How’s Peter Luger conqore to the one in Brooklyn? I’m a personal fan of that place. If it’s good I’ll visit when I’m in vegas
2 Likes
Very comparable. My dinner last night was with 4 other people who’ve eaten at Brooklyn location. Everything at Lugers travels well. You’re not relying on seasonal produce or chefs (other than somebody who can properly season and man the high temp grill). Steaks cooked well and the same dishes we would normally order were basically on par. Very different dining room. Vegas is more upscale, no wood chips on the floor and no old school waiters.
4 Likes
Paging the experts…
In search of an off-Strip dinner for 8. Raku, my first choice, is currently only offering a tasting menu requirement due to the size of our group, and these are not tasting menu folk.
Open to all cuisines, except sushi. There’s one that doesn’t do raw fish.
Looking for a Vegas only kind of spot. Bonus points for great bar program and proximity to the Strip.
Considering:
Sparrow + Wolf
Black Sheep
Bar Boheme
Double Zero (slightly unsure since the SO didn’t love it)
Solamente (leaning no because no bar program)
Esther’s Kitchen is a no because we’ll hit Carbone on this trip.
2 Likes
Lotus of Siam
Raku group also runs a spanish tapas restaurant - I think Casa Raku.
3 Likes
LoS is already on the itinerary…thanks, @beam!
Will look into Casa Raku, but I fear they may impose their tasting menu on large groups.
1 Like
My friend who lives in Vegas says add Anima by Edo to the list. Fun drinks menu and tapas good for sharing. I’ve never been so cannot vouch.
Sparrow and Wolf has been on my list for a while but haven’t had the chance to go.
1 Like
+1 Anima by Edo and add Edo Tapas into the mix. Great value for quality. The food at Edo Tapas reminded me of Barcelona (high quality traditional Spanish ingredients, some traditional dishes, and some with more modern technique/presentation).
I would skip Casa Raku, it’ll be tight with a group of 8 and the menu is quite simple. I’d say they are trying to be a traditional Spanish tapas bar. They don’t quite get all the details right, like their Basque cheesecake is not how it is traditionally done. I like Raku much better! Casa Raku would be better for a snack or a nightcap (I suppose as a true tapas bar would be!)
4 Likes
“Basque” cheesecake isn’t a traditional dish. The much-imitated recipe was created in the 90s at La Viña.
1 Like
We went to Sparrow + Wolf yesterday - it was excellent and novel.
Service in Vegas is always spotty but didn’t detract too much.
4 Likes
How La Viña does it is what I was referring to, and Casa Raku’s is not like that. At what point does a recipe become a tradition? I suppose for me ~30 years and wide imitation was enough? Spanish ETG also seems to use 30 years of consistent production as their benchmark.
1 Like
I think it’s weird to call a dish “traditional” when the dish was developed in living memory or the chef everybody got the recipe from is still alive (both true in this case). I’d say “not like the La Viña original.”:
I dunno, I don’t think it’s that weird. Take tsukemen from Japan (1960s) or even boba from Taiwan (1988 - the same year as La Viña making this “basque cheesecake”). I’m assuming that you were alive when they were developed, so both made within living memory. And the inventor is either still alive (in the case of boba, I think she’s actually younger than you) or relatively recently deceased (in the case of tsukemen, 2015, so this board was around then). I think it would be fine to say that tsukemen traditionally is served with thick noodles or boba is traditionally made with pearls of tapioca starch, even if there may be variations now. What La Viña made has become so imitated and ubiquitous that it’s kind of entered the Spanish culinary canon in that it’s tied to the region (San Sebastian). Fwiw, it seems more often referred to as “Basque cheesecake” instead of La Viña’s cheesecake. Similarly, tsukemen is a now considered a Japanese dish and not just Yamagishi’s / Taishoken’s. Credit to La Viña, but it’s not weird to discuss how “basque cheesecake” is traditionally made.
4 Likes
I habitually point out that it’s a contemporary dish so that people don’t get the impression it’s “traditional” in the same way that tortilla or grilled turbot are.
2 Likes
Has anyone been to Gordon Ramsey F&C? I gotta say the pics of the shrimp/lobster look amazing but my meals are limited and I don’t want to waste a snack here if it won’t deliver.
1 Like
It is mid at best. Save your calories for something more worthy…
1 Like
since it looks like we’re just dumping stuff into this thread now I just wanted to circle back on a few things for the benefit of my fellow FTC’ers
-
Ocean Prime is the best HH in Las Vegas, bar none. 50% off raw bar / apps / rolls / cocktails M-F 3-6. Exceptionally high quality cocktails for ~$10. I did 3 drinks and an app and my bill was sub $50. You can get a whole chilled maine lobster for $32.
-
Dominique Ansel Marche - it’s true you can’t step into the same river twice. I bought some DKA’s which I felt were the best item I had from the NYC store - they were fine but at $10/ea I’d probably want something better than fine. The Raspberry Pistachio tart @ $17 was actually worth it - multiple layers of awesomeness, great balance of flavors/textures, would buy again. The biggest problem was that everything was cold. Not a problem for the tart but not great for the DKA and ficelle sandwich. They were both A LOT better at home after some time in the toaster. Other customers were also complaining about the cold pizza. This experience was basically the exact opposite of Ocean Prime from a QPR perspective.
8 Likes
Ocean Prime is very nice. Ate there once for a client dinner during CES. I regret my walk over from the Cosmo. That street between the Cosmo and Crystals is like a wind tunnel.
1 Like