Carnevino, Las Vegas (Batali/Bastianich steakhouse)

I was in Las Vegas last weekend. As is the way in Vegas, my second dinner in town was a bit excessive, considering I had dined at Craftsteak the night before. It was not our intention of doing 2 steak dinners that weekend but my friends and I could not pass up making a reservation for the beef tasting at Carnevino while strolling through the Palazzo the day before!

Menu


House-made butter and Lardo! for the bread.


Carne cruda Delicious rendition of steak tartare with quail egg.


Close up of the tartare


Beef cheek ravioli The texture of the pasta was perfect, as to be expected. The filling and sauce was rich and savory while the aged balsamico was the perfect counterpoint, adding a touch of sweetness and acidity.


Wet-aged beef This was hangar steak. I'd say the flavor was milder than what I was expecting. When I was able to get a bite that had a bit of the crust, combined with a couple flakes of sea salt, it created a harmonious bite. The raw sunchokes were interesting but I thought too strong if you took a bite of the meat & sunchoke together.


Dry-aged beef Wow! The first bite of this strip was so packed with flavor...beefy, nutty, umami-ness! However it wasn't "funky" at all. I've tasted the 75-day aged ribeye at David Burke Primehouse and I was sort of expecting a similar taste. Strong. This was intensely flavored without that "funk." We asked how long it had been aged...6 months! Whoa. I'm curious to see how the 2 aging processes differ. This was simply the best steak I've ever tasted. (oh, and the green beans were outstanding)


Espresso panna cotta This was a very nice way to end the meal. Rich, but not too heavy or too sweet.


That dry-aged strip was worth the price of admission. None of the other dishes disappointed.



CARNEVINO ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE
The Palazzo Hotel
3265 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
702- 789 -4141
http://www.carnevino.com

We were at Craftsteak on Sunday and came away quite a bit less impressed than we were two years ago. How'd Carnevino compare, for you?

gleam wrote:We were at Craftsteak on Sunday and came away quite a bit less impressed than we were two years ago. How'd Carnevino compare, for you?

We had dinner at Craftsteak on Sat night. It was good. Nothing was bad but nothing was memorable.

Carnevino was outstanding, in comparison. I'd go back to Carnevino if I'm in Las Vegas again. And I'd skip Craftsteak.

I have to tell you, it's looks as if you had a lot of tartare on that menu. How did you order those steaks? Maybe it's the photos, but they look purple. That is one outstanding menu. This is going on my list.

nicinchic wrote:I have to tell you, it's looks as if you had a lot of tartare on that menu. How did you order those steaks? Maybe it's the photos, but they look purple. That is one outstanding menu. This is going on my list.

I was going to say, those steaks look awfully rare, and was wondering if they were specifically ordered "extra rare", or if that's how the kitchen chose to prepare them...but I thought asking might make me sound like a bit of a bumpkin

Either way, that looks like some seriously high-quality meat.

I think there's a slight blue cast to the photos (white balance is a little off) that makes the red look more purple.

I was unimpressed with Craftsteak on my one visit.

I'm organizing a dinner for a bachelor party in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. I've got us booked at Stripsteak at the moment, but this thread might make me call an audible.

The server said they recommend cooking the meat to medium rare which we all agreed to. However, the meat did look awfully rare to me as well. The wet-aged course would have been better had it been cooked to a more true medium-rare, in my opinion. The dry-aged course was just fine served rare.

And this is coming from someone who prefers his steak to be on the medium end of medium-rare.

jesteinf wrote:I was unimpressed with Craftsteak on my one visit.

I'm organizing a dinner for a bachelor party in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. I've got us booked at Stripsteak at the moment, but this thread might make me call an audible.

btw, not sure if you guys are sports fans, but if so, the sports book at the Palazzo is a great place to watch games! Make sure you make a reservation though. There's also some minimum spending amount per person as well. The sports book is called Lagasse's Satdium (yes, that Lagasse). Have fun!

We ate at Carnevino over this past weekend. I would say it's now my favorite Las Vegas steakhouse.

Of course Mario Batali should be in charge of a steakhouse in Las Vegas. I mean, in a town dedicated to excess, Batali is the type of guy who should be feeding people. From the lardo for the bread to the massive (and delicious) steaks) to the mashed potatoes that just happen to have guanciale and poached egg on top (as well as the rest of the veggies, many of which involve some sort of pork product) this place is everything that's great about both the City and the Man.

We ate at Carnevino about a year ago and had the best roast root vegetables I've ever eaten.