Tuesday, March 10, 2009

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon @ MGM Grand Las Vegas


This restaurant was up there on my list of places to go in Vegas...I had been to Robuchon a Galera in Macau last year and set my mind on trying all the Robuchon restaurants all over the world. L'Atelier is the more casual Restaurant of Robuchon, the fine dining one being JOEL ROBUCHON. L'Atelier is a one Star Michelin, a very casual place where people sit at the bar and watch how the food is prepared in an open kitchen .


Our reservation was for 8 pm and when we got there, the place was already practically full. As we sat down, we were served the typical bread and butter, plus a glass of champagne for me for starters. They had a winter tasting menu and a full Degustation menu, but since I had something similar to the winter tasting in Macao, I decided to just order directly from the menu. My Colleague decided on the Winter Tasting Menu.



First up for me was the Ris de Veau - Veal Sweetbreads with a type of jus and a light foam. Sweetbreads are the thymus glands and pancreas glands of lamb, beef, or pork. Typically sweetbreads are soaked in salt water, then poached in milk after which an outer membrane is removed. Once dry and chilled, they're often breaded and fried until crisp. Mine was not really crisp but more tender and moist. A very simple dish, simple presentation but very enjoyable. I enjoyed this with a glass of a Pouilly Fume from the 'wine by the glass' list.



My main course - of course Le Tartare. I had Steak Tartare in the Robuchon in Macao and wanted to compare them. I must say the one in Macao was much much better than this one. Nothing really special about the one they served me. But never the less of course I enjoyed it. I don't normally like fries with my Tartare so I asked them to serve me toasted bread with it. It went very well with the Glass of Bordeaux wine I was having.


Other dishes we had: Crispy Langostine Fritter and Cod Fillet in Pepper and Tomato Broth. I did not get to try these dishes but the cod looked very fresh and appetizing....





Over all - an enjoyable Dinner. You can't really go wrong in any Robuchon Restaurant - so far the 2 I have tried were great, although I'm looking forward to dining in the fine dining "Joel Robuchon" - either in Paris or Vegas....soon...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Miguel, by your account, that seems to be a place to be in Las Vegas. The dishes look yummy already...
Dan

Unknown said...

Wow! That's the casual dining restaurant? The food looks so good and refined. I can't even imagine what the food at the fine dining resto looks (and tastes) like...

Anonymous said...

In your quest for the best tartare, Antonio's and Prince Albert are still in the lead.

Noel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Noel said...

Great shots, Miguel, and that ris de veau looks absolutely exquisite! I've eaten at L'Atelier in Paris (rue Montalambert corner rue de Bac, 7th arr.) a few times and really gorged myself. Catha too. The second time we ate there, Catha and I actually walked all the way back to our hotel in the 1st arr. (across the Tuilleries) because we were so full!

Chinkee, l'Atelier is all bar seating (in Paris, but I'm pretty sure in LV as well). The bar wraps around an open work station where you can actually see the cooks preparing your meal. Though "only" *Michelin, a full meal easily hits 140Euros/person excluding wine.

La Table (fine dining) prices go around double that - so I never went. I may be nuts about food, but I'm not completely mad. The only way I'll go there is if we're there on our anniversary; but since that's dead of winter, there's virtually nil chance of that happening.

Unknown said...

Hey Noel! 140 Euros? That's pretty steep for you to be sitting on a bar stool. The food must be really special then, I suppose...:-) Hopefully I get to try it too when I go to Europe in autumn.

Noel said...

140 Euros? That's pretty steep for you to be sitting on a bar stool. The food must be really special then, I suppose...:-)

Hi, Chinkee.

It really depends what you order. he servings are relatively small, so I order around 5 for myself. The 140 Euros doesn't include wine. Check it out, it's worth it. They have a good wine list.

Any place that offers Michel Niellon's Chassagne-Montrachet by the glass as a house white doesn't fool around - around 20-22 Euros a glass, but you get a good pour of it from a newly opened bottle. I had two glasses with my seafood starters.

Miguel said...

Definitely worth every Euro.....