Sake Rok at The Park has become one of my favorite restaurants in Las Vegas. Somehow a sushi restaurant with live entertainment and audience participation found its way to my heart and stomach. Even though I don’t eat fish and don’t want to be a part of a show, Sake Rok is now the first restaurant I recommend to people looking for a unique Las Vegas dining experience.
Were you just dancing?
“Excuse me, were you just dancing?” my friend asked our waitress when she delivered our cocktails. Yes, she was just dancing. A handful of other waiters and the emcee for the night were dancing to a medley of N*Sync and Backstreet Boys songs just a few minutes earlier.
You have to be in a certain mood to truly enjoy Sake Rok. This restaurant is always at 10 on the party scale. You’re not eating at this restaurant just for a meal. There are plenty of places to eat a good meal in Las Vegas. The entertainment is as much a part of the experience as the food and booze. It’s what helps make Sake Rok a dining experience.
I’ve eaten at Sake Rok three or four times in the past year. My first visit was a few days after telling someone that there’s no way you’ll see me in the middle of that chaos. The combination of loud music, karaoke, and dancing seemed like it would be a bit overwhelming. Ironically, that’s what I couldn’t get out of my head after my first visit. The DJ, MC, and dancers set the tone for the night.
Just after walking in I was ready to roll. I’ve tried all of the signature cocktails between all of my visits. This Hana Berri photographs nicely but the Whiskey on the Rok is my favorite. The latter is their version of an Old Fashioned with a signature five spice mix. YUM!
Signature Cocktails and The Bomb! (RAWR!)
Signature cocktails are fine but the real drink of Sake Rok is a Sake Bomb. I had my first ever sake bomb(s) at Sake Rok. A shot of sake sits on two chopsticks above half of a beer. The two are mixed by pounding on the table and making the sake fall into the beer. This is a chugging drink that is gone in less than a minute.
There’s something primordial about a Sake Bomb. The rumble builds from a group of people pounding on a table that culminates with a loud bang that turns to a chugging contest. RAWR! There’s a bit of a rush from an entire table participating in a Sake Bomb. The more people involved the bigger the rush.
I’m always skeptical visiting a sushi restaurant. I typically order some kind of chicken and hope for the best. Sake Rok has a slew of sushi dishes that I’ve been told are great. More important for me is that they have a variety of non-fish dishes. Some dishes like the steak above are typical flavors you’d expect from a Japanese restaurant. Other dishes like the Waygu Sliders offer a unique twist to an American dish. The best shareable dish I’ve had at Sake Rok is the Berkshire Pork Dumplings.
Between the sushi and non-fish dishes, there are plenty of shareable items on the menu. In my multiple visits here nobody has ordered a dish that couldn’t be shared. That’s part of the fun when eating at Sake Rok Vegas. Everything from the entertainment to the food is social. Like I said earlier, you have to be in a certain mood to get the most from a night at Sake Rok. The booze can help anyone get in that mood.
For full disclosure, I’ve been to Sake Rok as a paying customer and as a guest of the restaurant. My most recent visit was as a guest of the restaurant. The waitress said that there was a note that we would be eating Honey Toast for dessert. I had no idea what this was but evidently, it’s a thing.
The warm buttery walls of toasty love are sliced open to reveal fresh berries and ice cream. The simple ingredients were magic when all combined in one crunchy sugary bite. The Honey Toast instantly became my favorite dish at Sake Rok. I couldn’t get it out of my head all night. I can understand why the table next to us came in just for the honey toast and drinks.
Sake Rok is so much more than just another good restaurant in Las Vegas. Sake Rok is a unique dining experience on the Vegas Strip. The food is very good, drinks are delicious, and the entertainment helps create the fun environment of the restaurant. Sake Rok is a great place to start a night on the Vegas Strip.
[Sake Rok is located in The Park at T-Mobile Arena (Between New York – New York and Monte Carlo)]
