Vegas Kine Grindz – Part II

Part I |  Part II 

The last time I wrote an article devoted to the ono grindz of our 9th island of “Lost Wages”, Crash won Best Picture at the Academy Awards and George W Bush was our President. It was actually my very first foray into food articles here on AroundHawaii (way back in April of ’06) and was aptly titled “Vegas Kine Grindz“. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane shmall kine and continue the series with part II, an almost 6 years later!

Since we literally just completed a 5-part series on Hawaii’s best ramen, and my brain can’t function any other way yet 😛 , let’s start off this trip with one of Las Vegas’ best ramens…

 

Monta Japanese Noodle House

Located conveniently on Spring Mountain Road, this popular noodle house regularly receives rave reviews from tourists and locals alike.

Outside Monta Japanese Noodle House. Expect to wait in a line.

Before we left, my friend Dave’s friend recommended Monta, as did my friend and co-worker Shane. On this occasion, we were taken by Jeff, an old high school classmate turned Las Vegas resident. He says he goes there at least once a week and is practically an expert when ordering his bowl.

Shoyu Ramen ($6.95) with extra Chashu Pork ($2.50) and two Nitamago (soft boiled egg) ($1.50 each) [Photo Credit: Jeff Hee]

If you’ve been following my ramen series for the last 5 months, you’ll know that I’m a tonkotsu fiend, so there really was no other option for me.

Tonkotsu Ramen ($6.95) with Nitamago ($1.50), Nori ($0.75) and Shredded Green Onion ($0.75)

If you’re a big eater, portions are relatively small here. I would recommend saving some soup at the end and going for the Kaedama (extra order of noodles) for an additional $1.50.

Your other options here for ramen are Tonkotsu-Shoyu ($6.95) and Miso ($7.25), and for Toppings, Takana Mustard Leaf ($1.50), Kimchi ($1), Corn ($0.50) and Butter ($0.50).

Here’s their complete menu: http://www.montaramen.com/menu.php

I would rate this as one of the top 3 ramens I’ve ever had in the U.S. Yes, it’s THAT good. The tonkotsu broth is legit, and the Chashu pork melts in and “brokes” your mout’ at the same time! 😉 This is a MUST visit on every Vegas trip.

Monta Japanese Noodle House
5030 Spring Mountain Road Suite 6
Las Vegas, Nevada 89146 (Street View)
(702) 367-4600
Daily: 11:30am-11pm

 

Secret Pizza (No Name Pizza Kitchen)

When a place has no signage to speak of and goes by the name of “Secret Pizza”, you know you’re onto something good. In fact, the only way people know about this place is by word of mouth. Heck, they even answer the phone with a plain & simple “Pizzeria”! I was super excited to eat there, primarily because of the mysteriousness of it all.

The entrance doesn’t look like much of anything and is pretty much just a dark hallway. You would probably walk right past it if you weren’t paying attention.

Dark, inconspicuous entrance to Secret Pizza with no signage to speak of

Also known as the “No Name Pizza Kitchen” (NNPK), you’ll be sure to find the makings of a traditional pizza kitchen at the end of the hall, in addition to a long line of “in-the-know” patrons.

The line inside Secret Pizza

I’m not really a big pizza eater, but these pie slices literally had me panting for more. The first night I had their sausage and jalapeno slice, and the next night (yes, we went twice! 😉 ), I picked up a mushroom pepperoni slice.

My mushroom, pepperoni slice ($4.50)

You can customize any slice of pizza for $0.50 additional per topping. Also popular is their “White” pizzas which have ricotta cheese and no red sauce. They go for $5 a slice.

Rumor has it that all of the ingredients for the pizza are actually homemade right here in the kitchen and restaurants from other hotels & casinos actually buy their ingredients from them. Another rumor is that they only use Evian water when mixing their dough. Not too sure how true these rumors are, but the pizza was really dang good!

Secret Pizza, aka No Name Pizza Kitchen, aka NNPK
At the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
3708 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109 (Street View)
(702) 698-7000
Fri-Mon: 11am-5am
Tue-Thu: 11am-4am

 

Sushi Mon

All-you-can-eats in Las Vegas is like saying beaches in Hawaii. You’ll find them everywhere, some better than others. Sushi Mon is one of those popular all-you-can-eats off the strip that is still reasonable and maintains good quality.

Outside Sushi Mon

There were 7 of us there that night for the $26.95 All You Can Eat Dinner special, so I’m sure they were a bit afraid of the damage we were about to cause. They churned out order after order like champs though (and fast!) so mad props to them. Here’s some of what we ordered that night as well as from a previous visit there.

