barMASA, Las Vegas NV

For our last dinner during Girl's Weekend in Las Vegas we chose barMASA in the Aria Resort & Casio. Masa, the famously expensive big brother restaurant in NYC has long been a topic of discussion. Should we go? Can the food actually be worth the enormous price fixed bill that comes along with the reservation? To date, we've passed it over. But it still holds some intrigue to me - and since Patty & Gianne were game and at this casual little sister we could order ala carte we decided to give it a go.

As you can see from the picture - this is a cavernous space. Super modern and spread out, you would never use the word intimate to describe the ambiance. We have an early reservation and were one of only a few tables eating in the beginning of our meal.



Comfortably seated by the bar we settled in and ordered a bottle of Collet Rose to start. With a beautiful color, great floral nose and a nice medium finish, this was a great bottle of NV champagne that

Now for the food: I can't remember all of the dishes because we did go with most of the evening's specials - think this might have been the Sea Bream or Fluke with black truffle (oh hell yes) and the second dish was the sizzling,k spicy octopus.

We also tried the Peking Duck fried rice with foie gras. What can I say - it's one of the best ways I've ever had fried rice.

Everyone next went to sushi, rolls and a second bottle of champagne: Guy Larmandier MV Brut. From the sushi selection, all of the pieces you see below were my order - yes, I went back for seconds. I tried the Wild Bluefin fatty tuna, lean tuna; Sea Bream, Young Yellowtail, Island Jackfish, Horse Mackerel and the Fatty Deep Sea Snapper. Patty & Gianne went with a specialty roll.

This was the best meal of the trip - the sushi was stupid good - so fresh; fishes that you can't find regularly at home so experiencing something new was great. Really loved this entire meal - every bite. I would go back in a heartbeat. The champagne list was one of the more extensive and reasonable ones to be found in Las Vegas. Great evening overall.

Zagat: 26-23-24
Jenn: 90

Blue Ribbon Sushi, Las Vegas NV

This March I did a girl's weekend in Las Vegas with Patty & Gianne. One of the places we unanimously voted to go for dinner was Blue Ribbon Sushi in the Cosmopolitan. This would be my second trip to this Blue Ribbon outpost - one of a collection of restaurants in New York City and Sin City. We had a long day by the time we sat for dinner (plus drinks and appetizers at Hyde in Bellagio); ordering sushi and the famous fried chicken.

Patty & Gianne chose to start with the Hamachi Tataki (Yellowtail tartar with quail egg) while I went with a simple house salad with watercress, avocado and ginger dressing. Both were quite good even if mine seems like a boring choice...I needed something green.

Next were the sushi selections: while P&G decided to split a specialty roll, I ordered a selection of fishes including Yellowtail, Amber Jack, Tuna, Eel and Albacore. Tasty but nothing to knock your socks off.

And to finish the meal we got the Blue Ribbon Style fried chicken with Wasabi & honey dipping sauce. Now I've had this dish three times prior - the first time it blew my mind ~ so unbelievably good. The second time it was just okay but we were with a huge group of people and I only had one bite so chalked that up to poor circumstances. This time I was hoping for a repeat of that magical first encounter. But alas...it wasn't to be. Too dry, bland even with the sauce that this time felt that a mask and not a compliment. Disappointing to say the least.

While the ambiance is fun and casual and the location in Cosmopolitan is great, I think I'm done with Blue Ribbon Sushi. Too many other places that still bring the WOW factor. But that being said, if you haven't tried it and since the possibility exists that you too can have that truly noteworthy experience of this place at it's best - give it a go. When the chicken is on - it's Donkey Kong On.

Zagat's Rating: 24-23-22
Jenn's Rating: 81

Eating in Sin City: Scarpetta

There's a real danger in having an amazing meal: that the magic can't be recaptured. I worry about this every time we revisit a place that scored high or that was truly memorable...will it be able to live up? While in Vegas we took that chance by going back to Scarpetta.

