Review of Twist with lots of pictures on opening night

http://www.kevineats.com/2009/12/twi...s-vegas-nv.htm

Another recent review of Guy Savoy

http://www.kevineats.com/2009/12/res...vegas-nv-2.htm

Nice reviews. Thanks for this.

Oops about Bar Masa, mb.

You might be correct. The only information I'm going on at this point is the website, which uses the words "intimate" and "within" Masa when referring to Shaboo. Then again, they also say Shaboo has a hotpot, and I just don't have enough imagination to see how a hotpot could be elevated to the dining experience of some of these french giants.

Still, I intend to find out

It makes sense that a restaurant called Shaboo is hotpot based since the Japanese word for hotpot is shabushabu.

The hotpot course is also one of the highlights at both Masa and Urasawa, typically using such ingredients as foie, kobe or kagoshima beef, and spiny lobster, that are quickly cooked in a light aromatic broth which is enrichened by the cooking of the ingredients and drank as a soup afterwards.

I was snooping around for LV reviews and came across this nice little review for carnevino: http://www.eatinglv.com/2009/07/the-...arth/#more-627

They claim that Carnevino's 60 day aged steak to be their best steak experience ever.

Fyi, ELV ripped apart Mesa Grill, probably going to skip it now.

So happy. Was shocked at the bad review(s) in this thread of CarneVino, and was upset at the popularity of Mesa (although I must admit, I'm just not a huge fan of South Western style cooking).

MrTimCaum always reads eating LV for us and has given us some really nice suggestions from that blog. I haven't even read the blog, but based on the places I've eaten at ala Steve, I would highly recommend the blog.

Most vultures would agree...

wow, i need to go out to eat more

Are you referring to my review of Carnevino? I said the food was delicious, and probably the best piece of meat ever, but I found it to be not a very good value as I did not leave the restaurant full, and for that price I definitely should have. The pastas, while unbelievably delicious, were also miniscule in size.

For the foodies out there that would like to check out Twist with Gagnaire in the restaurant better get there fast because I read in one of the comments at elv that said he'll be only in town until the 14th.

Bar Masa officially booked for New Years Eve.

Wife and I checked out Table 10 this past weekend. Not my first choice, but the wife has very boring and limited taste buds, and looking at Delmonico's and Batali's menus there wasn't much she would have enjoyed. That being said, I enjoyed Table 10 quite a bit, but didn't hit anything on the menu that they could really screw up. Simple green salad, filet, and a side of bacon and cheese yukon potatoes. Potatoes were a little rich, but excellent. If the size was any indication of the size of the rest of the sides, splitting one side is easily doable. Wife had the BBQ chicken with creamed corn, which was good, but again nothing special. Desserts were just meh; should have stuck with the malassadas. Wife had a brownie with peppermint patty ice cream. Brownie was a little hard. I had the strawberry shortcake cheesecake, which was ok except the shortcake was a little lemony for my taste, which turned me off to the whole thing.

Total, including tip and a $45 bottle of wine (on the cheaper end of what's on the list), was $200.

Some quick reviews:

Olives (Bellagio) - I don't get the hate for this place. Maybe I just got lucky, but we just ate there and it was possibly the best food I've ever had. Place was a little loud, waiter was a little slow, and it was too cold to sit outside by the fountain, but these are mostly nitpicking. Had Shrimp Scampi Risotto as an appetizer, and Scallops L'Orange as an entree, and pretty much came in my pants. I'd recommend the place more for lunch than dinner, but excellent either way. Roughly 225 for 2 people with appetizer/wine/dessert.

Aquanox (Venetian) - Can't believe this hasn't been mentioned yet, but then I don't know how new the place is. Eaten there three times now and all were exceptional (though one was quite expensive, I didn't think to ask how much the "special" of filet mignon and lobster would be). Service is best I've had in Vegas (next to, believe it or not, Fusion at the Luxor). It's a seafood restaurant, so that pretty much has to be your thing. Bill went from roughly 200 + tip for 2 people and a normal meal to 600 + tip when we got surf n turf + wine, so be prepared for that.

Fusion (Luxor) - Best service I've ever had. Food is pretty standard Asian (though they did have a baked garlic sushi roll that was so good I ordered 4 of them instead of a meal once), but on two separate occasions we had a large party (8 or more), and the waiter treated us like we were the only ones in the restaurant, reminding us of airline times that he overheard us mention so we wouldn't be late, recommendations, and a great personality.

Aquaknox tops our list as fave place to play GLUTTONY next to TAO at the V. On our last trip during the recent VDS, we went on the dinner break.
I managed to sneak in the stuffed lobster & filet, crabcakes and a dozen oysters and still make it back in time to bubble the event!!
Top notch service, excellent food and great value for the V!!

This doesn't have to do with fine dining, specifically, other than the fact that I'll be eating at Rosemary's soon...if my wife and I can't finish an entire bottle of wine, will they recork it and let us leave with it, or is that not allowed in Las Vegas/Clark County/Nevada?

Well in NV you can walk outside the restaurant with it and start swigging straight from the bottle if you want, so I think you'll be find shoving the cork in and driving home with it discreetly in your car. The open-container laws are always sketchy when it comes to recorked bottles but I'd assume it's fine if it's out of reach of the driver.

Put it in the trunk if you're concerned about it. If you have an SUV you might be better off leaving it at the restaurant.

Thanks for the info.

I assume you have never been to Italy before, thats rather standard with real Italian food. Pasta is an appetizer course, not a meal.


Bar Massa... OMG. I was blown away with it's doors last night, cannot wait to go!

Am I mistaken that Delmonico's has gone downhill in last 2 years? Ate there again on Monday... wife & I both had a ribeye...it seemed to be cooked well but both steaks seemed an inferior cut. Perhaps due to the recession Emeril is buying his beef from Mexico?
FWIW the service here is still excellent.

Nope, never been...thanks for the tip.

I've always thought the place was inferior. In a town full of great steakhouses I can't think of any reason to go back there.

Agreed 100%
On my last visit we were a party of 5, two separate groups that hadn't seen each other in a number of years... Well despite putting up an $800 tab, we were rushed on an off night no less, through most of our meal.
I also found the food to be sub-par-not worthy of the V/Palazzo comlex.
Worst of all was the trek to the washrooms, could they be any dingier/more unkept?!?!?

The prices are too high for an appetizer course then. My general sentiments of Carnevino seem to echo Malucci's. Very good dishes but a bit overpriced. $18 for an insalata caprese is just outrageous. Yes I know you are using fresh burrata but even then.

The prices make it very difficult for people to get the traditional, antipasti, primi, secondi, dolce dinner.

I'm at work right now and it's very cold in Ottawa, Canada. Tomorrow night I'll be eating at Carnevino in Las Vegas. I'm so pumped and I cannot wait. I'll put up a full TR when I get back but some restaurants I plan on checking out are: Cut, Mix, Shibuya, Bouchon, Serrano and others.