Joel Robuchon followed by Ka, Circ's most underrated show. You are almost guaranteed to have the experience of a lifetime, have fun!

Robuchon would be too much if they don't eat fine dining often. The flavors there are usually really subtle. I'd say there are much better choices. Picasso and O looks perfect. Picasso is really incredible and right next to the theater.

Thank you so much for the responses.....Jimmy im a big Poker Road fan hope to hear you lots this summer from the series. I'm going to go with Picasso/O. Any secrets to getting cheap tickets for O???

I didnt read the whole thread, but if no one has mentioned Morton's Steakhouse off strip on Flamingo, its great.

A long overdue TR of two meals from last November. Suggestions all taken from this board. I'll give my entire perspective as a guy wanting to experience everything. Initial apologies for the poor photo quality as we were very cognizant about using flash in these places.

Bouchon- Brunch:

Party of 3. Arrived on a Saturday morning at Venetian, Veteran's Day weekend at 10:30 and was seated within 10 minutes. Had a table just inside the door to the right in the middle of the dining room. Was probably the worst table in the house and still absolutely fine. Plenty of space. Open feel to the place. Everything feels and smells fresh.

Waiters are hustling in this joint but seem to know their stuff. I stopped ours twice with questions and he did not hurry in his answers and didn't leave until I dismissed him. We are a polite bunch, but I tend to be demanding in service staff. I'm a 25%+ tipper so I feel justified. But really I'm just an *******. If service is bad I have no problem leaving a nickel on the table. High marks all around for service at Bouchon.

Three separate meals ordered.

Diner 1, non-adventurous eater. Female from Wisconsin. My buddy's wife. Not into sweet tastes very much. Went with "Les Oeufs" or something of that variety. Was ~$11 and I'm pretty sure isn't on the menu.

Overall pretty unremarkable but what do you expect when you order something like this? High marks for the bacon though. Was absolutely perfect, and I grew up in a town with more pigs than people. Fwiw, she was quite happy with her selection. Pretty sure it's been discontinued on the menu and probably for good reason. While solid, it doesn't measure up to the rest of the menu imo.

Diner 2, my good friend and drummer. Very open-minded guy. Was in the mood for fish so he got the Salmon Baguette. $16.

First things first: generous helpings of everything for this price at this place. The dish was well-plated imo and everything was beyond fresh. The baguette was the perfect temperature and the right dichotomy of crispy and soft where need be. And the salmon, good lord the salmon. As fresh and tasty as any I've ever had. Flavor just exploded in my mouth and when coupled with the very cold temperature it was just an incredible experience for brunch. Solid A for this dish, especially when considering price.

Diner 3- me. Had read the reviews on the french toast so really I had no shot at being enticed by anything else on the menu. French toast it is. $12.

The custard, apples, bread, syrup... everything was delicious. It was the slowest I've ever eaten breakfast and the most difficult challenge I had while in Vegas not devouring the whole thing in 30 seconds and ordering another immediately. Unbelievable. I am still tasting it 5 months later. It is, hands down, the best breakfast I've ever had and if anybody with a sweet tooth is in Vegas and awake for Bouchon brunch they are doing themselves a disservice by not trying this.

Overall, with juices and such the bill for the three of us with a 25% tip was ~$70 iirc. I hesitate to ever make broad, sweeping judgments and am liberal to other opinion and thought. I'm, however, someone that isn't completely in tune to the incredible subtleties of flavor and thus I don't require the absolute best to be satisfied. That said, I don't see how there's a better value for a meal in Las Vegas. I left this place walking on air after treating my friends to a breakfast that came out to no more than treating them to a garbage Applebee's dinner. Can't recommend this place high enough. 10/10, A+, whatever. So much love for Bouchon.

From there we went to stand in line at the cheap tickets counter and there was a comedy show at city center that was just opening that was offering all you can drink VIP/booth tickets for $25 a person. We obv took the deal but the show started early. 8pm iirc. Stepped inside the casino and called up Michael Mina and asked us if we could get there when they opened and still get the full chef's tasting menu. They couldn't have been more accommodating. So we gambled and drank all afternoon in preparation for dinner. We added one diner for dinner, a girl they tried to hook me up with that bombed miserably. She had never eaten anything nicer than Olive Garden. We got there a bit early and hung out in the botanical garden at the Bellagio. Cool place to kill 10 minutes.

Michael Mina- Chef's taster's menu. (even worse photos here as it was darker and we still didn't want to use flash and make everyone angry. There are better photos out there.)

As I said, we were the first ones in the restaurant seated just as the doors opened and the place wasn't scrambling at all. They were well-prepared for the ensuing madness. I informed our waitress early that we only had about 2 hours to get everything done from starting cocktails to the check being settled, which is obviously an issue with a chef's taster's menu. I normally wouldn't think of trying to do it in under 3 hours. But she seemed very understanding and assured me it would be no problem. The menu has since changed a bit, and while I know I kept it I'm not sure where it is atm. All four of us ordered the tasting menu but we tried everything available as I refused to let a dish go untested. We also all had the standard wine pairing which added ~$220 to the price at the end.

