StripSteak has hardwood and granite floors with accents of rusted iron around the kitchen, glass separating the booths and resin walls from a street in Singapore. Photos by John Gurzinski. A lobster appetizer as served at Michael Mina's new StripSteak at Mandalay Bay. Foie gras sliders with pear chutney and basil are among the appetizers offered at StripSteak.

Energetic" is the word when it comes to chef-restaurateur Michael Mina's first steakhouse, StripSteak, at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

That's how general manager Tony Fisher describes the restaurant's design by the Japanese company Super Potato, which designed the Hyatt Regency Kyoto, Zuma in London and Sensi at Bellagio.

The classic rock music tends to pump up the atmosphere as well.

"It's very active," he says.

"On fight nights, it's crazy here," Fisher adds.

The restaurant features hardwood and granite floors, rusted iron accenting the open kitchen and booths separated by glass.

Also, two resin walls from a street in Singapore are interesting design features, as well as the four LCD projectors in the ceiling that rotate images throughout the evening and the teak block walls.

The restaurant uses two mesquite wood-fired grills. Before the meat hits the grill though, it's poached in butters and oils.

The dining room seats 160 and a private, glass-enclosed dining room seats 36 (45 for cocktail receptions).

There's also a 70-seat bar-lounge area with a separate menu and a semiprivate room seating 40 (accommodating 50 for cocktail receptions).

StripSteak offers more than 600 wine selections and more than 100 single malt Scotches.

"Growing up in Washington state and working at several meat-packing plants, I was exposed to beef at a much younger age than seafood," Mina, who's best known in Las Vegas for Aqua and Seablue, said in a press release. "Mandalay Bay has provided me with the perfect opportunity to go back to my roots and open my first steakhouse."

Executive chef Benjamin Jenkins says that even though it's a steakhouse with Mina's name attached as managing chef, "we definitely have to have seafood." The menu, he says, "is selling pretty evenly across the board."

The side dishes "are a lot of the same as you see in a steakhouse but with our take on them. It's really good, simple, and product-driven."

StripSteak is open daily from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. The lounge is open daily from 4 p.m. to midnight.

Reservations are recommended by calling 632-7414).

Starters: Lobster bacon-wrapped fritters ($16); foie gras sliders, pear chutney and basil ($19); duck satay with quince confit and cinnamon ($14); rare ahi tuna and niçoise garnish ($13); crab cakes, tomato preserve and Tabasco vinaigrette ($14); crab bisque with sweet corn and crab butter ($12); Kobe beef filet tartare, classic garnish and grilled pocket bread ($14); and watercress, Pointe Reyes blue cheese and spicy walnuts ($12).

Entrees: Wood-grilled Maine lobster with truffled pearl pasta and cipollini onions (market price); whole-fried organic chicken with truffled macaroni and cheese ($29 per person); American Kobe burger with duck fat fries, fennel slaw and watercress ($22); slow-poached all-natural Angus beef with horseradish-peppercorn gremolata and natural jus ($46); slow-poached Colorado lamb with aged balsamic tapenade and rosemary jus ($37).

From the wood-burning grill, certified Angus 18-ounce dry aged bone-in rib-eye ($42); certified Angus 10-ounce filet mignon ($44); 8-ounce Masami Farms American Kobe beef eye of rib-eye ($58); and Japanese A5 Kobe 6-ounce rib-eye ($170) and 6-ounce filet mignon ($195).

Fish items include ahi tuna steak ($38); king salmon ($35); whole fish loup de mer ($36) and true Dover sole ($52); and sea scallops ($36).

Extras: Oysters and clams on the half shell ($12-$16); shellfish cocktails including Maine lobster ($22), spice-poached prawns ($19) and Alaskan king crab ($24); truffled macaroni and cheese ($9); curried Israeli couscous, dried fruits and pine nuts ($9); shallot-potato cakes and scallion creme fraiche ($7); steamed asparagus and mascarpone beurre blanc ($8); tomato-dusted red onion rings ($7); butternut squash-vanilla bean pouree ($8); jalapeño creamed corn ($9); and spinach souffle and Parmesan cream ($10).

Desserts: From pastry chef Lincoln Carson, there's beignets with chocolate pot de creme, Maccalan 18-year butterscotch pudding or Madagascar vanilla creme brulee; dunkin' mini doughnuts, jasmine chocolate and salty caramel; blueberry fritters; and Philadelphia-style cheesecake and braised pineapple fritters with chiffon skewer and coconut lime sorbet ($10 each).

Appetizers is a weekly informational column about new developments on the Las Vegas dining scene. Items should not be considered reviews or recommendations and none is a paid advertisement. Contact Ken White at 383-0256 or e-mail him at kwhite@ >reviewjournal.com