Vegas TR: Mostly Food, some Poker, and a Show (long)

[mrcunningham]

Mrs. C and I were able to get to Vegas for ~24 hours for her birthday. Rather than the typical chronological trip report, I will give comments on three specific areas. We did other stuff that I won’t include.

FOOD:
We like to eat good food, and were very fortunate to have 4 excellent to outstanding meals during the brief trip all within one hotel (Venetian)!

Meal #1 Grand Lux-We get in from the Airport and go looking for a place to get a light quick lunch since it’s kind of late and we have reservations at B&B not too much later. The Grand Lux was convenient and prior posters said it was good, so we go there. We are seated immediately; no Disneyland lines like at the typical Vegas buffets. Drink waiter promptly asks what we want and we order their very finest ice water, as there’s no reason to pay for something to drink when free drinks are mere yards away. Even the Mrs. understands this, and we’re here for her birthday. I guess we’re not ballers. The restaurant was huge, but they had enough staff to provide prompt and enthusiastic service.

Anyway we look at the pretty large menu and decide to split an appetizer and appetizer salad, as that seems like it should constitute a light lunch. Only issue is that the prices seem kind of high for appetizers, around 9-10 bucks each, but hey this is a nice hotel and its her birthday. Of course they bring out the complimentary bread which is fine, but then they bring out the appetizer which is a gargantuan platter filled with fried calamari, rock shrimp, and onions. It was terrific, crispy, but not oily, real calamari and rock shrimp with the proper amount of batter (just enough to provide the crunch). Although many places offer fried calamari, or shrimp, or onion rings, rarely is the entire platter crunchy with well separated pieces. Often some parts are stuck together and others are not so crispy, but this appetizer did not have that problem. My only criticism is that the dipping sauces (2, both mayo based) were kind of bland. This was fixed, however, with a bit of ketchup and pepper.

The next dish was a chopped salad, which was equally enormous given that it was the appetizer salad. Keep in mind that they had 2 larger sizes, the lunch salad and the full-sized entrée salad. This appetizer salad was big with a good diversity of ingredients. The lettuce leaves were not all wilty and they did a good job of mixing all of the ingredients and not overdoing the dressing which I see all the time at other places. Also there was a good mix of other non-leaf ingredients.

Summary-High quality appetizers that were more than enough for lunch. Given the size of each dish, this was a good value. Only complaint for this ‘casual’ restaurant was the bland dipping sauces.

Meal #2 B&B Ristorante- Let me start by saying this place was fantastic. I’m not sure that anything they did was the best that I’d ever experienced, but I’ve thought real hard and the only complaint is that it is not closer to my home, I’d have to fly there. It is right on restaurant row at the Venetian. So that I don’t miss anything I will break this report into segments.

Décor/Environment- It is really nice. Very calming and stylish, a break from the ostentatious business of the hotel itself. The lay out with fairly well separated tables provides both privacy and the ability to visualize the entire room and other patrons without staring. Having a work table for the wait and server staff within the room was interesting and worked very functionally (more later).

Service- Truly outstanding for an American restaurant. Even before we were in Vegas, that morning they gave me a call, both to confirm, but also to find out if the flowers that I had delivered to the restaurant for my wife’s birthday should be placed at the table or brought to the table after we arrived. This shows a well organized, well trained, and attentive staff. I asked for the latter. We arrive on time, and they immediately seat us, no waiting for either a table or a hostess to take us there. The only better service I’ve ever had was at Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe. They were prompt. They explained the menu thoroughly. They described each dish after it was placed on the table, sometimes twice, once by the server bringing the food out, and once by the waiter. They were sensitive. For example, we were asked if we wanted still, sparkling, or ice water, rather than pestering us into buying the $10 bottle of Pelligrino. They went beyond the call of duty. To remember particular events, we have a tradition of asking for a copy of the menu signed by the Chef. The waiter was very accommodating and brought for us a signed menu by the executive Chef, Zach Allen. This was done without begging or any condescension. They had a full complement of staff, including manager, waiters, servers, and assistants. Each appeared to have defined roles, but would still pitch in when they saw something to be done. For example, a waiter for a different table rushed over to clear our dishes when we saw we were done with a course, rather than wait for an assistant or our own waiter to clear the dishes. The manager came over to check on us, and the wait staff was continuously checking as to whether there was anything to be done. The staff was incredibly professional, without being uptight. This is really notable since the restaurant recently opened, and they appeared to still be training some of the staff, including our waiter. In a few months the service should be even better.

