Michael Mina at the Bellagio

We like a good surprise and Michael Mina gave us just that. Of all our food adventures in Las Vegas, Michael Mina came out on top for our biggest gastronomic surprise. It was one of those moments where prior to dining at Michael Mina we have heard good things about Chef Mina while embarrassingly not knowing enough about his impressive credentials. And, we expected a good meal but instead were blown away by the seafood we had. Michael Mina himself has a restaurant empire including this namesake restaurant and while he is unable to be physically present at each restaurant every night, he clearly got it right with his executive chef at the Michael Mina restaurant at the Bellagio.

 

Seafood lovers who find themselves at Michael Mina are at the right place.

The shellfish platter, ordered and priced per person, includes maine lobster, raw oysters, crab, prawns, and scallop ceviche. The shellfish are individually plated with each type of shellfish prepared its own way and are seated on a thick layer of crushed ice placed in a deep bowl. The prawns came with orange and mint aioli; the lobster was served with citrus vinaigrette and mint leaves. The creativity of the shellfish platter shone through the scallop ceviche. Served on its own with a portion enough to be an appetizer on its own, the scallop ceviche comes with slivers of Thai birds eye chilli, mandarin orange segment, and mint leaves and covered coconut-flavored foam. Taking a step into the unconventional flair and creative way of eating the ceviche were the sides of tortilla chips and fresh popcorn. The ceviche was meant to be scooped onto a tortilla chip and then topped with a tiny bit of popcorn before popping the entire thing into the mouth.

The signature tuna tartare, is brought to the table and the server explains each ingredient in the carefully plated tuna tartare before mixing up all those ingredients together until well combined. Tossed with sesame oil, ancho chile, pine nuts, mint leaves, garlic, and Asian pear, the tuna was refreshing, almost a perfect-like dish for summer. The tartare has a pleasant presence of sesame oil that stands out and if anyone is not a huge fan of sesame oil, the accompanying sliced toasts balances the taste of the tartare perfectly. Otherwise, the tuna is perfect eaten on its own, just like the way I like it.

The star of the meal was the Three Seas that came with three types of Japanese fish. The dish was inspired by the Japanese way of preparing food as can be seen in the way this dish is served, but the highlight is how this dish is transformed into the Michael Mina way without compromising the source of the Japanese inspiration. The texture and form of the miso-glazed chilean sea bass totally blew us away and I don't think we can ever forget the moment we had with the sea bass. Each bite was incredibly delicate and moist and it almost created the illusion that we were eating fish fat except that it was not fish fat. It was actual fish we were eating. The ginger seared tuna was rare inside and the seared scallop was also very well prepared. Staying true its Japanese inspiration, the fish sat on a thin bed of flavored bamboo rice mixed with ikura (salmon roe) and shredded pickled daikon. Instead of the traditional Japanese oshinko made of pickled daikon, Michael Mina introduces its own twist using pickled cucumber. Accompanying the dish with more Japanese-inspired sides are the tempura maitake mushroom, spinach-wrapped shitake mushroom, and poached daikon. The execution of this dish was impressive with the doubly impressive sea bass.

The foie gras risotto with chicken jus was a good option as a side dish to our seafood-heavy meal. The texture of the risotto was perfectly al dente when it was still warm but as the dish gradually cooled to room temperature it became a little hard. But all in all, this was still a very solidly prepared dish.

The complimentary house made apple cider was just what we needed for our food-filled stomachs. 

One unforgettable part of our experience at Michael Mina was our server who was nothing short of professional, helpful, and friendly. In fact, I think he should moonlight as a part time photographer when he is not working at Michael Mina. At the end of the meal, we asked our server if he could help take a photograph of us. T and I did not know what we were in for when we asked our server for the quick favor. After we handed him our camera, he went into photographer mode and proceeded to rearrange the items on our table so that they would look nicer in the photograph, including temporarily removing some "ugly" items on the table (our table's check), etc. After the first shot, he walked over to the other side of the table and suggested us to hold hands over the table (which emitted some laughter from the table next to us although I think they laughing at our server and not my husband and I) for the second shot. And then finally he wanted to take a third shot of us and suggested my husband to stand by my chair. Gotta love our server.

