Vegas next month

I have been looking at these boards for awhile now, and finally decided to join and put up a post. My husband and I are going with another couple to Vegas in October. We have gone previously, but not for a few years. Some of our favorite restaurants are Mesa, SW at the Wynn, Sushi Roku and N9ine. We would like to try some new places this time. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would appreciate any help. Thanks!

Tammy-

Welcome to LTH Forum!

You might want to do a search for Las Vegas. There have been a number of threads recently.

Enjoy!

-Mary, the GP

I recommend Marrakech a Moroccan resturant, 3900 Paradise Road - 702-737-5611. Paradise is parallel to the strip and Marrakech is not far from the major hotels.
This is a bit different in that you sit on cushions on the floor and eat with your fingers. The menu is fixed. They just keep bringing food with an occasional belly dancer for enertainment. The food is good and I guarantee you won't go away hungry.
I have been several times and recommended to friends who also loved it. Hope you do too if you deciede to try.

alladin spice market buffet

I'll definitely jump in and say that I was really, really unimpressed by the Spice Market buffet. I wish we hadn't wasted a meal on it. It's a buffet, so you kind of expect it to be above average at best, but even then it let me down.

I think you really, really have to go to craftsteak. I keep hoping Tom Colicchio decides to open his steakhouse in the city of steakhouses, because it's just about the only one I'd go to somewhat regularly.

eh... i thought it was good, you may have gone during remodeling? try the mirage buffet also.

Different strokes, and buffets are pretty variable. We were there in late July, and I didn't notice any remodeling.

Tammy: My wife and I were in Las Vegas last week. We had dinner at B and B at the Venetian, and considered it to be one of the best "dinner experiences" we have ever had. We went with the tasting menu with the basic (not premium) wine pairings. We asked about swapping a selection on the pasta tasting menu (fois gras stuffed ravioli) with a selection on ours, and were accommodated. Nice atmosphere-I asked the staff about the musical selections for background music (one side of Queen's Greatest Hits and a Police album) and was told that it was Chef Mario (Batali)'s preference! Just a great evening.

batali is so cool

Ms. Rev and I were in Vegas a few weeks ago and also had some great food at B&B. David Burke is in the Venetian too and I would really recommend that. In Mandalay Bay, Border Grill is excellent upscale Mexican, at a more moderate price. Of course Aureole is wonderful, but very pricey, like all the superstar chefs' restaurants.

Tammy, it would help if you tell us your price range and what type of cuisine you're looking for.

gleam wrote:Different strokes, and buffets are pretty variable. We were there in late July, and I didn't notice any remodeling.

They were finalizing the renovations in late January 2007 when I was there.

My verdict was that the food was pretty good, but nothing spectacular. The Mediterranean section was by FAR the best part of the buffet.

i agree. i also enjoyed the deli section.

I love SW at the Wynn. Truly spectacular. My other favorites are Postrio at the Venetian, Rosemary's (off the strip, but widely considered the best restaurant in Vegas), and Osteria del Circo at Bellagio.

Best meal I have had in Vegas was brunch at Bouchon in the Venetian (Venizia actually). Trout with green bean and almonds in brown butter. roasted chicken. It was all outstanding. Best Roast chicken I have ever tasted.

My only other comment is stay away from anything related to Wolfgang Puck. For some reason I ended up at a few of his places (and there are a bunch) and they were accross the board, without question, vastly dissapointing and way way way over priced for the dismal quality of the food. I was taken aback by how poorly prepared the meals were. I am a huge fan of braised dishes. I had the most tasteless, toughest, braised shortribs that I have ever encountered at one Puck spot on the Casino floor of the MGM. Borderline inedible.

My one guilty admission is that I have quite enjoyed a couple of meals at Smith & Wollensky. But they have one here in Chicago that's just as good, so I would not bother going while I was there unless you have some sentimental attachment (last place my wife and I dined before eloping 10 yr ago.)

ba wrote: Nice atmosphere-I asked the staff about the musical selections for background music (one side of Queen's Greatest Hits and a Police album) and was told that it was Chef Mario (Batali)'s preference! Just a great evening.

