Philber's Profile
Seafood
Of the two Michael Mina restaurants, Seablue and Nobhill Tavern, I would recommend Seablue above NT for seafood. Nobhill has a smaller seafood selection, but is priced lower (sides are included in the price of some/most entrees; not the cast at Seablue). Michael Mina's properties do a great job with seafood - can't comment on Joe's Stone Crab as we haven't eaten there.
Seeking One Good Dry Aged Steak Alternative to The Steakhouse
Binions Steakhouse is old school and has a decent view of the downtown area.
Milos and other bargain meals?
Milos is still offering the 3 course lunch meal, but they did raise the price to $20.12...... Great deal!
Downtown/Freemont Street Steakhouse??
My guess would be Binions Steakhouse. It is located on the 24th floor and has a good view. Can't vouch for the quality - as I have not dined there.
Lunch in/near Bellagio Hotel
You might want to try Milos at the Cosmopolitan - $20.12 for a three course lunch. Many posts on this board regarding this great deal.
ONLY IN VEGAS?
Todd's Unique in Henderson is very good - one of our "go to" places.
If you want to dine outdoors there is Marche Bacchus in the Summerlin area. Kinda of a cool place, dine next to the lake and enjoy the wine from their store - with a $10 corkage charge - making the price point well below most restaurants.
Mundo in the World Center is an option as well - upscale Mexican food - really good happy hour deals.
Lotus of Siam for Thai - many threads on this board regarding LOS.
Good eats near North End of the Strip?
Mundo offers upscale Mexican food in a nice setting. Their happy hour offers some very good deals. We have dined there several time and never been disappointed. They are located just north of the Premium Outlet Mall on Grand Central Parkway.
Here's the link:
http://mundolasvegas.com/
You might want to search the board for downtown options as well.
What are my chances of dining without reservations?
You won't have any trouble getting into Roy's 5:30'ish during the week. They have some good happy hour specials in the bar area. Are you dining alone or will there be a group? If you are alone/couple most places will be able to get you a table early in the evening without reservations. If you were looking for Friday/Saturday it would be tougher.
Steakhouse
We haven't been in a while, but believe it or not "The Steakhouse" in Circus Circus offers a really good steak in an old-school Vegas environment. Here's the link:
http://circuscircus.com/dining/the_steakhouse.aspx?utm_source=Food%2B%26%2BBeverage&utm_medium=Google%2BSearch&utm_content=Steak%2BHouse%2BReserve%2BOnline&utm_campaign=CCLV%2BWeb
Another option if you want to go downtown is Hugo's Cellar which offers a nice selection of steaks and the ambience is similar to what you are looking for; their table-side salad service and presentation of a rose to all ladies are both nice touches. Here's the link:
http://hugoscellar.com/
Carve - Mixed Review
In a quick search I didn’t find any Hound reviews for Carve so……
My in-laws were in town again and wanted to get prime rib. Not being a prime rib fanatic, I didn’t have an off the top of my head recommendation based on personal experience. After a bit of on-line research we decided to try Carve at the East Side Cannery. It had received very favorable reviews on several sites. Reservations were made using Open Table, corkage was confirmed at $15/bottle and the dress code was described as “casual”. We were promptly greeted and seated in a dimly lit dining room.
We had looked over the on-line menu prior to arrival and had pretty much made up our minds by the time we sat down. The bread basket arrived and there was a nice selection of breads to include walnut, pretzel, whole grain, a flat bread and some sliced french baguettes. The bread was good, not great, but good. We ordered the following: Calamari ($8), Carve Salad ($6), Lobster Bisque ($8), Onion Soup ($6), Prime Rib ($19 – 12 oz; $24 – 16 oz.; $29 – 20 oz.) and Chicken Marsala ($18).
The soups, salad and calamari were promptly served. The soups were both very good; the bisque had a velvety texture and wonderful flavor; the onion had a very deep flavor and was not overly salty with lots of stringy cheese – our daughter loved it. The salad was adequate as was the calamari. The calamari was well prepared, but served with two sauces that didn’t do much for it (cocktail and caper aioli). My wife ranked the dish as “average” at best. Four of us ordered the prime rib and the serving size varied from 12 oz “Junior” to the 20 oz “Colossal”. All were ordered medium rare. Two of us opted for the baked sweet potato, while the other two went with the mashed potatoes and baked potato option (no additional charge for the side). A grilled tomato was also served with each prime rib dinner. My first serving was more “medium/medium well” but the waiter promptly brought out a very large replacement at the requested temperature. Overall, the prime rib was “good”, but certainly not one of the better pieces of meat I have eaten. My in-laws both commented on the meat being “a bit tough” and none of us cared for the au jus. The au jus was more of a sauce, very thick and over powering in flavor. We were offered both raw horseradish and horseradish cream. The Chicken Marsala was again “average” and served with pasta. The pasta was overcooked and appeared to have been cooked for quite some time prior to serving. We had a dessert at home, so none was ordered.
