The Capital Grille

I liked the atmosphere at The Capital Grille so much, I was in no hurry to leave.

It would be easy to call it a throwback, because they're not building many places like The Capital Grille anymore, but there's nothing old-fashioned, out-of-date or even retro about it. It's a contemporary version of the classic steakhouse, almost monumental in scale -- the place seems to go on forever -- decorated in dark woods and muted colors. There's a classic dark-wood bar, stately lighting, soaring ceilings, servers that seem to fade into the background until you need one. And while the designers naturally included walls of windows to take advantage of the third-floor views of the iconic Las Vegas Strip, even those are less frenzied than they might be; ours was of the forest at Wynn Las Vegas and the soft lights beyond. The whole feeling is subdued elegance, and most of all comfort.

And the food? Well, if you plan to dine at The Capital Grille, be sure to bring an appetite.

Following a tip from a co-worker, we started with the steakhouse-classic onion soup ($10), which, as it turned out, was enough to serve two. Or maybe three. It was in a tall crock, thickly blanketed (including all over the outside) with a blend of melted cheeses, which covered a beefy stock with great depth of flavor and onions that had been caramelized to the point that they were just soft enough, almost sweet.

A little more offbeat was the starter of prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella ($15). The cheese had been cut into long, thick wedges, wrapped with the paper-thin slices of delicate ham and grilled until the prosciutto was lightly caramelized, the cheese just beginning to melt. Chunks of red-ripe tomatoes completed the picture.

And well, we could have quit right there, so satisfying (not to mention filling) were our starters. Naturally, we forged ahead.

This being a steakhouse, we'd have to have a steak, and the dry-aged steak au poivre with Coirvoisier cream ($32) sounded like an appealing choice. It was indeed, the steak tender and immensely flavorful on its own, even more so with the peppery coating and the delicately creamy, cognac-spiked sauce. It was also a very large steak -- at 14 ounces, you're talking nearly a pound of boneless beef -- and we ended up taking most of it home. (I do have a caveat here: Since I prefer my beef rare and this was prepared as ordered, there was a tendency for the blood to run through the sauce, which was a little off-putting even for a committed carnivore like me.)

Another steakhouse standard: roasted chicken ($26), which, continuing a trend, was huge -- seemingly close to a whole chicken. Continuing another trend, the skin was thoroughly caramelized from careful roasting and the meat was nice and moist, with sufficient flavor that we took it as more likely free-range than factory-farmed.

And creamed spinach ($9) -- what could be more steakhouse-standard than that? In keeping with most upscale steakhouses, The Capital Grille included nothing but a garnish with our steak or our chicken, and side dishes are billed as being large enough for two. The spinach was very nicely executed -- fresh-tasting and with lots of almost-crisp texture, the cream sauce subtle enough to not upstage the vegetable -- and was more like enough to feed a family.

One problem that we actually thought sort of odd: the soup (the soup itself, not the cheese) and the Coirvoisier sauce were oversalted, which was not the case with any of the other dishes. It was as though they'd been prepared by different kitchens. But I, who consumed the bulk of both dishes, had difficulty getting my rings on the next morning, and would think twice before ordering either again, despite the fact that I really like The Capital Grille.

Dessert? You have to be kidding. This was a lot of food -- which was OK for us, since we were just a short car ride from home and a refrigerator, but that wouldn't apply to most tourists.

If you go, be sure you're hungry.

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.