2 orders of Ikura (salmon roe) and 2 orders of Masago (smelt egg)

2 orders of Hokkigai (surf clam) and 2 orders of Hamachi (yellowtail tuna)

Their popular Cajun Albacore sushi

Snow Crab Meat Sushi (you’re only allowed one order per person)

Ed’s Tip: Be aware that you only have a 60 minute time limit here, but as mentioned above, the chefs here churned out our orders pretty quickly so it was never an issue for us.

Sushi Mon
8320 W Sahara Ave, Suite 180
Las Vegas, NV 89117 (Street View)
(702) 304-0044
Daily: 11:30am-2am
@SushiMonVegas

 

Hikari Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar

In the mood for sushi again, 5 of us headed to a placed called Hikari, based on a tip we got.

Outside Hikari Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar

You can actually get all you can eat steak here too, but you have to choose one or the other. We opted for the $26.95 sushi route.

All you can eat sushi menu from Hikari

Although they were out of a few items (as was Sushi Mon), the choices here seem to be a little deeper. Here are some highlights of the choices we went with.

Sashimi combo

Raw fish without the rice is always a good thing during all-you-can-eat dining! 8)

Soft Shell Crab

Amaebi sushi

Screem Inor Gazim

Hikari
4175 S Buffalo Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89147 (Street View)
(702) 889-6660
Daily: 5pm-2am

 

And finally, we’ll close things out with a sweet sandwich find for this sandwich obsessed lover.

Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop

Capriotti’s is a franchise sandwich shop with 75 locations across the U.S. (32 in Nevada alone). My friend’s wife swears by their Capastrami subs (Hot pastrami, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and cole slaw), so we had to go and check it out.

Capriotti’s sandwich making station

We visited the Paradise Road location right near our hotel at the Hard Rock. In addition to the Capastrami, the New Jersey sounding guy taking our order (whom I assumed to be the owner), suggested the Bobbie (The nationally acclaimed best-seller! Hand-pulled, slow roasted, homemade Turkey, fresh cranberry sauce, homemade stuffing and mayo).

Special sign for the Bobbie

Here’s a cross sectional look at the sandwich.

The Bobbie from Capriotti’s

Buggah was grindz! I gotta go back and try some of their other subs!

Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop
4480 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89169 (Street View)
(702) 736-6166
Mon-Fri: 10am-7pm
Sat-Sun: 11am-5pm
@capriottis

 

The primary reason for this trip was to celebrate the engagement of my brother-in-law Lee, bachelor party style. Congratulations bro!!!

Da boyz celebrating Lee’s final days as a single bachelor

Now… If we can ever find a bride for my friend Todd (center), we can work on Vegas Kine Grindz – Part III. I wouldn’t hold your breath though. That may take more than 6 years… 😉

Part I |  Part II 

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Hungry for Some Soosh? How About Michinoku?

One hot summer night, the plan was to meet the ‘rents for a scrumptious Japanese dinner. Having exhausted all of our other choices for delectable Nihonjin restaurants, we suggested checking out Michinoku, as we’ve heard a lot of good things about them.

”みちのく！？”

(That’s my dad exclaiming “Michinoku!?”, at the top of his lungs, for those who can’t read Japanese. 😛 )

Apparently, moms and pops used to loooooove going to Michinoku back when they were on Kalakaua Avenue, and have been utterly depressed (not really, but it adds to the drama don’t it?) since hearing of their closing. So when they heard from us that they had re-opened their doors at the (slightly) more convenient Keeaumoku Street location (across Walmart), they were down to pound and get round.

The familiar Michinoku sign outside their new Keeaumoku Street location

The first thing I noticed was that familiar Japanese family-style warmth. We were greeted with a hearty “Irasshaimasei” with a bow and a smile, and then welcomed to our seats in their native Japanese tongue. I know this is cliché to say, but it honestly felt like I was eating at somebody’s house.

A patron getting personally helped to his seat

It’s a very small space with probably only about a half dozen or so tables for customers, plus the sushi bar, which matches the whole, feels-like-Japan vibe they got goin’ on.

Interior or Michinoku

On to the Soosh!

Moms and I ordered the Michinoku Special, which included Barachirashi, Sashimi, Kobachi, Oshinko, Chawanmushi, Salad, and Miso Soup for $16.

Michinoku Special (Barachirashi, Sashimi, Kobachi, Oshinko, Chawanmushi, Salad, and Miso Soup) – $16.

Although, it was quite delicious, I must admit that I was a little disappointed. I guess when I saw the word “chirashi”, I was expecting tons of fish on top of sushi rice, chirashi sushi style. My fault. I guess barachirashi is something different. I did enjoy the ikura quite a bit though. YUM!

