Usually before a trip I scout out where the good places are to eat but I didn't have time to do it this time. I had gotten off the 5 hour flight and gone straight to the lounge to work for another 7 hours, so by the time I got back to my hotel to shower and rest a bit, I was totally exhausted. I knew that for a great affordable eating experience I should have gone off the Strip, but at 8:30 Vegas time (11:30pm EST) I just couldn't muster up the energy to stray too far from the hotel. So I ended up suggesting Carnevino because that was the one restaurant that didn't exist in NYC (even though it's a Mario Batali restaurant and he owns several places in NYC) and I was going to go there back in December when I was supposed to have come for work so I figured if I was going to go before there must have been a good reason why I chose it in the first place. It's located inside the Palazzo Hotel which is attached to the Venetian. Luckily, we were able to walk right in without a reservation but then Neel and I got seated in this weird area of the restaurant that was kind of like a hallway and away from the main area.
We sat down and as soon as we got the menu I knew that the food here was going to be too much for what I wanted. The menu was twice the size of my head. Whenever a menu is that large, you know the portions are going to be large with huge prices to match. The menu is largely focused on different cuts of meat but there were also several relatively affordable pasta dishes to be had as well. We were starving so we started with the Big Eye Tuna Crudo ($25) and I got the 16 oz bone-in New York Strip ($61) and Neel got the lamb chops ($63) and we also got a side of beets ($9) just so there was some vegetable on the table. Yes, you are reading those prices correctly and luckily I was traveling for work, otherwise I probably would have totally freaked out at those prices. The meal started with some warm bread that was quite good and it was served with unsalted butter and whipped lardo - so literally a bowl of fat. It was delicious but with every bite you could feel your cholesterol going up 10 points. After a bit of a wait, our tuna came out. The waiter apologized for the wait because the chef didn't like the 1st batch he made and re-made another one. Umm, he probably should have tasted this one because it wasn't that great either. It was 5 slices of raw tuna with a chopped cucumber celery salad on top. The tuna was way over salted and tasted a bit fishy (yes, I know it's fish but super fresh tuna has a very clean taste to it). Compared to the tuna I had at sushi the other night, this didn't seem that great, especially for $25. Plus the fact that I hate celery, so the "refreshing" salad on top didn't really do it for me either. Then meat dishes came out. The waiter had told us before that the plating was just the meat - nothing else (no sides). So even though I knew it, to have a gigantic piece of meat on a white plate with nothing else was so underwhelming. The presentation was just sad. But I was willing to overlook it for the perfect cut of meat. The waiter had also told us that their meats run more on the rare side, so I was super excited to cut into my strip and see lots of red. Unfortunately I only saw a bit of red as it was definitely more of the medium than rare side. The meat itself was fine, nothing mind blowing. It was a bit too salty for me and when I added the steak sauce to it, it just made it even saltier. For $61, I expect tears of joy with each bite but instead it was just meh. Meanwhile Neel's lamb chops were a sight to be seen. It was 3 gigantic chops that were the size of a house. The waiter had said that they keep the fat on (or they could cut it off if we like) and boy did they keep the fat on. One chop must have been 80% fat. I know Neel was digging into that chop like it was his job but every time I looked over it looked like he hadn't eaten anything. I only took a few bites of the beets because I felt like I had to and it was fine, again nothing to write home about.
All in all, the food here was way over seasoned and too big. I felt like they didn't let the natural flavors of the food come out. Everything tasted much heavier than it needed to be. Yes I know that steak is a rich heavy dish, but to me a good steak should still melt in your mouth and have a clean taste to it. Another reason for the low rating was the price. I know it's Vegas and everything is big, shiny and expensive but good lord for $100/pp I could have had a larger than life meal in NYC and have been x10 happier. Lesson learned for dinner next time I'm in Vegas for work: eat off the Strip!
Total bill: $200 for 2 with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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