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| - You know, it is with great disappointment that I sit here and still feel the way I did when leaving E, which is man did I expect far too much and receive far too little.
The setup is perfect for me. I am in the best possible way a snobby pretentious pos. So, a sealed off room in the back of one of my favorite Vegas tapas restaurants that only seats 8 people and comes with 21 courses and costs $250 a person should be a slam dunk for me.
I tried to rationalize it over and over. Oh that dish was pretty good I guess. Oh I'm sure I won't be hungry by the end Im only on course 10. But as time went on it dawned on me. There is a food experience out there that I legitimately believe is all style no substance and that is E.
Im not going to bother going through the 21 courses. Suffice to say a course at this place can be something as good as a great small piece of ribeye to a single piece of cheese to a single gummy worm made with something acidic enough to burn my throat.
Issue #1: I was left hungry. Contrast this with Robuchon, which I have been to here in vegas and costs nearly twice as much, there is no chance I'm left hungry there. The meal is sized perfectly. But at E it almost feels as if considerations such as hunger were thrown out the door. It's not a meal it's an experience they say. To that I say f*ck off.
Issue #2: The dish quality ranged from great to pretty bad, never something amazing, and frequently something that I just wouldn't want to eat again (reference gummy worm above). Perhaps it was the edible alcohol courses that I found lacking, perhaps it was the feeling that a few too many dishes were frozen with liquid nitrogen, or maybe it's just that to be this experimental with a dining experience there will be some hits and misses. And that's what it feels like. Contrast to Robuchon where maybe one 1 out of the 16 courses I found to be meh, E had perhaps 10 that I would say I have no desire to really eat ever again. I'd eat the ribeye over and over, the asparagus and caviar, the cheese, some of the deserts, but thats about it. The gimmick of plating in front of us is cute but I have a feeling it's designed to appeal to the uninitiated, the tourists who think Vegas should be dinner and a show. I'll take better tasting dishes and no pointless plating display any day of the week.
Issue #3: Group seating is a downfall. I didn't think about it going in even though I should have, but my hatred of other people became even more increasingly clear that night. One lone attendee who would not shut his goddam mouth, speaking as if he was a restauranteur even though he was my age. He was capable of ruining the experience by himself, and he did. This, though, falls on E, they made the decision to make it a group experience and there are consequences.
Here's how I look at it. Jaleo, the main restaurant where E is housed, is tremendous. The dishes are great, well portioned, and of an exceptional quality. It would be nearly impossible for me to spend $250 on food in the main restaurant and not keel over. Which makes the point for me. If the main restaurant is better...and cheaper...and I don't have to listen to annoying little sociopaths, why would I ever go back to E?
The answer: I wouldn't.
Skip!
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