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| - Disappointing does not begin to describe my experience at MM Vegas.
Let me preface this review by saying I am a HUGE Mina fan. I've dined many times at both Stonehill Tavern (Monarch Beach) and XIV (Los Angeles), and have flown to San Francisco on more than one occasion for the sole purpose of devouring plates of Mina's fantasmic creations.
We came here for a late dinner after seeing a show. We had had an AMAZING meal -- more like experience -- at Alex (Wynn) the night before, so I was looking forward to continuing the good times. First off, decor. "Understated" to some = Boring Bob to me. "Cozy" to others = "Where is the other half of the restaurant?" to me. This was, after all, Vegas.
The menu...*yawn*. Everything on the cookbook and a la carte menus was way too familiar -- nothing new or creative. Two of the items on the seasonal tasting menu seemed interesting, but there was a noticeable absence of a trio dish (MM's signature), which my friend wanted to try. I looked at my watch and it was 9:30 pm, which was too late for a course meal (walking into a club, expanded tummy from course meal = so NOT cute), so I agreed to order a few dishes a la carte.
Amuse bouche: Truffle mousse with pear. 2 stars.
Bread: Wheat roll and sourdough. Boris boringballs.
Tuna tartare: I've had this dish a million times (MM SF, Stonehill, slightly different version at XIV) and a million times I've loved it. Here, the presentation was the same, the taste was NOT. It was lacking seasoning -- I had to ask for sea salt (I rarely ever do this).
Market salad: Good. Nothing mind blowing (I didn't expect this from a salad anyways).
Miso-glazed sea bass: This dish was served with small squash balls which had been sitting in a freezer. How did I know this? They were cold. Like, awkwardly COLD. I didn't even bother telling the waiter (more on this later). The accompanying dumpling, simply put, was gross. The bass was good, a little salty. I finished half of the dish.
Surf and Turf Trio: Kobe and lobster were pretty standard, as were the crab and filet. Langoustine had a foul taste.
Dessert: Never even got to see a menu (keep reading).
Now, the service. I'd received anything but remarkable service at MM restaurants prior to this meal; here, the service was liken that to which you would expect to receive at an IHOP. Before I get into any more detail, I want to point out that there wasn't a lack of waitstaff around the restaurant. There were at least seven servers near the kitchen, talking amongst themselves during the entire meal. Still, I never got my water refilled. Not once. In fact, I ordered another bottle of sparkling water, and PAID for it, but never got a drip of it. On top of that, I stared at dirty plate after dirty plate up until the moment the next one arrived. In fact, our entree plates were still sitting at out table when we left the restaurant. This is a HUGE peeve of mine. Once my table finishes a course, I will wait up to five minutes (it's much longer than it seems), before I start to get antsy. Here, we waited over FIFTEEN minutes after we finished our main course, before I threw in the towel and just asked for the check. The most ridiculous part: the manager, a semi-bald man wearing a bad suit, brought over the bill and a small plate of complementary dessert (this is custom at MM restaurants) and sat it down on our tables, right next to our dirty plates. This behavior from an inept waiter I can grasp my head around, but from a manager? Needless to say, we didn't touch the dessert plate and left.
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