Dining in Vegas – The Two Sides of Emeril Lagasse

My recent trip to Las Vegas led me to two restaurants led by celebrity chef’s Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck where I found out that Puck Sucks but Flay Slays! I was so disappointed with the “Celebrity Chef” experience at Wolfgang Puck’s that I will probably never go back again.  So who’s next on the hit list? Emeril Lagasse, that’s who!

Emeril Lagasse, the “BAM Guy” runs two restaurants in Las Vegas: Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House and Delmonico Steakhouse.  I was surprised that Delmonico was a restaurant owned by Emeril and was eager to see what he had to offer.

Delmonico Steakhouse

 Emeril’s Delmonico Steakhouse in Las Vegas

Located inside the Venetian Hotel is Emeril’s Delmonico Steakhouse. Our meal started with a full bottle of wine.  Delmonico has an impressive selection of wines so what the hey!  Give me a bottle!  Next we ordered up the Oyster Rockerfeller for our starter.

Dining in Vegas - The Two Sides of Emeril Lagasse

Delmonico’s take on the Oyster Rockerfeller was a little different than I anticipated.  It was baked on a castiron skillet instead of baked in the shells. A little digging was required to locate our oysters.  Though it was good, I would have liked to have seen them baked in the shells.

 Emeril’s Delmonico Steakhouse

Next, I ordered up a 22 oz steak ribeye steak.  The steak was done medium rare and was probably one of the best steaks that I’d ever had.  It was so juicy and tender. One thing I couldn’t understand was the scoop of butter that it was served with. I tried it with the butter and the extreme fat just made me gag. I’d lose the butter.

Emeril’s Delmonico Steakhouse

My steak was accompanied with a side of mixed mushrooms and asparagus spears. We were also offered some interesting steak sauces, but I found that the steak was so good on its own, that they were totally unecessary.  I did try them, but it just wasn’t my thing.  A good steak, in my opinion, doesn’t need to be covered in crap.  Overall, the service and the food was very much above average.  Our server had great stories and kept us entertained and informed about our food and the staff took care of our every need.  It was $250 well spent.

Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House

The food that you see on Emeril’s TV Show is best reflected in this restaurant.  In fact, the restaurant is dressed much like his show. Like Delmonico, wine is a big deal at this restaurant, and there is a huge wineroom to reflect that. The only bad impression I got was that it shared a hotel with Wolfgang Puck’s Bar and Grill.

 Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House

We went in for lunch and ordered a selection of food which included a Blue Crab and Roasted Pepper Fondue, a Foie Gras and Duck dish, and Emeril’s excellent house salad. Every dish was impressive and oozed with some wonderful flavours. The wine pairings made them even better and our server was just as impressive as our server at Delmonico.  Emeril must have high and consistent standards for his servers.

The World Famous Emeril Banana Cream Pie

We finished off our meal with Emeril’s signature banana cream pie.  Delmonico also offered this same dessert, but after 22 oz of steak, it wasn’t going to fit so I thought that given a second chance, I would have to seize it.  If you go to Emeril’s, make sure you have this dessert.  It is the best banana cream pie I’ve ever had, no kidding.

Our experience with Emeril’s restaurants was exceptional.  Each one offered an extremely high caliber of service, and each time, I was pleased to give them all my money and tip big.  After experiencing Emeril’s and Bobby Flay’s restaurants, it is clear that a name has nothing to do with the quality. But when both quality and name go together, you get one killer combination. I think Wolfgang needs to get out of his restaurants and go see what everyone else is doing.