinated in what seems to be a soy/ponzu mixture which is then breaded and deep fried. Along with the squid you'll find sliced onions to the side. The squid itself has immense flavor. The marinade really comes through and even tenderizes the inherently chewy calamari. The onions also take on great flavor and add a nice contrast to the seafood. For less than $5, if you're a calamari fan, TRY THIS.
Everyone I know that has tried this place loves it, 4/5 stars on Yelp is definitely deserved. Ichiza offers some really different flavors and dishes but also caters to the more traditional tastes if that's what you crave. Icing on the cake is that this place is open up to and past 3 on the weekends, so go and get your sake and tapas on!
Ichiza
4355 Spring Mountain Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 367-3151
