When I lived in New York I always wanted to go to one of Bobby Flay‘s restaurants, but at the time they were way out of my budget. I’d thought about going when I went back and visited, but never did. So, when Cory and Chris asked if we’d like to join them for Thanksgiving lunch at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in Caesar’s Palace, we said “for sure!”
Mesa Grill, Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas
Mesa Grill, Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas
Mesa Grill was featuring a Thanksgiving menu, but we decided not to order from it. It would have been nice to actually have turkey on Thanksgiving, but we came to try the food that Flay is known for, and so we ordered from the regular menu. This is what we had:
Tiger Shrimp + Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale: Corn-Cilantro Sauce
Goat Cheese “Queso Fundido”: Rajas + Blue Corn Tortilla Strips
Oyster Special: Can’t remember exactly what was in these, but they were cooked oysters put back in the shell with some sauce
New Mexican Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin: Bourbon-Ancho Chile Sauce, Sweet Potato Tamale + Crushed Pecan Butter
Southwestern Spiced Duck Breast: Carrot-Habanero Sauce, Chorizo-Goat Cheese Tamale + Thyme Butter
Grilled Lamb Porterhouse Chops: Tangerine-Roasted Jalapeno-Mint Sauce + Plantain Tamale with Molasses Butter
I really liked the cheese appetizer, of course. Unlike other fundido I’ve had, the addition of goat cheese added a nice tanginess to the appetizer. I also really liked the tamale. For the entrees, I had the duck, Cory had the pork and Chris and Dallas both got the lamb. We all tasted each other’s food and everyone agreed that the pork was the tastiest. We all enjoyed the duck as well. It was agreed that the lamb was a disappointment. It didn’t taste bad, but it wasn’t flavorful at all. Overall, I was glad to try Flay’s food, but I wasn’t head over heels.
Mesa Grill, Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas
After lunch, Cory and Chris were off to meet up with some others in the family. Dallas and I hung around Caesars and then headed back to Planet Hollywood, where we were staying. We needed to rest off our food coma because in a few hours we were due to go to a buffet!
I should not have looked at these pictures before eating breakfast. Stomach is growling for attention.
We’ve tried Mesa Grill and Bolo here in NYC, neither my wife nor I was that impressed and neither of us would ever go back.
While not bad, the food wasn’t outstanding, and for the price the food and service should be several notches higher.
That is so weird! We ate at the mesa grill for dinner that night. I had the turkey, it was quite wonderful. small world!
we also went to Il Mulino. the service was over the top! Within a minute of sitting down they brought us cheese, three kinds of bread, bruschetta, mussels, zuchinni and cured meat. we didn’t even order it, they just brought it out. everything was outstanding!
Where is Il Mulino? Maybe we need to note that for next time. Funny that we were at Mesa Grill the same day!
in the Caesar’s Palace shopping area, top floor, near the curvy escalators.
I just looked it up, there is one in Chicago too! lucky you.