So here I am in Vegas for a few days of food, food, food.
I’m starting this hopefully amazing food fest at the One Star Michelin restaurant Michael Mina.
It can be found in the Bellagio hotel near the Conservatory.
I’ve eaten at Michael’s steakhouse at Mandalay Bay a number of times and it has become my favorite spot in Vegas for a Filet Mignon.
But tonight we are stepping it up a notch.
From the moment we arrived we were being treated like VIPs, even with my buddy in shorts and a t-shirt. I guess since it’s 41° outside they let the dress code slip a little?
Tonight they have a special tasting menu available. It is a selection of Wagyu steaks paired with Japanese whiskeys.
My buddy decided to go with it and he was not disappointed.
It’s three different preparations of three different cuts, each having a special, different sauce.
I had an opportunity to taste each one and each preparation was superb. Each serving was paired with a different Japanese whiskey. I didn’t get the names but they all were excellent.
He’s pretty tough when it comes to food and he gave this a 10 out of 10.
As for my meal I went with the regular four course tasting menu.
My first course was Hamachi Tiradito.
The combination of flavours here was astounding.
The tuna itself was incredible. Soft and tender. There are multiple layers of citrus going on here. First the Cara Cara orange, then the Aji Amarillo pepper with its citrusy note and then the citrus juices from the Leché de Tigre combined to add wonderful depth. Then comes the kick of the spice from the pepper. Which is then finished but sweetness from the fish. Plus the herbal note from the dill. The Canha nut, a deep fried corn kernel, added some texture. Though this was the weakest part of the dish to me.
What a start though. My brain was having difficulty comprehending the complexity of flavours in this dish.
If my brain wasn’t confused before it sure was with what came next.
For course number two I ordered the Signature dish.
Maine Lobster Pot Pie
Well actually it wasn’t.
As I dug in, it certainly didn’t taste like lobster and I couldn’t find any lobster chunks in it.
And just about the time I was going to ask the waiter what was going on he brings a second plate.
He “mistakenly” brought us the wrong dish on purpose. Or so he says. I kind of suspect this is a bit of a gimmick but who’s going to complain about free food right?
So this first pot pie was the vegetarian option with a coconut cream base and baby vegetables. The coconut added a nice base to what otherwise might be a fairly bland dish minus any protein. It was excellent.
And the lobster one was even better.
As soon as he cut the lid open the smell of lobster hit me.
Huge chunks of Maine lobster with baby vegetables in a brandy cream sauce. I even ate the mushrooms. The richness of that Brandy cream sauce with the rich lobster made this dish superb.
For course three I had the Filet Mignon “Rossini”
Beef tenderloin with brioche crostini, spinach, black truffle and pan fried foie gras. Served with sauce Perigourdine, which is Madeira and black truffle.
The only thing wrong with this was the portion size.
The beef was so tender I didn’t need a knife. I don’t have a lot of experience with foie gras. I’ve heard things about how they make it that don’t impress me. But it did go very nicely with the steak. Of course the truffles are always amazing. Black truffles from Australia in this instance.
And now we move on to dessert.
First a cappuccino.
Honestly why can’t Starbucks make coffee like this? They are supposed to be the professionals after all.
Fleur de cacao
This was really outstanding.
All the different textures working here were fantastic. The vanilla ice cream really offset the richness of the chocolate.
Tonight was a great start to my Vegas Foodfest 2024.
There will be more excellent food in the coming days.
10/10