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| - We also took advantage of Hard Rock's players club promotion. Despite having been to Hard Rock many times before, I had never heard of Ago. The restaurant is nice and bright; perhaps a little plain by Las Vegas standards. The hostess was really nice and sat us promptly. We had reservations, but even though it was 6PM we would not have needed them. There were only two other groups and only three more would come in before we left. In comparison, Nobu was next door and looked busy while Pink Taco had a line out the door.
We ordered a lot since there were 3 of us and we had $100 in comps. We started with beef carpaccio, tuna tartare, and a flat bread. The carpaccio was delicious. One of my friends is very apprehensive about raw meats, but we ended up letting him finish up the carpaccio because he like it so much. Their carpaccio had a lighter taste and is good for those who might not be used to raw meats. Speaking of raw, their tartare is made with larger chunks of tuna than usually used in tartare. It was served with avocado and grapefruit slices. It was pretty good, although a simpler, cleaner preparation than some might be used to. The flat bread was also good, although it was overshadowed for us by the other two appetizers. Between the 3 of us, my friend (the one that freaks about about raw food) and I preferred the carpaccio and my other friend liked the tartare the best. We were also given a selection of bread and tapenades, although I barely ate any since we had so many appetizers.
For our entrees, we went with flat noodles with wild boar stew, a seafood paella, and spaghetti and meatballs. The wild boar was delicious. My friend let me taste some and I wish I had ordered it. He was the only one of us that finished his meal. This was not because it was a bad meal, but because he liked the boar so much he forced himself to finish. I would go back even without a comp to try out that dish. My friend's paella was also good. It came in a very generous portion with lots of different kinds of seafood. The sauce was very creamy. I got good old spaghetti and meatball. In hindsight I wish I had ordered something more unique, but I was really craving spaghetti thanks to all the spaghetti specials that you encounter in Las Vegas (although all those specials are for $5 spaghetti at coffee shops, not $20 spaghetti in a nice Italian restaurant). It was very good. I never really thought spaghetti with spinach in it would be good, but it went well with the sauce used. In fact, my favorite part of the dish was probably the spinach. It was a huge serving and I probably only ate half of it. I'm a hearty eater too. I tried to eat just the meat balls, but left two unfinished on the plate. Pasta dishes are cooked al dente, so those who prefer a less firm noodle might want to specify as they order. Not surprisingly, we had no room for dessert. Service was amazing during the whole meal. We never had to ask for anything.
When I was writing up this review, I went to their website and tried to get the proper names for each dish from their menu. The menu posted on their website is different from their current menu. I also learned that Robert De Niro is a co-owner. The changing menus, generous promotions, and the lack of customers are usually bad signs in restaurants. This is a shame since this is a decent place that really deserves more business. I think the problem is that they are slightly overpriced. Not to the point of insanity, but if they dropped their prices about 10%-20% I think they'd do very well. Their lounge, which I think has a lower priced appetizer only menu, looked somewhat busy. The Hard Rock lacks options between casual and fine dining. Outside of Pink Taco, everything else is either very high end (Rare 120, Nobu) or casual (Mr Lucky's). I guess there might be some issue with the owners wanting to own a "nice" Italian place, but I'm sure they'd be better off getting some business than having their restaurant 3/4 empty during dinner time while they're giving out $50 comps. By the way, if you valet park, your parking receipt has a $10 off coupon on it.
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