One of my favorite places to go for entertainment around Vegas is Mandalay Bay, the place is huge and has tons of stuff to do that doesn't involve gambling. I've been to their "Shark Reef" aquarium several times and I love it every time.
They also have an impressive collection of restaurants, some of my favorite eateries in the city. I frequent Burger Bar (Hubert Keller) and Border Grill (Susan Feniger and Mary Ann Milligan) a lot because they have good food for less price than many of the other strip restaurants. I've also had excellent meals at Aureole (Charlie Palmer) RM Seafood (Rick Moonen) and Fleur de Lys (Hubert Keller) but those were special occasion-type places.
On Sunday, my mother, brother, boyfriend and I went to Border Grill for lunch. They have boldly flavored, Latin and globally inspired cuisine, and they have a really great locals discount. I've eaten there for dinner quite a few times, but this was my first lunch experience.
We sat outside, under some brightly colored umbrellas by the Mandalay Bay pool. They bring out freshly made corn chips and three kinds of salsa to munch on, a green tomatillo, smokey chipotle, and spicy tomato.
I had "Chicken Chilaquiles", a nacho-like dish with shredded chicken, tomatillo salsa, manchego, panela, and cojita cheeses, and cilantro-lime dressing. This dish was awesome, very bold flavors and satisfying crunch. I would definitely order this for lunch again.
My boyfriend had this HUGE chicken burrito, it must have been really good, because somehow he ate the whole thing! (I had to have my brother help me with mine, he happily obliged.)
My mother had this tostada topped with a refreshing and brightly flavored turkey salad, with corn, tomatoes, cojita cheese, black beans, and romaine. Really refreshing and satisfying.
Of course, they have excellent margaritas, made with ultra-premium tequilas and fresh juices, I had this incredible guava margarita. I wish I was drinking it right now...
Mom had the "Cadillac" margarita, a real classic, but jazzed up with herradura silver tequila, freshly squeezed lime juice, and Grand Marnier.
For dinner, mom and I had reservations at Mix, a one Michelin Star restaurant I staged in last year. Mix is Alain Ducasse's highest grossing restaurant, which is saying a lot. The place is impressive, it sits at the very top of THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay (their emphasis, not mine) on the 64th floor. You take a special, glass sided elevator to get to it. They have a really beautiful open kitchen as well, apparently it was built in France, reassembled here, and then dropped onto the top floor with specialized helicopters. If you like extreme, this is the place to go.
After dinner service, Mix turns into a nightclub, complete with a dance floor and DJs. It's almost too hip!
They serve their bread with regular butter and... peanut butter. It is a little odd a first, basically home made chunky peanut butter fortified with regular butter, but it's addictive.
We started with a warm summer vegetable tart, it had artichokes, carrots, spinach, heirloom tomatoes, and romaine lettuce on a crisp, buttery cracker-like base. Each of the vegetables shone through nicely, and everything tasted remarkably fresh.
We also had this cool spicy crab salad. It had avocado, green papaya, mango, carrot and a little bit of ratatouille underneath. I liked the fresh, acidic flavor of the mango and the kick of cilantro. This was also the point where I started to figure out how to use my new camera, notice how much brighter this picture is.
They were out of their lobster curry on coconut basmati rice, which was really disappointing, as I remembered the dish from staging there and really wanted to order it. (It was damn good.) But, this dish took away any lingering sense of regret once I bit into it. It was a rack of lamb off the bone, on farro (a grain with a nice chewy texture), apricot confit, piquillo peppers, and green onions. Of course, it also had a very rich veal jus for good measure. I loved the tender texture of the Colorado lamb, and the fat had a rich, nutty, grass-fed flavor.
We split a side of one of my favorite vegetables, thick, green asparagus.
Mom, a steak nut, had this perfectly cooked filet mignon. We thought that it had a little roasted tomato for garnish, but when she took a bite she exclaimed "Oh, that's a SPICY tomato!" so I tried it, and identified it as a piquillo pepper. Piquillos are little Spanish peppers, they have a deep, rich flavor, and just a bit of kick. It was really nice, a cute surprise to wake up the palate.
