Dining Guide: Steak and seafood

A 22-ounce, wet-aged, bone-in rib-eye steak done Oscar style, with bearnaise sauce, crabmeat and asparagus can be found at Oscar’s Beef, Booze & Broads.

Each week Neon spotlights a different cuisine in the Dining Guide, with steakhouses and seafood restaurants this week. Restaurants are rated on a letter-grade scale, from A to F. Opinions by R-J critic Heidi Knapp Rinella (H.K.R.) are indicated by initials. Price symbols are based on the cost of an average entree: $ = entrees less than $10; $$ = entrees between $10 and $20; $$$ = entrees between $20 and $30; and $$$$ = entrees more than $30.

BOTERO

Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 248-3463

A few service snags marred what should have been a flawless experience at Botero, but we certainly couldn’t fault the food, which included a tart of wild mushrooms and Gruyere, a duet that paired Asian-inspired Arctic char and caviar-sprinkled Pacific salmon, brioche-crusted Colorado rack of lamb, pistachio-crusted asparagus, and mascarpone panna cotta with strawberry gelee and rhubarb sorbet. (4/1/11 H.K.R.)

Overall: A-

$$$$

CANAL STREET

The Orleans, 4500 W. Tropicana Ave.; 365-7111

Prices at steakhouses across the valley have gone sky-high in recent years, and in most cases, they’re not worth it. So we were particularly pleased to find good value at the elegant Canal Street, where we enjoyed oysters Rockefeller, a filet mignon and Parmesan-crusted veal Tuscan. Excellent (but not snobby) service put the icing on the cake. (11/25/11 H.K.R.)

Overall: B+

$$$

THE CAPITAL GRILLE

Fashion Show mall, 3200 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 932-6631

The Capital Grille is the kind of steakhouse they’re not building much of anymore, but contemporary touches help this old-school-style spot feel like anything but a throwback. French onion soup and a dry-aged steak au poivre with Coirvoisier cream sauce were both excellent but on the salty side; also excellent (but not too salty) were the prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella, creamed spinach and roasted chicken. (10/17/11 H.K.R.)

Overall: A-

$$$$

CARNEVINO

The Palazzo, 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 789-4141

Sixty-plus dollars for a steak — especially when it’s the second-least-expensive steak on the menu — may seem pretty steep, and yeah, it is. Whether it’s worth it to you depends on a lot of things. We’ll just say that it was an excellent steak, but we also enjoyed the much less expensive pasta dishes we had at Carnevino, the garganelli Bolognese and the gnocchi with walnut-herb pesto, plus a starter of prosciutto and pears and a local-origin pumpkin cake for dessert. (12/7/12 H.K.R.)

Overall: A

$$$$

CUT

Palazzo, 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 607-6300

Signature dishes: Wolfgang Puck’s steaks, bone-marrow flan, short ribs.

DELMONICO

The Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 414-3737

Signature dishes: Emeril Lagasse’s steaks, chateaubriand, stuffed pork trotters.

THE FLAME STEAKHOUSE

El Cortez, 600 Fremont St.; 385-5200

Signature dishes: steaks, prime rib, stone crab in season.

THE GOLDEN STEER

308 W. Sahara Ave.; 384-4470

Signature dishes: steaks, seafood, chateaubriand.

GORDON RAMSAY STEAK

Paris Las Vegas, 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 946-4663

There were a few service glitches related to our dinner at Gordon Ramsay Steak — most related to the fact that we had the night’s earliest reservation time, which resulted in a cattle-call feeling — but the food was absolutely flawless. We reveled in our smoked beef tartare, Prime filet mignon, Beef Wellington, Parmesan-cream spinach and a dessert of sticky toffee pudding. (8/3/12 H.K.R.)

Overall: A-

$$$$

HANK’S FINE STEAKS

Green Valley Ranch, 2300 Paseo Verde Parkway, Henderson; 617-7515

Signature dishes: long-bone rib-eye chop for two with signature spice rub, dry-aged 24-ounce prime rib.

MORELS FRENCH STEAKHOUSE & BISTRO

Palazzo, 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South;
607-6333

Asking us if we’d like filtered tap water instead of bottled charmed us right off the bat, but Morels easily stayed in our good graces with a combination of good service, a pleasant interior (and a patio) and top-notch food that included an amuse-bouche of a prosciutto-wrapped fig with a cherry-ginger reduction, mushroom bisque, a summer heirloom tomato salad, Scottish salmon, grass-fed New York sirloin and creamed summer sweet corn. We even loved the good yeast rolls — and the tapenade and butter rolled in sea salt that were served with them. (9/15/11 H.K.R.)

Overall: A

$$$$

OSCAR’S BEEF, BOOZE & BROADS

Plaza, 1 Main St.; 38-OSCAR or 386-7227

Oscar’s had a huge party on the evening of our visit so we had to sit in the bar, which turned out to be a pretty good thing (except that we lost the view of the Fremont Street Experience), because the barkeep was affable and efficient and he did, of course, know how to pour a Bombay Sapphire martini. We loved the food, which was Old Vegas with a New Vegas sensibility — Steak Tartare a la Meyer, Joey C’s Filet Mignon and especially Oscar’s Mayor Weiner Schnitzel. (3/9/12 H.K.R.)

