Cheesy Vegas
August 3, 2006 7:58 AM Subscribe
Las Vegas visitors seek cheese. The milk kind.
Searching Google for any combination of "cheese" and "las vegas" is a losing proposition. So I guess I'll do it old school and ask for advice.
My wife and I are going to be at the DEFCON in Vegas this weekend. I'd like to find a restaurant with a good cheeseboard. Any recommendations?
More info - Bottomline - We want good cheese. While I'm typically not adverse to spending $200+ for dinner, we'll be at a hackers convention and I really don't want to dress up too much. So bonus points for places that won't scowl at us if we come in wearing jeans and t-shirts. I'm not too concerned about what the cuisine is, great cheese is really the goal here. But of course a great meal would be nice. The room we're staying in doesn't have a fridge, and it will be over 100 in Vegas, so a cheese shop or picnic is out. We're staying on the strip, but are willing to drive anywhere is Vegas. And obviously I've waited too long, so someplace that doesn't need reservations weeks in advance.
Searching Google for any combination of "cheese" and "las vegas" is a losing proposition. So I guess I'll do it old school and ask for advice.
My wife and I are going to be at the DEFCON in Vegas this weekend. I'd like to find a restaurant with a good cheeseboard. Any recommendations?
More info - Bottomline - We want good cheese. While I'm typically not adverse to spending $200+ for dinner, we'll be at a hackers convention and I really don't want to dress up too much. So bonus points for places that won't scowl at us if we come in wearing jeans and t-shirts. I'm not too concerned about what the cuisine is, great cheese is really the goal here. But of course a great meal would be nice. The room we're staying in doesn't have a fridge, and it will be over 100 in Vegas, so a cheese shop or picnic is out. We're staying on the strip, but are willing to drive anywhere is Vegas. And obviously I've waited too long, so someplace that doesn't need reservations weeks in advance.
more seriously, Aureole has a great reputation and an artisanal cheese plate, but would probably scoff at jeans and t's.
posted by The Michael The at 8:46 AM on August 3, 2006
posted by The Michael The at 8:46 AM on August 3, 2006
You may be able to wear more casual clothing at Bradley Ogden, if not the dining room then the bar/lounge where they also serve cheese.
posted by krix at 9:04 AM on August 3, 2006
posted by krix at 9:04 AM on August 3, 2006
Yes Bradley Ogden, I was there a few months ago with Mrs ob and the lounge was nice but casual (and I liked the way they made a proper Gin Martini...)
posted by ob at 9:29 AM on August 3, 2006
posted by ob at 9:29 AM on August 3, 2006
Response by poster: Open letter to Commander's Palace
Let me start by saying that my wife and I had a wonderful meal Saturday night at your Las Vegas restaurant. We both had the tasting menu which was quite good. I recommend it. I decided to get the cocktail pairing, which sounded so completely outrageous that I just had to try it. To my complete surprise it was a great compliment to the dishes. Good show.
But we are cheese folks, and one of the reasons we decided to come to Commander's Palace that night was the cheese plate on your menu. That went badly.
I must say that I can't recommend the cheese plate at Commander's Palace. Not for anyone. Not under any circumstances. While our meal overall was quite good, the cheese plate was a serious disappointment. To be perfectly honest, it was bad. Perhaps I'm too picky. Perhaps most folks would be happy eating any sort of drek placed in front of them if it was called a cheese plate. All I know is that the plate we got was very bad.
First of all the waiter had no idea what the cheeses were or where they were from. One of the cheeses was described as "French", and it had a distinct Camembert quality, but was a blue cheese. This isn't a good sign. After repeated inquiries about what it was, I was told it was "Le Petite Bleu" which either isn't French at all, or was a made up name. At any rate it was certainly over ammoniated and past it's prime.
There was also a bland undistinguished cheese marbled with chipotle. Now with this cheese I'm sure my objections come from knowing too much about cheese (but lord knows I'm not an expert or anything). But when someone serves me a cheese plate with sage derby or red windsor on it I know they have no intention of trying to give me good cheese and are just going for something that looks cool. The chipotle cheese whose producer couldn't be determined was in that category. I'm sure many people would have liked it, but for me it was just too gimmicky.
There was another nameless cheese that might have been an emmental. Perhaps beaufort. But it was so overpowered by the other cheeses that it was hard to tell. More on that later.
