review high end restaurants
 

hi everyone.<BR>i am looking for positive and negative reviews on "high end" hotel style restaurants. &gt; aqua, canaletta, emeril's, etc.<BR>please be honest with positives, and brutal with negative reviews.<BR>we plan on spending goodly dollars, and would like to eat at only the very best. ambiance, presentation, service, and TASTE!.<BR>thanks all.<BR>ray

Assume you're referring to Vegas? Aqua is great. Wonderful food and lively atmosphere. Very NY in feeling. Emeril's=tourist trap.<BR><BR>Andre's in the Monte Carlo is good for an upscale French dinner. Picasso was also very nice with wonderful food, overlooking the fountains and unbelievable artwork on the walls.

yes! sorry, las vegas.<BR>ray

Go to chowhound.com . Do a search on Las Vegas on the Southwest board. Lots of info there.

Hi ray-<BR>We really liked Aqua. <BR>We liked Emerils the first time but when we went back we hated it.<BR>Too crowded, noisy, and service was a little screwed up due to the amount of large groups at the tables.<BR>We especially like Circo,(@ The Bellagio) more casual than Le Cirq and in our opinion, better food. The service is great, and it is fun to sit and watch the fountains out the windows while you eat, and the parade of characters walking by to their tables.<BR>Olives(Bellagio) is also a favorite, we have lunch there often, and dinner is good, but service can be a little sporadic at night.<BR>Napa (Rio) has one of the best wine selections in Las Vegas, top notch service and the food is very good.<BR>Can't think of any more now:) just thinking that it might be nice to go back for a long weekend.<BR>S<BR>

Hi Scarlett Thank you so much for the info. My Girl friend and I are in our 30s and this is our first trip to Las Vegas. believe it or not, we are not gamblers. But we do like exciting attractions, and fine dining. We are taking a helicopter ride to the grand canyon. we are seeing "O," Mystere, and Danny gans. We will be staying at the venetian, for 6 days. I think we will take a morning trip to the dam also. <BR>So, what do you think????<BR>Are we missing anything?<BR>Thanks in advance for all your expertise.<BR>and Please keep those restaurant reviews coming.

Hi Ray,<BR>We go out to Red Rock Canyon whenever we visit LV. It is easy to rent a car for the day, drive out there, it is only about half an hour from the Strip. It is great, no matter how hot it is, there will be climbers on the rocks, which is great fun to watch, the drive is 13 miles on a winding road through the desert and past the rocks. You can stop and picnic, take a hike, it is a nice break from the glitz of the Strip. We have driven out to Lake Mead and to the Dam. These days, the Dam is not worth the drive and there is always awful traffic in that area.<BR>Lake Mead is nice, driving there is like being on a moon, and then you go over a hill and there is this amazingly blue lake spread out in front of you. You could probably do that the same day as the canyon.<BR>I can recommend other restaurants, there are some that we go back to that we like, good for lunch or casual dinners, I'll give you a list if you need one.<BR>We have seen Danny Gans twice, you will really enjoy him!<BR>Mystere is my favorite, although "O" is special, I like Mystere better for some reason.<BR>We also have gone to the Cage aux Follies, skip it:)<BR>and we saw Jerry Lewis at the Orleans, I was surprised that I liked his show as much as I did.<BR>LV is a great place to just walk and look.<BR>Have a great time and Good luck`

hi ray, my daughter and i also love las vegas for the fun, food, shows, shopping and glitz of it. one of my daughter's friends is a pastry chef at bellagio. (i will refrain mentioning which restaurant.) oddly enough, many of the chefs throughout las vegas are friends. without question, there are many amazing, and i do mean amazing, restaurants in las vegas. however, may i be so bold as to urge you to go with their favorites last year: Prime (for steak) at bellagio and Commander's Palace at Alladin. both are "high end". i really enjoyed everyone else's posts. i agreed with everyone assessments on o and especially mystere being the all-time favorite and picked up some really good ideas for future side trips off the stip. gee i really like this site and most of it's informative, clever and humorous contributors. have a blast, ray.

My girlfriends and I just got back from Vegas. We treated ourselves one night to a dinner at Spago (Wolfgang Puck) in Caesar's. We loved it--food was excellent, service was the best we've ever had (we complimented our waiter as we left, and he said it was his very first night!), and it wasn't too pricey (excluding drinks). Make reservations and ask for one of the back tables under the stairs--it was very quiet and private, although anywhere in the restaurant would have been nice.

