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Continuing our Restaurant Week theme, this morning we’ll discuss sushi. Not just any sushi, mind you, but the superior stuff served at Bar Masa, Masa Takayama’s outpost in Aria, where the delicately scented, barely warm, and barely-held-together rice provides the foundation for the freshest toro, hirame, hamachi, and akamutsu (snapper) this side of Tokyo Bay.
This just in: Drew Terp, the self-proclaimed “big white boy” running Bar Masa and Shaboo in the Aria Hotel and Casino, has parted company with the restaurant and the hotel.
Despite rumors to the contrary, Chef Masa Takayama is still completely engaged with the operation, and discussions of his Vegas demise (by ELV and others) have been greatly exaggerated and are untrue…according to folks-in-the-know at Aria.
In other news, Nora’s Wine Bar in Summerlin has closed.
ELV Note: The Las Vegas Weekly’s exploration of all things sushi hits the newsstands today, so we thought we’d give you a peak at some tasty snaps from our interview with Bar Masa’s Drew Terp, followed by the Weekly article(s) outlining the best sushi in town, according to Brock Radke, Jim Begley, and you know who. (ELV tip: After Bar Masa, Shibuya and Sen of Japan, everyone else is an also-ran. ELV tip #2: Anyone who eats all-you-can-eat sushi should have their head examined. ELV Tip #3: Scroll down to Terp’s Tips if you want to raise your sushi game and stop eating it like a girlie-man.)
THE NEIGHBORHOOD JOINT
Sen of Japan (8480 W. Desert Inn Road, 871-7781) Sen, as it’s known to regulars, is a west-side staple and, unequivocally, the best “accessible” sushi in town. It’s cheaper than Bar Masa, Nobu and Roku but more expensive than your standard neighborhood joint. Don’t let that dissuade you; you will walk—or waddle—away feeling the experience was well worth the cost.