I had the "Mix candy bar" for dessert, a fun dessert with layers of chocolate ganache, hazelnut, and coconut, served with a really unique tasting coconut lime sorbet. I've had coconut sorbet before, but this one had a bit of an herbaceous quality to it, like it was made with fresh, young coconut. It was really bright, but acted as a nice foil to the super dense chocolate bar. A lot of coconut preparations can be redolent of sunscreen to me if they're made with cheaper ingredients, but this was something new and exciting. I liked the unusual combination.
Mom ordered berry sorbet, and was shocked when four big quenelles came out. She was worried that she couldn't eat it all, but managed to make it disappear. It had a really nice juicy punch to it.
As a fun after dinner treat, they brought around a madeline pan and had us pick up two warm, vanilla-honey madelines from it, a yummy, novel treat. They served them with a bowl of Nutella, nuff' said.
The restaurant has a really elaborate glass fixture in the dining room, a giant circle of individually blown clear glass bubbles, almost like you're dining inside a Champagne flute. The interior is dramatic, very white, crisp and modern, but somehow not cold feeling at all. I think they made it that way so it wouldn't detract from the view...
Always great to hang out with my mother, and she loves taking me to magnificent restaurants. I'm a very, very lucky girl.
The view. Impressive, huh? Mandalay Bay is at the very south end of the strip, so you get the whole panoramic effect while dining in Mix, it's probably the best view in town. Add some great food, and you can't go wrong.
Until next time, Ciao!
My boyfriend had this HUGE chicken burrito, it must have been really good, because somehow he ate the whole thing! (I had to have my brother help me with mine, he happily obliged.)
Of course, they have excellent margaritas, made with ultra-premium tequilas and fresh juices, I had this incredible guava margarita. I wish I was drinking it right now...
Mom had the "Cadillac" margarita, a real classic, but jazzed up with herradura silver tequila, freshly squeezed lime juice, and Grand Marnier.
They serve their bread with regular butter and... peanut butter. It is a little odd a first, basically home made chunky peanut butter fortified with regular butter, but it's addictive.
We started with a warm summer vegetable tart, it had artichokes, carrots, spinach, heirloom tomatoes, and romaine lettuce on a crisp, buttery cracker-like base. Each of the vegetables shone through nicely, and everything tasted remarkably fresh.
We also had this cool spicy crab salad. It had avocado, green papaya, mango, carrot and a little bit of ratatouille underneath. I liked the fresh, acidic flavor of the mango and the kick of cilantro. This was also the point where I started to figure out how to use my new camera, notice how much brighter this picture is.
They were out of their lobster curry on coconut basmati rice, which was really disappointing, as I remembered the dish from staging there and really wanted to order it. (It was damn good.) But, this dish took away any lingering sense of regret once I bit into it. It was a rack of lamb off the bone, on farro (a grain with a nice chewy texture), apricot confit, piquillo peppers, and green onions. Of course, it also had a very rich veal jus for good measure. I loved the tender texture of the Colorado lamb, and the fat had a rich, nutty, grass-fed flavor.
We split a side of one of my favorite vegetables, thick, green asparagus.
I had the "Mix candy bar" for dessert, a fun dessert with layers of chocolate ganache, hazelnut, and coconut, served with a really unique tasting coconut lime sorbet. I've had coconut sorbet before, but this one had a bit of an herbaceous quality to it, like it was made with fresh, young coconut. It was really bright, but acted as a nice foil to the super dense chocolate bar. A lot of coconut preparations can be redolent of sunscreen to me if they're made with cheaper ingredients, but this was something new and exciting. I liked the unusual combination.
As a fun after dinner treat, they brought around a madeline pan and had us pick up two warm, vanilla-honey madelines from it, a yummy, novel treat. They served them with a bowl of Nutella, nuff' said.
The view. Impressive, huh? Mandalay Bay is at the very south end of the strip, so you get the whole panoramic effect while dining in Mix, it's probably the best view in town. Add some great food, and you can't go wrong. 
No comments:
Post a Comment