L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon - Las Vegas, NV

Thanks to some unexpected blackjack winnings and spurred on by a horrible meal the night before, I decided to get dinner at L'Atelier in the MGM Grand before I left Las Vegas. It turned out to be a really good meal. It certainly wasn't exceptional, but there were just enough superb courses so that I left impressed.

Foie Gras parfait with port wine and Parmesan foam

This was a knockout. It was richer than many of the amuses I've had but the flavors were incredible and each distinct component was distinguishable. Superb.

Lobster Carpaccio with delicate aromatics and shellfish oil

It was good. The frissee salad on top was distracting both texturally and flavor-wise. This dish needs some tweaking.

Poached baby Kusshi oysters with French butter

The oysters were served on top of some coarse salt. I ate the first one and thought it was pretty good but I added a little bit of the coarse salt to the other two and it completely changed the dish. The kitchen should instruct diners to do this. Really Good.

Seared fresh scallop on a bed of truffled macaroni

My waiter talked up how good the homemade macaroni was. He was wrong. Also, the scallop was not of high quality. Okay but shouldn't be served.

Carmelized duck foie gras with chestnut confit and truffle veloute

There was some Iberico ham in there too. Really Good.

Steamed Seabass filet with spicy confit peppers

This dish also had the L'Atelier take on potato chips. The fish was cooked perfectly. A solid course but nothing that I could not get at a less expensive restaurant. Good.

Peppered venison with quince puree

Wow. This is one of the best red meat courses I have ever had. It was a fairly simple dish but was executed to absolute perfection. The meat was out of this world good. Not gamey at all. The sweetness of the quince and the richness of the venison melded nicely. Excellent.

Pineapple infusion Tahitian cheesecake

Pineapple cheesecake topped with a graham cracker and pineapple sorbet. Ridiculously good.

Light coffee cream served with coconut mil and lemon from Corsica

After the first dessert, this was a huge let down. It was just a decent chocolate dessert. Nothing interesting or inspiring.

Rating L'Atelier is difficult. It is certainly not 4 cutting board status. Really not even close although some of the dishes are certainly worthy of it on an individual basis. A meal consisting of larger versions of the foie parfait, the oysters, the venison and the pineapple cheesecake dish would have probably been one of the top 5 meals of my life. However, the inclusion of some of the other dishes certainly detracted from my dining experience. Overall, L'Atelier is not as good as any of the other restaurants I have given 3 1/2 cutting boards to but it is better than all of my 3 cutting board restaurants.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon at the MGM Grand

www.mgmgrand.com/dining/atelier-joel-robuchon-french-restaurant.aspx