Overall: A

$$$$

THE PALM

The Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 732-7256

Signature dishes: Steaks and lobster.

PRIME STEAKHOUSE

Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 693-8865

Signature dishes: steaks, seafood, classic sides.

RON’S STEAKHOUSE

Arizona Charlie’s, 740 S. Decatur Blvd.; 258-5201

Amid all the hoopla about a steakhouse to be opened by a former Las Vegas mayor, another steakhouse opened by a former Las Vegas mayor — that would be Ron’s, for Ron Lurie — turns out to have a winning formula of good food at reasonable prices and served in a pleasant atmosphere. Noteworthy: oysters Rockefeller, creamed spinach, New York strip and Charlie’s Steak au Poivre. (9/9/11 H.K.R.)

Overall: A-

$$$

THE STEAKHOUSE

Circus Circus, 2880 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 794-3767

Signature dishes: steaks, seafood, oysters on the half-shell.

SW STEAKHOUSE

Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 248-3463

Signature dishes: steaks, seafood, foie gras.

35 STEAKS + MARTINIS

Hard Rock Hotel, 4455 Paradise Road; 693-5585

It’s hard out there for a steakhouse — hard to separate yourself from all of the other steakhouses, while still offering the steakhouse basics that customers expect. 35 Steaks + Martinis walks that line ably, starting with a boursin-tomato-spinach-filled artichoke in which the mixture gets all nice and melty around the leaves. Prime prime rib was not particularly stellar, but the Colorado lamb was pretty darn perfect and we liked the couscous with apricot and dates and the creamed spinach. (5/18/12 H.K.R.)

Overall: A-

$$$$

WAVERLY’S STEAK HOUSE

The Cannery, 2121 E. Craig Road; North Las Vegas; 507-5777

Waverly’s has a definite old-school vibe — that’s a good thing, especially for a steakhouse — and it honors the tradition with a serene atmosphere with muted colors and music, efficient team service and solid renditions of dishes such as Caesar salad, French onion soup and veal Oscar, and a perfectly charred-on-the-outside-red-rare-on-the-inside rib-eye steak. (9/28/12 H.K.R.)

Overall: A-

$$$

Seafood

AMERICAN FISH

Aria, CityCenter, 3730 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 590-8610

Fish poached in ocean water? Sounded a little iffy to us but we bit, and ended up with nice fresh halibut served in a sake broth. It was awfully good, but no more so than the cornmeal-crusted griddled Idaho trout, Coho salmon baked in sea salt, oysters on the half-shell, amazing french fries with housemade tartar sauce and truffled macaroni and cheese. Even the breads — wood-grilled ciabatta and supermoist corn muffins — were nothing short of exemplary. (11/4/11 H.K.R.)

Overall: A-

$$$$

AQUAKNOX

The Venetian, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 414-3772

Signature dishes: sauteed John Dory, mesquite-grilled prawns.

BARTOLOTTA RISTORANTE DI MARE

Wynn Las Vegas, 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 248-3463

Signature dishes: whole fish and crustaceans flown in from the Mediterranean; housemade sauces.

CRAB CORNER

4161 S. Eastern Ave.; 489-4646

Crab Corner doesn’t stand on ceremony, but that doesn’t matter much if what you’re looking for is fresh seafood, simply prepared. We liked a starter of mini crab cakes (even though it was served last) plus mussels with garlic butter, steamed Maryland crabs and sides of hush puppies, potato salad and beer-battered onion rings. (5/27/11 H.K.R.)

Overall: B

EMERIL’S NEW ORLEANS FISH HOUSE

MGM Grand, 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 891-1111

Signature dishes: New Orleans BBQ shrimp, banana cream pie.

LOBSTER ME

Miracle Mile Shops, 3663 Las Vegas Blvd. South; LOBSTER (562-7837)

If you’re looking for a good lobster roll, Lobster ME would be the place to get it, because they serve them there in two sizes, on authentic split-top, side-buttered-and-grilled buns, and they’re all lobster, all the time. We weren’t as enamored of the lobster and chips and the lobster wontons, but we’re intrigued by the lobster breakfast dishes. And the lobster ice cream. (3/2/12 H.K.R.)

Overall: B+

McCORMICK & SCHMICK’S

335 Hughes Center Drive; 836-9000

Who said you can’t get great seafood in the desert? We like starters like the lump blue crab and shrimp cake, just about anything on the Fresh List and such specialties as almond-crusted trout and buttermilk-fried jumbo shrimp. (8/21/11 H.K.R.)

Overall: A-

$$$

MICHAEL MINA BELLAGIO

Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 693-7111

Signature dishes: caviar parfait, Maine lobster pot pie.

RICK MOONEN’S RM SEAFOOD

Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South; 632-7777

Signature dishes: sustainable seafood, sushi.

SEAFOOD SHACK

Treasure Island, 3300 Las Vegas Blvd. South; (866) 286-3809

If you want to find out if seafood’s fresh, order it unadorned, which was pretty much the case with the mussel and clam steamers we had at the Seafood Shack at Treasure Island. They passed the test, fresh and sweet as it gets. We also liked the lobster and seafood stuffed mushrooms, and the Cajun Seafood Pasta was jampacked with shellfish. (12/21/12 H.K.R.)

Overall: B+