As a side note, our server (Roy) was top notch. He knew the menu well and was very attentive. In addition, the wait staff overall was very quick to fill water glasses and clear away plates. My only negative observation was that some of the wait staff was not as well trained as they could have been (e.g. reaching across a plate to pick up an empty rather than going to the other side of the diner).
The pricing was about what I expected for an off-strip casino steakhouse, but the quality fell short when compared to some meals I have eaten at Station locations.
Is Todd's Unique Cuisine really good?
I must admit that I was really surprised by your post..... But, it's clear that you didn't really want any feedback from Todd's regulars - which is what your post title indicated.
I wish you the best in your dining adventures elsewhere in Vegas as there are many, many options......
Is Todd's Unique Cuisine really good?
lvnvflyer pretty much nailed it. We go to Todd's between 6-10 times a year and have been doing so for over four years. While we have had some meals that we liked better than others, we have never had an experience like the one you describe. In fact our most recent meal at Todd's (mid -January) was one of the best we have ever had......
The Barrymore....or something like it.
Must be your settings. Just clicked on the embedded link above and it worked just fine. Here's some of the info you need.
Address is 99 Convention Center Drive
They are open 0800AM - 1000PM Sunday - Thursday and open Fr/Sat until midnight.
Here is a link to their dinner menu (maybe the pdf settings are different?):
http://www.barrymorelv.com/downloads/BarrymoreMenu_Dinner.pdf
Dress code: Business casual seemed to be the standard when we visited. Some guys in jackets though. Either way you won't feel out of place.
The Barrymore....or something like it.
They are open. Here is the link: www.barrymorelv.com/
Phone number: (702) 407-5303
Google is a wonderful thing!
I noticed there is a lot of talk about food at the Cosmo...
I can't comment on the hotel as we haven't stayed there. We have eaten at Milo's for their awesome lunch deal and at the Secret Pizza Place. Both are very good, but at different ends of the dining spectrum. A quick search on the site will give you plenty to go by. BTW - folks that I work with have eaten at all of the restaurants at Cosmo and the only slightly negative I have heard was on Comme Ca and it had to do primarily with service.
Green Valley Ranch?
If you have a car then Todd's Unique is a great option for dinner; about 15 minutes from the GVR. The M is fairly isolated waaay south on the Strip; not much around it......
Been To Vegas Several Times - ISO New High-End But Not Crazy Pricey Dinner?
It is clear that your first post doesn't represent your full Vegas experience. But, I will go out on a limb and recommend Charlie Palmer's Cut of the Week. It is back and at $48/pp with all you can drink wine with the first two courses is a screaming good deal.
Riviera/Sunrise Hospital
Another option very close to the Riviera is the "Peppermill". It is relatively inexpensive and definitely an interesting place to eat. I haven't eaten there in a while, but there portions were definitely on the large side! Link below:
http://www.peppermilllasvegas.com/
Recent dinner at Raku - food as good as usual, but I'm not sure about the service...
Wow! They must be so busy they believe they can treat customers with disdain. I have seen this level of "service" in Strip restaurants (most recently at Payard & Serendipity) where the vast majority of their customers are tourists and will likely never return anyway! Hopefully it was just an off night; but given the combination of service shortfalls, I doubt it.....
Sydney, Canberra and Alice Springs
Yikes, doesn't sound promising..... Thanks for the insight.
Payard - OK, but why settle for OK?
We were headed to the Bellagio to see the Conservatory which was decorated for the Chinese New Year and decided to give Payard's a try for lunch. We had recently had the three course lunch special at Milo's and were eager to compare the two establishments. Milo's won.....
My wife and daughter decided they didn't want the options available on the three course menu ($21) so they had a Chicken Panini ($17) and Angus Burger ($18); respectively. The Panini was meh.... The angus burger was good. Both the panini and burger were served with homemade chips and a very small side salad of mixed greens. The salad was my wife's favorite part of the meal - other than my dessert...
