Restaurants
December 29th, 2009 at 9:12:59 AM
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This thread is to be used to discuss restaurants and dining available at Aria.
December 29th, 2009 at 10:40:17 AM
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My dad and I ate at Michael Mina's American Fish restaurant. We had a great experience, and the food was delicious. We had a Tuna appetizer that was the highlight of the meal for me. I had the trout and my dad had the snapper. We shared the cauliflower (which I recommend highly) and horseradish-whipped potatos. Dinner came out to a little over $100 for the 2 of us. The atmosphere was fairly casual--especially given the quality of the food. We ate at 5pm so we could attend Viva Elvis, so the restaurant was not busy when we arrived. I will definitely return, and would recommend this restaurant.
The ratio of people to cake is too big.
November 15th, 2010 at 1:10:10 PM
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I was in Las Vegas last weekend and wanted to try a new buffet and check out a new casino. So my wife and I went to Aria for dinner at their buffet. Wow.. What a disappointment! We were staying at Encore and had previously eaten at the Buffet at Wynn, so maybe that why things seemed so bad to us. First, the Buffet at Aria is about $10 more expensive than the already expensive Wynn buffet. But, the Aria buffet includes unlimited red or white wine and lobster, so we felt it might be worth the extra money.
I didn't have any wine, so I can't comment on the quality of it. My wife had a glass of white wine but we're not really wine connoisseurs, so I won't say anything about that. My wife didn't spit it out or anything, so it was probably acceptable. The lobster however, was not. I'm not a seafood eater, but my wife is. She ordered the lobster (like the wine, you have to order the lobster from your server, even though this is a buffet). When it arrived, she said it was rubbery and had next to no taste. She didn't take more than a couple bites.
The rest of the food was no good either. The carving station had many options - roast beef, leg of lamb, salmon, and turkey. I tried the prime rib and turkey. The turkey was acceptable, but the prime rib was not good. It was overcooked and had no crust. It also had a strange texture - almost like pressed ham. It was like one of those horrible pieces of meat-in-a-bag things you find at grocery stores that have been sitting in a marinade for so long, the enzymes have completely broken down the meat. And the beef jus was watery and tasteless.
There was a small Mexican food station that had chimichangas and salsa, guacamole, chips, etc. The chimichangas were not crispy at all. Seafood was plentiful, although I did not have any. There were crab legs, sushi, and the aforementioned salmon at the carving station. There was an Indian food station and both the regular and garlic naan was good. There was a salad station and little prosciutto and brie sandwiches.
I was really looking forward to the desert station, based on seeing the award-winning Pastry Chef Jean-Philippe Maury on The Next Iron Chef. I was again disappointed. Nothing looked or sounded appetizing. I tried a Nutella chocolate mouse thing and a chocolate chip cookie. Neither was particularly good. There were four or five types of frozen desert - a sugar-free chocolate ice cream and the rest were all fruit sorbets. Really? No regular chocolate or even vanilla? There were pumpkin macaroons. My wife tried some apple pie which she said was just ok.
The buffet room had a 60s-retro vibe going on. The lights in the ceiling were clear plastic tubes handing down. Glass tile in green, grey, and blue, covered the walls. It was the 1960's vision of the future. I'm pretty sure I'm in their target age-group, based on the music they were playing - 80s stuff. We heard Journey, J. Geils Band, Betty Davis Eyes, and Gary Numan. But the overall impression of the place was someone tried to make it look nice on the cheap. The carpet had stains on it, the floor tile looked like it came out of a bathroom.
I read on another forum that Aria had it's buffet budget cut by $200,000 recently. It feels like it.
I didn't have any wine, so I can't comment on the quality of it. My wife had a glass of white wine but we're not really wine connoisseurs, so I won't say anything about that. My wife didn't spit it out or anything, so it was probably acceptable. The lobster however, was not. I'm not a seafood eater, but my wife is. She ordered the lobster (like the wine, you have to order the lobster from your server, even though this is a buffet). When it arrived, she said it was rubbery and had next to no taste. She didn't take more than a couple bites.
The rest of the food was no good either. The carving station had many options - roast beef, leg of lamb, salmon, and turkey. I tried the prime rib and turkey. The turkey was acceptable, but the prime rib was not good. It was overcooked and had no crust. It also had a strange texture - almost like pressed ham. It was like one of those horrible pieces of meat-in-a-bag things you find at grocery stores that have been sitting in a marinade for so long, the enzymes have completely broken down the meat. And the beef jus was watery and tasteless.
There was a small Mexican food station that had chimichangas and salsa, guacamole, chips, etc. The chimichangas were not crispy at all. Seafood was plentiful, although I did not have any. There were crab legs, sushi, and the aforementioned salmon at the carving station. There was an Indian food station and both the regular and garlic naan was good. There was a salad station and little prosciutto and brie sandwiches.
I was really looking forward to the desert station, based on seeing the award-winning Pastry Chef Jean-Philippe Maury on The Next Iron Chef. I was again disappointed. Nothing looked or sounded appetizing. I tried a Nutella chocolate mouse thing and a chocolate chip cookie. Neither was particularly good. There were four or five types of frozen desert - a sugar-free chocolate ice cream and the rest were all fruit sorbets. Really? No regular chocolate or even vanilla? There were pumpkin macaroons. My wife tried some apple pie which she said was just ok.
The buffet room had a 60s-retro vibe going on. The lights in the ceiling were clear plastic tubes handing down. Glass tile in green, grey, and blue, covered the walls. It was the 1960's vision of the future. I'm pretty sure I'm in their target age-group, based on the music they were playing - 80s stuff. We heard Journey, J. Geils Band, Betty Davis Eyes, and Gary Numan. But the overall impression of the place was someone tried to make it look nice on the cheap. The carpet had stains on it, the floor tile looked like it came out of a bathroom.
I read on another forum that Aria had it's buffet budget cut by $200,000 recently. It feels like it.
November 15th, 2010 at 2:01:00 PM
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I understand its a joint that is desperately trying to hold onto its Upscale Image but somethings gotta give!Quote: shaun5I read on another forum that Aria had it's buffet budget cut by $200,000 recently. It feels like it.
