Jean Georges Steakhouse [Las Vegas, NV]

Aria Resort & Casino
Las Vegas, NV

By staying at Aria for our trip, we received a $100 dining credit that is good for any restaurant inside the hotel! Sweet! Since W and I had to go see a Cirque Du Soleil show later that evening, we had to have an early dinner nearby. Thus, we decided pay Jean Georges Steakhouse inside Aria a visit for a quick fine-dining excursion.

This place was opened by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, another famous chef, cook book writer, and restauranteur with many restaurants opened in Boston, New York, Arizona, and Las Vegas. W and I had previously eaten at his first restaurant in Canada, Market by Jean-Georges, and we had a good impression of it.

We arrived at 5:30pm and we were quickly greeted. We had to wait a few minutes for a table to be ready though. The interior of the steakhouse had a dark, sleek and contemporary design. There was a partially enclosed private dining area with walls lined with bottles of wine which created a unique focal point to the floor.

When we were seated at our table, our server handed out menus and an iPad to us!! The iPad was actually their drinks menu and it was opened to their own application that showed their extensive wine list, cocktails, and other libations. I was in the mood for a cocktail and after perusing their list, I narrowed my choice down to 2. I had a hard time deciding and asked my server for a recommendation. He said his favourite was the Orange Elderflower Cosmo so I took his advice!

Orange Elderflower Cosmo (feature cocktail) $16

Our server's recommendation was good! The Cosmo was soooooo delicious!! One of the best cocktails I've had! There was a fragrant aroma of elderflower with a bit of floral aftertaste while the blood orange was sweet and a little tangy. I forgot what type of liquor was in it but it went down very easy (it definitely gave me an Asian glow though).

Warm salted pretzel, cherry pecan bread, French baguette, some sort of spiced crisps, butter

After making our order, we were presented with a complimentary bread basket to start. I loved how they included a variety of baked items! The flat, thin crisps were dusted with some spices (I didn't catch what they were when the server described it); crispy and savoury, the chips-like cracker were quite addictive.

The pretzel looked like a large sausage. It was dense but the bread was still soft and easy to eat. It's the type that you can easily get full from so we refrained ourselves from eating too much of it. My favourite was the cherry pecan bread. It was soft but still held up when I spread butter on it and I liked the pops of sweetness from the fruit embedded inside.

Grilled Wagyu Filet Mignon $65 - roasted broccoli, soy-miso butter, grilled to medium

Our server told us that they were featuring an excellent 5A Wagyu steak that night for $30 an ounce. $30 an ounce!!!! And the minimum size was 6oz!! That would be $180 for a steak!!!! Omigoodness....ummm no thanks!

We opted for the more "affordable" $65 Wagyu filet mignon in the regular menu. Hey, we still wanted to try Wagyu beef but baby steps, people, baby steps... No need to go for the very best for our first time.

When we took our first bites of this steak, we knew we fell hard. Badly. It was just SO RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS!!! The beef was melt-in-your-mouth tender because of the marbled fat all throughout the meat, but it still had a little chew to it. The soy-miso butter sauce was freakin' fantastic and full of umami flavours!! It was sooooo good but it didn't overpower the beefy taste of the Wagyu steak either. The roasted broccoli was a good agent to soak up the remaining sauce. YUM-O!!!

JG Cheeseburger $26 - Truffle mayonnaise, brie cheese, yuzu pickles and truffle fries, patty grilled to medium

When I saw this on the menu, I really wanted to try it because the description sounded like a genuinly gourmet burger without a hefty price-tag. If we didn't order the Wagyu beef, I would have thought that the JG burger was awesome but unfortunately the Wagyu filet mignon stole the show and the burger had to play second fiddle to our foodgasm foodie gushings LOL...

I opted to have the patty grilled to a medium-rare and it was done perfectly with a light pink hue in the middle. The beef was really juicy and delicious. I loved the yuzu pickles because they were made from fresh cucumbers so it still had that fresh crisp crunch. The brie cheese was a bit too mild so it was lost amidst the flavours of the other ingredients. Same with the truffled mayonnaise; I couldn't detect much of it in the burger either.

The fries, on the other hand, were filled with the earthy aroma of truffles and they were topped with shaved black truffles too! I'm new to the world of truffles so I thought this was absolutely decadent.

After finishing up our food, we wanted to linger longer but we had a show to catch. I was afraid we were going to be late because our server was too busy to come over. Since we were at a fine dining establishment, we didn't really feel like flagging him down like we were at a HK-style cafe but we just wanted to pay and leave! Despite that little hiccup, this was the best dinner I've had in Vegas! (And I can't go back to regular beef now! My standard for steak has risen to a new level now! Doh!)

Market Cafe Vdara [Las Vegas, NV]

Vdara Hotel & Spa
Las Vegas, NV

W and I decided to include a "lazy day" in Vegas. We planned to sleep in, hang out in Aria's hot tub and pool, watch tv back in our room, have a nice dinner and then head over to Bellagio to watch the Cirque du Soleil O Show. Such a nice leisurely day!

After waking up, we made our way over to Vdara to try its cafe for a quick but relaxed brunch. There weren't many dining options inside this condo-hotel. It only had the Bar Vdara, which served sit-down meals and alcoholic beverages, and Market Cafe Vdara, which was more of a casual, grab-n-go type place. The Market Cafe included a small gourmet grocery section where you could pick up items (like meat, pasta, cheese, frozen meals, wine etc.) to cook in your hotel room (Vdara's rooms included a small kitchen). The other section had some tables to sit and eat, and a chilled glass case with various sandwiches, cakes, and breakfast items that were re-heated when ordered. There was a menu to select made-to-order food, coffee, and other beverages like smoothies too.

 Quiche Lorraine - eggs, cheese, ham

Coffee ($3.50), Caramel Macchiato ($5)
 

Despite it being early afternoon already, we wanted to have some breakfast food haha... Technically, we just woke up so it's still breakfast time for us! From the chilled display case, we opted for the Quiche Lorraine. The server then had it re-heated for us. The size was a little small and no additional sides came with it so the plate seemed a little sparse. The quiche was tasty though and even though it was re-heated, the eggs were not too rubbery and overcooked.

 

To wake ourselves up, I drank a comforting Caramel Macchiato while W had regular coffee.

 

Breakfast Pizza ($14) - scrambled eggs, avocado, mushrooms, onions, ham, bacon, cheese

 

From the made-to-order menu, we selected the breakfast pizza because it sounded like an easily shareable item. The pizza consisted of a long list of ingredients that we could choose to have what we wanted on top. The scrambled eggs were, of course, the basic requirement so next we opted to have avocado, mushrooms, onions, ham, bacon, and cheese as the toppings. There were other options like smoked salmon, tomatoes, sausage among many others.

 

It took some time to come out since it was freshly baked. Although the eggs were obviously liquid scrambled eggs from a carton rather than freshly beaten scrambled eggs (the texture was not fluffy), the pizza was simple and good.

 

With our tummies satisfied yet not filled to the brim, we immediately went to relax in the hot tub back at Aria after brunch! Ahh this is the life :)