Nina

Our fair city has, for many years, been known for our buffets. We’re increasingly known for the depth and breadth of our ethnic cuisine, and also for the cutting-edge nature of our restaurants. Nina, it seems, is a fusion of the three.

It’s billed as a hot pot/shabu shabu restaurant, though I’d say it’s closer to the latter than to the former. Hot pots by definition have a chimney in the center in which the fuel is placed, so that the food (usually soup or broth) is in a moat-shaped space. Nina employs pots that look more like individual shabu shabu pots, or maybe fondue. They’re easier to use, because it’s easier to maneuver in the open space and you’re not dodging the heat source.

Here’s how dinner at Nina works: Upon entering, you’re seated at a table set with one chrome pot for every person. You’re given a choice of broths — chicken, beef or a spicy Thai tom yum. The broth is brought to the table in an insulated pitcher; your pot is filled and the gel fuel beneath it is lighted. Then it’s off to the buffet for the foods you’ll cook in your pot.

And what’s on the buffet? A sort of pan-Asian variety of (mostly) raw and (some) cooked foods. There’s some variation, but on the evening of our visit it was calamari, red snapper, blue crab, mussels, clams, tofu, beef balls with tendon (a Thai specialty), fish balls, shrimp balls, sole, eggs, chrysanthemum greens, spinach, glass noodles, round rice noodles, udon, vermicelli, yellow egg noodles, eye round of beef, thinly sliced chicken, baby bok choy, mustard greens and enoki and shiitake mushrooms. There also were some sort of ancillary items, such as kim chi, thinly sliced scallions and a steamer filled with rice. And fish sauce, soy sauce and hoisin sauce.

You fill a plate with whatever it is you’d like to dip or cook in your pot; signs above the buffet provide some guidance as to what goes with which broth, though there’s plenty of overlap and it’s more fun to experiment. Settled in once again at your table, you cook to your heart’s content and go back for more if you wish.

You can cook the food, as with the beef, chicken and noodles. You can just sort of warm it up, as with the tofu and shrimp balls. You can eat it fondue-style, using the soy-hoisin-fish triumvirate for dipping sauces, or use the foods to top a bowl of rice, or to make a soup. Chopsticks are used to cook and eat, and you’re also given an Asian-style soup spoon and a small flat strainer on a handle, which is used to scoop out foods that get lost in the broth.

So it comes down to this: The quality, quantity, combinations and so forth are pretty much determined by your own choices (up to a point, that is; more on that to come). We took just a few items at a time and cooked and ate them before going back for more; two men seated near us who clearly were regulars mounded their plates with various types of greens and, with other items, created potfuls of food all at once.

Back to the "up to a point": The tiny clams were tough and rather strong. The raw shrimp, which cooked quickly, also were on the strong side. On the other hand, the chicken had been trimmed perfectly, the beef was sliced paper-thin and cooked up quickly to a very tender state, the noodles and vegetables were delightful and the tofu was very fresh. The chicken broth was on the bland side — something I had expected, which is why I chose the Thai-style. But even though I ordered the latter mild, it was pretty spicy.

Beverages (no alcohol, although you can bring your own wine for a corkage fee) are included in the price ($22 for adults at dinner; lunch is ordered off the menu), as are desserts of gelato and Taiwanese shaved ice. We noted that there was a limit on how many scoops of gelato each person could have, but it was reasonable and this was delicious gelato.

Service throughout was good, although my much-needed water wasn’t replenished as quickly when the restaurant started to fill.

Nina is on a little restaurant row that’s starting to form on South Fort Apache, and it’s in good company there. Like most of the others, it’s a pleasant space, with lots of big windows, decor that’s heavy on woods and neutrals and a soothing soundtrack of classical and jazz music.

And solicitous staff. As we left, the woman at the hostess podium made sure we received a punch card, which promises a free meal after 10 are purchased.

It’s a nice incentive, but one we hardly need. Nina offers fun fusion that’s not commonly found — in Las Vegas or anyplace else.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.