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| - I went to Le Cirque with insane expectations. Being only my second dinner at the Bellagio, the previous one at the amazing Picasso, I had anticipated this dinner quite a bit. In the end, I was disappointed.
We went in a party of 7. When we sat down, menus were provided, but we knew immediately we were doing the tasting menu. We raised some special needs with our waiter, and he provided several possible substitutions for certain dishes that did not fit the constraints. He suggested a truffle rosotto over the scallop and mushroom. Instead of john dory, how about rabbit, or chicken (really?), or filet?
With the menu decided, bread was served. The bread was excellent. There were three or four different breads in each basket. The highlight was something I've never seen before: fat, soft pretzel bread. It was like having a soft pretzel in bread form. It was great.
The first course was a lobster salad, but I don't eat shellfish. Instead, I was given a nicely presented traditional salad. It was okay. Nothing very exciting, though the tomatoes were excellent.
The second course was a sauteed foie gras with dried fruits and hazelnut. A classic combination, again, tried but true. This was excellent, though I think I've had enough foie gras for a couple years from this one dish alone -- it was not lacking in quantity.
The next course was the risotto. Again, the menu called for a scallop and mushroom, but I opted for a truffle risotto. Boy, did it have truffles. The entire mini sauce pan in which it was served was covered with large flakes of truffle. I've never seen that much in one place. The risotto was good. The truffle tasted like nothing. Yes, there was enough truffle to take many bites of just truffle. I simply didn't understand it. I suppose truffle is best appreciated through the nose. Other members of my party who ordered the scallop rosotto preferred theirs over the one with truffle.
The next dish was the jon dorry. It was fine. Interestingly, it was served with a red wine sauce, which I do need to give the chef props for. That was unique to my experience.
Then, the lamb. I am having a hard time remembering it, again. The waiter did not ask for our temperature preference, and as such everyone's came our medium/medium well. That alone was not so impressive. I do recall that it was the cleanest frenching I've ever seen on a chop, though.
With all the courses over, our waiter asked us if we'd like dessert. We say yes, order some coffees, and by the time the coffee is served, the waiters all come out with 7 different desserts prepared, one for each person (a surprise!). We played a game of Pass the Dessert and got to try them all. Each was quite large. The best was probably a coconut/mango ice cream served in a coconut. Other offerings included two souffles, a strawberry shortcake, and others. On top, we were provided petit fours. Again, nothing truly amazing.
In all, I found the food pretty generic. It was solid, no doubt, but not creative. Nothing elicited a "wow" except, perhaps, some of the portions. I feel like the kitchen was playing it safe with this menu.
I must compare this restaurant to Picasso. The experience pales in comparison. Add on top of that that the menu is $145 per person ($40-$50 more than Picasso) and then another $14 per person for the truffle substitution (and for what, exactly?), and one wonders what the value proposition here is.
Perhaps my anticipation got the better of me, but in all, I can't fully recommend this restaurant. I think there are better choices out there.
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