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| - One of the things I love most about Las Vegas is the culinary melting pot of restaurants. In one city you have the opportunity to choose any kind of cuisine you could imagine or dine in a restaurant by a chef whom you might otherwise have to travel to France, China, New York or San Francisco to experience. Where else on the planet can you experience every culinary god in one place? As a dedicated foodie, I am slowly crossing off my list a visit to every one of these restaurants.
Yet, I'm starting to become confused about these "celebrity chef" restaurants in Las Vegas. Out of my pretty hefty handful of experiences, more often than not I am left disappointed.
After watching the entire season of Top Chef Masters, I was left with a good impression of Rick Moonen. I liked his attitude, his positive moods and his dedication. Even though I do not eat seafood, I really wanted to try this place out.
We strolled in around 8:15 on a Saturday night to a relatively empty house. We opted for the "upstairs" or "fine dining" menu. After a few cocktails mixed by a very friendly bartender we were seated.
First off the decor is stuck in 1997. The mix of denim blue and cherry wood with hints of yellow reminded me of every seafood restaurant I have even seen, including Red Lobster. The thick glass plates looked like something I would put candles in from Pier One. We were sat in a half booth and within minutes both were struck with backaches from the uncomfortable booth. I felt like I was in a chiropractors office!
I felt the restaurant was striving to be super fine dining, but was missing out on some major points. For instance, our napkin was handed to us with tongs- fine dining. We sat for almost 10 minutes with no menus- fail. New silverware was brought with each dish even if the utensil wasn't used with the previous- fine dining. I told our waiter I don't eat seafood yet my amuse bouche had crab- fail.
After looking over the menus we decided since we had just had lunch at 3:30, a 5 course tasting wasn't a wise choice so we ordered light.
The amuse bouche was 2 squares of watermelon topped with crab. Since I had to remove the crab, it was no longer a "dish", just 2 pieces of melon- whoop-tee-do? My boyfriend started with oysters. Within eating one he said "wow!" and told me they were delicious. I had the beef tartar and was very upset when it was dropped and realized it was covered in black truffles. I feel in a fine dining restaurant the menu should list the major ingredients in a dish, for example, "Beef Tartare, unconventional garnishes, crisped potato skins, black truffles" becuase since I hate black truffles I would know not to order this dish. But, all it said was "Beef Tartare, unconventional garnishes". So I ended up paying 21 bucks for an appetizer that I had to sit and pick at so I could eat it. Once I got all the truffles off, it was very bland. Although the beef itself was quality, I missed the traditional flavor one would expect from a tartare.
Next my boyfriend had the salmon with orange carpaccio. After a few bites he stated, "I am only finishing this becuase it was 40 bucks". He said it was undercooked and bland. Drizzled on the plate was a green sauce, he tried it alone and made a terrible face. I tried it too and I swear it was made from lawn clippings. At one point he held up a large chunk of orange on his fork and said, "how is this a carpaccio?", it was a orange supreme at best.
I had the onion soup 2000 next which after a few bites I simply stated that it was "disgusting". The soup was 2 layers- the bottom a Gruyere custard topped with a onion broth and caramelized onion chips. The broth was poured on by our waiter and I was instructed to eat it in layers- which proved to be very difficult. The broth was so under-seasoned and the only flavor it got was from the caramelized onion chips. Once I "finished that layer" I dove into the custard. It literally tasted like they made a custard and forgot the Gruyere cheese. It had the consistency of chicken fat and was so flavorless, I took one spoonful and pushed it away. When our waiter picked it up he even asked if I liked it and I told him "only the top layer" yet he did nothing about it. I payed for a 16 dollar bowl of sludge that I ate 4 bites of.
We had considered ordering the pork belly and a dessert, but after how the previous dishes went, we wanted to get the hell out of there. We payed 120 dollars for 3 appetizers and one entree and bolted. I had wanted to see the kitchen but I didn't have the strength to sit and lie to any of the kitchen staff and tell them it was a wonderful meal.
He may have been good on TV, but in real life I wished I could have turned the channel.
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