Las Vegas Nevada
I have been to Hell.
It was phenomenal.
Based on the TV show, which I have watched often, this restaurant is now near the top of my favorite meals ever.
While they do not shoot the actual TV show here they do have the kitchen set up in the familiar red and blue format. The waiter said they do appies on one side and mains on the other. Or something along those lines.
This is a fairly impressive place. It’s big, seating over 300 people at a time. It’s busy, earlier this year reaching their 2 millionth customer served in 5 years. It wasn’t me.
Yet somehow they maintain a Michelin star level quality experience.
Hell’s Kitchen Las Vegas itself does not have a Michelin star. I understand the Michelin guide does not visit Las Vegas anymore. I don’t believe that any of the six Hells Kitchens have Michelin stars. But Gordon Ramsay himself has 17. So I expect very good food coming our way.
For starters Gin and Tonics
Botanist gin, one of the better ones. No Isle of Harris though. Still very good.
We decided on 3 appies to share to get a good variety of dishes. First up -Golden beet salad.
Served chilled, with goat cheese, citrus, pistachios and balsamic vinaigrette.
This is a solid dish.
Really nice balance of sweet from the beets, tang from the vinaigrette and crunch from the pistachios complemented by the smooth and creamy goat cheese underneath.
Next up we have one of Ramsey’s signature dishes, Seared Scallops.
Very pretty!
The scallops, perfectly seared, are perched on celery root. The bacon lardons add some saltiness with the pickled apples adding a nice touch of acidity. The sauce is a “jus du poulet”. Might sound odd with scallops but it worked.
Now we get to the main event.
I think I do a damn fine Risotto myself. Time to see if it measures up to the pros.
So funny story here.
The waiter was very good. And very smooth. He suggested we get white truffle shavings on top of the Risotto. Normally they only have black truffle you see. But for this one special month of the year White truffle is available.
Now I’ve never had white truffle so it didn’t take a lot of convincing.
After he walked away I casually remarked to Merilynn “I wonder if I just paid $50 for some white truffle on top of our risotto?” I didn’t. I paid $54. Oh well, you only live once.
I’m not saying getting the white truffle was worth it. But it was incredible. Took the risotto to a whole new level for me.
As for the Risotto itself. It was very good. Butter poached lobster and crispy onions only added to its goodness. But honestly I think I prefer mine. I make it a bit looser.
And what would a trip to a GR restaurant be without having the Sticky Toffee Pudding.
This is a great example of STP. It’s light. Sickly sweet almost, but you don’t want to stop eating. And don’t. If you take too much time to finish you may not be able to. A nice black coffee helped cut through all that richness. For me it’s actually too much dessert. Good thing we are sharing.
So the food was excellent. As good as anywhere I’ve eaten. Well maybe not Joel Robuchon. But close.
The service? Absolutely incredible. Honestly the best I’ve ever experienced.
There was a team of 5 or 6 serving us. Well thereabouts, I lost count.
New utensils with every new dish. Dirty dishes whisked away without us even noticing. My water glass never more than half empty. Or is it half full?
The service was nothing like I’ve ever seen before. Even at L’Atelier.
The food was excellent. The service outstanding. The setting pretty cool.
From start to finish it was truly superb.