I just read a great book called HEAT by Bill Buford about his time in the kitchen at Babbo and elsewhere. Bufford was at Babbo when Frank Bruni re-reviewed Babbo for the New York Times in June of 2004. This was Bruni's first restaurant review for the NYT (he had formerly been the Rome Bureau Chief) and Batali suspected a review was coming but he wasnt entirely prepared. The review gave Babbo 3 stars and basically denied him a fourth because of Batali's choice of music. Apparently Batali considers this review and the reason for his denial of a fourth star as a major feather in his cap. Buford comments that the music at Babbo is only that loud when Batali is in the house cooking. I love this story. Attached is a link to the actual review.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... sec=travel

iblock9 wrote:

ba wrote: Nice atmosphere-I asked the staff about the musical selections for background music (one side of Queen's Greatest Hits and a Police album) and was told that it was Chef Mario (Batali)'s preference! Just a great evening.

I just read a great book called HEAT by Bill Buford about his time in the kitchen at Babbo and elsewhere. Bufford was at Babbo when Frank Bruni re-reviewed Babbo for the New York Times in June of 2004. This was Bruni's first restaurant review for the NYT (he had formerly been the Rome Bureau Chief) and Batali suspected a review was coming but he wasnt entirely prepared. The review gave Babbo 3 stars and basically denied him a fourth because of Batali's choice of music. Apparently Batali considers this review and the reason for his denial of a fourth star as a major feather in his cap. Buford comments that the music at Babbo is only that loud when Batali is in the house cooking. I love this story. Attached is a link to the actual review.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... sec=travel

I read Heat as well, and ate at Babbo a couple of months ago. It wasn't anywhere near as loud or as crowded as I had expected after reading the book and reviews on various forums. I ate upstairs, which is supposed to be a little bit more laid back than downstairs, though. I thought the whole experience was tremendous, and one of the very best meals I've ever had. In fact I just booked a reservation at B & B in Vegas for next month after going to Love at the Mirage. I can't wait. The menu at B & B is almost identical to the menu at Babbo, but I got the reservation on Open Table without a problem. Much less stressful than calling Babbo exactly 30 days to the day as is necessary.

tmccarthy wrote:In fact I just booked a reservation at B & B in Vegas for next month after going to Love at the Mirage. I can't wait.

If you're a Beatles fan, the Love show is a near religious experience. Coupling that with B & B sounds like a real winner. I can't wait to hear what your dinner was like.

stevez wrote:

tmccarthy wrote:In fact I just booked a reservation at B & B in Vegas for next month after going to Love at the Mirage. I can't wait.

If you're a Beatles fan, the Love show is a near religious experience. Coupling that with B & B sounds like a real winner. I can't wait to hear what your dinner was like.

I love the Beatles and have listened to the Love soundtrack quite a bit. I've heard nothing but great things about it. I have huge expectations for both the show and the dinner. Incidentally, here is a glowing review from the LA Times on B&B:

http://www.calendarlive.com/dining/cl-fo-review25jul25,0,6762707.story?coll=cl-home-top-blurb-right

It helped make the dining decision an easy one. I had been thinking about trying Daniel Boulud's place at the Wynn or even taking a cab down to the MGM Grand to try Craftsteak after the show, but I think B&B will be a real winner.

tmccarthy wrote:I had been thinking about trying Daniel Boulud's place at the Wynn.

I had a dinner there that was quite good. I had the braised short ribs, which were stellar. Also, sitting out on the patio area and watching the projection on the waterfall is very relaxing.

I was recently in Vegas and dined at Strip Steak which is located inside Mandalay Bay. This is a Michael Mina restaurant and specializes in dry aged steaks, but the menu also offered up many other dishes as well including a few fish/seafood options. When we sat down we were treated by the chef to a trio of duck fat fries seasoned with their own dipping sauces. It was a great treat to start off the meal. I went with a braised pork short rib, and found the flavor, tenderness and overall presentation to be perfect. Others dining with us had fish as well as one of their signature steaks. All their food is cooked over a wood burning grill which added great flavor.

The list of salads and sides was huge, and we ordered a few for the table. Stand outs included the white truffle mac and cheese, as well as the mashed potato trio.

Next time I am in Vegas, I would definitely head to Strip Steak again.

Palm's Bistro Buffet... fun, cheap, new, clean, half decent food. after you stuff your face, head over to the sweet Palm pool for Ditch Friday's. Flesh porn is better than food porn. Sometimes.

no comment on the rest of the city except to say "THE" Thai joint everyone raves about is seriously overrated.

tmccarthy:

LTHers must think alike. I was in Vegas last month and we had dinner at B&B and then saw Love. While Vegas is not my kind of place (we came there after a 5 day wilderness hiking trip), I have to admit it was a great evening. You should thoroughly enjoy both experiences!

