With the wide array of Asian fare available in Las Vegas beyond the strip, Japanese cuisine continues to lead the pack in terms of variety and innovation.  With heavy emphasis on presentation in Japanese dishes(often to create the illusion of more with less), they inevitably begin to resemble works of art.  If Japanese small plates in Las Vegas were to be represented by famous artists I would label them as the following:\n\nRaku= Picasso- the old master, consistently brilliant and timeless with indisputable genius and imagination\n\nKyara= Cezanne- transition between the traditionalists and the modernists pulling in influences from various sources \n\nIchiza= Warhol- iconic and often overhyped/controversial in public opinion\n\nWith Yonaka, Rene Magritte comes to mind:\n-Magritte is from Belgium (the signature appetizer is the crispy \""Brussels\"" sprouts with puffed rice, coincidence?)\n\n-Often overlooked and underrated (much like Yonaka's location off the strip in an unassuming retail center on Flamingo and Decatur) \n\n-Challenges convention while giving new meaning to the familiar (compressed watermelon with house made fish sauce and thai basil? But of course!)\n\n-Much like his most famous work \""The Son of Man\"" (http://uploads2.wikipaintings.org/images/rene-magritte/son-of-man-1964(1).jpg) there is  frequent juxtaposition of fruit in unexpected settings at Yonaka, like the dynamite combination of orange supremes with salmon and tobiko or the tender cuts of wagyu served with peach salsa and slices of georgia peach, which all work in surrealistic harmony.\n\n-Pierce's Brosnan's title character in \""The Thomas Crown Affair\"" takes inspiration from Magritte's \""Son of Man\"" to pull off a seemingly impossible art heist at the climactic conclusion, and the happy hour menu offered at 5-630PM and 11-2AM offer food and libations at such low prices/great value, your bill will seem like the steal of the century.\n\nPerfect for a first date, gathering of friends, or an intro to the local scene for an out-of-town visitor, Yonaka is modern Asian cuisine executed to perfection, and the food does in fact tastes as good if not better than it looks.