Sunday, November 25, 2007

Dinner at David Burke, Las Vegas, NV

We got to Vegas on Thanksgiving day and we wanted to eat at the Wynn buffet. Little did we know that the buffet would be a draw for the locals on Thanksgiving. The line was 2.5 hours long and there was no way we were waiting that long to eat. We found David Burke, which had a reservation in 1/2 an hour and seemed like it had a decent menu. Even though we had made a reservation, when we arrived we were told to have a drink at the bar since it would be a few minutes. After we had had a drink and it had been more than a few minutes, Alexis became her usual anxious self and inquired as to when we would be seated. We were told that our table was ready, which led us to believe that telling us to have a drink at the bar was just a scam to get us to buy a drink at the bar.

When we sat down the service was worse. The waitstaff was generally unpleasant (save a very friendly bus boy). They were short, ever so slightly rude. Every time we leave San Francisco we notice how crappy the service is. In our opinion, when you are paying top dollar at a restaurant, a large part of what you are paying for is the service. When you don't get it, you feel like you've paid too much for too little, no matter how good the food.


Apple "Pie" and Goat Cheese Amuse Bouche (gratuit)
This was just boring. It would have been ok, if the crust had been super crunchy, or made of parmasean or something, but as it was, it was palatable, but not much else.


Brioche (gratuit)
This made straight out of the oven, which was nice. But the bread wasn't amazing.


Butternut Squash Soup (below) with Beef Dumplings (above) $9
This soup was very good. It was super smooth, not to thick and not too sweet. It was a nice departure from the generally overly sweet and thick version that you see throughout the holiday season. The dumplings were tender and tasty as well.



Lobster Bisque $12
This was inedible (to Alexis) and just incredibly salty (to Giao). It was thin and the lobster flavor was definitely present, but it was just to salt to be enjoyable.


Beet and Burrata Salad $14
A character of Vegas restaurants that we have noticed was exemplified in this dish: dishes composed of one or two big, safe flavors. The food is good, but rarely innovative or interesting. This salad was made of tender beets, Jerusalem almonds, burrata, microgreens and a balsamic reduction. This dish was tasty, but the balance of beets to cheese was off. There should have been about twice the amount of cheese. The almonds added a nice crunch.


Truffle-Parmasean French Fries $7
We usually don't eat fries, but we were on vacation and these were really good. They were cut from potatoes (and still had the skin), they were very crispy and they were full of truffle flavor. Yum.


Pretzel Crusted Crab Cakes with Mango Sauce $13
This had very little filler, which made Alexis happy and the pretzel crust was interesting and tasty. The mango sauce was a bit sweet for our taste, but was well-executed.


"Angry" Lobster $20
This was the star of the show. The lobster was perfect (and when I say that, I mean it) cooked and drenched in lemon and chili oil. Wow. Amazing.

Ratings:
Food: 1
Decor: 2
Service: 0

David Burke Las Vegas
The Venetian
Las Vegas, NV


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