STRIPSTEAK


Nick and I treated ourselves to an amazing dinner at Michael Mina’s STRIPSTEAK at Mandalay Bay (while also working on our 101 list item of eating at 18 different restaurants on the Strip).

Our meal started with duck fat fries (as a ‘contemporary’ replacement to a steakhouse’s standard bread basket) served 3 ways:

  1. Old bay dusted with whole grain mustard sauce
  2. Garlic and herb with ketchup
  3. Truffle dusted with truffle aioli

In case you couldn’t tell from Nick’s thumbs up, we liked them. Now, on to the really good stuff. We each ordered an appetizer. Nick had the Caesar salad.

I was slightly more adventurous with the Maryland Blue crab cakes with lemon bearnaise mousseline that was listed on the menu as coming with an asparagus salad and ended up coming out with a frisee, but I wasn’t complaining. The crab cakes were so incredibly light.

For our entree, we each ordered steak and shared two sides.  The bacon roasted mushrooms proved to me that there exists a food containing bacon that can end up being not delicious. Would not order again. They had an odd texture and were overly seasoned, masking the awesomeness that is edible fungi.

The potato puree trio, on the other hand, was delicious. Nick’s favorite potato form is extra smooth and creamy (i.e pureed or whipped) so it was already a win. From left to right, they are: sour cream & onion, lobster, and horseradish.

I had the 10oz filet. It was perfectly cooked and seasoned. It was incredibly tender. My knife cut through it like hot butter.

However, Nick let me try a piece of his 30oz Porterhouse (whoa big daddy!) and it was AMAZING. We both agreed it was the best steak we’d ever had.

Cows beware – Nick will end you! This is the aftermath:

We took a gander at the dessert menu and as soon as Nick saw “Bittersweet Chocolate Cake” it was over.

That’s a cherry-port compote on the side, along with a little quenelled vanilla ice cream, and the richest, fudgiest chocolate cake I’ve ever tried. It may have looked like a cake, but that thing tasted like a fudge bar. Nick liked it so much, he actually tried to savor it. It was the slowest I have ever seen him eat anything.

,

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.