Skewer Up Some Japanese Food on a Stick at Yu-Yu

Yu-Yu Kushi-age, the Japanese restaurant featuring fried items on a stick that opened in Chinatown last January, got a lot of love from the critics this week. The restaurant from Hideki Horiuchi, who owns Ichiza, features panko-crusted dishes made at a nine-seat counter.

Max Jacobson says diners should start with the tapas menu and the minced meat and mozzarella cheese cutlet and fried jidori. Then head over to the kushi-age menu, laid out similar to a sushi checklist, and try dishes such as "bamboo shoot, bacon-wrapped asparagus, fresh mushroom, tsukune (chicken meatballs), an eccentric pork sausage, smelts and avocado, all of which came to the table with a subtle panko crust, piping hot." [VS]

Jim Begley says, "Yu-Yu offers 12 sauces and condiments to accompany your fried-food fiesta. Always served are the kushiage sauce (think thinner A-1), curry salt and an addictive ichimi (chili) salt. I suggest the spicy mayo to go with the meats." [LVW]

Brock Radke heads over to the new SkinnyFats on Dean Martin Drive. He finds the healthy eats "(expectedly) bland," but overall found that the restaurant could exist anywhere and make it. "There's cool and interesting stuff happening all around Las Vegas, not just Downtown." [LVW]

Al Mancini heads over to the new Korean joint on Durango and Desert Inn, 9 on the Plate with its traditional and modern fare. On the traditional side, he recommends deep-fried rice cakes that reminded him of "Japanese mochi ice cream, without the ice cream, but with a nice dose of heat," and the pan-seared salmon, although the fish was "a bit bland, but the kimchi risotto with creamy hot pepper sauce offered a nice blend of flavors that complemented it well." On the modern side, go for the beef bulgogi siders and spicy pork bulgogi tacos. [CL]

Born & Raised lands a B+ from Heidi Knapp Rinella. She likes the sliders but found the sauce on Bucky B's Jack Daniel's Ribs too sweet and the pretzel nuggets "more garlic knot than pretzel." [LVRJ]