Bob & Brenda Geocaching

Our Observations

Every year, Brenda and I try sample one of the many high end restaurants here in Las Vegas. This year we narrowed our choices down to Delmonico Steakhouse and CarneVino Italian Steakhouse (both in the Venetian/Palazzo Hotel). After checking the reviews at various online sites, we chose Emeril Lagasse's Delmonico Steakhouse as our restaurant for this year.

We arrived about 15 minutes earlier than our reservation, and were promptly seated in the back room of the restaurant where it was nice and quiet. The dining room was nice, but the decor was very neutral and bland--probably better suited for a funeral home. However, we were here for the food, not HGTV's House Crashers. Our wait staff arrived with our water and took our wine order. Interestingly (and a nice touch), they replaced both our white napkins that were on the table with black ones so we would not get white lint on our dark clothes. The wait staff was prompt, courteous and professional without being overbearing during our entire dining experience.

Brenda's starter was the Butternut Squash Ravioli. She had this while attending EMC World here the previous year, but that was cooked by the hotel's catering staff, not Emeril's restaurant. She thought it was good, but thought the sauce was lacking something from what she had before. I had the fois gras which was outstanding--even better that the fois gras that we had at Gordon Ramsay Steak the year before. The fois gras had just the right amount of fat that gave it a nice silky feel in your mouth. The toasted bread that was served with it provided a nice texture contrast.

We both had the Wilted Spinach salad which we thought was nice, but nothing to write home about. We thought it was a bit on the sweet side, esecially with the Applewood smoked bacon and the vinegarette. The poached egg helped counterbalance the sweetness, but not quite enough. It's sweetness almost made our Spätlese taste a bit sour. If we went here again, I'd probably forego the salad and try the lobster bisque instead.

For our entrées, Brenda had the Filet Mignon with wild mushrooms and I had the Bone In Ribeye with fingerling potatoes. Both steaks were cooked slightly more than the mid-rare that we ordered, but not so far along as to request sending them back. We both ordered our steaks Oscar Style which means they came with a small scoop of crab meat, grilled asparagus and a Béarnaise sauce. Not sure if it was worth the extra $22, but it did add some variety to our dishes. Brenda's filet was very tender and tasty, but she really wasn't a fan of the cajun spices that it was blackened in. She trimmed most of them off before eating the filet itself. The mushrooms were OK, but we've both had better at other restaurants. My ribeye was very good--probably better than the one I had at Gordon Ramsay Steak earlier. I think because it was much thinner than the one at Ramsay's, the flavors from the spices were able to permeate into the meat much better. The fingerling potatoes were a bit of a disappointment for me. When we go to a restaurant, we want to be wowed by the flavors, not to sit there and think "gee, I could have made ones better than this at home." Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill at Caesar's Palace still sets the standard for fingerling potatoes.

Overall we had an very good meal, outstanding service, and a satisfying experience. The cost was a bit on the high side (about $420 for two of us including a bottle of wine and the tip). We usually spend this much on our anniversary dinner, but if we're going to spend that much, the entire dining experience should be well worth that amount. Delmonico Steakhouse came close, but didn't quite reach the level of satisfaction that we'd expect when paying this much money. This one is probably rated closer to a 3.5 star versus a 4 star in our book. Since there are so many dining choices in Las Vegas, this probably won't be on our return list.