Las Vegas restaurant reviews

[wish I never left]

If you've already read this on TOB, there is no reason for you to read this again.

I have to say that I am happy to start the first Vegas thread on the new new board.

Thursday late lunch: Palio (Pastry shop at the Bellagio): counter service at this crowded shop, but it was a great choice for a quick bite to eat without filling up before dinner. Our friend had a crab salad and the tiramisu. She said both were very good. My wife had a smoked salmon sandwich that was delicious. I had a very good roast beef sandwich. We shared a cherry Danish for dessert and it was excellent.

Thursday dinner: Bouchon (The Venetian): The décor here is nice and the atmosphere is a bit more casual than I had expected. The service was very good in all respects. We shared a bottle of sparkling wine from J Winery and enjoyed it throughout the meal. For our first course, we had the petit plateau of the Fruits de mer. This consisted of mussels, lobster, clams, oysters and shrimp. I loved the mussels, clams and oysters. I am somewhat indifferent to lobster, but there was certainly nothing wrong with what we were served. The shrimp were very good, but I think it’s a bit ironic to travel over a thousand miles from Houston to eat Gulf shrimp. Next we shared the salmon rillettes with toasted slices of baguettes. This dish was also very good, the smoked salmon and the salmon mouse were a great combination. We ended up running out of the baguettes and started using the excellent dinner roles to consume the last of the dish. For her entrée, my wife had the salmon. This was cooked nearly to perfection, but I didn’t care for some of the flavors. I had the trout amandine and it was fantastic. The brown butter provided a wonderful richness in combination with the fish. This was the perfect finish to a meal. It is always nice to have each course of a meal build to an even better one. If I had to cavil, I would say that they may have piled the haricots verts just a bit too high on top of the fish. We were too full for dessert, but the table next to us had ordered a sampling of all of the desserts and they looked like they were delicious.

Friday lunch: Mesa Grill (Caesar’s): We started with two margaritas as we surveyed the slick design. A traditional for me and a watermelon flavored one for my wife. These were both quite nice, but when it was time for a second round, she switched to the traditional. To start, we shared the tamale with shrimp and roasted garlic cream sauce. The shrimp and tamale were delicious, there was nothing wrong with the cream sauce except that whatever flavor of roasted garlic was there did not come through in the dish. This did not stop me from sopping some of it up with the jalapeno bread they served at the table. (Also included with the bread was a very disappointing corn bread muffin that disintegrated on contact and a raisin walnut bread that was OK.) For my wife’s entrée, she ordered the Cuban sandwich burger. For some reason, we didn’t pick up on the ‘burger’ aspect of this and were expecting a southwestern take on a Cuban, not a burger with Cuban sandwich toppings. In any case, my wife liked it just fine. I had been informed that the burger here was supposed to be the best in town. As I love great burgers, I had to try it. Unfortunately, I am fairly certain this is not the best burger in town and the tip I received was in error. The burger was good however, cooked to order and accompanied with some delicious ‘Southwestern’ fries. The main fault was a bottom bun that arrived soggy and failed to serve its purpose. I would definitely come back to try some of the other appetizers and to order a bit more wisely from the entrees as the rest of the menu looks very good. Service was very friendly if prone to a few minor slips.

[wish I never left]

Part II:

Friday dinner: Fiamma (MGM Grand): Another very sleekly designed restaurant. We were treated to a rather overbearing and pompous head waiter, whose bearing evolved from a source of amusement at his idolatrous description of each dish, to a grating annoyance when instead of being asked how are dishes were, we were simply told how wonderful they were. I began with a Negroni, not having ever had one before and having read so very much about these from a certain food writer. It was OK, but I don’t think I would order it again. For appetizers, my wife and the wife in the couple joining us had the house salad which they both enjoyed. The husband had the mozzarella and tomato salad and said that it was just OK – the tomatoes not having any particular flavor. I had the Caesar salad, with what I later found out to be an upcharge addition of imported anchovies. The salad and the anchovies were excellent. Quite possibly the best Caesar salad I’ve ever eaten. For an intermediate course, my wife and I split the seafood risotto. This was also quite delicious. Our friends elected not to have a middle course, so we plied them with some of the risotto, which could easily have been split three ways, if not four. The husband’s entrée was the salmon and looked to be cooked perfectly. He confirmed that it was and thoroughly enjoyed his meal. I had the rack of lamb, which turned out to be two double cut chops. These were cooked perfectly and I would recommend it highly. Unfortunately, our wives both ordered the braised short ribs and were dissatisfied. There was a scant strip of meat in each of their entrees and the rest was nothing but fat and connective tissue. Our waiter could not allow it into his worldview that someone was less than thrilled with anything the kitchen had produced. Sides of truffled mashed potatoes and snow peas were very, very good. My wife and I shared a carafe of a nice Barbera d’Asti with our main courses. We were offered comped desserts after complaining about the short ribs, but we declined as we simply couldn’t take any more of our waiters personality and the problem with the entrees had sapped our enjoyment of the meal.

Saturday brunch: Payard (Pastry shop at Caesar’s): My wife had an apricot Danish and the yogurt parfait, I had a crepe madame (egg, cheese, and ham) and pain au chocolat. These were OK, but not nearly as good as what was on offer at the Bellagio’s pastry shop.

Saturday dinner: Bradley Ogden (Caesar’s): Excellent service and nice décor, marred only slightly by the fact that the front room looks out onto the casino floor. We were presented with an intriguing amuse bouche that combined varying flavors and textures together to great effect. Stand out bread offerings included miniature dinner rolls and a hearty sourdough. (A nice touch: butter that could actually be spread was on the table.) My wife’s appetizer was the foie gras. The dish was executed to perfection and tasted divine. I had an ahi tuna roll that went well beyond what the name might suggest in terms of flavor and creativity. For her entrée, my wife had the diver scallops, simple and delicious. I had the ribeye and the same was true for it. For dessert, we enjoyed some sort of puffed pastry accompanied with a rocky road style ice cream. Very, very nice. Much like the trout was a perfect finish to my meal at Bouchon, having our last meal at Bradley Ogden was a near perfect capstone to our trip.

[Envie]

Fiamma was a big disappointment (in April). My risotto was undercooked and the service was poor. I had dined there three years previously and it was excellent.

Did you notice how much food/beverage prices had increased?

[paz5559]

I am going in a week, spending 5 days.

My list, at present, in no particular order, is:

Nobhill
Auriole
Tableau
Guy Savoy
Joel Robuchon
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Picasso
Alex
Rosemary's
Alizé
Sensi
B&B Ristorante
Bouchon
Bradley Ogden

Any suggestions, either pro or con, would be greatly appreciated. Looking for great food, money is not a limiting factor (although admittedly Joel Robuchon, Alex, and Guy Savoy seem exorbitant)

[ToddMa]

I am going in a week, spending 5 days.

My list, at present, in no particular order, is:

Nobhill
Auriole
Tableau
Guy Savoy
Joel Robuchon
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Picasso
Alex
Rosemary's
Alizé
Sensi
B&B Ristorante
Bouchon
Bradley Ogden

Any suggestions, either pro or con, would be greatly appreciated. Looking for great food, money is not a limiting factor (although admittedly Joel Robuchon, Alex, and Guy Savoy seem exorbitant)

Let the Sommelier at Auriole save you a boat load of money. The wine list is full of hidden treasures as well as some serious wines by the glass that won't put you in hock. Leave the Wine Angels to the Whales.