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| - It is with a heavy heart that I write this review for Oscar's. I'm like most Las Vegans and adore our former mayor. I want everything Oscar Goodman touches to turn to gold. And I have such a high regard for his taste, that this restaurant, at least in my mind, should be one of the best steakhouses in town.
As it stands, I'll have to tell people to avoid it. In short, after the "case of the raw gratin potatoes", I can say with certainly that I won't be back to Oscar's.
This was my second trip to Oscars and when I visited last year, I enjoyed the steaks and sides. While I did not love any of it, I was so taken with the ambiance, the style, and use of the space that there was no question that I would be back. There is no other place like this in our city--they serve great drinks in an iconic space. And it manages to capture that glamorous feeling of old-Vegas.
We didn't see any broads this visit, but one can't help but enjoy the view and the established feeling of it all.
The problem on the return trip was the food. Period. In fairness, I came to a steakhouse and ate the salmon, so feel free to disregard my comments, but my experiences speak to an overall level of quality.
Here's the thing---while I was satisfied with my piece of fish and hubby was pleased with his fillet, no one else was happy with the quality of their protein. Our friend with the shrimp dish found the shrimp to be overcooked and our friends with prime rib stated (and it was visually obvious) that it was not presented at the temperatures requested.
Those things I could overlook, and was ready to overlook even as we talked and laughed and ate, but the there was snafu with one side dish that I am still shocked by. The au gratin was a disaster. We received a pale looking item in a small ramekin type dish. I had the first scoop when it hit the table and it was cool. Not completely ice cold, but slightly cooler than room temperature. And there was not one piece of melted cheese on the dish. Even the top was a creamy white chopped mix. There was no sprinkle of yellow or bunt orange or crusty brown anywhere. I still took a bite because my brain hadn't processed what was wrong with the dish. The flavor was disconcerting--it was bitter. I chewed and offered a bite to another table mate to get a second opinion. She agreed that something was wrong with the dish, but neither of us spent too much time thinking about it as we ate.
We were celebrating that night and didn't want to think about the potatoes that were...crunchy and toothsome and the fact that there seemed to be no cheese. Before the waitress came to pick up the dishes I stated to the table that I thought the dish might have been raw. But with the conversation shifting and Occam's razor in full effect, I talked myself out of that ridiculous guess. We were celebrating Brad's birthday and I didn't want to spend any more time bemoaning a weak dish. People were dissatisfied enough with the main dishes that they had already eaten and I didn't want to add to anyone's dissatisfaction.
But the raw gratin kept gnawing at me. Was I wrong? Was this how they served their potatoes? When I got home, I went through some Yelp photos of others' experiences looking specifically for a picture of their au gratin potatoes. I can count the number of times I have ordered and/or eaten them, so I didn't trust the clear voice telling me the ugly truth.
One look at Dennis T's pic of a yellow, golden cheesy crust that had clearly been baked in the dish provided all of the evidence I needed in the case of the "raw gratin". They had absolutely served us raw au gratin.
Add to that the fact that hubby asked for a Diet Coke and was served a Diet Pepsi. I don't fault them for serving Pepsi products, but why didn't our server stop and clarify at the time the order was placed?
Mid-meal a manager came by and asked how everything was. There were an awkward few moments of silence and one friend stated flatly, "It's OK." And the manager never followed up.
Mistakes happen and certainly are forgivable. But for this mistake to go unnoticed means that someone in the kitchen put them up raw, the expediter and/or secondary server saw them and found them acceptable to served to use and they were placed on our table raw and pale and anemic . Then when we were finished, our waitress saw the generally untouched pure white raw gratin and never said a word.
That's a problem for me. I can easily forgive a raw dish at a casual diner (although I've never been served one) or at a mom and pop spot (although I've never been served one). But not at an "upscale" steakhouse "tailored to meet the tastes of even the most discerning diners".
In fairness to Oscar's, I called and let a manger know about the issue the next day. But the damage is done. There was a breakdown in both the food preparation and in the service. There are too many great steakhouses in this town for me to seek out another experience at Oscar's.
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