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Vegas, Baby, Vegas
The best adventures in V-town....according to me.…
Cafe Koraku
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
6 reviews for Cafe Koraku
Perfect if youve been craving very very decent J-Food, after drinking like a fish and eating mickey D's and crap all weekend long.
Ramen is GOOOD. No no no...please dont compare to Daikokuya or Santouka....but for Nevada....its really good. And for you Ramen connoisseur....step the F back! Cha Shu Ramen is very hearty. Broth was good, cha shu was nice and meaty and not fatty like the LA Ramen Houses....noodles were perfectly al dente. Tenshin Fried rice was the BOMB. Omelette was fluffy and perfectly cooked (not burnt like 90% of other places) Great wok flavors on the rice! Gyoza was atypical. Kimchee ramen was spiiiiicccyyy and oh so good sour. Mabo Ramen had a nice kick, but coulda been better if the cooks werent rushing....house was packed!
Go on weekdays for a calm and relaxing lunch meal...avoid weekends and holidays....it can get crazy busy.
Oh gosh, even giving this place an A-OK is overdoing it. I know, I know -what do you expect in an outlet mall in the middle of the desert, right? I can't help having been totally underwhelmed and dissapointed, I'm from LA. The people by the register may have been Asian, but the food was not made by Asians. I got the beef curry with rice. The beef and sauce was very good and spicy, although lacking veges. My oolong tea came in a can -that's a no no. Their shumai is tiny and I'm pretty sure it came frozen from a box, and not the good frozened kind. Everyone else had ramen or noodles and was =( with their meals.
However, walking pass this place lit up everyone's faces as they've got an alluring window display. We were actually excited to try it out as we were waiting for the traffic to subside so we could head home from good ol Vegas. Our mood changed from ahh we're stuck in the middle of nowhere to yay for dinner.
LA808Girl...your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to locate a dining establishment at the Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas that is (a) not in the food court and (b) not a fast-food chain.
(report begin)
Headquarters, this is Agent LA808Girl, I'd like to report that I've succeeded. I found a Japanese ramen shop in the mall, but outside of the food court. The target is located near the Journey's outlet, across from Claire's and Converse (sort of - http://www.fashionoutl...). Agent Samuel L's photo provides a visual of the storefront.
The target restaurant offers a welcomed alternative to food court junk food - gyoza, kimchee ramen, fried rice, and lots of other goodies. One star deducted from my report for the prices. It's a little expensive for ramen, AND I remember when it was significantly cheaper!
4 shakas for Cafe Koraku - note there are three California locations as well: Torrance, Sherman Oaks, and I-can't-remember-the-third location. :)
Agent LA808Girl, signing out.
(report end)
Mmm, it's so nice to find a good place to eat in Primm that's not casino crap, and not food court crap!
This is a small little noodle shop in the Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas. Their main entree is their ramen, of which there are about 20 different kinds, with prices ranging from about $6-$11, depending on what you get. We were seating fairly quickly, and there were actually quite a number of people eating there. The service was somewhat slow, but the food was worth it when it came out. The shoyu ramen was hearty and flavorful, with a good amount of everything it said it had on the menu. The Seafood ramen was quite full of the seafood items, including shrimp and squid, though the broth was a little bit lacking in my opinion. Keep in mind that the ramen bowls are quite large, so maybe one order is good for two people.
The takoyaki was good, too, and was probably my favorite thing I tried. Bay shrimp omelet was thick and juicy, but a little bit lacking in shrimp. And the lemon soda was lovely.
Maybe not the best value in the world for ramen, but was the best place to eat in Primm, by far.
Upon our arrival at the Fashion Outlets in Primm (a 40-minute drive outside of Vegas) on the day after Thanksgiving, I craved several things:
1. dirt-cheap Black Friday-priced winter wear
2. a new brown purse, preferably from Guess
3. SUSTENANCE
Numero tres was most important, in order to successfully consume the first two. So we made our very first stop at Cafe Koraku, a ramen restaurant somewhere off the mile-long loop of the shopping mall. This was my 2nd time eating here; the 1st time was exactly a year prior (clearly, Black Friday shopping in Vegas has become a little Thanksgiving family tradition of mine).
At noon, there was miraculously no wait at all, though I remember having to wait at least 10 minutes last year. We were seated quickly, they took our orders quickly, and the food came within 5 minutes...quickly!
This time around I ordered the kim chee ramen and fried rice combo. The highlight of this place I think is its fried rice. Their rice is DAMN good! I would eat that stuff once a week.
The ramen is good, albeit nothing extremely special. My kim chee ramen was a little too hot, but I had chosen my poison. I sampled my mom's Popeye ramen (topped with tons of spinach) which was AIGHT, and my sister's spicy mabo tofu ramen, which was definitely the winner of the bunch.
It really isn't a wonder we found this restaurant in the first place--leave it to me and my family to isolate the one place in any situation that is COMPLETLY overrun with Asians.
But in all honesty, no matter what race/ethnicity you are, this place is good and beats eating in the food court, which I usually find to be a loud, congested and impersonal experience.
If my Thanksgiving is spent in Vegas the way it has been for the last two years, you'll see me back next year :)
This noodle shop is located away from the main food court of the Fashion Outlet so it may be a little hard to find.
Typically I would be getting some food at the food court like the rest of the masses on their way to Vegas, then wander the stores afterwards where I would find this noodle shop and kick myself for not trying it out. Finally on my last trip to Vegas I was lucky enough to remember this place and give it a shot.
This noodle shop provides a much needed alternative to the food court choices of pizza, corn dogs, and fake Chinese food. It's not extraordinary food, but it's perfectly decent and it's 4-stars against the local competition. (Probably more of a 3.5 stars by LA standards)
I ordered the House Special Spicy Ramen and it was surprisingly good. Not unlike a spicy champon dish, this bowl of ramen included squid, green onions, egg drop, shrimp, pork, carrots, baby corn, napa, mushrooms, bamboo slivers and a quail egg that was a bit undercooked. Requested medium spicy, but it was about a mild on my spice-o-meter. (Check out the photos)
Definitely will need to make this a regular stop on my future trips to Vegas.