During my nearly four-day stay in Las Vegas last week, I had some amazing food. From Mexican to Chinese to an outdoor barbecue. But by far my favorite was Italian at Olives in the Bellagio (a Todd English restaurant).
Olives offers a beautiful view of the water show (which you can just barely make out in the background from our table in the shot below). Despite every table being full, the dim lighting and layout kept the restaurant from feeling overwhelming.
For drinks, I ordered the Slingback, AKA the BEST martini of my life. Frothy and simply divine, I don't even remember what it was made of other than grapefruit vodka. But it was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S.
I will say that if you're looking for cheap food in Las Vegas, Olives probably isn't the place for you. With that said, however, I thought several of the items on the menu were very reasonably priced for an upscale restaurant. For starters, we ordered the Alla Napoletana flatbread pictured below and mussels. The flatbread was wonderful with thick slices of tomato, arugula, basil and a tasty blend of cheeses. I gave the mussels a go even though I hadn't had them before. Needless to say, I only ate one....a little too squishy for my liking.
I was in for a special treat with the entree. I couldn't decide between two pastas, so my server suggested I try half and half. Now that's service! Of course now, as I try to remember what each was, I can't...and the picture below doesn't make either fully distinguishable. But, the one on the left had delicious beef and peas and asparagus. The one on the right featured fantastic shrimp and broccoli. I scarfed down both without a moment's hesitation. 
Overall, I found Olives to be simply exquisite and enjoyed every aspect of my meal. My only slight gripe would be the speed of service. I really liked our server, but think that all of his tables and the requested picture-taking from other patrons, might have slowed him down a bit. Ordinarily, I wouldn't mind, but we had places to be...we were in Vegas after all.
Even with its leisurely pace, I'd still give Olives an A on the rating scale. Maybe someday I'll make it to the New York or Boston location.
This sounds good. I love mussels and flatbread and pasta. You know I've never had a martini. Even I can't believe it. I tend to order wine. When I was your age we drank beer, we couldn't afford the fun stuff!
ReplyDeleteSue
Sue - You'll definitely have to check it out if you make it to Vegas. Your first priority though should be to order a martini...ha :) I tend to like sweet and fruity drinks, so jazzed up martinis usually hit the spot. I find that I'm starting to drink a lot more wine now, too. Beer has never really been my thing, but I enjoy a Blue Moon every once in a while.
ReplyDelete