UPDATE: SHUTTERED in 2015

Tapas lovers and lovers of scrumptious, flavorful food have I got a new restaurant for you, 808 Tapas, 9350 W. Sahara Ave.  #150 at corner of Ft. Apache in the Village Square Shopping Center 702-485-3433. 808 Tapas opens this week and I was lucky enough to be invited to try some of their menu items before they open to the public. What they had to offer far exceeded my expectations.  It was the most inventive, delectable, mouthwatering, appetizing, tasty, flavorful, palatable, succulent, luscious, yummy, finger-licking, nummy, lip-smacking, melt-in-your-mouth delicious, food that I have ever experienced.  I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but that’s how much I enjoyed it.

The creative philosophy behind 8o8 Tapas is their East meets West menu.  I like to think of it as Asian, Mexican, Italian, Hawaiian fusion.  Each item I tried was out of this world good. The blending of flavors, each with its own unique twist kept me thinking and talking about how good it was long after I left the restaurant.

Here’s some of the things I sampled;

Crab Stack

The Crab Stack, Snow Crab, avocado, tomato, cucumber, red onion, cilantro, mango, pea sprouts, ginger lime dressing and red caviar. I am here to tell you that this will be a favorite item for salad lovers everywhere.  It is so light, and refreshing and still bursting with flavor. I’ve been dreaming about it ever since I tasted it. I can’t wait to go back and order it again. It is served as a beautifully stacked brightly colored tower topped with a generous portion of snow crab. The photo below shows how it looks once you mix it up to prepare it for eating.

808 Tensai Shooters

Next was the 808 Tensai Shooters, salmon or hamachi, truffle ponzu, pea sprout, avocado, jalapeño, red caviar and ginger juice. So small, yet packed with flavor.  Is it impolite to slurp the shot glass clean? I didn’t care.

Lomi Salmon Buffalo Caprese

Then there was the creative Lomi Salmon Buffalo Caprese, this was their take on a standard Caprese Salad, but instead of tomatoes, onions and garlic they used Lomi Salmon (a Hawaiian staple made of salted salmon, tomato, white onion and scallions), then topped with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Aged Balsamic Vinegar reduction. Outstanding!

Poke Nachos

We were told we must try the Poke Nachos, deep fried Lotus root (their take on the tortilla chip) topped with tuna marinated in a special sauce with avocado. The perfect mix off crunchy and creamy altogether in one ultimate bite.

Victorino Roll

We decided to try their sushi rolls to see if they compared to our favorite sushi restaurants.  The Victorino Roll was amazing. It contains spicy tuna and cucumber topped with tuna and garlic ponzu. Don’t you dare dip this delicious creation in soy sauce.  It’s perfection just the way it is served.

808 Nasu Fries

Next on the list was the 808 Nasu Fries, deep fried panko eggplant accompanied by a tasty wasabi lime mayo for dipping.  My kids would eat this and not even realize they were eating eggplant.  Crispy outside, creamy inside and the perfect dipping pool of sweet, succulent mayo make these fries irresistible.

808 Sliders

And no meal would be complete for my husband without sliders. 808 Sliders, Wagyu burger, sauteed Shitake mushrooms on a slider bun topped with Ginger Wasabi Mayo. Where can I get a vat of that stuff? It makes everything taste fantastic.

Besides the food, 808 Tapas decor is modern and clean, decorated in red, grey and black. They offer sushi bar seating as well as social seating at a long communal table that runs the length of the front section of the restaurant. Individual tables are available as well. Upon entering everyone is greeted with a unified Aloha and Mahalo on your way out. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and professional.  They plan to offer cocktails including Saketinis and Sake Sangria among other creative concoctions. This will be a hot spot in Summerlin.  Be sure to be the first to try it before everyone else finds out and you have to wait for a table. 808 Tapas plans to open this Wednesday, August 15.