The Palazzo Resort, Las Vegas, USA

July 12, 2023

Wakuda was the restaurant I chose for our fanciest night out in Las Vegas on this trip. We are all nuts for Japanese food, and this restaurant comes from Chef Tetsuya Wakuda, a two-star Michelin Chef who has collected gobs of accolades from many worldwide publications and reviewers. I knew our experience here would be top notch.

The atmosphere here is super cool. It’s meant to look like Tokyo’s Golden Gai, which is an area of alleys, neon, and hidden gems. I have never been there, but whenever I imagine Tokyo, especially dining there, I imagine a place like Wakuda. There is, indeed, neon everywhere here, but it’s not gaudy or overwhelming, it’s more artistic.

There are two very large sculptures of sumo wrestlers between faux cherry blossom trees anchoring the center of the main dining room. The decor is clean, and very Japanese, with a funky, whimsical twist.

The drinks here are cute and delicious. The kids were loving the many options on the zero-proof list, and Brian and I enjoyed various, fresh tasting cocktails from the main cocktail list. Service here was excellent. Our server was extremely attentive, as were all the server assistants and bussers. My only complaint was that we were sitting near a speaker, and our server’s voice was too quiet to hear everything he was saying.

There are lots of ways to dine here, either with a chef curated tasting menu, or a la carte. Since I don’t eat raw fish, we opted for a la carte since everyone had to eat the same thing with the tasting, and I didn’t want to take sushi away from the rest of the crew. The tasting menu is curated and bespoke, and there is no list of what you might get, which is exciting, but not really fitting with what we wanted for the evening. While they do have quite a bit of sushi here, there is a ton of stuff that isn’t raw, and we definitely tasted around the entire menu, grabbing items from every section. At first, it was a bit frustrating to choose as there were so many options, but once I just let go and ordered a whole bunch of random stuff, things loosened up a bit.

We ordered a lot, and it looks like their menu changes often, so I’m going to do my best to describe everything we had. The Salmon sashimi was a special going on at the time, so we ordered that as well as these cute little avocado toast bites to start with. We also had Iberico ham skewers, which are not pictured. I had never actually had cooked Jamon Iberico, and these were a revelation. Honestly, the cured version is melt-in-your-mouth amazing, but when you cook it, it’s just this whole different level of flavor. They were incredible, and my favorite dish of the entire evening.

We also ordered the Wakuda Chicken wings, as they were highly recommended by our server, and Eli loves wings. They were perfectly tender and crispy, but we all found them a bit lacking in flavor compared to many of the other incredible dishes we ate throughout the evening. We also ordered some tempura shrimp and vegetables, since fried seafood had become a major theme of the week! It was light and delicious, but unfortunately not a lot of pieces, so we were totally fighting over them.

I also ordered some tempura shrimp rolls, since I’m completely addicted to them, and they’re a must order if they’re on the menu. They were probably some of the best I’ve had in a while. Basic, fresh, and nothing too over the top. Just excellent ingredients.

For a little break, I ordered the most expensive single bite of food I think I’ve ever had. It was about an ounce of super thinly sliced A4 Wagyu beef that was ever-so-slightly seared and it was covering up some really flavorful rice and a dollop of salty sauce. To me, it was not only the most expensive single bite of food ever, but also possibly one of the most delicious. The beef just melted in your mouth, and the slightly salty flavor of the rice and sauce underneath was just a symphony in your mouth. It was $20 each and to me, it was totally worth it.

For our main dish extravaganza, we ordered roasted vegetables, rice, as well as lamb skewers and grilled Iberico ham. Everything was plated beautifully and our table looked really pretty when these dishes arrived. The roasted vegetable plate was absolutely enormous and super flavorful with a range of veggies from mushrooms to squash to cauliflower. The lollipop lamb skewers were a favorite of everyone at the table, and for me, only came second to the Iberico ham skewers from earlier in the evening. The meat was grilled to perfection and completely tender, and the dipping sauce was slightly sweet and superb. I thought that the grilled Iberico was a bit of a disappointment after the skewers, since I think the grilling process might have dried the meat out a bit. I would probably skip this dish in favor of the skewers if they are available.

As if this wasn’t enough food already, we had to order dessert because it all looked so incredible. We ordered two desserts to split between the four of us, and that was definitely plenty. First, we ordered the Wakuda House Special, which is soft serve miso ice cream. This ice cream was super cool as it really had an umami component to it. I loved this savory ice cream flavor, topped with gold leaf, and I highly recommend it.

However, what I would absolutely hands down most recommend of any dessert I’ve had almost anywhere is the Kakigori (Shaved Ice) Brulee. I’ve read that shaved ice is a THING in Japan, and oh my goodness this was one of the coolest things I have ever eaten in my life. They actually fly in ice made from water in a river in Japan in order to make the shaved ice with some kind of super special machine. It was flavored with cantaloupe and served over coconut ice cream. The flavor does change seasonally. The texture of the shaved ice was almost creamy, and it sort of tasted like dreamsicle. The ice obviously melts in your mouth like a snow cone would, but somehow this is different. The ice is super fine, and the flavoring is subtle, so you really just get a sense that you are eating magical fairy strands of light. This dessert is unique and special, and there may not be anything else like it in the world. Well, maybe in Japan, but certainly not in the USA!

Wakuda was a unique and special dining experience for us. We sat here for many hours, devouring the extremely delicious food, from the very first appetizer through the mind-blowing dessert. This was easily my favorite meal of our entire trip this time around, and possibly one of my top five meals in Las Vegas ever. It’s a splurge, but well worth it. I highly recommend making a reservation at Wakuda. And if you do, you MUST get the Kakigori Brulee.