See Us Eat: Dinner at Mix, Las Vegas, NV

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Dinner at Mix, Las Vegas, NV

A friend told us that Mix was really great. So, we decided to give it a shot. Since we had eaten an enormous amount at the Wynn Buffet earlier in the evening, we weren't that hungry when we got to our 10:30 reservation. That turned out to be a good thing, as the food was far from spectacular. Mix is the brain child of the acclaimed Alain Ducasse. Although we've never been to his other restaurants, we kinda feel like he would not have been pleased with the quality of the food served at Mix. For the price ($20 for an appetizer and $40 for an entree) this restaurant was just sub par. It kind of turned us off of "fine" dining in Vegas, especially when we know we can get food that is way better for way less at home.

Also, in true Vegas style, the service was not very good. The waitstaff was short, but not rude. And they failed the water test, pouring Giao's ($10!) sparkling water, into Alexis 1/2 drunk cup of tap water. Giao didn't get to finish his expensive water and Alexis couldn't drink the remainder of hers.

The decor, on the other hand, was stunning. Everything was white, but there were so many shapes and textures that the whole place had a varied richness to it.

Bread with Peanut Butter and Regular Butter (gratuit)
There were lots of kinds of bread, but all of it was cold, which is a major turnoff. The idea of the peanut butter was interesting (chopped peanuts mixed with butter), but it didn't taste very good.

Scallop "Caesar" Salad $20
The scallops were very well cooked, but this dish sounded more interesting than it actually was.

Kampachi Sashimi with Lemon Sauce and Minced Cauliflower $18
Kampachi is a truly wonderful fish, unadorned. This dish was just too over the top. The strong flavors of the accompaniments destroyed the delicate nature of the fish. We didn't even finish it.

Curried Crab Martini with Cauliflower Puree $20
This dish sounded amazing and, in fact, it would have been amazing had they just used quality, fresh, crab meat as opposed to crab meat that tasted like it came out of a tin. It was not sweet, and it was stringy. The other flavors were great and we were left to imagine how great this dish could have been, had they just used quality ingredients. For the price of the dish, this was totally unacceptable.

Fresh Madeleine with Nutella (gratuit)
Giao actually like this, and he doesn't like sweets. Alexis would probably have liked it too, but she was too full to even ponder more food.