Perhaps You may want the sushi. Perhaps you may want the sake. But don’t you want more? Sake Rok, the latest Japanese restaurant on the Strip, gives you all that and, really, a show.
It starts with the dynamic décor, which combines manga-style graphics with bright pops of color throughout. Check it out while waiting on your starters and drinks. Don’t forget to order sake to sip throughout the meal—Sake Rok gives you several different options. Imaginative cocktails include the light Hana Berri, with two types of sake and elderflower liqueur. The aptly named Asking for Trouble brings together jalapeño tequila with peach liqueur and pineapple juice.
You might decide it's time to indulge in a Sake Rok bomb—if you’re with a group, your servers deliver 80 ounces of Kirin Ichiban to your table, and set you up. A screen on one wall shows a video on how to properly drop the sake—and away you go. The whole restaurant will want in on the show. And speaking of shows, be ready for the theatrical, choreographed dance numbers that break out periodically among the servers and your colorful host, extravagantly garbed and ready to help get you in an upbeat mood.
Get your appetite in an upbeat mood with appetizers like the Edamame Rok with Asian garlic butter, spicy shishito peppers with crispy garlic or twirled soba noodles with pickled shimeji mushrooms and miso vinaigrette. Ikura liberally tops the noodles—if you are vegetarian, ask for it without the salmon roe.
There are a number of paths for your meal: try small plates, order sushi or get an entrée. Small plates are nicely varied, with a beautiful, rosy tuna tataki sporting a tiny little blossom atop. Wild mushroom toban yaki, suitable for vegetarians, comes topped with a citrusy yuzu-soy concoction. Yummy. For a bit of a twist, indulge in the gyoza (Berkshire pork dumplings) or waygu sliders with foie gras, red onion marmalade and tomato jam.
The sushi here creates a feast for both eyes and mouth; indulge in both hand or cut rolls and a number of specialty rolls with whimsical names like the Peter Parker, The I’m Philled with Cream Roll (yup, smoked salmon and cream cheese star) and The Colorful Roll, where mango and shrimp provide an unusual combo. Especially fun: the Godzilla platter, where the named reptile breathes smoke over a 40-piece sashimi selection, or five specialty rolls and an eight-piece sashimi and nigiri combination.
For entrées, satisfy the vegetarians with grilled cauliflower and crispy tofu, or give the carnivore salmon, cod or even a 42–ounce wagyu tomahawk steak with foie gras butter. Whoa.
End the meal lightly with mochi, or indulge in a pastry omakase—thank you, chef!
The Park, opens at noon Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m. Fri.-Sat. 702.706.3022
