The FoodandBeerMonger: Carnevino and Raku

Monday, May 25, 2009

Carnevino and Raku - Las Vegas, NV

I just returned from my second Las Vegas weekend in five months (which is way too often). Although forgetting to take a camera, I was fortunate to have two very good meals while I was there.

Carnevino

Mario Batali's steakhouse in the Palazzo was our dinner spot for the first night. It is a typical Las Vegas steakhouse. It's crazy expensive with a large, crazy expensive wine list. Fortunately, it cooks a very good steak.

Our table started with a plate of impressive house cured meat and then ordered four house-made pastas to share. Chris thought the pastas were significantly inferior to those at Batali's Babbo in New York and I definitely agreed. They were not impressive. Nevertheless, this is a steakhouse and our steaks were excellent. My cousin and I shared a $150 porterhouse. It was one of the better steaks I've had in the last few years. The only problem was that it was luke warm after being cooked rare and then carved tableside. If I had it to do over again I would order it medium rare but it terms of flavor this steak was phenomenal--salty, juicy, and beefy. Certainly not worth $150 (pretty much no steak is) but it was wonderful.

Carnevino

Palazzo Hotel

3325 Las Vegas Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV

www.carnevino.com

Raku: Japanese Charcoal Grill

Our second night dinner was at Raku, an off strip Japanese restaurant with about 20 seats. For $50 a person, we had 14 courses of impeccably prepared food. The only downside to this meal was that I was neither prepared--physically or mentally--for the quantity nor the richness of the meal. Nevertheless, here are some of the highlights. A smoothly textured housemade tofu with tomatoes and seaweed; Crazy good pan-fried soft shell crab served with spinach and sauteed mushrooms; ridiculously flavorful grilled mushrooms; asparagus tempura; smokey grilled tomatoes; the most moist fried chicken imaginable, unbelievably rich and decadent Kobe beef livers; bluefin tuna belly soup; foie gras soup and noodles; salmon, salmon skin and salmon roe rice; Kobe beef filet with wasabi; and braised pork belly. An unbelievable meal for an unbelievable value.

I think the kitchen underestimated our desire to eat weird, unusual ingredients though. I was really hoping for some fish and meat guts and a pork ear. We asked the kitchen to just cook for us and by the time the meal was over there was no conceivable way I could have ordered anything else.

Any gastronomically curious person should make the 10 minute trip off the strip into Chinatown to eat here. The trek will not go unrewarded.