M&S went during their anniversary trip in 2012 and raved about it. So I went with Mom in October of the same year and was thrilled that we had such a similiar - fantastic meal. Going for the three-peat, we booked our final dinner there this last trip. It would Alan's first experience.

We were seated at one of the large, comfortable semi-circular booths that are quite nice. But this one was located so close to the entrance I felt immediately like we were missing out on the ambiance you get when you go deep into the center of this dark, modern yet chic restaurant. We also couldn't see the Bellagio fountains.

We ordered a round of appetizers and then pasta dishes. I don't have all the dishes captured in pictures but you'll get a sense...

White asparagus soup with crab & croutons. I ordered this - I love cream based soups and crab is my favorite thing on the planet...especially blue crab which this dish contained. And can't imagine my disappointment when I realized it was lacking seasoning and came off as quite bland. Couldn't really taste the crab and the whole thing needed salt or something savory to save the dish.

Raw yellowtail. Fresh, nice.

Crispy fritto misto (seafood, vegetables, lentils). Why lentils? Ok.

Braised short ribs with vegetables and farro risotto. Nicely cooked - fall apart beef. Good dish overall.

Pici with lobster, tarragon & almond and chili pesto. This sounds like something that should have just had my name on it. But the tarragon was overwhelming and the other favors got lost. Such a shame.

Duck & foie gras ravioli. I liked this dish (it wasn't mine) much better than the pici I ordered. Alas, it wasn't so I only got a bite before sending it back to it's rightful owner. Probably the best dish of the night.

Overall, it didn't live up to the past. Pasta dishes weren't showstoppers and the appetizers failed to excite. Next time in Vegas, I'll skip this one in favor of trying a new place.

Jenn's Rating: 81 (for reference, I scored this an 88 the last time)
Zagat: 25-25-26

Eating in Sin City: Fleur

With our conference being in Mandalay Bay, we took the opportunity to try out the revamped (to small plates) Hubert Keller eatery, Fleur. I was hoping for great things - having only ever watched one season of Top Chef, it was the original Masters season and Hubert was a favorite to watch by far.

The location in nicely situated over by restaurant row between the casino and the convention center so lots of foot traffic walking by the "outdoor"  patio seating. The place was basically empty - possibly not a great sign.

We ordered appetizers to share and a round of entrees. The menu is organized by country which is a bit odd. Not the entire list of what we ordered but some call outs included the roasted bone marrow with grilled toast points; duck confit over whipped potatoes and the Fleur burger (quartered) with caramelized onions and fried potato.

There were also flatbreads with bbq pork belly and a few other dishes that sounded pretty great off the menu. The issue was that the taste just didn't live up to the description. There wasn't a standout course and a few, like the flatbreads were truly disappointing. We wonder why they chose to switch from a formal, traditional French restaurant into small plates in the first place considering Keller is a superstar French chef. This format and preparations didn't do anything to encourage us to seek out his other restaurants. There are far better meals to be had around the strip.

Jenn's Rating: 79
Zagat: 25-23-22

Eating in Sin City: Lotus of Siam

Our second dinner in Las Vegas this past April was a return to our favorite...Lotus of Siam. Argueably the best Thai restaurant in the US. We haven't been back since March of 2009 with Susan & Rich and were both excited and nervous to see if it still held that magic.

Calling for reservations three months in advance is the first hurdle...even with the new renovations and expanded space, this is a hard place to get into. They will only hold your spot for 5 minutes so don't be late!

We got there 15 minutes ahead of time and grabbed a drink at the bar while we waited. The bar is part of the renovations and definitely beats out having to wait outside in what's a sketchy strip mall at best that you're sure you've seen on either CSI or an episode of COPS.

We were seated at a little table for four right near the bar. The ambiance here isn't much to speak of - they make use of every available inch to get hungry diners tucked into boring wooden tables. But hey, who cares? It's all about the food! With a couple bottles of wine we dove right in and ordered for the table.

