The Barrymore

One of my friends I met in Vegas really wanted to try out a restaurant call The Barrymore.  I had also heard good things about it, so we all agreed to dine there on our second night in Vegas.  The restaurant is owned by Block 16 Hospitality, which is a restaurant conglomerate that owns three other restaurants that I like, being Holstein's, Public House, and Flour and Barley.  Since I liked the other restaurants, The Barrymore came with high expectations.

Below are the menu items we tried and my opinions of them:
Oysters Rockefeller- served with creamy spinach, prosciutto, Pernod, and bread crumbs.  They were very rich, but extremely flavorful and some of the best I can remember in recent memory

Barrymore Caesar- romaine, serrano ham, garlic Caesar dressing, and a split anchovy.  I get the fact that Caesar dressing is traditionally made with anchovies, but I didn't care for the anchovy on my salad.  The ham was good and the lettuce was crispy, but the salad did have a taste that was a little too fishy for my personal taste.

Bone-in Ribeye- Without a doubt, this is my favorite cut of steak and I am a firm believer in the greatness of most dry aged ribeyes, however, this steak was a huge disappointment.  I love a well-marbled steak, but this one was overly-fatty, tough, and under-seasoned.

Sides- the table shared three sides, which were the creamed spinach, the mashed potatoes, and the lobster cream corn.  The spinach was the best of the three, but barely memorable.  The mashed potatoes were tasteless and the lobster and cream corn just tasted funny to me.

While I have had worse dining experiences in Vegas, this certainly wasn't one of the best i have had.  The service was good enough, but the food was a disappointment, with the exception of the Oysters Rockefeller.  While we all liked the feel and vibe of the place, it just didn't hit a home run with our picky crew.  I don't mind spending money on nice meals, but this meal was not worth the money we spent.

THE BARRYMORE
http://www.barrymorelv.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=2

Secret Pizza

In addition to our love of college basketball and the NCAA Tourney, one of my Vegas buddies also happens to be a foodie. When we arrived in Vegas, he started telling me about a pizza joint inside The Cosmopolitan.  He said the name of the place is called Secret Pizza  and that it is supposed to be legit pizza and gets it's name from the fact it doesn't have a website or any signage that signifies where to find it.  In fact, The Cosmopolitan doesn't even list it under the restaurants in the hotel.  

Entrance to Secret Pizza

Basically, you have to wonder aimlessly in search of it or ask somebody that knows where it is.  Not wanting to look like cheaters, we went in search of it and decided not to ask anyone where it was.  After about 5 minutes, we saw a man carrying a pizza box out of an unassuming hallway and we knew that we had found what we were looking for.  The line was fairly short and we both had a couple of slices in hand within five minutes of entering the hallway.  The pepperoni pizza was simply outstanding and some of the best I have had in recent memory.  The pizza was piping hot and bursting with flavor.  

Pepperoni

Since we liked it so much, we actually made a return trip in he wee morning hours approximately 14 hours after our first visit.  Luckily for us, it was still open, but we were unlucky in the fact that the line was all the way down the hallway and took 30 minutes to place our order.  On the second visit, I ordered sausage and it was comparable in quality to the pepperoni I had previously.  Although spicy sausage pizza at 3:00 AM might not have been the best decision I made in Vegas, I have certainly made worse decisions.  If you like pizza and want to go looking for this place, you will not be disappointed in this speakeasy-like pizza place.

Sausage Pizza

Secret Pizza
https://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

B&B Burger & Beer

Although I have my favorite restaurants that I enjoy visiting while in Vegas, I also like trying new restaurants.  While in town for the opening weekend of March Madness, my buddies and I decided to try out B&B Burgers & Beer, which was conveniently located across from the sportsbook at The Venetian.  Although the restaurant was packed, my friends and I were able to secure some seating where we could still watch the big TVs at the sportsbook.  