Round 1) cocktails: The waitress was proposing early round cocktails and I told her something light would be perfect. She was promoting some Scandinavian gin so my buddy and I both got G&Ts while waiting for first course. It was a $17 G&T iirc but was excellent. Not sure one is ever worth that price but I didn't go there expecting to scrimp and save every penny. Having poured a drink or two in my life I can say with confidence that it was a bit of a long pour and mixed quite well. Of course, expected, but good to feel like you're not getting shorted off the bat at a place that's going to demand some money at the end.

Round 2) First course was the app and was pretty unremarkable. We had forgotten our photo necessities (we were a tad drunk already) but the course was just fine if not special. The other three had the ahi tuna tartare which wasn't bad at all. I went with the domestic caviar and enjoyed it thoroughly. Enough so that I was hesitant to share. What WAS remarkable about this course was the German Riesling that came with it. Came is the appropriate word for it. I'd never experienced a white wine that was so incredibly delicious. All Riesling's I've had before, admittedly less than 5, have been so sweet that they were almost unbearable. This wine's sweetness was the most subtle flavor of the evening and the compliment to the food was just perfect. We raved about this wine for the rest of the evening.

Round 3) Lobster pot pie was next, the dish that everyone seems to scream over when mentioning this place and I'll echo it's tastiness. Not the best thing I had here but I certainly enjoyed it.

Lobster in this setting would be something that seems to me hard to screw up. That said, they did everything right. The top crust of the dish was the best part of it. So warm and savory. I dipped the first small bite and just ate the rest without dipping. Delicious.

Round 4) For the entree I got the Kobe Rib Eye rare and everything tasted as it should:
Certainly prepared well and not at all disappointing, but I had trouble rationalizing the price hike that is something that says "kobe." I'm probably alone on this, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Still on the menu.
My friend got the other available entree from the evening but I was drunk and the menu is different. Also my photo is bad so I'm not sure what it was. I do remember that it was better than the steak imo. Maybe someone else can help out who had eaten their taster's menu last fall:


Round 5) Dessert was the best part of the meal. The two ladies went with the brownies with pecans and cocoa ice cream. Lord it was delicious:
Just the right amount of everything in that dish.

My buddy and I went with the root beer float and chocolate chip cookies:
So simple yet so f delicious. Those cookies alone to me were worth the price of the entire meal. But my sweet tooth is massive. The sassafras ice cream was unexpected and perfect. What a finish. The dessert wine provided was so rich it was almost like drinking ice cream. But warm. This was the girls' favorite part of the meal. I enjoyed it as well, but would list it behind the dessert, crust of the pot pie, and the Riesling. Probably the G&T too.

In closure, this meal was certainly worth the $150 and everything seemed to compliment its companion to a t. The wait staff was also very knowledgeable and thorough when explaining everything. No hesitation on any question I asked. Just good, no-nonsense, friendly information. She (the head waitress) was kind of an overly friendly Amazonian lady that was so good that by the end of the night I almost found her sexy. Total bill with ~20% tip was ~$800 iirc. Worth every penny.

I owe a drink to any regular poster in this thread. Next time I'm in Vegas I'm going for a buddy's bachelor party in August and we're absolutely doing one night's dinner at RM upstairs, which I would have picked last trip had we not been in such a hurry. Anyone around is welcome to a drink on me. I'll keep checking this thread before the next go round. Cheers, gents.

nice

I like Morton's as much as the next guy but if that's your steakhouse choice in Vegas, you're doing it wrong. Doesn't make any sense to head off-strip to go to a chain steakhouse that's in every major city in America.

Really nice tr recently. Thanks for sharing. You guys are making me want to schedule a weekend there with my husband.

Too bad it's Reno's Peppermill offering me free rooms right now. (Things must be bad. I've been there once for a poker tournament.)

that was great loosekanen, and your pics were fine imo. I regret not getting the French Toast at Bouchon, I'll not make that mistake again.

i love this thread. I have read through almost all of it and, although I don't consider myself a Vegas amateur, I definitely have a lot to learn in dining. That being said here is the itinerary for my 3 year anniversary with my gf:


Viva Elvis/minus 5 icebar day:
BREAKFAST: Hash House a Go Go
LUNCH: zine (palazzo)
DINNER: Serrano (aria)

titanic exhibit/Phantom of the opera day:
breakfast: Bouchan
LUNCH: milo ($20 lunch - cosmo)
dinner: OTTO

Forum shops/KA DAY :
lunch: monta (Ramen)
DINNER: sw steakhouse (wynn) filet mignon / creamed spinach

The dinner's for all of them are not up for debate (I know, otto, eh gf picked that one.) But I'm open for suggestions for Lunch/breakfast as well as any suggestions on activities that might be worthwhile. As you can see we aren't big on sushi (eat tons where we live for cheap), although nobu kobe plate with uni butter was close consideration (but don't feel like burning $600-700 a day on food)

thank you in advance.

sounds like yr gonna have fun! the bodies exhibit is cooler than the titanic exhibit!

