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| - One of the things my friends and I looked forward to as we planned our trip to Las Vegas was a fine dining experience that would fittingly conclude our vacation at one of the most surrealistically elaborate cities in the world. In the last minute, we decided to dress up and splurge ourselves at Michael Mina after watching "O" at Bellagio. The menu displayed at the indoor entrance of the restaurant certainly seemed enticing enough, and I was immediately drawn to a good balance of its trendy yet classy atmosphere.
As we sat down, we were presented with two menus - the a la carte and the seasonal & signature tasting menus. All three of us decided on the signature tasting because it was comprised of the six most interesting items from the a la carte menu. My friends ordered red wine while I decided to settle for a less classy long island. Our main waiter, who was efficient and polite throughout the night, brought our drinks before taking our orders. I was disappointed with the long island as it tasted like lemonade one would expect from a lemonade stand operated by an 8 year old.
It did not take long at all for the first item on the tasting menu - domestic caviar parfait - to arrive at our table; in fact, I was impressed by the speed of the service, considering how fresh every ingredient tasted. The combination of smoked salmon, creme fraiche and caviar worked really well, and I was particularly impressed with how the flavour of smoked salmon was just subtle enough to not overpower any other ingredients. However, I was not impressed with the choice to use hash brown as the base of the dish; its presence was almost too dominating. The dish would have had more balanced, superior flavours had the hash brown been replaced with something less dominating, such as an unsalted potato chip. I do have to admit this is more a subjective opinion, however, as my friends were pleased with the inclusion of hash brown in the dish.
I was much more satisfied with the two items that followed: ahi tuna tartare and miso-glazed chilean sea bass. The tuna tartare simply melted on my tongue, and it was one of the most interesting combination of flavours and textures I've ever experienced. The sea bass was cooked flawlessly, and the presentation of the dish was elegant. I did not quite agree with the choice to add the dumpling as it was more a distraction than a complement to the dish; however, everything else in the plate worked well to enrich the already superior flavour of the sea bass.
Next came the lobster pot pie, which had an interesting presentation but nothing much to flaunt about otherwise. It was a rather disappointing dish, as the lobster had this distinct aftertaste that could only be attributed to the fact that it was overcooked. The cream and the vegetables inside were good, but their flavours were far too subtle to overcome the major flaw of the dish. The pastry itself was baked perfectly, and its texture was an excellent complement. However, one cannot give too much credit to a dish with a poorly cooked star ingredient.
The fifth item to arrive at our table was the wagyu ribeye rossini. The dish came with foie gras, which I had never tried before. I was quite pleased with the dish, even though the kobe beef was tougher than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, the subtle flavours and the textures of every ingredient used in the dish worked perfectly together to create a near-flawless tasting experience.
The last item of the tasting menu was, of course, the dessert, which comprised of a root beer float and a chocolate chip pecan cookie. The root beer float was mediocre and forgettable; I am sure if I put together a scoop of vanilla ice cream thrown into a glass filled with root beer, it would taste the same. As for the chocolate chip pecan cookie, it had a peculiar, unpleasant flavour to it that took me some time before I knew what it was. It was the same flavour that I remembered from the cookies I've baked long ago using a poorly cleaned baking sheet. I obviously cannot say with 100% certainty that the pastry chefs at Michael Mina had been reusing baking sheet without washing them properly that night. With that said, I can't see what else could have caused the cookie to taste like that.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Michael Mina, albeit it did fail to live up to my expectation. The service was adequate, but it did not add much to the dining experience; with the exception of our main waiter, the servers seemed distracted and in an unnecessary haste most of the time. I have experienced superior fine dining at cities much less grandeur than Las Vegas for lesser price; therefore, it is hard for me to recommend this restaurant despite some of its commendable dishes.
As always, thanks for reading the review.
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