Las Vegas Mixtape v6: Exploring Showgirl History, Chinatown Delights, and an Intriguing Eatery

Track #4: Rang’s Cocina Moderne, W Charleston Blvd

The signature pasta dish Aligue with Garlic Shrimp at Rang’s Cocina Moderne (Image: Vegas 411)

Looking for a true food adventure in Vegas? Then Rang’s Cocina Moderne, a cozy and stylish off-Strip indie eatery on W Charleston Blvd, is your place. It opened five months ago and is a total gem.

Chef Rang Tan hails from Manila, and she and her husband Benedict have created a world-class, moderately priced restaurant with an astounding menu that lovingly merges Spanish and Italian fare with subtle Asian flavors.

“Because of my mixed heritage,” she says, “I grew up eating Filipino, Spanish and Chinese food. From an early age, I learned that there can be magic in uniting ingredients and culinary techniques from different corners of the globe.”

Start with the addictive sweet potato, carrot, and ginger soup, as well as the marvelously light chorizo potato croquettes with aioli. We also couldn’t pass up the toasted baguette with smoked salmon, goat cheese, prosciutto, pesto, arugula, and balsamic glaze. Our entrées were the Fish Florentine—a tender codfish served with pommes Anna and a heavenly spinach cream sauce—plus their signature Aligue with Garlic Shrimp, prepared with crab fat (the dish’s “secret weapon” ingredient).

Chef Rang left behind her flourishing catering business in Manila and was drawn to Vegas in 2021 during the pandemic. “We were still all locked down in our homes in Manila during the time when we saw news that people in Vegas started going about with their normal lives,” she explains. “We saw a bigger opportunity to share our passion for food in Vegas because businesses started to open earlier, and people were freely living their day-to-day lives.”