In addition to a few speciality burgers, the menu also boast a build your own burger menu with various buns and toppings.  I chose to create my own with bacon, cheddar, and garlic aioli on a pretzel bun.  It was a good burger with quality ingredients.  Whereas most pretzel buns are somewhat tough, this one was extremely light and fluffy, yet still had the pretzel taste.

Bacon Cheeseburger on a Pretzel Bun w/fries

Several sides are offered, including fries, onion rings, slaw, chips, warm potato salad, and lettuce wedges.  I was able to sample both the fries and the onion rings.  The fries were pretty good, but the tempura onion rings were really good.

Onion Rings

It ended up being a pretty good meal and I would go back there again.  While not my favorite burger joint in Sin City, it was certainly above average.  While we were pleased with the food, we were not pleased with the outcome of the game we were watching and had put money on.  Oh well, you win some and you lose some.  The food was was winner.

B&B Burger & Beer
http://www.venetian.com/restaurants/american/b-and-b-burger-and-beer.html
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Gordon Ramsay Steak

I generally try out a new steakhouse each time that I visit Las Vegas.  The city has no shortage of steakhouses, most of which have the name of a celebrity chef associated with them.  Gordon Ramsay Steak has been on my short list of Vegas steakhouses to try for some time, so my wife and I decided to finally dine there on my most recent trip to Sin City.

Dining area and kitchen

My wife and I had a huge breakfast earlier that day, so we skipped lunch and decided to just do an early dinner at Gordon Ramsay Steak.  Skipping lunch was a mistake on my part, because my wife had a hangry attack (hunger which leads to anger).  Luckily for us, our server brought out a fantastic variety of breads for us to sample while he was showing us an amazing display of the various meat cuts available at the restaurant.

A variety of breads

Display of steak cuts

We both started with the Caesar Salad, which included Parmesan cheese garlic croutons, shaved Parmesan, and a Scotch egg.  The dressing was very good and went well with the whole leafs of romaine.  Even better than the salad itself, the Scotch egg was a pleasant surprise.  If every Scotch egg was a good as the ones at Gordon Ramsay Steak, I would probably order them every time I see them on a menu.

Caesar Salad with Scotch Egg

The Beef Wellington came highly recommended, but we were both in the mood for a filet.  My wife ordered the basic filet and I ordered the American Wagyu filet.  I ordered it medium-rare and it arrived cooked to perfection.  The flavor and texture of the steak was absolutely incredible and I enjoyed every single bite.  Although it was pricey, it was worth every single penny.  My wife's filet was good as well, but in no way compared the cut of meat I had.

Top two pics are and American Wagyu Filet.  Bottom pic is a basic filet

For sides, we ordered the Baked Potato and the Roasted Okra.  The baked potato included butter, smoked Gouda, sour cream, chives, and three large chunks of bacon that topped the potato.  The okra included tiny piece of sweet potato and espelette peppers.  The baked potato was terrific, but the okra was somewhat disappointing.

Loaded Baked Potato and Roasted Okra

Our waiter recommended Gordon Ramsay's signature dessert, which is the Sticky Toffee Pudding.  The sweet pudding cake was topped with brown sugar toffee and brown butter ice cream.  The dessert was absolutely incredible and arguably the best dessert we had on this trip to Vegas.  The only thing I regretted is the fact that I split it with my wife rather than ordering my own.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

The atmosphere at Gordon Ramsay Steak is very cool and has a very British design.  When you enter the restaurant from the Paris Hotel and Casino, you even have to go through the "Chunnel."  Although the service could have been a little better, I felt the food was spot on.  A couple sitting next to us order the Beef Wellington and it looked delicious.  This is supposedly Gordon Ramsay's signature entree and I would love to try it on my next visit.  We left impressed and I would certainly put Gordon Ramsay Steak in my top five favorite Vegas steakhouses.

Gordon Ramsay Steak
https://www.caesars.com/paris-las-vegas/restaurants/gordon-ramsay-steak#.VQ23oEs-bbg
Livin the Good Life Rating=4