Food- My main comment here is that I could find nothing wrong with any of the courses. The food was consistently outstanding. We chose to have the traditional tasting menu, there was a pasta tasting menu, too. Both of these were $85 for 5 courses, which was very reasonable for this kind of restaurant. You could also order off the ala carte menu, which was large. Courses were an egg custard appetizer, feta cheese filled ravioli, black and white bow-tie pasta with a cod/red sauce, saddle of lamb, a fruit tart, and a muffin with a sorbet. Yes, that’s right two deserts! Each dish presented beautifully. The time spacing between dishes was perfect. The pasta was al dente. The ingredients were simple and fresh. The lamb was cooked perfectly and not gamey at all. The portions were very reasonable. They also threw in a pre-appetizer bite and cookies at the end. Although each course was outstanding in its own right, I’ll repeat that the really remarkable characteristic was that there was not a single dish that I could criticize. I can remember few such restaurants where this was the case, Matushisa and Gary Danko are the only ones that immediately come to mind in the U.S.

Summary- This should become a destination restaurant if only so that you can experience an uncompromised meal at a very reasonable price.

Meal #3 Noodle Asia- So we were back at the hotel at ~1 am and hungry for something to eat despite our excellent meals so far. We live in the SF Bay Area, so the idea of getting some late nite noodles sounded good. We live in the SF Bay Area, so the idea of paying $15 for a dish of noodles, however, didn’t sound so good. Nevertheless, our choices were slim, of course we’re celebrating Mrs. C’s birthday, and I did good at the poker table, so we decided to splurge. We sit down as far into the restaurant as possible, to get as far away from the cigarette smoke. One bad feature of this restaurant is that it is open to the casino, so smoke waffs in regardless of the positive pressure ventilation. The menu is full of dishes that would be perfect for a late nite snack. We order the Singapore noodles. They are delivered seemingly within in seconds, still steaming. Turns out that the prices were not so unfair; the serving is big, enough for lunch for two. The noodles were comparable to the best we’ve had in San Francisco. They were authentic, too. This dish should be spicy and even being a tourist restaurant in Las Vegas, the chef made these noodles spicy. Spicy enough that I would guess that most American visitors would have returned the food. For us, it was just enough spice to get that little sweat going that allows your body to realize that it has been satiated. The other hint that this place isn’t ‘posing’ is the cascade of water behind the cook tops (woks) the cooks are at. This indicates that the woks get so hot that they have to continuously run water on the backsplash so the metal doesn’t warp!

Summary-Great place for late nite snack; open until 3 am. They are prompt, the food is good, and although a bit expensive for noodles, large serving makes up a bit for that.

Meal #4 Bouchon- Bouchon was developed by Thomas Keller of French Laundry fame. It is located at the end of the 10th floor bridge that connects the Venetian with its hotel within a hotel, the Venezia. We decided to go there for breakfast. Okay, this restaurant is expensive, even taking into account the portion sizes. To give you an idea, we had the fixed breakfasts, I the Americaine, and Mrs. C the non-Americaine (I forget what they called it). The Americaine (spelling correct, it is a copy of a French Bistro) is basically the Bouchon equivalent of Denny’s Grand Slam. You get 2 eggs, 2 sausages, a handful of bacon, French fries, toast (in this case brioche), a pastry, coffee, and juice. This was by far the best deal as ordering enough to be full from the ala carte menu would have been a lot more ($6 for granola or $11 for French toast anyone?). Despite the cost, the food was outstanding. How good can this kind of breakfast food be you ask? Well, every one of the 8 pieces of bacon was crisp and not greasy (you may have guessed I don’t like greasy); the brioche was amazingly light; the orange juice and grape fruit juice was fresh squeezed for us; pain au chocolate was terrific. The one criticism I have was despite a really well meaning waiter, the service was not what I would have expected from a restauranteur who has two Michelin 3 star restaurants.

Summary- Really good breakfast, but kind of pricey and service not up to par.

