Friday, August 21, 2009

Prime at the Bellagio: everything's perfect except the wine list!

The Bellagio is my favorite hotel in Vegas. Well, I suppose I can only say that because I haven't checked out the Wynn/Encore, etc, only MGM/NyNy/Excalibur and other so-so hotel/casinos. But regardless, I love how the beautiful Chihuly glass ceiling greets you at the Bellagio when you enter, and I feel like everyone's classy there. Maybe that's how they get away with $20 martinis and $30 wines by the glass! I know many places in Vegas are pricey, and one should expect to fork over your only winnings to wine and dine there, but at least give us a few choices!



I'm referring to my most recent experience at Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio. Everything was beautiful and perfect, the service was really superb, and I even feel like this place deserves at least 1 Michelin Star (of course, it's right next to the Bellagio's Picasso restaurant which is 3 Michelin Stars, so maybe that changes things). Anyhow, here's what transpired:

I came here with my immediate family and my aunt, uncle and cousin. We all ordered some type of steak or chicken. I got their 8 oz filet mignon at $40 a la carte, medium rare, with a side of steamed asparagus. It was delicious! And they served it with 5 different sauces. The sauces were all delicious, but I'm a fan of Ruth's Chris in the fact that the steak doesn't need any sauce, and the wine should be the sauce! This steak didn't really need sauce either, but of course I tried all of them and particularly enjoyed the miso mustard sauce.

ANYWAY, wine: No one really wanted a bottle to split, so 3 of us got wine by the glass. They had 3-4 wines that were under $20/glass (none of which were Cabs) and the rest were in their $30s, all the way up to $80's per glass!!! This was sad. My aunt ordered their $14 merlot, my uncle ordered a $14ish Zin, and i got their $16 Syrah. I really hate having to pick a wine based on price, but this place made me! I was already forking over $55 for the steak and asparagus (and $16 for the martini) but now I was expected to double my bill for a decent glass of wine??? Again, I guess that's what I should have expected, for a delicious steak dinner and a fabulous wine to pair with it. My syrah was ok...it didn't really pair well with the steak, but at least I had those five other sauces!

4 comments:

  1. Hi Lo, Nice job, I agree with you about the steak, it's hard to beat Ruth's Chris steak on a 550 degree plate with sizzling butter. Love Your Dad.

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  2. Did you ever use your ruth's chris gift certificate we gave you for father's day? also, you should bring that BV reserve cab to ruth's. maybe thats what we shoulda done at Prime. i wonder what the corkage fee woulda been...

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  3. uh, how can it be your favorite hotel when you can't even spell it right? You're a dip.

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  4. well i also wasnt sure if it should be belagio or "the belagio." what do u think?

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