Appetizers:
Stuffed chicken wings (stuffed with ground pork, deep fried and served with sweet & sour dipping sauce). SO good!

Thai Salad (mixed vegetables, onions, boiled egg & peanut dressing). Boring? Yummy! 

Spicy Vegetable Soup (hotness level 5 - - and very funny to watch Mary try and eat this). I DARE you to try to soup with anything hotter than a four. Make sure you have someone video taping the experience - it's hysterical.

Nua Dad Deaw (Thai Style Beef Jerky) deep fried, marinated beef served with spicy dipping sauce. Really, really good ~ nice suggestion from our server.

Fried Chicken Dumplings. Classic.

For entrees we shared the Drunken Sea Bass; Pad Thai & Crispy Duck. These are some of the best dishes to be found in Vegas. Drunken anything at LoS is killer - try the bass, noodles or even soft shell crab.

The food was once again amazing - so full of flavor and so many different types of dishes to choose from. Service was fine - they offered suggestions for dishes to try that was appreciated and we didn't feel like we waited for anything.

This is a Must Go to place if you're in Vegas. Wear comfortable clothes ~ there's no scene to worry about. You don't need to be a fan of Thai food - it transcends any ethnic label and is just plain, awesome food.

Jenn's Rating: 94
Zagat: 28-15-23

Eating in Sin City: Blue Ribbon Sushi

Hey!! It's been a long time since I've posted - new job & nicer weather mean no free time. So I'm playing a little catch up here. In April we went to Las Vegas for a conference and piled on as many good meals as possible.

Our first night there after a hectic scramble to get from airport to hotel (and then to a second hotel) and back to Cosmopolitan for dinner at Blue Ribbon Sushi. This was our first time trying BRS though we'd been to the one in NYC with a large group and were a bit underwhelmed.

Starving and jet lagged, we ordered drinks and dinner. As a group we decided to go with the famous Fried Chicken "Blue Ribbon Style" with wasabi & honey and the Oxtail Fried Rice with daikon, shitake and bone marrow. We also ordered sushi to round out the meal.

The chicken arrived looking crispy and reddish - covered in spices. It was super moist in the middle and had quite a kick to it. The wasabi honey dipping sauce was a fantastic accompaniment. An excellent dish - one of the best takes on fried chicken we've ever had.

Served alongside the chicken was the rice in a giant bowl meant for sharing. This might be the single most incredible rice dish I've encountered. The oxtail & bone marrow give it such a heartiness and the rice still has that crisp, al dente style interior...what a keeper! I would go back to BRS for just these two dishes over and over again.

We ended with sushi as I mentioned before - the menu had a lot of unusual and interesting fishes we don't see here in NYC much. For instance, Japanese Red Snapper, Amberjack, Orange Clam, Fluke Fin and Jellyfish. The sushi was excellent - super fresh and with such diverse choices, got to try and great new things.

While we were all struggling to stay awake -the meal was super enjoyable; one of the best of the trip. Service was attentive and fun and the ambiance was jumping, a touch loud, but very energetic with good people watching. Highly recommend!

Jenn's Rating: 91

Zagat: 24-23-22

CUT, Las Vegas

Second dinner in Las Vegas was at CUT steakhouse in Palazzo. This is a Wolfgang Puck establishment and I'm a big fan of his other restaurants in Las Vegas.

The decor is cool, cold even with lots of brown, gold, glass and leather. We were seated at 7pm to a pretty empty restaurant and were given a table in the way back. During our time there it did fill up about half the tables.


Not in a mood to drink a bottle, I ordered a glass of pinot noir that lasted through the dinner. After water and menus were given, our waiter came over with a large platter of various cuts of meat to show the difference in marbling, color and size of the featured steaks like the Wagyu and the dry aged filets.

The menu is straight forwards...it's steak baby, all the way. Mom and I started off with an appetizer each before our steaks. She choose the roasted Windrose Farm baby beet salad with French Feta, toasted pistachio, citrus, micro basil and mint.