Even if just for the incredible sea bass, we hope to return to Michael Mina.



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Michael Mina at the Bellagio
600 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Accolades
2009 1-Michelin Star
2008 1-Michelin Star
2005 Bon Appetit Chef of the Year
2002 James Beard Award Best Chef
1997 Rising Star Chef

Sage at the Aria

Chicago's soon-to-be loss will be Las Vegas' gain. Chicago's homegrown Chef Shawn McClain is gradually closing up his string of restaurants here to focus full time in his restaurant venture in Las Vegas. With a myriad of Michelin star restaurants and TV celebrity chef restaurants in Las Vegas, Shawn McClain is a breath of fresh air. Not without an impressive credential, Shawn McClain offers a contemporary and approachable flair to American cuisine.

A spacious lounge leads into a dimly lit dining room with just enough amount of lighting to create an atmosphere that could come of as either sexy or casual trendy at the same time. Everything about Sage was professional and well executed without pretensions. Our server gave us a reasonable amount of time to ourselves in between getting seated to ordering drinks, and then our food, as well as checking in on us periodically without overdoing it. The food at Sage is creative and yet very approachable to diners. We have no qualms in saying that Sage has no difficulty in joining the ranks of being one of the top restaurants in Las Vegas.

To kick off the night we were served the amuse bouche which was the pork rillette that came with a small amount of cherry sauce sitting on a teaspoon.

The 4-course Signature Tasting Menu offers a good variety of choices and I got to choose between several options for each course. The ala carte menu, which T went with, is also worth mentioning here as they do have excellent items on there as well.

For my first course of the tasting menu, I chose the Market Oysters which ended up being quite a surprise to me because of the generous number of five oysters on the plate. The raw oysters on the shell sat on a thick bed of sea salt. Complementing the oysters were a small dash of pepper and tabasco sorbet. I am generally a purist when it comes to eating raw oysters which means that I eat them as they are without any tabasco sauce nor with a squeeze of lemon primarily because I want to be able to taste the pureness and freshness of the raw oyster. I could never bring myself to dousing my raw oysters with sauce. At Sage, the tabasco sorbet that came with the raw oysters had the right amount of lightness that it did not take away from the pureness of flavor of the oysters.

For the second course I chose the Maine Dayboat Scallops which clearly did not disappoint. Perfectly seared on the outside, it was medium rare in the inside just like how scallops are supposed to be prepared. Hidden underneath the scallops were slivers of braised oxtail and wild mushrooms, accompanied with several stalks of broccolini. The savory caramel reduction sauce was just enough to add some moisture to the course.

The star of the tasting menu was clearly the 48-hour beef belly. Beef belly has been under appreciated with pork belly taken over the reigns recently that this dish opened up the idea to how much food potential there is in beef belly. The few slices of beef belly were very tender and soft with the melt-in-the-mouth texture. I was very impressed with each bite that I would be equally as happy even if the dish did not come with the slivers of rhubarb, morel mushrooms, and caramelized shallots.

To top off the meal were the Peach Praline Profiteroles served in a miniature steel dishware. They were light and airy and perfectly complemented with roasted peaches and praline sorbet sandwiched in between the profiteroles.

The ala carte that T had that are worth mentioning are the roasted sweetbreads served with glazed bacon bits, polenta, and mushrooms. The sweetbreads were tender and made perfect for a very flavorful appetizer. The hanger steak was juicy, moist, and tender and came with bean puree and duck fat potatoes.

Sage's execution of American cuisine is creative and is nowhere near dull. Coupled with the contemporary and approachable flair, we would not hesitate to say that it will remain for awhile in Las Vegas.



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Sage at the Aria
3730 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89158

Accolades
2011 AAA Four Diamond Award
2010 James Beard Nominee Best New Restaurant
2008 Star Chefs Rising Star Restaurateur
2006 James Beard Award Best Chef in the Midwest