Daniel Boulud Brasserie

Posted on | November 17, 2008 | No Comments

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This past weekend we went to Daniel Boulud for dinner. It’s an ‘upscale-casual’ restaurant, with a good sized bar, two private rooms, a large interior room, and an equally large patio that faces the “Lake of Dreams” at the Wynn. Every half hour there’s a different (or at least 5 different) light and music shows, which is very… Vegas! Cute, but I can see how some people might find it a bit cheesy. When the shows not on, though, the lake and waterfall make for a beautiful and romantic setting. Unless it’s the heat of summer or during a freezing cold winter, I highly recommend getting a table out on the patio. Not just for the show and setting, but the atmosphere seemed to be much more relaxed and comfortable than in the dining room.

Food-wise, I opted for the three course Prix Fixe menu, which is offered for $48 before 7PM, and is quite a good deal. For my starter I chose the Pate de Campagne Forestiere, which was a wild mushroom pate that came with homemade pickles and country bread. The pate was incredible.. very different than I’m used to, as it was pretty dense (i.e. hard to spread) but had a nice flavor, reminiscent to me of a good, medium salami. For my entree I had the Steak Frites, a 10 oz sirloin with onions, citrus seasoned spinach and french fries. The steak had a great flavor, but unfortunately it was served to me lukewarm, and more medium-well than medium, probably because it had been sitting too long. For dessert I had the grape Clafoutis with vanilla ice cream, which may have been my favorite dish of the meal. The Clafoutis was nice and hot, and I loved that they had used grape halves as the ‘seasonal’ fruit, although some people might find that to be cheap! Adam opted to order off the menu, and started with the onion soup, which was good, although he felt it was a bit too ‘meaty’. It was indeed cooked with beef shank. For his entree he chose the Original NY DB Burger, a sirloin burger stuffed with braised short ribs and foie gras, with french fries. A good burger, but like my entree it was served lukewarm, and for $32, a bit overpriced. The fries, which we both had, were not very impressive; I’d say the fries are better at In and Out! (And way cheaper!) So overall, most of the food was good, but certainly not perfect and with some service issues. Not what I’d expect from a Michelin star restaurant.

Recommended dishes:

Pate de Campagne Forestiere: