There are lots of sushi restaurants around town. In fact, for a land-locked city 300 miles from the ocean, there may be too many sushi restaurants in Las Vegas. I often wonder about the freshness and quality of the little sushi places crammed between Kinkos and Quiznos in some random shopping center. So it was with much apprehension that my wife and I ventured into Sumo Sushi 2 for dinner.
This is one of those joints where everyone yells something in Japanese when you walk in the door. This greeting is slightly jarring to me because I don’t really know what’s being said. They did this with great gusto at Gyu Kaku in West LA. It seems more a yakitori greeting than a sushi one but I digress.
The sushu? Not bad. We had miso soup, several cut rolls and a sashimi plate. The fish tasted fresh and the cuts were generous. If you like wasabi try the “sushi bombs” — 6 pieces with extra wasabi spread on the bottom and thin slices of jalepeno on top. Woo!
Sumo Sushi 2
8795 W. Warm Springs Road, Suite 106
Las Vegas, NV 89148
(702) 262-7866
I blogged about the Mac Clinic before but have to mention them once more. My trusty little iBook failed to boot the other day (I wish this explained the time between postings but unfortunately it doesn’t) so I brought it down to the Mac Clinic. They got me fixed up, helped me find a replacement power-cord on the cheap and I’m blogging again. Thanks guys!
If you live on the west side of town consider visiting Silver State Eye Care. The office just celebrated its grand opening and Dr. Thomas Kelly is accepting new patients. He has been practicing in the valley for over five years and was recognized as a “Top Doctor” in LV Life Magazine.
I first heard about Dr. Kelly from my neighbor, Frank Slaughter. Frank recently helped a homeless, former-boxer named Joseph Kiwanuka get eye-surgery and a plane-ticket back to Uganada. You can read more about Joseph’s story in the Las Vegas Sun. It’s a touching story of how the efforts of Las Vegas residents like Frank and Dr. Kelly made a big difference in someone’s life. This city would be a better place if everyone was so generous.
Silver State Eye Care
6080 S. Fort Apache Road, Suite A
Las Vegas, NV 89148
(702) 309-2015
One of my favorites types of food is Spanish tapas. I enjoy sampling many small plates instead of committing to one large entree and what’s not to like about a pitcher of sangria? When we lived in San Francisco we frequented Thirsty Bear and Cha Cha Cha (the one in the Mission). In Los Angeles we could walk to Orris which was more of an Asian take on tapas. We tried Primitivo on Abbott Kinney once and it was great but super expensive.
So we were pretty excited to read about Firefly Tapas Kitchen on Paradise Road and decided to give it a try. The restaurant is a lot of fun with its eccentric and Euro-campy design and festive music. The bar was packed and looked like a great place to grab a drink after work. The food though, disappointed and we will not be back.
We sampled 7-8 of their dishes but only liked 1-2 of them. The grilled baby octopus scored particularly well with my wife as did the creamy aoili they serve with the bread. The downside of many dishes was that they came drenched in a sweet, mole-like, dark sauce. This took away from the vibrant flavors and varied textures we look forward to when eating tapas. Avoid dishes that come with any kind of sauce if unless you like your food sweet and wet.
Firefly is located on Paradise Road, near the Hard Rock Hotel and in the same strip plaza as Ruth Chris Steakhouse. Be sure to call in a reservation as the restaurant was extremely crowded even on a random Wednesday night.
Firefly* on Paradise, Tapas Kitchen and Bar
3900 Paradise Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 369-3971
There is definitely some weird Hawaii / Las Vegas connection going on. I think I heard on NPR that Sam Boyd was from Hawaii and so there have always been special island to casino tour and vacation packages. In any case, you see lots of “Island Girl” bumper stickers on cars and there seem to be an inordinately high number of Hawaiian restaurants here (highly scientific evidence of a large Hawaiian population in Las Vegas).
Maybe that’s why they have a Hawaiian Grocery section at Long’s Drugs. Yep, Long’s Drugs.
Imagine my surprise to find all kinds of Hawaiian goodies in frozen food section next to the frozen fruit juice and ice cream. There’s even a little sign that reads “Hawaiian Grocery”.
I recently received a notice from the Southern Nevada Watering Authority that spring watering restrictions are in effect from March 1st through April 30th. I’m part of “Group B” so that means I get to water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
It’s important to keep to your schedule so that we can help conserver water. You can also receive a “water waste” citation if you’re caught watering outside of your assigned day!
Find out what watering group you’re in
St. Patty’s Day is just around the corner so I’m looking for a nice Irish pub where I can get me some green beer. I have seen a few around town and hope to check at least one of these soon.
McMullan’s Irish Pub - This place is located pretty far from the Strip on Tropicana and Decatur (between The Orleans and Home Depot) so I’m sure it’s mostly a local crowd. That’s a big plus.
Hennesey’s Tavern - You’ve probably seen this place out on the east end of Fremont Street. My wife works nearby and she says they have a fun happy hour.
Molly Malone’s Irish Pub - I’ve passed this location a dozen times driving in and out of Las Vegas. Perhaps I’ll drop in for a Guinness when I go on my Southern Highlands exploration trip.
McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon - Next time at the Rio I’ll stop by and check this pub out. It opened not too long ago with lots of advertisements. Johnny Drama was there for the opening weekend!
Here are links to Irish pubs listed on Citysearch and Yelp in case you want to see what else is available.
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One of my favorite foods is Vietnamese beef noodle soup, pho. I love pho so much I maintain a whole site devoted to appreciation of pho. It should be no surprise then that my wife and I have visited each of the dozen or so pho restaurants in Las Vegas.
The majority of the restaurants are clustered along Spring Mountain Road. There are good choices right in Chinatown like Pho Little Saigon and Pho Kim Long. Venture a little further out and you’ll find Pho So 1, the newer Pho Hung (excellent Vietnamese smoothies) and our favorite - based on the quality of the broth - Pho Sai Gon 8.
Be warned that many restaurants are packed on weekends, especially Sunday afternoon, when tourists turn to pho to fight their hangovers.
Have you noticed the signs along Durange Drive South, just north of 215, that read “Thanks for Visiting West Village”? Turns out real estate developers have formed a partnership to build a master planned community there complete with office space, high density housing and retail space. According to their website, the Durango Station Hotel and Casino will be part of the development.
In Business Las Vegas says that
Developers hope to bring consistency to landscape design, share market ideas, coordinate mass transit and setting development standards for the partners to follow.
The many constructions projects in and around West Village are at various stages of development. Some office parks already have “For Lease” signs posted while other projects are just now breaking ground. When completed, West Village should do much to elevate the southwest part of Las Vegas as a more modern, urban and sophisticated area to live.
No, nothing special happens in Las Vegas just because it’s Leap Year. Maybe some extra money is bet on “29″ at the roulette tables but that’s about it.
