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I found all these prices on the hotel websites but you can also try the hotel reservations on Vegas4Visitors.com.

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Case in point: Raku Grill. Located in the dark back corner of a dusty Strip mall about two miles west of The Strip, this tiny Japanese restaurant is like a Zen oasis. It only seats a couple of dozen people but if you are lucky enough to be one of them you will be treated to one of the best dining experiences in all of Las Vegas.

The focus of the menu is on items from their robata grill, the Japanese version of a charcoal grill. Everything they serve from here is small in size - sort of the Asian version of tapas, mostly served on skewers - but the flavors are bigger than you could possibly imagine. Everything we sampled - and we sampled A LOT - had a smoky and rich undercurrent that enhanced the tastes and textures of the primary dish, making each one thematically cohesive but still unique.

Here's the list of what we tried: asparagus wrapped in bacon (if you don't like asparagus, this will change your mind); tomato wrapped in bacon (surprising - biting through the tangy bacon and getting the sweet burst of cherry tomato flavor); lamb (like mini-chops on a stick); chicken breast (dripping in juice); Kobe beef with and without wasabi (go "with" - the wasabi isn't as strong as it is in some places and it makes the hearty chunks of beef even more delightful); grilled chicken (a ground up version of the breast meat and even better, somehow); duck (not usually a fan, but loved this); and pork cheek and pork ear.

Yes, regarding the latter two there are some, uh, unusual items on the menu, which have gotten a lot of attention in the rave reviews that have already been written about this place. But as you can see from our laundry list of choices there is plenty to eat here that won't scare away the less adventurous eaters.

And how were they? The pork ear was my least favorite of the bunch, a little too dry and chewy for my tastes, but the pork cheek was basically like biting into a piece of bacon lard and I mean that in a really, really good way.

Note that while my dining companion and I ate through a hearty chunk of the menu there is a lot more to sample including tofu and vegetarian options, lots of seafood flow in fresh from Japan, rice and noodle dishes, odin pots, and more.

The prices per item are very low, with most in the $2-6 range although there are a couple that go above $10. The danger here, of course, is that with each thing only being a few bites, you can run up a hefty bill by just continuing to order more and more, which is exactly what we did. There were two of us at the table and with wine, beer, and tax we managed to blow through about $110. You can obviously do it for significantly less if you are paying attention but once you have your first bite, all willpower will go out the window so be careful.

Raku Grill
5030 W. Spring Mountain Rd. #2 (at Decatur)
Las Vegas, NV 89146
702-367-3511
website
Daily 6pm-3am

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Pink's hot dogs are legendary in LA. In business since 1939 and served out of a tiny, ramshackle shack on La Brea Avenue, the dogs served here have such a devoted following that there are usually lines down the block at lunchtime. Now you can get the famous franks in Las Vegas with only their second full outlet, located along The Strip at Planet Hollywood. The lines aren't as long yet, but once word gets out you may have to practice patience.

The thing that makes these hot dogs so special are not the dogs themselves. While good - all-beef with a juicy "snap" when you bite into them - it is the stuff they put on top of them that makes them so notable. You have all the usual suspects including a fantastic chili (more meaty than spicy), relish, mustard, and the like but from there the sky is almost the limit with options like bacon, BBQ sauce, pastrami and Swiss, nacho cheese and jalapeno peppers, guacamole, sauerkraut and sour cream, and much more. It's all piled so high that eating them becomes a challenge and it turns the experience of eating a hot dog into a big, messy adventure.

There are plenty of other options beyond dogs including burgers, burritos (with hot dogs in them), and a turkey dog if you have beef objections, but that would sort of be like going to a Mexican restaurant and ordering chicken lo mein.

It's amazingly cheap, too. There most expensive thing on the menu is the Polish bacon burrito dog (a tortilla stuffed with a Polish sausage, bacon, cheese, chili, and onions) and that is only $8.50. Throw in a giant, shareable basket of fries or onion rings and a soda and you can do the whole thing for about $10 per person easy.

It's worth noting that just like the Los Angeles original there is no proper dining room at the Las Vegas location - just a few tables on an outdoor patio that are usually full at meal times.

Pink's Las Vegas
Planet Hollywood
3663 Las Vegas Blvd. S.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702-785-5555
website
Hours: