It's been on my Las Vegas bucket list now for years to eat at Joel Robuchon's restaurant at MGM Grand. My husband never wanted to try the degustation 16 course dinner so I knew that like e' at Jaleo I would eventually have to go with a friend to this restaurant, so I was thrilled when Noleman told me had comps to burn on his June Vegas trip and invited me to be his guest!
It got even better when I found out that Joel Robuchon now had other options then their four hour plus 16 course dinner! In addition to the degustation 16 course dinner there are now four different prix fixe menus to select from called "Choix Des Plats De Menu Express" which means you might be able to get a quick dinner under 3 hours! The prices for these dinners before drinks, tax and service start at $127.00 per person, then $169.00, $198.00 and $250.00 per person which compared to the $445.00 per person for the degustation gives you plenty of food to taste at this 3 star Michelin restaurant at a more reasonable price point.
In the past Joel Robuchon's restaurant would send a limo to bring their guests to the restaurant but this has recently been discontinued (it's possible this is only temporary so check with them when you make your reservation) so Noleman and I met up in the MGM Grand Casino prior to our reservation. This was the first time Noleman and I had met in person. Some ladies I know had met Noleman at a past message board Meet and told me I would enjoy his company and I liked his sense of humor on the boards so I was looking forward to his company at dinner and I guess Noleman felt from reading the blog that he would enjoy mine.
The restaurant seated us immediately in their smaller dining area with the living wall. The restaurant might call this something else, but living wall works for me. From our table we could look into the main dining room which is intimate and elegant but I preferred our smaller room.
The moment we set down we were greeted, and the first amuse was set out which had quinoa in it. I'm not sure what else, but I did like it. Drink orders were taken and we were given time to decide which prix fixe we would like. Both Noleman and I decided to do two appetizers, a main and dessert which was the $198.00 per person option.
Calling all bread lovers this is your restaurant! They come around with a bread cart with about twenty choices or more! Noleman went with a baguette and I had the brioche with gruyere, there was also a second type of cheese roll that wasn't soft. Both of us had the bacon roll, don't miss that!
There's a second cart (see photo above) where they carve butter off a huge mound and I believe they said was it was hand churned from Brittany, France. They finish the butter off with a sprinkle of fleur de sel. There's also a special olive oil from Spain that they place on the table.
The second amuse was a delicious strawberry tomato gazpacho with cheese, pistachio and a drizzle of balsamic.
My bread selections, brioche with gruyere, and the bacon rolls.
Both Noleman and I had Le Homard for our first appetizer which is Maine lobster in thinly sliced turnip with a sweet and sour dressing. I loved this appetizer and would have gladly had it as my second one too.
Noleman had foie gras for his second appetizer and I forgot to take a photo of it. He wasn't able to finish the generous portion because it was very rich. I had the white asparagus appetizer and while good it wasn't a stand out and I would not order it again. Someone plating seems to have a sense of humor, notice the one asparagus spear standing up? ;)
Below is Noleman's entree. My bad because I can't recall what it was!
I had the Le Black Cod in Malabar pepper sauce with bok choy. It was very good but I wouldn't say it was the best black cod entree I have ever eaten. The best for me was at Alain Ducasse's Mix restaurant which closed last year.
A signature side dish of Joel Robuchon is his mashed potatoes. They were creamy and delicious and tasted like they had more butter then potatoes in them!
Noleman ordered the chocolate shuffle for dessert and it looked great!
For my dessert it was the lemon sugar sphere which looked like a glass sculpture of a lemon!
It was filled with lemon sorbet and surrounded by a wonderful panna cotta! This desert was a stand out and tasted as good as it looked!
After our desserts they came with the
mignardises cart, translation seductive sweets and they were! I was handed a tiny lollipop that unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of before I ate it! The cart has a huge variety of miniature desserts and candies.
We shared a modest selection of sweets since we were full but apparently not so full we couldn't eat a few more sweets! I loved the ladybug chocolate tart!
At the end of the evening they presented us with a pound cake stuffed with fruit which Noleman insisted I take.
I tried it the next day and it was delicious, easily the best pound cake I have ever eaten!
So, how was service? Noleman and I really hit it off, we had so much to talk about and were switching subjects so quickly that we could hardly break off to talk to the servers when they came around, so service was just right for us that evening. However in hindsight if you aren't with company having a lively conversation, service might seem a bit slow. We only had one service issue during dinner and that was at the end when I asked to see the list for the dessert ports and the sommelier didn't make it to our table until after we had finished all desserts, which at that point I declined the port.
Michelin rated this restaurant 3 stars but I've also been told that was back in 2009, the last time they reviewed Las Vegas Restaurants. I'm not sure if they would still get the 3 star rating today or if they would perhaps lose a star. I do know that I enjoyed my food and would return here to eat when I have a large MGM resort credit, but wouldn't go out of my way to return if not using comps. On the other hand perhaps I would if I was celebrating a special occasion where I required a quiet elegant setting with good service and food, then this would be one of my top choices as other fine dining options in Vegas tend to be noisy. Also the fantastic bread and dessert cart here are something you won't find any place else in Vegas, so it's worth experiencing if it fits your budget!