POKER:
Big disappointment. Despite reading the B&M forum regularly I was not prepared for the absence of games. I did not go to Bellagio, and we were there mid-week, but still it was worse than I would have imagined. During the 24 hours I was there, the biggest limit game at the V was 4/8, and even this did not start until around 1 pm. I never saw more than 2 limit games going even at 10 pm at the V. Yes, there were no-limit games going, but really nothing to brag about, a few 1-2 tables, and a couple 2-5 tables. There was one small limit mixed game, and nothing else. Really disappointing for one of the larger and nicer rooms. I thought maybe the V was just not the place to go for poker, so went over to the Wynn. This was around midnite and they were equally deserted. They had one 4/8 limit and the 150/300 limit going there. Only a few no-limit tables that were virtually all small stakes. I know Vegas is slower during the summer, but this was ridiculous. Moreover, the floor persons and dealers didn’t seem much bent out of shape by the absence of interest.

On the other hand, the games that were available were incredibly good, at least for limit. I played 4/8 at the V, twice. 10 pm-MN and 1-2 pm. I am not good as the SSLHE forum poster know, but felt that I was clearly better than anyone either time. Not only were there the typical weak tight and loose-passive regulars, but there were true tourist fish, several to a table. I had forgotten what it is like to play with people who keep wanting to go all-in (with a full stack) on a limit table or who check an call from the flop with the nut flush, no pairs on board. What’s more many of these tourist types watch enuff TV and are ‘smart’ enough to fold, so bluffs actually work. I probably ran well, but not that well, and made enuff to cover half of our trip in 90 minutes. I’m terrible at remembering hands, so I won’t post any. I just remember value betting like crazy and getting called by all kinds of stuff, while on other hands getting folds when I was raising for a free card. It seemed that the key was being really observant to how each player was playing by the kinds of things they were saying or asking.

I did play a couple hours of 1-2 no limit from 7-9 am, when Mrs. C was sleeping, because that and the 2-5 NL game were all that was available. I suck at NL and pretty much just broke even. This seemed like a tougher game, with what looked to be regulars of the tight aggressive sort, and tourists who actually knew what they were doing, certainly better than me. You young Canadian tourists that I played with, asian and Caucasian, holla!

Oh, I also like playing with a rake instead of a drop and it was mind-boggling to be able to order any drink I wanted for the cost of a tip.

Summary-I wouldn’t go to Vegas (at least the V or the W) for Poker during the summer when the WSOP is not running. On the other hand if you are there, the tables are juicy when they run.

SHOW:
Not much more time to write, but we saw the Blueman Group and it was entertaining. Certainly a lot of what they do is amazing. The rhythms, visuals, and wit were great, but I’m not sure that I’d go again, unless it was free. Too much other stuff to do in Vegas, but it was worth seeing once.


SUPER SUMMARY:
Mrs. C and I had a great time. Vegas is now a food destination, not a Poker destination. LA>Bay Area>Foxwoods>Vegas. Thanks TT for the plug of B&B in that other post.

[*TT*]

Bouchon is not about service, its based on brasseries which are know more for atmosphere and low brow yet incredible comforting food than the traditional 3 star chef experiance. For that you have to go to French Laundry in CA or Per Se in NY. I'm going there in 2 weeks, I'll add to the report when i come back. Each time I have been there so far I only snack at the bar, so a full meal will be a new experiance for me.

Glad you liked B&B as much as we did! Next time get the still bottled water, there is a significant taste difference. Also try San Marco Ennotecca upstairs, Mario's less formal eaterie, or his soon to be opened steakhouse at the Pallazo.

[mrcunningham]

Yeah, I always get my brasseries mixed up with my bistros, cafes, and restaurants. I understand what you mean and don't disagree that that might be the experience Keller was going for, but it is on the 10th floor of a hotel in a hotel that represents a somewhat over the top rendition of a Northern Italian city, not really a brassery [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[*TT*]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, I always get my brasseries mixed up with my bistros, cafes, and restaurants. I understand what you mean and don't disagree that that might be the experience Keller was going for, but it is on the 10th floor of a hotel in a hotel that represents a somewhat over the top rendition of a Northern Italian city, not really a brassery [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, Bouchon is a bit out of place, but I'm glad its there. It would have been a better fit in restauraunt row but I don't think there is enough space for that type of concept there.