Close up of the Ikura on top of the Barachirashi

Luckily, I also got an order of hamachi sushi on the side to fill my soosh void.

Hamachi Sushi order

Pops ordered the Nigiri set, which comes in three sizes: Ume ($19.50), Momo ($26) and Sakura ($32). Don’t quite remember which one he got, but alls I know is that I was a little j!

Ume ($19.50), Momo ($26) or Sakura ($32) Nigiri Set

Not in the mood for raw fish, wifey ordered their Salmon Teishoku, which includes Kobachi, Oshinko, Chawanmushi, Salad and Miso Soup for $14.

Salmon Teishoku (with Kobachi, Oshinko, Chawanmushi, Salad and Miso Soup) – $14

They also have teishokus with sashimi ($20), butterfish ($18), sanma ($13) or chicken teriyaki ($13), and other Japanese favorites like hot and cold udons, and a variety of donburis. Side orders of agedashi tofu (fried tofu), edamame (soybeans), chicken karaage (fried chicken), among others, will also tempt more than a few tummies.

So support local businesses and give the nice, Japanese family from Michinoku some love by eating there. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find my pops there randomly yelling ”みちのく！？” from time to time…

Michinoku
835 Keeaumoku St
Honolulu, HI 96814 (map)
(808) 942-1414
Hours: Mon: Closed, Tue-Sun: 11am-2pm (lunch), 5:30pm-10pm (dinner)

EATS: Mitch’s Sushi

It’s been a while since we did an EATS (Ed Ate Tasty Stuffs/Ed Always Tastes Stuffs) segment up in hurr so it’s probably about that time eh?

Why the break in action? Well, mostly because the photos take like FO-EVAH fo edit and the payoff (feedback) is usually minimal. A recent trip to a popular sushi spot made me want to dip my toes back in the EATS water again. No let me down k? 😛

I first heard about Mitch’s Fish Market and Sushi Bar from my friend Kari. She’s been raving about it after eating there with her friend, and her friend’s husband, a fisherman, who’s been here many times before.

After weeks of pestering (from me me), Kari finally gave in and planned a group outing so we can go check um out. Below are the photos from that night.

Mitch’s Fish Market Sign

Sushi Chefs at Mitch’s Sushi

We were led into the semi-private room (4 tables of 4) on the other side of the restaurant, which was designed almost like a Japanese tea house. Neat! Our friend Todd ordered the squid legs to get the party started.

Yariika Geso (squid legs) – $10

The one thing I kept reading about in all of the online reviews was that the Spiny Lobster Sashimi was the thing to get. There was (no diggity) no doubt that I would be getting one this night, but there was one slight issue. “Mitch’s Special Course”, which included the spiny little thang, along with other popular appetizers, sashimi and more, had a 2 order minimum order rule. WTH?

At $95 a pop, I was like, “Are you fo real!?” Wifey is not a very big eater to begin with, so her portion would either go to waste or I would have to end up eating like a Manchild! No way Jose! I opted for ala carting the puppy, which actually worked out for the better. (If anyone from Mitch’s is reading this, please reconsider this rule. Me no likey.)

Spiny Lobster Sashimi – $52

Chirashi Special – $25

Kari (and gang) happy to be at Mitch’s – $priceless

Sashimi Special – $25

Close-up of Sashimi Special

Another “must-try” according to the online reviews is the Van Van, a grilled shrimp, salmon, avocado, nori appetizer wrapped in white fish.

Van Van – grilled shrimp, salmon, avocado, nori wrapped in white fish – $14

Van Van innards… YUM!

Negitoro roll ($12) and Hamachi sushi order ($8)

Sushi Matsu (10 pcs + 1 roll) – $35

Close up the Uni for us rare uni fans

At the end of your meal, they take your spiny lobster scraps (along with the head), and finish you off with a scrumptious lobster miso soup. She go!

Spiny Lobster Miso Soup

Overall a very delicious and “spoil yourself” dinner fo sho. Everything was extremely fresh (Mitch even has a huge lobster tank in the back) and top notch. The only thing I would complain about is the price (it’s not cheap), but you definitely get what you pay for (in a good way). Hope y’all enjoyed this one! Dayem, I’m getting hungry again looking at all these photos! Apologies if you are too. 😛

Mitch’s Fish Market and Sushi Bar
524 Ohohia St.
Honolulu, Hawaii
(808) 837-7774 or (808) 837-7775
info@mitchsushi.com
Monday-Saturday: 11:30am-8:30pm
Sunday: Closed

Talk to me!
* Have you been to Mitch’s?
* What is your favorite item at Mitch’s?
* What is your favorite sushi or sashimi dish in general?
* What other sushi hotspots in Hawaii are must-tries?

Happy Tuesday yo!