Sweets Raku - A Rare Find Delicate Dessert Course in Chinatown, Las Vegas

One of my all time favorite restaurants Raku in Las Vegas just recently launched a new place. However, this time we're not looking for savory items such as Aburiya Raku's fresh off the sea sashimi, grilled Kobe beef tendon, and signature homemade tofu. Instead, it's an elegant place decorated with white marble counter tops and filled with sugary aromas.

It might be hard to find this newly opened store especially there's no signage hanging on the rooftop. You'll just have to look for a big silver spoon located in the same plaza as Raku, between Spring Mountain Rd and South Decatur Blvd.

I've been longing to try Sweets Raku ever since receiving their email about the grand opening not long ago. The reason mostly due to my trust about the quality food and dining experiences received every time while eating at Raku. The occasional special dessert such as brown sugar bean curd tasted so good that I can still remember the exact look and flavors even years till now. I did write about Raku back in 2009 but bear with me, my writing and photography skills were pretty awful back then (even till now). However, just note that I rarely give out a 9-point rating but Raku is one of the few that absolutely deserves such high regards. That gives you an idea why I'm so excited about Sweets Raku.

A wall of water and wine bottles draws the line between the Chinatown scene and the artfully crafted dining environment -

Wall decor -

The dining area can be divided into two parts: the counter seating -

The L-shaped counter area can sit about 13 people -

And the table area -

Dining set -

I was wondering why do they put a hand towel for customers since it's a rare practice for dessert place. The first thought crossed my mind was that the place is owned by Japanese, perhaps it's more polite and tidy to provide customers hand towels as being courteous and considerate. Soon after we placed our orders, I learned the true reason behind the whole towel mystery. You'll see.

Drinks menu (coffee, tea, and soft drinks) -

Wine menu and some wine pairing suggestions for dessert course -

Beers are also available upon request -

As my boy friend Mr. K said: "I'm trying to preserve my last manliness while finding myself eating cute and girly desserts with you."

Prix fixe menu -

$19 for amuse, choice of dessert, and petit four. A la carte is also available for $12.

Mr. K and his clumsy fingers broke the menu ring, oops! -

Once placing the orders, our waitress brought over this fun raspberry sauce holder over and poured a little pile on the plate -

And she said calmly: Please eat the menu with the sauce.

What!??

That's a surprise. No wonder there's a hand towel for each customer, and that's why the menu ring got broken off easily because it was made out of sugar, not because of Mr. K's clumsiness!

So we became sheep and cows.

The waitress must be enjoying this part every time when requesting customers to eat the menu.

The taste of the paper is rather bland, but it did slowly melt into your mouth and oozes together with the raspberry sauce. I prefer eating the menu with a little piece of broken menu ring, it adds more texture and stronger sugary taste (that just sounds so wrong).

My green tea: Tokio -

"Green tea delicately flavored with sweet berries. Fresh and sweet taste."

Note that there's no refill for hot tea. However, the waitress will provide you with some icy cold water in Riedel-like O glasses if needed.

Amuse -

Mango sorbet with mint jelly. Very refreshing. The mint tones down the sourness from the sorbet, truly opens up my appetite (but I've always got room for dessert).

While waiting for my cake -

Playing with sugar -

If you're not coming in a big group of people, I highly suggest taking the bar seats. You get to see so many "behind the scene" actions here. Checking out how the dessert was made and decorated.

This one looks so good -

I think it's called "Apollo" with main components of chocolate and raspberry mousse. I shall order that next time!

Mine is coming up! -

"Marriage" -

"Strawberry and banana."

Underneath the fluffy sponge cake is banana cream. Even the ice cream-liked pink sphere is raspberry flavored sponge cake. All the components are light and "feathery"-like, a truly Japanese dessert style. I would recommend "Marriage" to people who prefer less sweet and lighter style treats.

Another sugar art up close, the sugar leaf on my cake -

"Veil" -

"Stuffed custard pie."

Extremely flaky pie crust with buttery aroma. The purple mousse on the bottom is made of raspberry and blue berry. Also on the very bottom is assorted fruit compote. The bird nest shaped sugar resembles the veil, just press it down and devour with the creamy filling together.

Personally, I like the "Veil" better than the "Marriage," but it's just my own preference of liking desserts with a crunchier, meatier bite.