Jonah

Just got back from a six day vaca in the City of Sin that included stops at many restaurants. I thought I would give a slight review to each spot I ate at during my time spent.

Mesa Grill (Ceaser's Palace)-- As far as the sit down restaurants go this was one of the highlights of the trip. It was enjoyed by everyone who attended and the fact that we had over ten people made it easy to try a little bit of everything. Highlights of the meal included the blue corn pancake stuffed with shredded duck, simply amazing. One of Bobby's signature dish's are his shrimp stuffed tamales and while they were definitely worth ordering they were a little rich for my taste. Other big winners were the grilled to perfection Cuban burger, tortilla soup (the best version of this I've ever had) and all of the fish dishes were fresh and cooked to perfection, all in all a very pleasant dining experience. Now the bad part, I feel as though its my duty to inform y'all as I was leaving I peeked in the kitchen and saw something very upsetting, the cook was preparing for the dinner rush by pre-grilling strip steaks and burgers and just throwing them into a pan to sit until somebody ordered them, I asked the chef "what the hell are you doing, isn't that going to kill the meal" and he looked at me almost annoyed and offended and told me "no it'll be fine" This was somewhat disturbing.

The Range Steakhouse (Harrah's)-- I was in town for a wedding and the UW football game and so the wedding reception was held at this steakhouse that has been voted Vegas' best the past two years. It seemed to have lived up to its claim. It was here that I had the best piece of prime rib ive ever eaten and its something I order frequently. I ordered my piece medium rare and it came out perfect, it was accompanied by fresh home made aus jus, and the garlic mashed were creamy and perfectly flavored. I would highly recommend this spot to any prime rib lovers who make the trip.

Batista's Hole in the Wall-- I had heard of this place some time ago and was pleasantly surprised when my uncle decided to take the boys here for dinner one night when the girls went off to Cirque De Soil. Its located off the strip within walking distance from the Mirage, Ceasers and Harrah's so we made the trek and were seated right away and started out with a couple orders of calamari. The 'mari was fried perfectly but as is always my beef with 'mari , there were no tentacles, just rings. The food was ok at best, im not a big Italian eater so I may not be the best reviewer, but I wanted so bad to like this place because the atmosphere was amazing but the food was just so so. I ordered the Veal parm and it was good just nothing to write to the motherland about.

The Buffet at the Wynn-- This was my only buffet visited and once again I wasn't blown away. I will say that as far as buffets go this has to be the best in Vegas, the prime rib was really good as was the gelato and most everything else was good but if you were in a sit down restaurant and not a buffet you'd be under whelmed. Selection was very good and nothing was awful, its just nothing was great.

Fin Chinese (The Mirage)-- We had originally planned to eat at Japonais but they were closed for dinner at 9:45 (In Vegas!!!!!) so we settled for this place which was a few feet away. It turned out being pretty damn good. The highlight of the meal were the most perfect order of pot stickers I have ever laid my teeth on, perfectly fried highly flavorful pieces of goodness, we got four orders and they were gone in under five minutes. Fin had a fresh fish tank which held lobster, crabs and beautiful looking Santa Barbara prawns, which I ordered wok fried shell on. Honestly nothing that was ordered here was bad and that included the Mongolian beef, Kung Pao shrimp, Beef chow fun, whole BBQ Mandarin Duck, flash fried scallops in black bean sauce and a few other items I cant remember off the top of my head. The restaurant was awfully nice with its design and all and if your in the mood for Chinese and staying at or near the Mirage, this place will get the job done.

Carnegie Deli (The Mirage)-- The New York original has come to Vegas and me being more a lover of the roadfood type places out there, this was one of my highlights. I ate here on a few occasions and enjoyed the corned beef hash, potato pancakes and the big winner (and I mean BIG) was the Woody Allen, a massive sandwich stuffed with corned beef and pastrami, at $20.00 it wasn't cheap but I ate this during the span of a day and it was a damn fine sandwich each time.

In 'n' Out (off the strip)-- What's a trip out west without a stop at this top-notch fast food burger spot? it wasn't my first time but its still just as good as always and the cab ride only cost us $10 so it was well worth it.

