rev:text
| - I wouldn't say this was the best steak that I've eaten in my life. But as an overall experience I would say this was one of the better steakhouses I've been to.
I'm not usually one to blow big bucks at a steakhouse, not when we can usually prepare very good steaks at home, especially with the quality of beef you can get at mail order and high-end grocers nowadays. Instead, I usually spend my high-end dining dollars on restaurants with multiple-course tasting menus that would be hard for me to execute at home. Also, steakhouses usually charge extra for sides, have sky-high markups for wine, and usually don't take (or have really expensive) corkage. However, my husband (who does most of the actual steak-cooking in the house anyway) does like to eat out for steak occasionally, and it is a nice change from all the other"frou-frou" restaurants that I like to frequent.
I gotta say though, that this place is actually *gasp* a decent value for the money, especially for Vegas where you can easily spend $100 on a single steak. My friend and I split one of their specials, a bone-in Wagyu Tomahawk ribeye, and it wound up costing us $45 apiece. Our husbands, who got standalone ribeye steaks of their own (no bone) were definitely jealous as ours was just so much juicier and more tender. I don't think I've ever been to any other steakhouse where you can get Wagyu for that much. The steak was perfectly cooked (medium-rare of course!) and I have no complaints about it whatsoever.
The appetizers we ordered, tuna tartare and crab cake, were tasty and well-executed, though not particularly exciting. But then, this was an old-school type of place so I wasn't exactly expecting cutting-edge. The sides were also pretty decent...I'm not a big fan of potatoes au gratin but my dining companions enjoyed it, the mushrooms were flavorful but did not overpower the steak. We didn't order dessert since we were already stuffed from all the steak and even had leftovers.
The drinks were good and reasonably priced as well. We started off with their signature cocktail...a martini-like concoction with pineapple juice. It was very refreshing and a good start to the meal. They also had a very expansive wine list (they better since they don't let you bring outside wine) with many great selections of California cabs, my wine of choice for a good steak. I was very pleased to note that they had a special section devoted to lesser-known producers that were also more affordable. Unlike many other steakhouses that tend to push the customer towards higher priced wines (I'm looking at you Alexander's and Harbour Sixty), our server was very happy to talk to us about some of the smaller wineries on the list. We finally settled on a 2007 Terra Valentine cab from Spring Mountain (one of the less famous Napa valley appellations) which went perfectly with all our steaks.
The service overall was extremely good...they asked us at the beginning if we had a show to catch so they could pace the dinner accordingly, they called us a taxi to take us back at the perfect time, and even showed us their "James Bond table". This was definitely one of the best service that I've seen for a steakhouse.
One of the best values for a steakhouse, and one of the best values overall in the city. I would highly recommend this place for anyone craving a steak in Las Vegas.
|