Eating Las Vegas

Short summary:
Nobu 2.5/5
Picasso 2.5/5
Red Square 2/5
Knob Hill 3/5
Seablue 1/5
Mesa Grill 3/5

OK, so you think I shouldn't be eating Sushi in the desert. Granted, but Las Vegas is getting its food pretty quickly from the coast these days. Still I tried a nobel experiment (Nobu experiement). I ate there like I would eat at my favorite sushi place back home. I ordered only the most interesting and exotic sashimi, with a rice bowl chaser at the end. It was fine. It was fresh, It was clean, It was nothing special. I have eaten at several of Nobu's Restaurants in the past. My 4 visits to Matsuhisa's in Beverly Hills, his first endeavor, have all been 4 or 5/5 visits--the best tempura I have ever had (despite living in Japan)--plus I saw Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford on separate occassions. My view of celebrities is generally "just live your own life". But I have to say, Cindy definitely captured my attention. If the magazine editors make her look beautiful via Photo Shop. She must have had a Photo Shop pro at the ready before she went out that night. Stunning. Oh yeah, the food was spectacular. Black Cod with Miso. My two visits to Nobu London were both 5/5 in food and service and great people watching events. Matsuhisa's in Aspen was merely a 2/5. It felt like more of the downstairs overflow room at a Popeye's in Washington D.C.

Red Square. I was looking forward to the stroganoff. It was odd, and I think my taste buds were failing me. But still 2/5, tasty and great 1950s Soviet ambiance, without the six hour wait in a bread line.

Picasso, in the Bellagio was the real disappointment because expectations were extremely high. Wonderful ambiance, killer service, but the food--nothing that said "can't get this anywhere else". 2.5/5.

I have enjoyed Pices (Bulringame) and Aqua (Las Vegas, since changed to Michael Mina) so much in the past, that I was really looking forward to Michael Mina's restaurants in Las Vegas' MGM Grand. Knob Hill did not disappoint. I ate lucious Lobster Pot Pie at the bar, while getting to know a Washington D.C. foodie who happened onto the stool next to mine. Solid 3/5. Just wish some one had been there with me so I could have tried more things and judge consistency across selections better. Unfortunately, Seablue was not as satisfying. It looked good. I mean live anchovies swimming round the big tank outside certainly suggested good fresh fish. But this 1/5 restaurant was overpriced, the service made me long for the days when a freckled kid would ask me "you wanna supersize it". At Seablue I felt lonely from inattention, miffed from the large number of menu items that were unavailable at 6 p.m. in the evening--what, did they have a mad rush of early-bird halibut eaters or something.

Now Mesa Grill--talk about exceeding expectations. Went once with Susan (wife), then went back the following week when I in LV on business. I watched the TV show about how Bobby Flay built the restaurant. Reality Construction of the soft rock sort. So I expected just another absentee celebrity chef locale, with an uninteresting but consistent menu of easy to chow down Southwest fare. What I got was two very different selections on two trips--so much variety that I missed not ordering my favorites twice. I also got spectacular rabbitt cooked multiple ways--no doubt borrowed from his buddy, Mario Batali's, Rabbit 3-Ways dish at fabulous Babbo in NY. Wonderful tamale. One co-worker ordered a fabulous steak, while the other said his lamb was a bit dry--lucky I didn't try any. Sauces were different, not overwhelming. Drinks were creative--go crazy with the margarita selection! Mesa Grill at Caeser's gets a 3.5/5.

Where should I go next in LV folks? Likely to have to be there again soon.