And lastly there was another interesting but unnamed blue cheese. I suspect it was a domestic goat's milk blue cheese that I would have been very interested in if I'd known the producer. Despite being a bit mild, it was the best cheese on the plate. Inquiries about what it was only produced more confusion.
But...... it gets worse. We were told that the order of the cheeses was left to right, which was going to be mildest to strongest, but that had us start with the ammoniated Camembert/Blue cheese. Which is about the worst way I can imagine to start a cheese plate. I suspect the waiter meant to say right to left, but that would have had us start with what I'm guessing was the goat's milk blue which wasn't the mildest cheese either.
Again, we had a wonderful meal. I thought the grilled ostrich dish was absolutely first rate. And the cocktail parings were a very pleasant surprise. But the cheese plate was a serious disappointment. Almost like a loud fart among the other dishes. And since the cheese was one of the reasons we came in, I feel I need to bring that bad experience to your attention.
posted by MrCheese!!! at 8:31 AM on August 7, 2006
Let me start by saying that my wife and I had a wonderful meal Saturday night at your Las Vegas restaurant. We both had the tasting menu which was quite good. I recommend it. I decided to get the cocktail pairing, which sounded so completely outrageous that I just had to try it. To my complete surprise it was a great compliment to the dishes. Good show.
But we are cheese folks, and one of the reasons we decided to come to Commander's Palace that night was the cheese plate on your menu. That went badly.
I must say that I can't recommend the cheese plate at Commander's Palace. Not for anyone. Not under any circumstances. While our meal overall was quite good, the cheese plate was a serious disappointment. To be perfectly honest, it was bad. Perhaps I'm too picky. Perhaps most folks would be happy eating any sort of drek placed in front of them if it was called a cheese plate. All I know is that the plate we got was very bad.
First of all the waiter had no idea what the cheeses were or where they were from. One of the cheeses was described as "French", and it had a distinct Camembert quality, but was a blue cheese. This isn't a good sign. After repeated inquiries about what it was, I was told it was "Le Petite Bleu" which either isn't French at all, or was a made up name. At any rate it was certainly over ammoniated and past it's prime.
There was also a bland undistinguished cheese marbled with chipotle. Now with this cheese I'm sure my objections come from knowing too much about cheese (but lord knows I'm not an expert or anything). But when someone serves me a cheese plate with sage derby or red windsor on it I know they have no intention of trying to give me good cheese and are just going for something that looks cool. The chipotle cheese whose producer couldn't be determined was in that category. I'm sure many people would have liked it, but for me it was just too gimmicky.
There was another nameless cheese that might have been an emmental. Perhaps beaufort. But it was so overpowered by the other cheeses that it was hard to tell. More on that later.
And lastly there was another interesting but unnamed blue cheese. I suspect it was a domestic goat's milk blue cheese that I would have been very interested in if I'd known the producer. Despite being a bit mild, it was the best cheese on the plate. Inquiries about what it was only produced more confusion.
But...... it gets worse. We were told that the order of the cheeses was left to right, which was going to be mildest to strongest, but that had us start with the ammoniated Camembert/Blue cheese. Which is about the worst way I can imagine to start a cheese plate. I suspect the waiter meant to say right to left, but that would have had us start with what I'm guessing was the goat's milk blue which wasn't the mildest cheese either.
Again, we had a wonderful meal. I thought the grilled ostrich dish was absolutely first rate. And the cocktail parings were a very pleasant surprise. But the cheese plate was a serious disappointment. Almost like a loud fart among the other dishes. And since the cheese was one of the reasons we came in, I feel I need to bring that bad experience to your attention.
posted by MrCheese!!! at 8:31 AM on August 7, 2006
Response by poster: Bradley Ogden will have to wait until the next trip. My wife had a hankering to see how the Vegas Commander's Palace measured up to the New Orleans version, and they had a cheese plate. So it seemed like a good choice.
Great meal. Bad cheese.
Also, just for fun I decided to try the buffet at the Paris casino since they advertise "a great selection of cheeses". I would have to ammend the to, "a great selection of cheap supermarket cheeses". In other words - not even close.
posted by MrCheese!!! at 8:36 AM on August 7, 2006
Great meal. Bad cheese.
Also, just for fun I decided to try the buffet at the Paris casino since they advertise "a great selection of cheeses". I would have to ammend the to, "a great selection of cheap supermarket cheeses". In other words - not even close.
posted by MrCheese!!! at 8:36 AM on August 7, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:11 AM on August 3, 2006