It was another great weekend in Vegas. I won't mention the rain and or the donation that I made to the local economy via the casinos. Most of Saturday night was spent at Bellagio. We’d booked a dinner reservation at Sensi and then had tickets to see the late show of O.
Sensi is at the back of the casino, past the gardens, on the way to the new tram station. I’ve been to the gardens many times before but didn’t realize that there was a restaurant or a little patisserie around the corner.
Jean Philippe Patisserie is a cute little shop serving chocolates, pastries, crepes, salads, and gelato and is also home to the world’s largest chocolate fountain. We were focused on our upcoming meal at Sensi so we didn’t stop, except to take some pictures of the fountain.
We arrived promptly for our reservation, but had to wait about ten minutes to be seated. It wasn’t really a problem, but their waiting area was small and contained only two uncomfortably hard, wooden benches. Once we were seated everything went smoothly. The restaurant has four kitchens that are contained within a glass walled box. It was great to watch everyone hard at work inside. Each of the kitchens produces different cuisines: Italian, Asian, American Grill and seafood. According to their website they are committed to serving sustainably grown and naturally raised products. I guess any little bit helps in a town where most of the casino hotels do no recycling. With the help of the internet, Dave and I already knew what we were ordering. Sensi offers a prix fixe menu for $55 with wine pairings for an additional $30. This menu lets you choose from two appetizers, three entrées, and two desserts
Instead of the usual bread basket, our waiter brought out a basket of naan bread and pappadums to go with the tray of sauces that were already on the table. I’m hoping that sauces were meant to go with other things too, because I found it a bit weird that they were offering soya sauce to go with the bread and crackers.
For our appetizer we both choose the Surf & Turf Beef Carpaccio. I was a little surprised by this dish. The Carpaccio, which made up the bottom layer, was not raw but seemed to be seared on the outside. It was also not the usual paper thin slices, but about three millimetres thick. There was a thin layer of grainy mustard on top of the slices along with a couple of beautiful little roasted mushrooms. Topping this were two breaded and deep-fried lobster knuckles. The lobster was nice and crispy on the outside and the meat was sweet and very flavourful. I found the knuckles to be a bit too chewy for my taste but Dave loved them. Overall, it was a very nice appetizer. Our wine pairing with this course was a Ceretto Blange Arneis. While it was a very nice wine, Dave and I both agreed it did nothing to enhance the food.
For his entrée Dave had the Kobe Flat Iron Steak with “Tator Tots”, Ice Wine Glazed Shallots and Salsa Verde. Dave offered up a slice of his steak for me to try and I found it intensely flavourful. It went really well with the salsa verde served with it. He really enjoyed his meal and found that the wine paired with it, a Volker Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon went especially well with it.
I had the Porcini Crusted Alaskan Halibut with Roasted Fall Vegetables, Truffled Macaroni and Red Wine Pancetta Sauce. My fish was perfectly cooked, firm but wonderfully flakey. While you could see the porcini on the outside, it was more of a dusting and I couldn’t distinguish any flavour of mushrooms. The roasted vegetables, mainly carrots and parsnips were finely diced and layered on top of the halibut. The sauce was full of flavour from the pancetta and every once and a while I’d come across a little salty flavour nugget of pancetta. I really loved the way the meal was presented. My photo doesn’t do it justice. The macaroni was laid out in perfect flat square over a pool of sauce, and then came the fish which was topped with the vegetables. I really enjoyed my wine pairing with this course. The Willakenzie Pinot Noir went stunningly well with the roasted vegetables and the red wine sauce.
For dessert I had the Sorbet and Gelato served @ 32° Fahrenheit. There were three different flavours served: vanilla, chocolate and salted caramel. I now have a new favourite ice cream. The salted caramel was way over the top. The three scoops were served in a cool ice bowl shaped like a tear drop. The Spanish sherry, Don PX from Toro Albala went nicely with my dessert.
Dave had the Chocolate Temptation; it reminded me of a homemade chocolate bar. It was topped with more of the wonderful salted caramel ice cream and served with a Fonseca 20 year old Tawny Port. Since Dave didn’t say a single word as he ate, fixing his concentration solely on his dessert, I’m assuming he enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed mine.
I’d recommend Sensi to anyone looking for a little splurge while in Vegas. I’m sure we’ll be back to check out other menu items. Our 7:00 pm reservation gave us plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely dinner before the 10:00 pm show of O.
Sensi at the Bellagio Casino
3600 Las Vegas Blvd South, Las Vegas
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