If you’ve ever had a hankerin’ for some late night, Japanese delights — and let’s face it who hasn’t — then Ichiza is a must stop on whatever end of the hangover train you’re riding on.
And we at ELV know that nothin’ puts the cap on a nice buzz better than a bottle of good daiginjo sake, mixed in with some of the most weird-ass food you’ll ever encounter. (All of it, btw, remarkably tasty and so cheap you’ll be able to pay for that happy ending that doesn’t end with the evening’s meal.
ELV, of course, is above such prosaic and corporeal pursuits — interfering as they do with his quest for the exquisite in all things edible. He knows you could do a lot worse than forgoing some pseudo-geisha’s five-fingered friend for some okura tempura.
Ichiza has it all: bizarre sushi rolls, oddball pizzas, unpronounceable Japanese “tapas” and undecipherable innards strewn about a menu that covers the walls and just about any other East meets West combination you can think of.
So frightened and confused does ELV get when he wanders in — late at night, buzzed out of his gourd, strapped for cash — that all he can do is vaguely point to something on the wall, and hope he recognizes whatever shows up.
Not being Asian, or young, or possessed of any piercings or purple hair, you might say he sticks out like a rabbi at an Arkansas pig pickin’. But the manager “Yoshi,” usually takes pity on his sorry, middle-aged keister, seats him right away (usually away from the “Hello Kitty” contestants), and orders for him.
What shows up are some of the tastiest late night vittles this side of Raku. And the clean, bright, polished taste of a good sake is just the thing to cut through the haze from whatever cheap-ass hooch brought him to his sorry state.
And as he plows through his repast with all the manners of a famished philistine, all ELV can think to himself is: “The food here is pretty fucking nifty.”
A recent dinner of seven small plates and a bottle of $40 sake came to $102 – including a $20 tip.
ICHIZA
4355 West Spring Mountain Rd. #205
Las Vegas, NV 89102-8784
702.367.3151
That pork dish is the Buta Kimchi, one of our favorites at Ichiza.
I have to head to Ichiza again soon. It’s been awhile and I love this place. I hear Raku is really good too!
What a coincidence — just heard about Ichiza last night from a local chef over dinner at the Curry Bowl. When looking for the address, I found your review. I’ll head over there today to check it out and write something up. Hopefully the manager will take pity on us too, as I certainly don’t have purple hair or piercings either…Will try to get there sober, though. :)
That broiled octopus that you identified is actually grilled SQUID. Also, identifying that skewered grilled chicken as “SATAY” is an insult. Satay is a Thai dish and mind you, you were eating at a Japanese establishment. The Japanese version is called YAKITORI!