Fish in the Spotlight
About two weeks ago, a friend and I were invited to Fish in the Spotlight a fairly new Japanese restaurant in Las Vegas just about 10 minutes or so from The Strip. I frequent Japanese restaurants regularly as it is my favorite type of food, so I was excited to try out this new restaurant. As a Japanese restaurant/food aficionado I had high expectations because I have visited quite a few restaurants up to this point and my experience here definitely blew me away. Upon entering the restaurant, I was greeted at the door by a server named Aiko. She sat us down at the booth and provided us with the menu immediately after asking what we wanted to drink. We then were greeted by the manager who provided us with garlic edamame, yum!
What I loved about this place is the sense of privacy each booth offered. Often times the booth's are so low and you're almost bumping heads with the table on the other side. Fish on the Spotlight has red curtains drawn from the ceiling between each booth giving customers a lot of privacy. Plus it also makes you feel like you are in your own little world!
It was nice to have a little garlic edamame to munch on while deciding on what to order especially since it was so hard to decide among the numerous yummy sounding foods the menu displayed.
The first thing that caught my eye about this place (aside from the booths and the ambiance of the restaurant) was the menu. Living in Las Vegas and having traveled to numerous different cities and countries, I have been to quite my fair share of interesting restaurants but I have never seen a menu that lights up like this one does. I know it is a little thing, but presentation is everything to me and the presentation of this menu definitely gets a 10/10 from me!
After almost 15 minutes of contemplating on what I wanted to order, I finally settled on the Super White Tuna Carpaccio. Our server suggested super white as it was the freshest and just arrived. I grew up on an island for more than half of my life and let me tell you, the Super White tuna surpassed my expectations. Each piece melted in my mouth and the garnish paired with the ponzu sauce was the perfect touch. When I got my appetizer I was almost afraid to eat it as it looked too artfully placed to touch. I have had quite a variety of Tuna Carpaccio, but nothing comes close to this one.
My friend ordered the Ahi Tuna Poke Appetizer and of course I had to have a bite (or 5, but who's counting?). This poke appetizer definitely has a unique taste compared to all the poke appetizer dishes I had. While it still had the same yummy, delicious taste Poke had, it also had a hit of sweet and spiciness. The seaweed salad mixed into it definitely added a different texture, making it taste all that better.
While I was taking nearly 15 minutes to decide on what to order (I am a very indecisive person, do not ever ask me where we should eat unless you plan on spending the next hour starving), our server suggested the Storm Shadow which was the special for the day. I asked them to sub the regular crab for spicy crab and asked for spicy garlic ponzu on the side. Disclaimer: I love spicy. The Storm Shadow came with Crab, Cucumber, Shrimp, Shrimp Tempura, Avocado, Eel and Yum Yum Sauce. What is the result? A culinary explosion. For a mix of the most basic sushi ingredients, this roll surprised me by how good it tasted. If you love spicy as much as I do, make sure to ask for the spicy garlic ponzu on the side! It adds just the perfect spiciness to your roll!
The other roll we decided on was the Bend it Like a Beckham, which consisted of Shrimp Tempura, Spicy Tuna, topped with Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail and Sweet chili sauce. I am not a fan of sweet chili sauce, but I was surprised at how much I liked it with this roll. Although, I liked the Storm Shadow better, I really enjoyed the assortment of fish that this roll was topped off with.
Ahhh, dessert. If deciding on entrees and appetizers was a challenge, deciding on dessert was the biggest challenge. Aside from the usual ice cream you would find on a dessert menu, Fish in the Spotlight offered Ice Cream Sashimi (I know right?!), S'Mores and Oreo Tempura and Ice Cream. How do you even decide from that list?! After a lot of contemplating I finally decided on on the Oreo Tempura with the Ice Cream. As with the rest of the items I ordered, this dish was delicious and definitely worth cheating on your diet for!
After a long and delicious meal, I wanted to wash my hands before leaving and boy was this quite a topper to my already amazing experience at this restaurant: a room filled with pictures of Channing Tatum and David Beckham, need I say more? Not to mention that the room was hot pink! This room is literally every girl's dream (well at least it is mine, I swear I have seen this room in one of my dreams).
The ambience of the restaurant was definitely another one of my favorite parts. The music was upbeat to make you feel so excited to bite into your food and the lights made me feel like I was in a trendy bar in the middle of New York City.
Overall, I had a wonderful experience and will definitely be returning. When the service, food, and environment surpasses all expectations, how can you not return? Not to mention they have a karaoke lounge attached to their restaurant. Stay tuned for an update on my visit to their karaoke lounge!
Till then,
Xo Paula
Disclaimer: I was given a complimentary dinner at Fish in the Spotlight to facilitate this experience write-up. The opinions expressed herein are mine and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Fish in the Spotlight.