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| - I wound up here completely by chance. It all began with a last minute Hotwire reservation that put me at the Stratosphere hotel for a night (I was extending my stay in town for a day, and rooms were hard to come by). Checking in mid afternoon, a very nice Guatemalan girl at reception gave me a voucher for my choice of a free drink (champagne or bloody mary) or a free ceviche at the Top of the World Restaurant located at the very top of the hotel. The voucher even had a detailed recipe for the ceviche on the back, and it looked delicious. I was famished and even though it was mid-afternoon I could still make it for lunch. So off I went.
I should probably begin by describing the view. That is obviously the clear draw of this restaurant. The main floor is encircled by windows that extend down to the floor and allow, collectively, a 360 degree, panoramic view of the desert floor below. While the view was very impressive, I thought initially, that where I was seated would determine how good my view actually was. The designers of the restaurant, of course, thought about this. Their creative solution? Make the restaurant revolve! That's right, in the course of an hour, you will make a full spin, so everyone will be guaranteed a private minute with the best vantage point of the Strip lying below. Genius. It was probably the only time I used my camera in a restaurant for taking pictures of something other than the food. If that were not enough, you will occasionally witness bodies dropping past your window, hurtling downward to a most certain death only to be granted a reprieve at the very last moment. Some sort of macabre activity called a SkyJump. I was pretty pleased with all of this. I was able to see Las Vegas in a way that I never saw it before, so it really transcended the level of being a gimmick. I was happy I went here for lunch.
So, what about that lunch? Well, I opted for the free ceviche and additionally ordered a po boy. The ceviche, for all of the hype and glossy advertisement, was singularly disappointing. A lone jumbo shrimp in a shot glass of spicy sauce. There were no implements to assist in eating this, so one could only dip the shrimp in the sauce and eat it directly -- not exactly a ceviche. More like a step up from shrimp cocktail, but the flavor profile of the dipping sauce was not particularly memorable. The sandwich was considerably better though. The portion size was especially large, and the flavor was clear and consistent throughout. The ingredients were of good quality, and I was pleased with the texture. Even the shoestring fries were good. So they redeemed themselves.
Between my comfort food, my glass of white wine, and the extraordinary views, I had a grand time making my way through a lazy afternoon. Highly recommend going at least once for the view. A more economical option is to go for lunch rather than dinner, since the view is the same. The food seems to be generally good, but it's not the biggest draw as one can certainly eat better elsewhere on the Strip. Overall, 4 stars. (slightly less if there was no view)
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