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| - A group of us travels to Vegas each year in search of old NAB friends and dining fun. We have had many superb lunches, but this dinner fell flat.
The appetizers were fine, which made the main courses that much more disappointing. Our group ordered:
The chile-crusted rabbit with a bedding of cous-cous -- the rabbit was cooked perfectly, but the natural flavor of the protein could not be discerned. I've had a fair bit of rabbit and red squirrel in my day, and enjoy the flavors; our dining companion did not get that chance, the flavor was lost in his dish.
Another of our group had the Mahi-Mahi and declared it well cooked but under-seasoned.
The third member of our table had the evening's special, the arctic char. It was perfectly cooked with the skin crisped expertly and presented skin-up to preserve the texture. The flavor of the protein was the star of this dish and we declared this the only success of the night.
I had the pork tenderloin. Eager to ease into the palate of flavors (boubon sauce, a touch of the habenero drizzle) I started with just a piece of the pork. The rub utterly masked any porky goodness and left a sort-of spicy dirt aftertaste. By cutting a piece of pork, ensuring a light coating of the bourbon sauce and a dash of the habenero sauce, I could "get" what the creator of the recipe had in mind. Sadly, you could have rubbed a piece of soggy cardboard and then dipped the sauces to pretty much good effect. Unfortunately, I wanted a wonderful protein to be the star, enhanced by some clever sauce choices. The sweet potato tamale needed something to cut the cloying sweetness (yes, I know they're called sweet potatoes for a reason).
This might have been a one-star event, were it not for the skilled wait and bus staff and the wonderful arctic char. For at least these reasons, we'll be taking Mesa Grill off our dining destination rotation in the future.
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