The serene interior of Envy Steakhouse at the Renaissance Las Vegas belies its location next to busy Paradise Road. Photo by Samantha Clemens.

A steakhouse is a steakhouse is a steakhouse.

I hear that a lot, and while there is some truth to it, there's only some. You knew that, of course -- knew that there generally is quite a difference between a low-end steakhouse with its choice-grade (maybe) steaks, iffy side dishes and service performance that tends to be a crapshoot at best, and a high-end one with its prime-grade steaks, side dishes made with better-quality ingredients and service that at least ought to be superlative. That the prices tend to correspond goes without saying.

But within the two levels, there are a lot of similarities. At the high-end steakhouses (which is what we're talking about today), that usually means a choice of filet mignon, porterhouse, rib-eye or New York strip, all a la carte. Then you can add family-sized (or at least couple-sized) side dishes that usually include creamed spinach, potatoes au gratin or lyonnaise, creamed corn and sauteed mushrooms. You know the drill.

So it was a nice surprise to look over the side dishes at Envy Steakhouse. Yes, there are sauteed mushrooms, but they're crimini and prepared with Port. Yes, there's creamed corn, but there's bourbon in it, which is an offbeat touch.

And no, not all of the side dishes contain alcohol; we, for example, went the cheesy route. That would be Stilton, as in Stilton-glazed fingerling potatoes ($9), and Parmigiano-Reggiano, as in Reggiano creamed spinach ($7).

And yes, I don't know that it's actually physically possible to "glaze" potatoes with cheese, and they didn't look like fingerling potatoes in the truest sense, but let's not split hairs because they were fabulous. Stilton, like all blue cheeses, has a particular affinity for beef, and there was enough of it on these potatoes to lend them plenty of the earthy, assertive flavor of the cheese. I'd return for the potatoes alone.

The spinach offered the other side of the same coin. In this case, the flavor of the cheese was a mere suggestion, which was perfect. Chef Richard Chamberlain clearly has a talent when it comes to using such flavors effectively.

Our starters were a nice departure from the old shrimp-cocktail-or-crabcake, though both were there, had we been so inclined. I had to really think about the choices here. As much as I love my job, it's not without its sacrifices, and at Envy I made one for my dear readers.

I've noticed lately that wedge salads are back, although I have no idea why, unless it's a retro-inspired backlash to bring back iceberg instead of all of those good lettuces out there. At any rate, Envy's BLT Wedge ($9) was one of the more interesting versions I've seen, so I thought this might be a good place to dive in. Indeed; the BLT aspect was more than a novelty, the chunks of tomato, generous sprinkle of bacon crumbles, rings of blanched red onion and cool and creamy balsamic ranch dressing all adding a considerable amount of life to the crisp but bland, bland -- oh, so bland -- wedge of iceberg. It was actually pretty good, all things considered, although I didn't finish the wedge of lettuce once I was out of everything else and never will be a convert to iceberg.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Tuna and crabmeat dynamite ($14) was a stacked arrangement. It was very good, but not spicy; I don't know where the "dynamite" comes in.

It's important for steakhouses to serve good steak, of course, but it's also particularly appealing if they can manage to turn out superlative entrees that are not from the cow. So it was with the serrano and white Cheddar-stuffed chicken ($30), in which a chicken breast had been stuffed with the Spanish ham and the mild cheese, rolled into a sort of latter-day Cordon Bleu and sliced and served atop a pool of a light sauce flavored with Maker's Mark bourbon. On the side was a grits cake sparked with quite a kicky hot pepper.

And finally, the reason most people patronize steakhouses -- the steak, in this case a prime bone-in rib-eye ($38). It was perfectly medium-rare as ordered, with a nice, deep, beefy flavor. Good with the spinach; great with the potatoes.

Also quite nice with the 2002 Four Vines Anarchy ($59), a blend of Syrah, Zinfandel and Mourverde. We were impressed with Envy's wine list, because it has a broad variety of wines, including many lesser-known labels.

We finished with a molten chocolate cake ($10), for which our waiter said we'd need to wait 20 minutes. We didn't mind. It was worth it -- the epitome of what such a dessert should be -- and after a dinner of such deep flavors, it was nice to just sort of savor it all.

Yes, some steakhouses are just steakhouses, but Envy offers a bit more.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.