The Strat has a new tool in its toolbox, and trust us, we know a tool when we see one, as we once attended “Mindfreak.”

Strat’s new tool is Chi Asian Kitchen, a restaurant just feet from the resort’s high-limit room.

The purpose of the tool? To keep high rollers from straying to Palace Station or Gold Coast or Palms.

The Strat, still with mostly free parking. Don’t get us started.
But first things first: The name.

“Chi” was inspired by the Chinese word for “eat.”

The official pronunciation of Chi Asian Kitchen is “chee.” That’s despite the fact there’s a macron involved, a diacritic indicating a long vowel, like the “chai” in “chai tea.” Nope, diacritics be damned, Strat insists it’s “chee,” like in “tai chi,” despite our best efforts.

Nothing flashy, but follow the scent of potstickers.

Anyway, setting our OCD aside for a moment, Strat has done a great job with the space.

Told you there would be tools involved.

According to Strat, “Reminiscent of a bustling Chinese alley restaurant, the street-inspired interior includes a variety of traditional and unique design touches and decor.”

Yep, there’s a metric butt-ton of that. Yes, that is the technical interior design term.

Guaranteed the graffiti artist had a fleeting moment of, “Should I write something obscene? They’ll ever know!” Thankfully, graffiti artists are known for their maturity and restraint.
Here’s a quick walkthrough of Chi.

As we attended a media event for the grand opening (the restaurant has been in operation for several weeks now), we didn’t get to explore the menu too much, but what we had was excellent.

Per the news release, “Chi offers a wide variety of traditional dishes, including Chinese curry puffs, crafted with ground prime beef and toasted cumin; salt and pepper calamari, made with jalapeno, garlic and ginger crunch; Japanese-style fried chicken, served with spicy soy mayonnaise and pickled daikon; and potstickers, made with pork and shrimp, pan-fried or steamed.”

The team at Chi should take a bao, these were delicious.

The cavalcade of food descriptions continues: “Additional dishes include fried pork sauce noodles with crushed peanuts, cucumbers, carrots cabbage and rice noodles. Braised mushroom yee fu noodles, crafted with spicy braised mushrooms, bok choy, and crispy garlic; bulgogi fried rice, made with shaved marinated ribeye, kimchi, mushrooms and a sunny-side-up egg. And a spicy cucumber salad, topped with spicy garlic and chili dressing, among others. Mango sticky is available for dessert, crafted with lightly sweetened rice, coconut milk, and sliced mango.”

Our favorite item was a doughnut of some sort. A destination dessert, although we have no idea how Asian it is or isn’t.

Reminder: Las Vegas calories don’t count.

Here’s the menu.

The Korean fried chicken was daebak AF.

Chi serves up a robust list of signature cocktails as well.

It’s Las Vegas. So it’s the law.

We tried one and it was amazing, called “Heart of the Dragon.”

The cocktail is infused with Ciroc Peach vodka, Lillet Rose apertivo, lychee juice, yuzu juice, cranberry wash, and rose water. So, pretty much a list of things we’d never order. But we will certainly try this cocktail again during our next visit. Quite possibly plural.

Don’t worry! Yuzu juice isn’t made from squeezing yuzus anymore. They’re endangered.

Having an Asian restaurant checks an important box for The Strat. As mentioned, the competition for Asian gamblers is fierce in Las Vegas.

How serious is Strat about keeping its best players in the building? There’s a door from the high limit directly into Chi.

The fun never stops in Vegas. But it sometimes takes a minute to refuel.

Chi is a strong addition to the restaurant lineup at Strat. It includes Top of the World, PT’s Wings & Sports, McCall’s Heartland Grill, Strat Cafe, and Nunzio’s Pizzeria.

Our money’s on a Mexican concept next.

In the meantime, Chi Asian Kitchen it is. Find out more at the official site.