I didn't try the dish but Mom loved it and talked about it again the following day.

I ordered the warm asparagus salad with poached egg and warm bacon vinaigrette and it was spectacular!! A brioche underneath and the combination of the organic egg and bacon just added such down home comfort with complexity. Really fabulous!

For our steak, my Mother ordered the same cut I did...the Illinois, 21 day wet aged, 20 ounce bone in rib eye cooked to a medium rare. The restaurant says that the cooking style is grilled over hardwood and charcoal and then finished under 1200 degree broiler with butter.

The side dish we ordered was the yukon gold potato puree. As you can see from the picture above, the steak looked fabulous and when cut into was pretty pink - not quite as red as I like but not to the point I would have said it was overcooked.

Then I tasted it. Blah. No real flavor at all. As this is a cut that I love and we grill at home so I know what it's potential should be. Not sure if the issue was the wet aged or if it was the cooking process but it might as well have been a sirloin. Very disappointing. A mixed bag that ended on a bad note and my rating reflects that.

Jenn's Rating: 78
Zagat: 26-24-26

Las Vegas, Scarpetta at the Cosmopolitan

In mid October I was out in Las Vegas with my Mom. Though our trip got cut short unexpectedly, we did manage to get in a few meals. Highly recommended by Steve & Mary the first one on the itinerary was Scarpetta in the Cosmopolitan. A modern Italian restaurant by Scott Conant, this beautiful venue overlooks the fountains at Bellagio if you're lucky enough to get a seat by the windows.

We had an early seating since we'd flown across country that morning and would soon be fighting off jet lag. We were seated towards the back of the restuarant on the windows with a view of the fountains. I ordered us a bottle of Ayala Rose Majeur NV. A champagne from Ay, the blend is 51% chardonnay, 30% pinot noir, 10% pinot meunier and 9% still red wine of the region. I found this to be elegant and fruity with a short finish and beautiful coppery color. Very nice wine to have with our appetizers.

We decided on three courses - two appetizers and a pasta each. I spoke to the engaging waiter and went with many of his recommendations. To start, the raw yellowtail with micro greens and olio de zenzero and pickled red onion. Perfectly fresh with a degree of firmness I associate with very fresh sushi. Excellent way to start the evening and paired nicely with the champagne.

 My mother started with split pea soup. Thick and seasoned with bacon and pork belly, micro greens and herbs.

 Next course was the salads. Mom went with a traditional caprese with heirloom tomatoes and buratta that was a colorful dish of end of season tomatoes and fresh, soft cheese. Very nice.

It's hard for me to pass up Diver Scallops...especially when the staff recommends them as a favorite. I'm so glad I listened! These perfectly prepared scallops were served over white asparagus with a light garlic aioli and micro greens. Just wonderful and so beautifully presented.

For entrees we both selected pasta dishes. My mother ordered the short rib agnolotti with brown butter horseradish and toasted breadcrumbs. I thought it was a little too sweet - not enough horseradish to compensate for the distinctive taste short ribs get...they often need to be paired with a heavy reduction to highlight the ribs. The pasta was perfectly al dente with a nice bite but I don't think I could have finished an entire plate. My mother didn't have that problem and seemed to like it quite a bit.

I went again with a suggestion from our waiter who said his favorite dish was the signature duck & foie gras ravioli with marsala reduction. The pasta was perfect here to, just a tiny bit of crunch and that super freshness when they are making it on site. The duck & foie gras filling was all that it should be - the duck having a gaminess and the liver giving it a rich, decadence. The marsala is a pretty heavy reduction that worked well here to offset the dish.
Really, really good!

We were tired from traveling all day and skipped dessert but this experience turned out to be one the more memorable ones I've had in Las Vegas. Every dish was unexpected and almost exceeded hopes.

Jenn's Rating: 88
Zagat: not yet rated