Hi Ray, your itinerary sounds very similar to the one I had with my wife last year. We saw O, Mystere, and Danny Gans and stayed 4 nights at Treasure Island. We also went on the Free Fall ride from the top of the Stratosphere. Fremont Street Experience is neat, too. Next time we're going to see the Blue Man Group at the Luxor. Have Fun!!

Everywhere that I have eaten in Las Vegas:<BR>(just kidding)<BR>Here is my list of tried and true restaurants over the last 4 years:<BR>Spago (Ceasars)is an excellent lunch and can be a good dinner,depending on how busy they are.<BR>Buzios (Rio) excellent and affordable seafood.<BR>Coyote Cafe (MGM) good Mex lunch<BR>Voodoo Lounge (Rio) best view! Go to the bar if you don't want to eat there, just to see that view!<BR>Pinot Brasserie (Venetian)<BR>off strip:<BR>Best Thai food! Lotus of Siam<BR> Mercados Mexican

Thank you all so much.<BR>Your posts and this forum have been exceptional.<BR>Here are our dinning choices.<BR><BR>1.canaletto first night.<BR>2. Aqua <BR>3. open. This is the day for our road trip to the dam or lake mead im thinking bellagio's buffet<BR>4. Buccaneer Bay, mainly cause we are seeing mystere that night. &lt; same hotel&gt; and the reviews weren't bad.<BR>5. The buffet at Paris. (the buffet cause we have a jam packed day, with little time for a fancy sit down dinner) <BR>6. Last but not least, Picasso at belligio.<BR><BR>We leave soon, and I wanted to tell everyone THANK YOU for all your helpful posts.<BR>Peace<BR>ray<BR>Ps when we return, I will review everything we did.<BR>

Ray- Le Cirque in the Bellagio is one of the best restuarants I have ever eaten in--and the service was impeccable-the decor is to die for and the restaurant is small and intimate--<BR><BR>Try that one over the Picasso....

I really like what The Bellagio offers.<BR>My favorite is Picasso. The food is perfectly prepared. Service is attentive but not overly done. The wine list is good. The ambiance is very nice and if you can try for a table by the windows. The down side, it is tough to get reservations. My 2nd choice would be Le Cirque. It is also very impressive but I am not a fan of the room. I have also had one bad meal there (out of 3). My third choice is Aqua. Very good food.

Great choices Ray! You will love Picasso but like already mentioned it is hard to get reservations so call ASAP! Have a great time!

Disaster!!!! &lt; well not really, I tend to be a bit dramatic&gt;<BR>Foodie and Vegas baby; you were right. I couldn't get reservations for the time I needed. I pleaded with the women to give me a 7:00 reservation, when she proceeded to tell me that only VIPs are seated at that time.<BR> Hey!! I exclaimed, " I'm a VIP!!!!"<BR> I guess I have an Inflated view of myself, as she flatly disregarded my VIP status.<BR>So, Le Cirque it is.<BR>poor me!<BR>later guys.<BR>ray<BR> <BR><BR>

Hmm... It seems my VIP status didn't mean much to the busy folks at Le Cirque either. Is it this hard to get a seat at all bellagio restaurants?<BR>my other picks are: aureloe, second street grill, Lutece, Renoir, Napa, Zeffirino, and Prime. Any pros and cons are greatly appreciated<BR>ray<BR><BR>

Is Circo out of the running? I go there every time we are in Vegas and have never had a bad meal.<BR>If no-then my choice would be Renoir or Napa.<BR>Then Aureole, which I also have gone to in NYC.<BR>When you arrive, try calling and seeing if there have been any cancellations for the restaurant you want to eat in the most. Sometimes persistencee will work, also, mention that it is an anniversary or birthday, can't hurt!<BR>Good luck, have fun!Scarlett

Did you try and see if there was anything else available some other night? Maybe with a little rearranging it would work. Prime would be a great choice! Aureole is very overrated. Napa can be very hit or miss.<BR>I agree to keep checking back and hope for a cancellation at Picasso. It happens more then you would think.

Been to Emerils Fish House in MGM. Husband loved his steak. I hated my fish. It was loud and tables were very close together. A waste of $150. I've heard Dels has atmosphere issues as well. Food when our friends went was overdone. <BR>Olives - bad service. Waiter turned up his nose when we declined alcohol (I was pregnant at the time). Servie took a dive from there. Another waste of hard earned dollars.<BR>Love Canaletto at Venetian. Second time we went item I had been dreaming about wasn't on menu. Decribed it to waitress and cooked agreed to make it to order. Service is good.<BR>Good eating!!!