A beheaded Lenin statue stands guard in front of this Russian themed bar in the Mandalay Bay. Its red...not the statue, but the bar. Most of this bar is red, and there is a lovely community table in the middle of the bar that you can sit at and enjoy your martini, or if you don't feel like talking to strangers, and you think community = communism, there are other places to enjoy your beverage as well.
The bar is swanky. and if you sit at the bar, it is essentially one long sheet of ice, and you can enjoy your cocktail at the proper temperature Its not the whole bar...just the top. It keeps the drinks cold.
The bartenders have flair. Myself, Eric W. and a few of his friends all ordered martinis at the same time. The bartender stacked the glasses all pyramid style, took the shakers, put them all together, and poured each individual martini at the same time, with a perfect pour, not a drop spilled. It was awesome, and I bet the communists would have been proud.
If you are going to spill a drink on yourself, make sure its one that smells good...just ask Eric. He ended up smelling of key lime all evening. It was delicious. I just enjoyed that martini, which had plain ol' vanilla vodka, stuff to make it limey and a graham cracker crust rim. However, if you are looking for something stiffer, more potent, more raw....this is the place. The Russians sure do like their vodka, and this is the drink of choice here. Just look at the menu.
Apparently, if you'd like to visit with Lenin's head and tell him what you think of the bar and the vodka selection, it's frozen inside a block of ice inside the "vodka locker," a walk-in freezer containing much of the bar's stock. This is where they put the good shit.