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| - I really wanted to like Spago. After all, Wolfgang Puck is legendary. Unfortunately, my girls and I came during restaurant week and decided to order the $80 prix fixe menu. Needless to say, we weren't impressed with the selection especially for the high price tag. I frequently dine at different upscale establishments on the Strip. Honestly, I think there are better places, even in Caesars, to get higher quality food. At first glance the $80 menu looked worth it because you get 5 courses and a dessert. However, 4 out of the 5 dishes were sample size portions that could've been finished in a few bites. When you consider the ingredients used, serving size, taste and cost, the whole experience was not worth it at all.
Now I know it's not fair to rate Spago 3 stars based on a limited-time menu. However, half of the items on the tasting menu was listed on the regular menu (according to its description), and if that's the case, then the overall dishes were very disappointing.
1st course: A smoked salmon blini. The blini was topped with creme fraiche, chives and sturgeon caviar. This was one of the good-tasting dishes. The creme fraiche was tart and fresh. The generous portion of caviar was savory. The overall combination of citrus and ocean was very unique and tasty.
2nd course: A chilled heirloom tomato gazpacho with poached gulf shrimp, drizzled with basil oil. One of my girlfriends hated the sharp taste of this dish so much that she couldn't finish it. Personally, I didn't mind the chilled soup, but it's definitely an acquired taste. You have to like the acidic flavor of raw tomatoes to enjoy it. The gulf shrimp, however, was extremely firm and sweet. That was the best part of this dish.
3rd course: A kampachi sashimi "tiradito". It had specs of fresno and piquillo pepper sauce, sprinkled with crispy rice. While I appreciate the freshness of the kampachi, the dish was severely lacking some type of citrus flavor. Without the tartness, it just tasted like eating raw fish dipped in Sriracha chili.
4th course: Corn agnolotti with black trufle butter. This was by far the best course of the whole meal, and probably one of the best pastas I've ever eaten in my life. The rich corn agnolotti filling melts in your mouth right when you bite into it. The truffles added a nice touch of musky aroma to the dish. Overall, it was a great combination of sweetness, cream and earthy flavors. I'd definitely go back just to order this full size.
Main course: Grilled prime NY steak. This was the biggest disappointment. First, the server never asked us how we wanted our steaks cooked so the steaks all came out mid-well. Second, it was extremely dry and drizzled in a sauce that resembled a less sour version of Heinz 57. I think the worse part of the dish was the shelling beans and salsa verde greens. It had no flavors other than the taste of the raw ingredients itself. I was very disappointed in the meat quality and taste of this dish, especially the sauces in both the greens and steak.
6th course: Dessert lemon pavlova. A nice olive oil cake shell that melts into your mouth like butter. Inside was a creme fraiche ice cream that tasted slightly tart. It was very delicious with combinations of sweet and tangy flavors.
In the end, I would say that our experience was mediocre. The restaurant itself is beautiful and located right on the busy walkway of the Forum Shops. It was fun to people watch on the patio, but that was probably the best part of the whole experience. The serving staff was attentive and courteous, however, I believe our server might've skipped a course due to us being one of the last tables in the restaurant. On the prix fixe menu, it listed mignardises (after dessert pastries) as the last course. However, we did not receive this course after dessert, but instead the check. While I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure we were short on a final course.
Overall, will I recommend? Sure, but don't get the steak. While it won't be on the top of my list any time soon, I wouldn't mind coming back again in the future to try something else. Hopefully, I'll have a better tasting experience the second time around. If I do, I definitely wouldn't mind updating my review.
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