Now, the comparison: I opted for the Spinach/Artichoke dip with pita chips, sea bass, and for dessert the George V. The dip was served piping hot and was a large portion. It was good, but they were a bit shy on the pita chips so I ended up using some of the bread from the basket... The fish was served with a mango salsa and included a polenta cake. The fish was over cooked and a bit dry. The salsa and polenta cake were OK, nothing to write home about. The dessert was just what my wife and daughter wanted and both thought it was outstanding (vanilla and chocolate mousse, carmelized peanuts and a black sacher biscuit). I was even allowed a couple of tastes myself and it was very good.
The atmosphere was OK; they were packed on Monday at noon, with every table full. Which may explain some of the service challenges, but not all. It was clear that our waiter was not very personable - which is OK as long as they are professional; he was not. He was obviously in a hurry and very curt in our interactions throughout the meal. When pouring water he often spilled on the table, our plates, etc. He was pouring often as their water glasses are quite small. Once, when he filled all three glasses and didn't spill any we nearly burst into applause. When we had completed our meal and had a few leftovers we asked for them to go. He returned with the containers placing them on top of my wife's bread plate. He dropped the "to go" plastic bag on top of my water glass! Maybe he thought I had too much to drink? His tip reflected the service and I left a note to make sure he understood why the tip was substandard.
Will we go back? Probably not. Our experience at Milo's was so much better and there are so many great options in town.....
-----
Payard Patisserie & Bistro
3570 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Sydney, Canberra and Alice Springs
We had four glasses of wine; don't recall the price point. We had the green papaya salad with dried shrimp, stir fried prawns with chili sauce and one more entree that doesn't pop to mind. We also had an appetizer of some sort. Still seemed high, but as stated previously we enjoyed the food.
Sydney, Canberra and Alice Springs
You are correct, I just couldn't remember the name of the "Canteen". We found the food to be good at the Canteen; however, it was around $180 US for dinner for two and we didn't splurge! Seemed a bit high for 3 dishes and a few glasses of wine.....
Sydney, Canberra and Alice Springs
Thanks for the recommendations. I have never tried Turkish cuisine. Looking forward to it.
Sydney, Canberra and Alice Springs
Yes, Sailor Thai was very good and we enjoyed the family style dining where we all shared one table. Thank you for the note on ordering from the queue - not done here in the States!
Spice I Am is at the top of the list for Sydney, now on to Canberra and Alice Springs!
Sydney, Canberra and Alice Springs
Thanks for the recommendations and for doing a bit of research.... Yes, I live in Las Vegas.
I was in Sydney in June and ate at Sailor Thai, but everyone I spoke with after said there were better options; and that the prices we paid were too high. Does Spice I Am have much seating? Just curious because of the 20 minute wait - not bad by Vegas standards!
I hadn't thought of Malaysian food - you're correct not too many places in the US have this cuisine. This is definitely on the list of options!
Sydney, Canberra and Alice Springs
I will be traveling to Australia the first week of February. 2 nights in Sydney at the Vibe Hotel (North Sydney), 3 nights at the Hotel Realm in Canberra, and 2 nights in Alice Springs at the Crowne Plaza. I would appreciate dinner recommendations near each of the hotels. I will have a rental car in both Canberra and Alice Springs, but would prefer options within walking distance in both Sydney and Canberra.
Not looking for gourment dining, just good food at reasonable prices. Seafood and Thai are preferred, but I enjoy all cuisines.
Thanks in advance!
Off strip restaurants in Las Vegas near Summerlin
Marche Bacchus is a great choice in the Summerlin area. There are numerous posts on the board discussing their great lakeside dining, extensive "wine list" and $10 corkage. It is a one of LV's favorites.
Another option is Garfields in the same shopping plaza - have only been there for lunch, but service was good and food was excellent.
http://marchebacchus.com
Girls Trip - Need Upscale Dinner Recs, Casual Lunches
Have you considered Charlie Palmers in the Four Seasons? They were planning to return to their "Cut of the Week" special (3 courses) about now - $48/pp including bottomless wine with the first two courses.
If you want a great 3 course lunch I would strongly recommend Milos at the Cosmopolitan. $20.12/pp. There are several posts on the board.
There are many options - LV Hounds would be better able to recommend places if we knew where you were staying (do you want to pay for cabs?). And what options you have decided against in your scouring of the board.
