05.02.08
Posted in French, Las Vegas, rated 8 to 8.5 at 00:01 by Dominique
in the Paris Resort & Casino, 702-944-4224
Great for: simple food done very well, pretending you’re in Paris from 4000 miles away
On our last night in Vegas, it was just us birthday girls and our boyfriends. I did a little research on Zagat and this place came up as reasonably priced and very good. And it really is! It’s difficult to find a restaurant in that town with well-executed food that doesn’t require the sale of a kidney. It’s not in the best hotel, granted, but I think it’s kind of cute to walk into the Eiffel tower. Plus it’s across from the Caesar’s Palace shops, so after you’ve blown all your money on designer goodies you’ll still be able to have a good meal on your last $50.
I started with the sea scallops gratinées with sautéed onions underneath, which came in metal scallop shells on a bed of sea salt. They were delicious and flavorful, as was the cream of cauliflower soup with shrimp and chili flakes. We were really impressed. Also nervous, because we frequently find that when appetizers are very good, the entrées don’t live up to the meal’s early promise, which is doubly disappointing.
We needn’t have worried. We ordered filet mignon for the main course, the Boyfriend with shallots and red wine reduction, me au poivre with crème fraîche. (I am a firm believer that Vegas calories don’t count. Just like Vegas shopping doesn’t, although unfortunately Amex seems to disagree with me on that.) They were great! The steaks were cooked just the way we like them and we enjoyed both sauces. Our meat was accompanied by funny little pommes frites that looked like Chinese crackers. That’s the note I wrote myself – I can’t remember what I meant by that, but I know they were delicious. My friend S’s seared Arctic char over sweet potato purée looked like salmon and tasted like trout, and was also excellent.
I had two Gabi’s Cocktails, Lillet rouge and champagne, which were very tasty. We had a lovely waiter who was friendly and attentive but mainly left us to our own devices, exactly as we wanted. The place is huge. With basically three dining rooms and two bars, it’s pretty likely that you won’t have to wait long for a table. Its central location on the Strip is a big plus as well, so if you’ve just seen a show (as we saw the terrific Love in the Mirage) you can just walk over. This would be a very good bistro in New York; that it’s in Vegas and for normal budgets puts it on my permanent list.
Rating: 8 / 10
Our cost: $250 (4 people, 2 drinks per person)
Noise level: not too bad
Chance of walking in: good.
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04.21.08
Posted in French, Haute Cuisine, Las Vegas, rated 7 to 7.5 at 15:51 by Dominique
in the Wynn Hotel, 888-320-7110
Great for: spoiling your purse, giant parties in the back room, wonderful food
The six of us (Boyfriend, me, S and Y, L and K) met for brunch after Saturday’s birthday celebration. My friends were staying at other hotels, while the Boyfriend and I were at our favorite Wynn. So the others thought they’d come check it out. The Boyfriend also remembered how amazing the food was at Tableau from previous trips and how difficult it was to get a table, so we tried to show up early at 11. We still had to wait an hour, though.
The food was well worth the wait. My lobster salad with black lentils, pancetta, a crispy panko-breaded-and-poached egg and frisée was delicious. The egg, with its contrast of flavors and textures, was probably my favorite part. I also shared a scrumptious, subtly flavored bowl of clam chowder with S. L and K got the Kobe short ribs with poached instead of scrambled eggs and two potato cakes (like fancy hash browns) in béarnaise sauce, which were fantastic. I almost wished I’d ordered them myself. The homemade ketchup was also great, as were the mango ricotta pancakes. The only thing that was just good and not great was the Boyfriend’s rib eye panini with aged provolone and Chinese broccoli (!) on ciabatta with potato chips and salad.
Unfortunately, I can’t say good things about the service. S specifically and clearly asked for her burger not to have cheese. When the waiter brought it with cheese, it took an additional two waiters to argue about it with her. Finally they took it away, and then one waitress came back a few minutes later to ask if maybe she’d like the cheese just scraped off, which would be faster than having another burger altogether. It was a reasonable question, since S didn’t say she was allergic, but should have been asked as soon as S reminded them she’d asked for no cheese. By the time they asked, the burger was cold and they ended up having to make it again anyway. That was the most egregious lapse of service; it also annoyed us that they didn’t offer pepper, or sugar for our coffee.
The ridiculously loud bachelorette brunch (we guessed) in the back room, cackling like witches, was also annoying, but not the restaurant’s fault. I hope they flustered our waiters, and that’s why the service wasn’t good. I’d hate to think such a beautifully decorated, luxurious place with lovely food and even little chairs for our purses didn’t also have their service sorted out.
Rating: 7 / 10
Our cost: $235 for 6 people (lousy service)
Noise level: loud when there’s a party in the back
Chance of walking in: very low.
