Chicagoan advice for Vegas trip

Hi all,
I have perused the CH Southwest board for Vegas fine dining recs but have come up short. I find it hard to trust their advice when posters regularly gush about Mon Ami Gabi, etc.

I'm heading to LV in August and my companion has already picked Delmonico's for one night out. The only guidelines for good meal #2 are:
not seafood-oriented
romantic
not another steakhouse
ideally on the strip (I know, I know)
and it should be on par with Delmonico's in price, service, and quality- or better, if that's even possible.

Any ideas? Thanks, all.

magpie1140 wrote:Hi all,
I have perused the CH Southwest board for Vegas fine dining recs but have come up short. I find it hard to trust their advice when posters regularly gush about Mon Ami Gabi, etc.

I'm heading to LV in August and my companion has already picked Delmonico's for one night out. The only guidelines for good meal #2 are:
not seafood-oriented
romantic
not another steakhouse
ideally on the strip (I know, I know)
and it should be on par with Delmonico's in price, service, and quality- or better, if that's even possible.

Any ideas? Thanks, all.

When I was recently in Vegas, I posted an extensive review of my chow adventures on Chowhound. One place to not miss if you are a Thai food fan is Lotus of Siam. I'm including two links to my posts. The first is for my Lotus of Siam review

http://www.chowhound.com/southwest/boards/southwest/messages/12302.html

This one of for my everything else review

http://www.chowhound.com/southwest/boards/southwest/messages/12303.html

A lot of this stuff is not on the strip, but I was out for discovering what Vegas has to offer that isn't in a hotel. Enjoy!

I haven't personally been, but I hear that Bouchon in Vegas is pretty tasty. The restaurant I believe is part of a partnership with Thomas Keller, the Chef of the French Laundry in Napa.

I hesitate to recommend Italian to a Chicagoan travelling as we have good Italian options here, however . . .

Right next to Delmonico (inside the Venetian) is Valentino. I have had a number of great meals there and the service and atmosphere might be better than Delmonico. If Italian is OK with you, this is a good option.

Across the street at Treasure Island, err, I mean TI (they have rebranded it to appeal to a youth movement that probably doesn't know who Robert Louis Stevenson is) are a couple of popular places for us - Buccaneer Bay Club and Francesco's (another Italian, but with somewhat of a focus on seafood so maybe not for you). I have to say my last visit to Buccaneer Bay Club disappointed, but it was Super Bowl and I sensed the casino hosts had overloaded them with forced reservations they probably wouldn't have taken if they'd had a choice. Service suffered as a result. My only "bad" experience there.

I think next door to TI you can hit a real home run for the romantic and fine dining aspect at Renoir in the Mirage. Simply outstanding - service, food, and decor that includes original Renoir art.

Down the strip a bit at Bellagio are a number of good choices, too. I haven't yet had the chance to try Le Cirque there but have dined at it's sister, Circo, with good results. I also haven't dined at Picasso there but trust the reports of friends who have; nothing but raves. One of these 2 is on my must-try for my next LV trip.

Of all of these, I would most strongly suggest Renoir since you do mention romantic. It's probably the smallest and most intimate of any of these rooms. After dinner, depending on the day, there's usually a piano player/singer in the small lounge in between the Mirage restaurants. Last time there the guy was really very good and the 4 of us enjoyed a couple of hours relaxing after dinner with a couple of drinks and some great music, talking to the pianist (one of our group was a prof. musician). Perhaps one of the best renditions I've heard of "Nature Boy" outside of Nat King Cole.

Rosemary's

It's not on the strip, but worth the trip.

http://www.rosemarysrestaurant.com/

JoeyH wrote:Rosemary's

It's not on the strip, but worth the trip.

http://www.rosemarysrestaurant.com/

There's also a Rosemary's branch in the Rio.

I concur in the Rosemary's recommendation. By Las Vegas standards, it's a "neighborhood restaurant," which means it's in a strip mall in a residential area (at least the original location). My sister lives in Vegas, and it's one of her favorite places. It has been a couple of years since I was last there, but I remember that the sea bass was one of the best fish dishes I have ever had. Perfectly crisp outer crust, steaming hot inside, I wish I could remember more details about the actual preparation, but it's the texture and temperature that stick in my mind ... Rosemary's also does a nice job creating a dim, cool atmosphere, even when it's 107 degrees outside, as it was on our visit.

I'm headed to Vegas in August also - one spot we have been to many times and always love is Commander's Palace at the Aladdin. Oustanding and just as good as the original in NOLA. CP can also be very romantic, the service is outstanding - great selection of food and wine. HIGHLY recommended.

I'm glad you are going to Delmonico's - I have been and loved it.

We are considering Picasso's or one of the other Bellagio spots for dinner this time around. We haven't made a firm decision but I appreciate the tips given so far.

I ate at Picasso a couple of years ago and had an outstanding meal. I don't remember food specifically any more but I will say that I remember being very impressed by the wine pairings, it was probably about as good an experience as I've had with that (along with Trio here). I also ate at Aureole on the same trip, which was good, but Picasso was the standout.

We ate at Bouchon two weekends ago while staying at the Venetian and had an enjoyable meal. It wasn't anything in terms of a French Laundry experience, but then again we weren't expecting that. Typical bistro style menu (Steak Frites, etc).

Tasty food and not too terribly expensive (especially for Vegas). The only issue we had was that there wasn't too many choices for Red Wine under $100 a bottle.

Also, not very crowded for a Saturday night 7:30 reservation?