Our waitress was hoping us to order the "Ringo" - the apple pie, but we ended up ordering the two from above. So she brought over this sugar apple that comes with the Ringo. It's too cute and she really wants me to take a picture of the apple!-

The apple is hollow. Supposedly there's a hole on the bottom and the chef will fill up the apple with flavored cream. Not sure you eat it by cracking up the apple or melting it from above.

Petit four -

Instead of serving four individual sweet bites, here the chef combines all four and integrated them into another plate of dessert as our last menu item - raisins, raspberry marshmallows, mango marshmallows, and comforting mini molten cake. The mango perfectly opens up my palate in the beginning and sums up the dessert course here towards the end.

It's definitely worth $19 for such a carefully crafted dessert course. The atmosphere was relaxing, the servers were wonderful, and the desserts were aromatic. You can truly feel the delicate works put into a dish. In addition, like most Japanese style sweet treats, you won't get that sticky sickness or sugar high feelings even after finishing couple plates of cakes and mousses.

I'll be back for more.

Cindy's Rating: 7


Sweets Raku
5040 West Spring Mountain Road, Suite 3
Las Vegas, NV 89146
(702) 290-7181

Hours: Monday through Saturday 3 p.m. - 11 p.m.

*Currently Sweets Raku does not take reservations
*Located in the same plaza as Raku Japanese Charcoal Grill
*Official website for Raku Japanese Charcoal Grill

Spicy Chicken Stir Fry with Salted Black Beans - 辣炒豆豉雞

Salted black beans, fermented black beans, or 豆豉 - It's one of the traditional condiments that can be found in Taiwan and other parts of Asian countries. The beans have to go through fermentation process using salt/alcohol, drying, and other steps in order to bring out the aroma and natural sweetness.

As my first time cooking with salted black beans, my mom provided some help by nagging throughout the time while I was in the kitchen. Annoying? No, but rather fun and memorable.

Spicy chicken stir fry with salted black beans -

Ingredients?

• 1/2 lb of chicken tenders (can be substitute with other parts of dark meat)
• 1 cup of white beach mushroom
• 1/2 cup of dried chilies
• 8 small garlic cloves
• 1 stalk of scallion
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of salted black beans
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
• Some fresh red and green chilies
• Some corn starch
• Small splash of rice cooking wine

How?

Cut the chicken tenders into large bite sizes and marinade with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. There is no need to marinate the meat for extended period of time, just do it in the beginning before preparing other ingredients.

Peel and chop off the very tough ends of the garlic cloves. Smaller cloves are preferred because it'll be easier to eat as a whole once the dish is done. Remove the scallion stem and cut the remaining, about 2 inches in length. Finely chop the fresh chilies and set aside for later use.

I used those gigantic chilies because they're not as spicy as its deadly mini counterparts, especially this recipe already calls for 1/2 cup of dried chilies. The kind of small red chilies in Taiwan are like 5 times spicier than the ones found in California's grocery stores. You might want to take that into consideration when deciding on how many chilies to use for Chinese recipes.

Drizzle some olive oil to the pan and turn to medium high heat. Add in peeled garlic cloves and let it sear till slightly browned. Add in dried chilies and scallion. Give it a quick stir.

Wait till the scallion starts to appear slightly dried, add in the beach mushroom along with one teaspoon of brown sugar, cook for about one minute. In the meantime, pour some corn starch onto a plate. Transfer the chicken onto the corn starch but make sure to leave the residual marinade behind. "Massage" the chicken with the corn starch. The more you massage the meat, the more tender it'll get even when accidentally cooking the meat for too long.

Check on the stove and see if the mushroom is about cooked through then add in the chicken. Make sure to stir the mixture constantly so the chicken won't get overcooked on one side. Add in the salted black beans soon after. Cook till all the remaining liquid has been reduced. Taste and see if the leftover marinade needs to be added to the pan to increase saltiness.

Lastly, garnish with some finely chopped fresh chilies. Make sure to mix the fresh chilies with other ingredients before digging in.

*I love cooking with my mom, or more like I do the work and she's in charge of nagging instructing on the side.  ( ^ _. ^ )/

Other Asian stir fry recipes:

• Ground pork stir fry with Chinese pickled mustard greens - 酸菜肉末
• Scrambled eggs stir fry with oyster mushroom and pork slices
• Dried radish and ground pork stir fry - 蘿蔔干炒肉末