Fat Burger (on the strip near MGM)-- This was my first stop ever at a fatburger and the sun was rising so as inebriated as I was, I can still tell you that this place aint all that bad and I think it too would do really well in Chicago. I ordered a fatburger with a fried egg on top and it was a fresh piece of meat cooked to order with all the other toppings thrown on top, the fries were somewhat like BK's but still very tasty. One of the better 24 hour options on the strip.

Binion's (Downtown)-- I made the trek over to Binions because I buddy told me I had to go there and try a bowl of red. I thought it would be a good idea to see DT Vegas so I jumped on one of those double decker bus' and rode over to check it out. This was some good chili, so the story goes, when the people bought the casino from Jack Binion they made him include this recipe in the deal. Now this was some good chili, but the best ive ever had? not even close. Matter of fact I guarantee if you come visit my booth at the Time-Out Chili cookoff later this year you will have better.

I actually ate at other spots but my mind is a little brain dead right now so ill get those reviews done in the near future.

My favorite Las Vegas restaurant continues to be Rosemary's.

http://www.rosemarysrestaurant.com/

I ordered a fatburger with a fried egg on top and it was a fresh piece of meat cooked to order with all the other toppings thrown on top, the fries were somewhat like BK's but still very tasty.

I hope you don't mean Burger King....... I've done the fat and skinny fries many many many times at that Fatburger, and always found them to what fast food fries should be (or what McDs fries used to be).

I also have to put a vote in for Rosemarys.

Quality is superb, and prices are 1/2 what one will pay on the strip.

We do the tasting menu as that maximizes the amount of great dishes we can try. The "dessert storm" at the end is so indulgent it cant be believed.

On our last visit I did the beer accompaniments, while my lovely spouse had the wines. The beers were interesting, but we both agreed that the variety and food matches with the wines was a better choice.

Anyone been to RUB in the Rio?

Vital Information wrote:Anyone been to RUB in the Rio?

It's not scheduled to open until October 5, but will be sure to report back once it is.

I'm a big fan of Aureole at Mandalay Bay.

Have fun with the big electronic touch pad wine list!

I respectfully disagree with those recs for Aureole. I was there earlier this year and found it forgettable to say the least. In a hotel (Mandalay) with perhaps the best selection of quality restaurants anywhere in Vegas - a town that has probably the best number of good/great restaurants in such a confined geographic location of anywhere I've been in the World - I find Aureole probably at the bottom when considering the quality of food, service and price point.

First of all, you have to really enjoy the uber-modern atmosphere of Aureole - which I loathe. This, in itself, won't turn me off from a place (see FDL comment below) that otherwise is wonderful but not in my top 50 of favorite types of decor or feel for a restaurant.

We sat in one of the tall tabletops near the bar and had horrible service. I had on a jacket and the lady a nice dress. Maybe we should have worn black jeans with an artsy T-shirt or an astronaut suit with shades. I don't know. The food was way overpriced for the lack of quality, even for Vegas and brought out way too quickly for what we ordered - less than 10 minutes for a medium steak and rack-of-lamb - how long were those under the heat lamp - or were they partially-cooked hours ago. Our tab was around $130 to $150 for a bottle of wine, one forgettable cheese plate type appetizer and two entrees. Price not horrible by Vegas standards but the food and atmosphere and vibe sure were.

The waiter looked pissed he had to actually stop talking to the bar tender 10 feet away and serve us - that's the least amount of work for a half-hour for $25 tip I've ever seen. We shouldn't have tipped shit. But the busboys were very good and the wine sommelier very nice and we didn't want to screw them.

Now, the glass-encased wine cellar in the middle of the restaurant is kinda cool I'll admit. But there are oh so many wonderful restaurants in Vegas in the same hotel even at or around this price point.

Give Aureole a pass.

I had one of my most memorable meals of my life about a 3 minute walk away across the casino floor in the same hotel at Fleur-de-Lis - just fabulous. It may cost you a few more bucks than a comparable meal at Aureole but it's well worth it. You'll remember your meal there forever. I've been fortunate enough to have several wonderful meals in my life and the one I had at FDL is way up near the top - definitely Top 10, probably Top 5 or higher. And, to be fair. FDL has an ultra-modern-Gothic type feel as well but the service and food were wonderful and I actually enjoyed the vibe/atmopshere even though the decor was not my favorite.

Bster

Bster