Friday, May 06, 2005 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab

Above-Average Joe's: Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab offers reasonable prices (relatively speaking) for the Forum Shops

The patio at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab overlooks the promenade in the Forum Shops expansion. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Memories of waiting in the foyer of the original Joe's Stone Crab on Miami Beach -- because, well, the stone crabs were pretty good, and the line mandated by the no-reservations policy actually was part of the whole colorful tradition -- came flooding back as we waited 20 minutes past our reservation time at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab at the Forum Shops at Caesars. It might seem that some things never change, right?

But ahh, they do. Because this Joe's, while an outgrowth of the family-run South Florida palace of crabby crabs and crabbier waiters -- is part of the Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You restaurant empire, and the corporate boys ought to be able to do better, especially when there were multiple empty tables and at least a half-dozen parties waiting past their reservation times.

A new kid in town could be forgiven its transgressions, but Joe's really isn't that, since its sister restaurants include The Eiffel Tower Restaurant and Mon Ami Gabi at Paris, which opened with that resort in 1999. Yet that was at times our feeling at Joe's, with a still-starstruck maitre d' whose distraction by the presence of Katie Couric might have been part of the reason for our delay. And we still had to go through the shame-you-into-still-or-sparkling routine that most high-end Las Vegas restaurants have forsaken.

As for the stone crabs, they're Joe's whole raison d'etre, regular steakhouses in this town being an every-corner commodity. And these claws were absolutely lovely. They were also relatively reasonable, with our medium-sized appetizer portion of four medium claws market-priced at $16.95 -- much less than they have been on the rare occasion we've found them at other local spots. (Entree portions also are available.) They were served with Joe's trademark mustard sauce, which is delicious but which I've always felt overpowered the flavor of the delicate crab. I requested drawn butter instead, so be aware that you have that option.

On the other end of the spectrum were the Lyonnaise potatoes ($7.95 for a side dish of two or more). This classic dish is traditionally simply prepared potatoes sauteed in butter with onions. I don't know what the heck these were, though -- I kept analyzing them, but finally gave up. They appeared to be just oily fried potatoes with onions on top, with no actual flavor there, and way too much grease.

Other end again: Excellent, amazing creamed spinach ($7.95), which our waiter said was Joe's original recipe but which was far better than we remembered. It was just slightly crisp-tender, just creamy enough, and generously flavored with nutmeg.

Grilled swordfish ($24.95), which we got because the grilled Florida grouper was unavailable, was just a tad on the overcooked side, but the simple preparation -- with a light tomato-tinged vinaigrette -- put the sweet freshness of the fish in the spotlight.

Joe's held a few surprises, too. The $42.95 bone-in filet mignon (actually an oxymoron, but we'll let it go at that) isn't something you see often, although I don't know why, because meat tends to have more flavor when it's cooked on the bone. The fact that it was prime beef (which denotes ample marbling, or fat, throughout the meat, and fat provides flavor) was a plus as well. A customary lack of fat usually means filets mignon aren't the most flavorful of steaks, but this one -- quite large, and also quite pricey -- had a depth of flavor we rarely encounter, although it was a little more rare than the medium-rare we ordered.

Crab and artichoke gratin ($11.95), our other starter, was a savory, creamy wonder. We'd intended to just sample it, but ended up scooping in again and again onto the thin crisp slices of toast that accompanied it.

And Key lime pie ($6.95). This was the real deal -- pale, creamy, tart and tangy, the combination that made it famous.

We were gratified to find reasonable prices (relatively speaking) in a Forum Shops restaurant, and that extended to the wine list. Oh, there were the Katie Couric-level bottles on there, but there were also quite a number of lesser-known lights in the lower strata. As a fan of Cabernet Francs, I was pleased to see four choices, and the 2001 Lang & Reed we had ($48) was quite nice, even if the wine service all but stopped immediately after it was opened.

If you're savvy about stone crabs, you may be wondering if Joe's will be serving only other seafoods and steaks after May 15, when the stone-crab season ends (Joe's on Miami Beach closes each summer, although our waiter at Joe's Las Vegas told us that may be changing). Our waiter said they'll serve frozen claws once the fresh ones run out.

Heresy? Hardly. Stone crabs are cooked on the boat (or, at the very least, on the dock) to keep the meat from sticking to the shell, and conventional wisdom holds that a good percentage of them end up frozen before they get to shore anyway. So if those corporate boys can keep the quality up and prices reasonable, we'll have a summer treat that will -- at least for the time-being -- give us yet another leg-up over South Beach.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are unannounced and done anonymously at Review-Journal expense.