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04.20.08
Posted in Asian, French, Las Vegas, rated 4 to 5.5 at 12:57 by Dominique
in the Palms Casino Resort, 702-942-7777
Great for: people-watching, chocolate cake, getting drunk on sophisticated cocktails, scoping out high rollers
February is not only my birthday month, it’s my friend S’s as well. She decided we needed to celebrate in style, so we planned a Vegas trip with our boyfriends and two other friends L and K. This place is the giant Vegas sister of Buddha Bar Paris. We definitely liked the music and the drinks.
My shrimp and scallop dumplings with spicy dipping sauce were pretty good. The Boyfriend’s jalapeño yellowtail with tosazu sauce and yellow tobiko was better. He let me chase the last few bits of tobiko around in the delicious sauce. S’s spicy lettuce wrap had spicy tuna, crab, salmon and yellowtail with fresh endive, which was tasty. Basically it’s a hobby kit of fish plus leaves you can spread them on; a good dish for sharing.
My entrée of crispy skin-on opakapaka came in sizzled chile pepper tosazu over bok choy with Chinese broccoli and an enormous baby carrot. It was too salty, the fish was a bit chewy, and the carrot was raw. It was the strangest thing – clearly a baby carrot by the shape of the leaves and the smoothness of the carrot, it looked and tasted disconcerting. Other than that the dish was OK. The Boyfriend’s Maui onion-crusted mahi mahi in lobster red miso cream with another giant baby carrot, a potato and Chinese broccoli was not very good. I am sorry to report that the onions were the best part. The fish was eh. L and K shared the special of Kobe steak with shiitake mushroom & gai-lan, which tasted all right but was way too chewy for something calling itself Kobe. In fact, it was too chewy for any medium-cooked steak.
Discouraged by the quality of the other food, I opted to drink dessert instead. My Little Buddha coffee with Stoli Razberi, crème de cacao, Bailey’s and cream on top was delicious. And the Boyfriend’s liquid center chocolate cake with Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream was probably the best food we had all night
The drinks, on the other hand, were uniformly recommendable. I tried the China Girl, Sweet Buddha Love, and Mighty Joe Yang, which were all good, though perhaps too sweet for male tastes. At least that’s what the boyfriends complained. This is the kind of place you’d come with a big group of raucous partygoers who are less concerned with quality of cuisine and more with getting wasted on good cocktails without spending too much money. The décor is classic faux-Asian, with giant Buddhas everywhere and a lot of different cultural artifacts all happily coexisting. The service was not bad. If I ever come back here it will be for drinks at the bar before a party upstairs in one of the crazy luxury suites.
Rating: 4 / 10
Our cost: $430 for 6 people (2 cocktails per person)
Noise level: high
Chance of walking in: low.
The bars upstairs: Moon, Ghostbar and the Playboy Club are OK. Not really worth waiting in line with a bunch of yobs from Jersey (or losers who look like them), and the Playboy “Bunnies” are nothing special. I’ve seen much hotter girls dancing at the other, better clubs on the Strip. In fact, even the regular waitresses at the Wynn are better-looking. The good thing about Rain and Moon, though, is that you can go out on the balconies and get a panoramic view of the Strip, with all the lights and everything.
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Posted in Asian, Las Vegas, rated 6 to 6.5 at 12:00 by Dominique
in the Planet Hollywood, 702-405-4700
Great for: sharing food and huge crazy drinks, tiki enthusiasts, eating outside, nostalgia
Trader Vic’s at the Plaza in New York used to be a hot spot, or so I heard, until the Plaza decided to become overpriced condos. Which was very sad to me, because I never got to go. So when I discovered that they’d transplanted it to Vegas, I insisted that we pay a visit.
I wasn’t expecting a lot from the food – I knew it would be “Polynesian”, which in America seems to mean Chinese food but sweeter. I liked the preliminary toasted flatbread, which was very yummy. The hot dipping sauce was the best of the four provided. Basically I wanted a pu pu platter, which they didn’t have on the menu, so we created our own. Everything was pretty good; the slightly chewy coconut rock shrimp (the best thing), Malaysian beef satay marinated in lemongrass and Kafir lime, very saucy barbecue spare ribs and even the spiced calamari with wasabi aïoli which was, ironically, a little bland. We wanted to get the all-in-one rice as well, with chicken, prawns, char siu pork and lobster, but were too full.
We very much enjoyed our drinks. The mai tai, their specialty, was tasty. So was the Menehune juice of island rums and nectars. The Zombie, of light and dark rums, grenadine and curaçao was sweet and packed quite a punch. We also really liked our waiter. He was super sweet and attentive. I’m sure it helped that it was 4 pm and not busy, but he really went above and beyond for us in many thoughtful little ways.
Of course, the place is over-the-top with the tiki décor. It’s huge and a bit tacky as almost everywhere is in Vegas. But I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food and service, and I’m still thinking about that all-in-one rice we didn’t have.
Rating: 6.5 / 10
Our cost: $80
Noise level: probably a loud party when it’s packed
Chance of walking in: probably better on weekdays.
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