This semester my schedule of teaching and Pat's work schedule don't exactly mesh together well so we have been trying to have lunch together on Tuesdays. Many Tuesdays this semester Pat has had meetings so we often find ourselves racing to get something quick to eat before I have to head to school to teach my class. One Tuesday a couple weeks ago though his meeting was cancelled and we were actually able to have a nice relaxing date lunch. We decided to go over to Mandalay Bay, walk around and choose a random place for lunch. We went to Fleur by Hubert Keller.
Apparently this is a place that you should have reservations for, even on a Tuesday at 11:30am. They didn't have any seating in the dining room but did have a table in the lounge that we decided to go for. So we sat in these low comfy chairs with a small table between us. We both ordered the Wagyu Burger. It had bacon, wild mushrooms, and gruyere cheese on a toasted potato bun. The burger was very good. It was juicy and didn't even need any type of condiments on it. I was surprised as I usually like some type of mayo or something on my burger but you definitely didn't need it on this burger. Pat and I both admitted though that while the burger was delicious we couldn't tell that it was Wagyu beef. It didn't taste different than a regular high quality burger.
So the verdict: We really liked Fleur, we would definitely go back, and would probably just go for the regular burger next time.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
One great steak dinner + one mediocre Mexican dinner= restaurant week
Pat and I tried two different restaurants during restaurant week in mid-march(it's been a busy semester hence the lateness of this post and the next couple).
The first restaurant we tried was Envy Steakhouse in the Renessaince hotel. It's close to the strip but not actually on it. Upon sitting down and ordering the restaurant week menu we were brought an amuse bouche. It was a tiny piece of beet topped with goat cheese and some sauce. I thought it was very good. Pat is not quite the beet enthusiast that I am so he thought it was just ok. The first course was a Salad that contained port wine poached anjou pears, Candied Walnuts, Baby Spinach, Dijon Vinaigrette. It was delicious. I'm not a huge wine soaked fruit person but the pears were really good. For our main course we both choose the espresso rubbed filet mignon with a bacon mushroom compote. The espresso flavor was subtle but there. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and the bacon mushroom compote was very good. My only complain with the main course was I would have liked to have a small side of mashed potatoes or something. Dessert was a delicious sticky toffee bread pudding with a warm toffee sauce and unsweetened whipped cream. The bread pudding was so sweet that the whipped cream didn't need any sweetener and was the perfect compliment.
Overall the dinner at Envy was fabulous. Besides the great food we had a super attentive waiter. He was a wealth of information and was ready to tell us all about his favorite hang out spots in Vegas. And after our main course while we were waiting for dessert the chef himself came out and asked us how our dinner was. It was such a personal touch and we really appreciated it.
Our second restaurant week dinner was at Bobby Flay's MESA grill in Caesar's Palace. We had such high hopes and were so disappointed! The best thing we had the whole night was the prickly pear margarita that I ordered. It was pink and fruity and delicious. Now onto the disappointments. For the appetizer I ordered the southwestern spice chicken skewers. They had a peanut bbq sauce with them. The sauce was ok. The chicken was moist and was probably the best food dish of the night. They came in a make your own taco form. Pat ordered the venison and black bean chili. It was mediocre. It wasn't bad but we both agreed it wasn't anything special and Pat has made chili similar in taste before. For my main course I had the grilled mahi mahi over a green chili rice. The fish was almost over cooked and kinda on the dry side. The rice was good but overall it was just a let down. Pat got the chili braised short ribs, which again were nothing special. They were tender but the spice and flavor we expected from Bobby Flay just wasn't there. For dessert we both choose the salted caramel pudding. It had a pretzel topping on top. And it too was just ok(are you sensing a theme here?).
Now if Bobby Flay had personally come out and asked us how our dinner was I may have given MESA grill a better rating. But for a well known chef and well known restaurant we were not at all impressed and will probably not return to MESA grill.
The first restaurant we tried was Envy Steakhouse in the Renessaince hotel. It's close to the strip but not actually on it. Upon sitting down and ordering the restaurant week menu we were brought an amuse bouche. It was a tiny piece of beet topped with goat cheese and some sauce. I thought it was very good. Pat is not quite the beet enthusiast that I am so he thought it was just ok. The first course was a Salad that contained port wine poached anjou pears, Candied Walnuts, Baby Spinach, Dijon Vinaigrette. It was delicious. I'm not a huge wine soaked fruit person but the pears were really good. For our main course we both choose the espresso rubbed filet mignon with a bacon mushroom compote. The espresso flavor was subtle but there. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and the bacon mushroom compote was very good. My only complain with the main course was I would have liked to have a small side of mashed potatoes or something. Dessert was a delicious sticky toffee bread pudding with a warm toffee sauce and unsweetened whipped cream. The bread pudding was so sweet that the whipped cream didn't need any sweetener and was the perfect compliment.
Overall the dinner at Envy was fabulous. Besides the great food we had a super attentive waiter. He was a wealth of information and was ready to tell us all about his favorite hang out spots in Vegas. And after our main course while we were waiting for dessert the chef himself came out and asked us how our dinner was. It was such a personal touch and we really appreciated it.
Our second restaurant week dinner was at Bobby Flay's MESA grill in Caesar's Palace. We had such high hopes and were so disappointed! The best thing we had the whole night was the prickly pear margarita that I ordered. It was pink and fruity and delicious. Now onto the disappointments. For the appetizer I ordered the southwestern spice chicken skewers. They had a peanut bbq sauce with them. The sauce was ok. The chicken was moist and was probably the best food dish of the night. They came in a make your own taco form. Pat ordered the venison and black bean chili. It was mediocre. It wasn't bad but we both agreed it wasn't anything special and Pat has made chili similar in taste before. For my main course I had the grilled mahi mahi over a green chili rice. The fish was almost over cooked and kinda on the dry side. The rice was good but overall it was just a let down. Pat got the chili braised short ribs, which again were nothing special. They were tender but the spice and flavor we expected from Bobby Flay just wasn't there. For dessert we both choose the salted caramel pudding. It had a pretzel topping on top. And it too was just ok(are you sensing a theme here?).
Now if Bobby Flay had personally come out and asked us how our dinner was I may have given MESA grill a better rating. But for a well known chef and well known restaurant we were not at all impressed and will probably not return to MESA grill.
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