Joel Robuchon Restaurant

08/19/09

The finest restaurant in the United States.

by restreview16 at Citysearch

Joel Robuchon is bar none the finest restaurant in the U.S. and I have eaten at all the Michelin Three Star restaurants in the United States. This is a truly remarkable and extraordinary dining experience, however, it is very exclusive so make reservations well in advance and be sure to wear a suit. Welcome to THE temple of gastronomy.

• Pros: Everything
• Cons: Time

12/15/08

For what will probably be the most memorable dining experience in your life, go to Joel Robuchon in the MGM Grand.

by jetsetway at Citysearch

Generally my favorite is not fancy French, tasting menus tend to make me hungry not full, and four hour meals give me spilkas. Having said that, this was perhaps the most amazing dining experience that I have ever had. Everybody at the table shared my view.

The restaurant is so gorgeous that upon arriving you just know you have a treat at hand. Sometimes fancy French brings stuffiness along with it (in the U.S., never in Paris), but that was not the case here. Then, of course, there is the food. It looked so pretty that it was a shame to eat it, but what the heck.

We had their 16-course meal. They are always fine tuning things. Two of the plates actually had 3 courses on each. That way they could trim down an hour. I guess people start getting a bit antsy after four hours.

We ate in the private room, which made the experience even more superb. True it cost an extra couple hundred dollars, but given the bill was $4,900 for seven of us, it seemed like a bargain.

08/30/08

Most Expensive unmemorable food I have ever had

by oncodude at Citysearch

The irony is that I spent more on this meal than any other in my life and enjoyed it the least. I would never order a single thing that ate here every again. Some of the most bland, non-descript, unimpressive food that I have eaten anywhere. Before you assume that I simply "do not appreciate good food", let it be known that I just returned from Sonoma where I dined at Thomas Keller's French Laundry and eat regularly at Gary Danko in San Francisco.

Let me start with the four best parts of Joel Robuchon at the Mansion. The bartender in the lounge was cool, knowledgable and professional. The drinks were ridiculous, but the bartender was great. Second, the atmosphere is impressive, albeit a bit outlandish. It's amazing how quiet it is in here, you would never know that you were in loud Las Vegas. Third, the bread cart is outstanding. There are many different types of amazing breads, and you had best load up on them if you dont plan to grab a burger somewhere else before you go to bed. Last was the included sorbets. My favorite part of the meal. As for the 6 course crustacean menu itself, it was not good. One seafood gel in an egg cup with sea urchin roe (tasty, probably the best item), two tiny lobster "raviolis" (not very exciting), one shrimp wrapped in a spider-web like pastry with asparagus and caviar (very basic and unimpressive), a half-ping pong ball sized lump of king crab (blah), another ball of lobster served in a bowl with broth (very blah), and then a raspberry gel desert which was tasty. My friend had the cheaper menu and it looked far better. The Kobe beef dish was amazing, far and away the best thing on the table. In short, this meal was boring, with common -place ingredients, small and very, very expensive ($350). The servers rarely described the food, and were only around to refill the very, very expensive water. Gary Danko and French Laundry are far , far better and, although also expensive, much more worthy of your money.

• Pros: Bartender, ambiance, bread cart, sorbet
• Cons: Price, portions, quality of food. A rip-off