I first heard of this place many years ago after that atrocious Iron Chef USA pilot showing Todd English (Captain Kirk is no Chairman!).
The ambiance is dark and intimate, and if you're lucky you can sit on the outside under heated lames next to the Bellagio Fountain Show.
Overall I think it's a solid three stars. Service was excellent throughout, but I think the style of the dishes tended to be a bit too salty for us and doesn't quite fit our palate.
- The free bread comes with two types of tapenade and pickled olives. So you get elements of salty and briny early.
- For Appetizers we got the squid and octopus in a brown sauce with chickpeas. The sauce was actually very good and balanced and went well with bread. Octopus and squid both very tender - definitely share with two people!
- Wife got the diver scallops which came four large per order - seared on one side, well seasoned and juicy. Perfectly cooked. The sauce (vinaigrette ?) made it a bit too salty however. Truffle mash was decent.
- I got their mushroom pasta, which came with like four types of mushroom with pappardelle pasta cooked al dente. Flavors were good , but I think it went overboard with the Parmesan. A bit too much cream too.
- Dessert we shared a pumpkin torte that was just outstanding - it had pumpkin chips, to add texture and zing and layers of sweet and spice just like pumpkin should be. The cake layer was thin and the whole dish was airy. It went really well with their black coffee.