6 Best Restaurants in Las Vegas, Nevada

Seating is at a premium in this softly lighted strip mall robata, a favorite of almost every chef in town. At 5 pm sharp every day but Sunday, doors open for small-plate offerings of creamy house-made tofu, fresh sashimi (no sushi), and savory grilled meats, fish, and veggies (cooked over charcoal imported from Japan) that reflect the culinary mastery of its Tokyo-born owner-chef. An efficient waitstaff will visit your table to describe the spendy chalkboard specials and also to suggest which seasonings—which include five soy sauces, three salts, and four sugars—will best accent a particular dish. An ample list of sake (including a monthly sampler of three) and à-la-carte menu items, such as the sashimi salad, Kobe beef liver sashimi, and steamed foie gras egg custard, is also provided. Raku also offers omakase, which showcases the chef's choice of the best dishes each day. Raku Sweets, in the same shopping plaza, offers a few elaborate desserts and some savory dishes.

Modest little Ichiza has developed a cult following for serving sublimely delicious, authentic Japanese food and drink in a casual social environment that borders on controlled chaos. Located on the second floor of a shopping center in the city's Chinatown section, this boisterous Izakaya-style pub is crammed with tourists, students, and local hipsters who love a good value and the chance to chow down on a variety of tasty small-plate offerings (aka "Japa tapas") until the wee hours. Forget the menu and study the walls instead, where dozens of haphazardly taped signs list the daily specials, or ask your server for suggestions, which might include black cod with grated white radish; stir-fried calamari with ginger butter; a seaweed or salmon-skin salad; and deep-fried, breaded quail eggs. From dinner to dessert, it's best to order with a sense of adventure. A second location offering private dining rooms is a little further West ( 5300 W. Spring Mountain Rd.).

At the heavily Asian Resorts World, Kusa Nori stands out for its fine presentations of modern Japanese cuisine. In addition to a teppanyaki grill area that serves meals featuring Jidori chicken and live Maine lobster for a higher, all-inclusive price, the menu also includes a large selection of nigiri, sashimi, and rolls (both classic and specialty); robata-grilled meats and seafood; entrees like glazed black cod and steaks; and Japanese and domestic Wagyu beef. Delicious desserts include Kusa Nori maple toast with brown-butter ice cream. During happy hour, from 4 to 5:30 daily in the lounge, sake bombs, specialty cocktails, and a lengthy menu of food are offered at reduced prices.

Executive chef Nobu Matsuhisa helped fuel the popularity of the original Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, so it would have just seemed wrong for the restaurant not to carry over when the hotel transitioned into Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Although there's now an entire Nobu sub-hotel within Caesars Palace—and a newer one at Paris Las Vegas—this restaurant reflects the decor and menu of the Manhattan Nobu original, with bamboo and wood accents. But those who feel it's somehow a little different now are correct: the decor was spruced up during the hotel's remodeling, and there's a new outdoor space overlooking the pool. The menu comprises small- or moderate-size plates, making Nobu perfect for sharing but an easy place to drop a wad of cash (as all those artful food presentations add up). Entrées might include black cod with miso, yellowtail tartare with caviar, rock shrimp tempura, and Maine lobster with wasabi-pepper sauce. If you're feeling brave (and flush), opt for the omakase multicourse tasting menu, and let the chef make the decisions for you.

Take a break from shopping and step into this dimly lighted restaurant and lounge that's part of a growing chain with a menu of both sushi and cooked entrées. Delicious sushi rolls might include the Gojira (with shrimp tempura, crab mix, cream cheese, and cucumber) or the Crazy Monkey (stuffed with smoked salmon, mango, and cream cheese and topped with avocado, red tempura bits, cashews, and sweet eel sauce). Heartier fare includes chicken, shrimp or steak yakisoba or black pepper New York strip. The happy hour specials here are popular with the locals. Late-night noshers appreciate that it's open until midnight, 1 am on Friday and Saturday.

On the top floor of the towering atrium at the Strip entrance to The Forum Shops, Roku occupies an airy dining room lined with bamboo stalks and tall windows facing the Strip. Sushi is the main draw, but there's much more. You can't go wrong with the kanpachi grapefruit with orange pepper, or the White Lotus roll with popcorn shrimp tempura, avocado, and asparagus. But greater rewards come to those who venture deeper into the extensive menu. Feel like indulging? Go for the Roku Izakaya Feast for two.