Aburiya Raku

Aburiya Raku is the restaurant Strip chefs eat at after their own kitchens close — Mitsuo Endo's Chinatown izakaya, a James Beard-recognized institution where the robata grill runs binchotan charcoal, the tofu is made in-house, and the fish flies in from Tokyo. It has been the city's culinary rite of passage since long before Spring Mountain was fashionable.

The format is à la carte grazing: the legendary agedashi tofu — crisp shell, custard center, dashi pooling around it — opens every correct meal, then robata skewers (Kobe beef tendon, bacon-wrapped enoki) at a few dollars each, the poached egg with uni, the foie gras don. Plates run small and add up — $60-110 a head is the honest range — which is the izakaya contract.

One update to old lore: hours now run Monday-Saturday 5pm to 1am — still late, no longer the 3am after-hours legend — closed Sundays. The small room books hard at prime time (Resy, or call mid-afternoon); late evening walks in easier. Off-Strip, casual, and still the most chef-respected room in the city.