My initial thought is that's a lot of hustling in 3 days in Vegas. You obv know what a hassle it is to get around town. And eating three squares and seeing a show is a task. You pretty much end one meal and go straight to the next.

Considering: Vegas late show times are almost 9:30pm across the board you want to work back from that. Allow 30 minutes transit from wherever you are and add 15 more if you need a taxi like you do on Ka day. That sets dinner's end for ~8:45. Allowing 2 hours for dinner which can be cutting it quick (see my Michael Mina tr a few posts earlier. They hustled us along in just under 2hrs 15, but we were the first ones there and still cut it extremely close.) you're looking at making your reservation for 6:30ish to be safe.

So if you're ready for dinner meal at 6:30 naturally you're going to want lunch no later than noon, which, in Vegas time is still around the time most folk emerge obv. How you can do that with breakfast prior is beyond me unless you have a large amount of coke. Esp with the gf who is probably not going to want to go home from a late show immediately and go to sleep. Neither are you of course.

My recommendation? Cut hash house unless you're getting something after a night of drinking and not sleeping. Also cut one of your lunches. So your final itinerary would look something like:

Lunch: Milos
Dinner Serrano
Show Elvis (all in city center)

Brunch: Bouchon
Dinner: OTTO
Phantom (all @ Venetian)

Lunch: Zine
Dinner: SW
Ka (stay up on north strip during the day and make one cab ride at night to MGM)

And if at some point you desire to view the scary people at IP at 1am go for Hash House then when you're off your ass drunk. Good choices though! And I've seen all three shows and enjoyed them all with KA being probably my favorite show I've seen ever... and I've seen a ton.

edit: Hash House is closed 2-7 on weekends. I don't remember it being closed when I had been up all night and went there. Guess it was past 7!

I took about 4 hours to carefully read this thread, and I think I narrowed our choices to things we may enjoy (unfortunately Alex is closed).

augie - Bodies exhibit sounds great, I think we will do it next time around. I am aware ice bar is a tourist trap. any suggestions for lunch or breakfast that we may be missing as well as any cheaper attractions to see to kill during the day?

kanen - awesome post. I tried to keep all the food places relatively close to each other and scheduled all our dinners 2-4 hours before the shows. I think I will rearrange my list to what you have. Hash house a go go was simply because I watch too much man vs food but too much of a pansy to take on the 6 lb burrito (Where is that btw?) Also we will have a car (I have literally too many arguments with taxi cab drivers) - so not sure if that helps with transit.

Also I read your tr and scheduled sw @ 5:30 pm the day of Ka showing, and Otto will be after phantom. I'm curious as whether 7:15 @ serrano is providing enough time to elvis...

It's in the Imperial Palace which is the dingiest Harrah's property. It lies center strip so the location is fine. It's just... I wouldn't take my gf there unless she was prepared to see a less-classy side of Vegas. To put it nicely. You could always get there a day earlier and just do it on your own! lol.

And having a car only means more time for transit. Especially at MGM where everything is so ****ing far away from everything else.

Ok - noted. If we get hungry in the mornings I'll just make a run to cafe bellagio or something of that nature. Really looking forward to SW and Bouchon. I'm glad none of the shows raised a red flag, only one I have seen previously is Elvis.

Will 7:15 @ serrano's be enough time to go to Elvis. Sorry I'm kind of planning this through you guys, this thread has been so helpful in terms of my planning.

if you think it's gonna be close, just move ur reservation up an hour. it sucks to be late for cirque, you gotta wait like 15 mins and come in at the end of the first act. and nobody likes to rush

gameoverjc, I doubt there's a woman alive who wouldn't enjoy a room service breakfast/ coffee, juice w. pastries. Sorry about your HashHouse fantasy trip though.

This would have never entered my brain either. Moms sure do come in handy sometimes.

much appreciated, will take up your advice gobbomom.

I'll make sure that we get around one time to Bouchon though. All these posts about food, I can't wait to bombard my taste buds with lavish and epicurean delights.

Otto's fine, it's perfectly good and not crazy-priced. Only thing I'd recommend is skipping Hash House, that'll F you up for the rest of the day. Also, move up from AAA ball and get a ribeye at least instead of a filet.

You should give yourself more time with Serrano since it's tapas and not everything will come out at once. Plus they have a paella (I haven't tried it) that's apparently great but takes like half an hour.

I'm heading to Vegas next monday but I'm undecided as of where to eat. What's the best place for steak? need to work on my gf as she's quite picky so if anywhere sells Spaghetti Bolognese aswell as a nice steak then we have hit the jackpot! I won't be fine dining every night just the 1 or 2 nights.

Thanks in advance

the best place for steak is at CUT

leave your girl in the room and buy her a bag of skittles and potato chips, as they do not sell spaghetti