Dining Pick of the Week: Kyara Japanese Tapas

PICK OF THE WEEK:

KYARA JAPANESE TAPAS

6555 S. Jones Blvd., 702-434-8856

Kyara is serious Japanese with zensai (appetizers), ni (simmered), kushi (skewers), itame (stir fried) and mushi (steamed), all served as tapas. Popular zensai are vegetable spring roll, cabbage with spicy oil, marinated squid, sliced albacore with ponzu sauce and rice cracker with spicy tuna dip. Among stir-fried tapas are squid with butter, pork kimchee, chicken with garlic ponzu, diced-cut steak with Japanese sauce and ankake tofu with the chef's special gravy sauce. Steamed tapas feature egg custard with seafood, and sautéed clam with sake. Ni selections offer pork intestine stew, beef tongue stew and potato stew with vegetables and beef. There are soups (chicken broth, udon noodle, miso), rice bowls (marinated tuna, salmon rice), salads (Japanese-style Caesar, mashed potato salad with blue cheese) and desserts, including maccha affogato (vanilla ice cream with green tea syrup), homemade vanilla tofu mousse, chocolate mousse with strawberry and green tea waffles with vanilla ice cream and honey. Popular lunch bowls ($5.95) are chicken or beef teriyaki, Japanese curry rice and gyudon (sliced beef). Review the sophisticated shochu and sake menu. Stir-fried tapas start at $3.80 and appetizers at $2.50. Kyara Japanese Tapas is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (closed 3 to 5 p.m.) Monday through Friday and daily from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. - Jack Bulavsky