| rev:text
| - The only restaurant that the wife and I made reservations weeks in advance of our arrival in Las Vegas was for dinner on a Monday night at Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen. Both the wife and I are avid watchers of his namesake Hell's Kitchen show and we both love his Gordon Ramsay Steak, so it was a no-brainer to check out the place for dinner during its soft opening. The restaurant was, for the most part, aesthetically appealing both inside and out. However, for obvious reasons, it didn't look like what you see on the TV show. If there was one thing that detracted for me from the restaurant's aesthetic appeal, it was the waiting area that also served as a gift shop hawking Gordon Ramsay and Hell's Kitchen merchandise. I understand the reason why it was there, but I thought it was tacky considering none of his other restaurants in town have a similar retail setup, which seemed more akin to something you'd find at Hooters than an upscale restaurant from a Michelin-starred chef.
We arrived about 15 minutes early for our 6:45 reservation and were seated promptly at our appointed time. We were seated by the windows overlooking the Strip. It was easily one of the best people-watching spots to be found on the Strip. I started off with a cocktail while we looked over the menu. I had the Smoke on the Blvd ($14), a cocktail made with Woodford Rye, Aperol, Averna Amaro, and sweet vermouth and delivered to the table in a stylish cherry wood, smoke-filled glass box. Given its beautiful presentation and use of premium ingredients, I felt I received tremendous value for my quite delicious cocktail. As for our food, Hell's Kitchen offers a 3-course tasting menu featuring signature dishes from the show. It was tempting, however, we opted to create our own multi-course meal. Several, if not most, of the menu items may be found on the menus of his other restaurants. That said, it was explained to us that there were subtle differences between similar offerings from his various restaurants. We shared an order of Lobster Risotto ($24). I had the Beef Wellington ($49). The wife had the Herb-crusted Rack of Lamb ($39). We shared sides of Wild Mushrooms ($9) and Roasted Cauliflower ($9). We finished off our meal by splitting an order of Sticky Toffee Pudding with Speculoos Ice Cream. My Beef Wellington was cooked to a perfect medium rare and was oh so tender. Chef Ramsay wasn't in the house when we were there, but he likely wouldn't have been shouting at anyone for how our food turned out. Everything looked and tasted great. Our server David was knowledgeable and attentive and the entire team seemed perfectly choreographed ensuring we had a great experience.
For sentimental reasons and the almost over-the-top experiences I've had there, Gordon Ramsay Steak remains my favorite Gordon Ramsay restaurant in town. In the end, Hell's Kitchen was as good as we'd hope it would be. Even though Hell's Kitchen was only in its soft opening, it seemed like the place was running like a seasoned veteran on the Strip. It certainly wasn't like the TV show where chefs are frequently getting kicked out of the kitchen for mistakes. It's a safe bet that this place will be very popular for the foreseeable future. I recommend planning and making reservations well in advance if you want to secure a table for dinner.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)