Restaurant Review: Joël Robuchon at the Mansion

Posted on | November 10, 2009 | 4 Comments

Joel Robuchon at the Mansion is one of the restaurants I’ve been wanting to go to since I first moved to Las Vegas. And why wouldn’t anyone want to go here? Not only is Joel Robuchon arguably known as the best restaurant in town; Chef Robuchon was proclaimed ”Chef of the Century”; holds the distinction of having the most Michelin stars ever awarded to a chef; and Joel Robuchon at the Mansion is one of only two Michelin 3 star restaurants on the US West coast.

Now, I have to give credit where it’s due here… I’m blessed to have the best friend in the world. For my birthday this year, she flew out to Vegas to take me to Joel Robuchon for this unforgettable experience. Keep in mind, she isn’t a huge fan of fine dining, or French food! If you’re reading this, Amy, you are the best! <3

I had walked by Joel Robuchon many times, and have dined next door at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, which is one of my all time favorite restaurants. This, however, was my first time venturing inside the ‘big brother’ of L’Atelier. When you first walk in, it’s immediately apparent that you are in for something special. The service was beyond impeccable from start to finish.

The interior of the restaurant is quite a bit smaller than I expected. I liken the atmosphere to being inside an extremely posh French parlor, with violet, black, and cream hues, an exquisite chandelier, and cozy fireplace in the back. Even though you are steps away from the casino, the dining room is a peaceful retreat, with piano music softly playing in the background. The dining room imparts quite a luxurious and elegant feel to it, but without being stuffy or cold. Quite the contrary, I found it extremely warm and inviting, like being in the parlor of someone’s home. Granted, that would be the home of a world famous chef!

As I mentioned already, the service was impeccable. I doubt you’d ever want for anything here, as every server attends to your every need, and all were much warmer than I expected. I guess being the highest rated restaurant in Las Vegas, I thought it might be a bit stuffy, but thankfully that wasn’t the case.

Now, onto the important part… the food:

To start, the bread cart was brought to our table, with a selection of approximately 15 different breads, all made fresh daily on premises, of course! I am a bread fanatic, and I could’ve made a meal out of sampling each and every bread on this cart. However, as I knew we’d actually be ordering off the menu, and to spare Amy any embarassment, I kept my choices to two. The gruyere brioche, and bacon bread. After making our selections, the server retreated to the kitchen to warm the bread, and another server came to carve what I believe was Echire butter for us. Nice touch! The gruyere was infused throughout a light and flaky roll, almost like a croissant, and was heavenly. The bacon bread was chewy, savory, and quite good as well!

Our amuse bouche consisted of Ossetra caviar over crab in a cream sauce. The combination of flavors worked quite well, with the creamy crab mellowing out the brininess of the caviar, although the caviar was extremely smooth and not overly salty. A very nice start to the upcoming meal!

For the soup choice, we both ordered Le Chataigne; a chestnut veloute with foie gras and smoked lardons foam. This soup was to die for; there’s no other way I can really think of putting it! I’m not usually a fan of cream soups, but this was on a different level than any other soup I’ve had. The texture of the broth was incredibly smooth and creamy, yet light at the same time. Along with chunks of foie gras, there were also what I believe was either bacon or ham, which made for a nice smoky flavor contrast. I think this soup was my favorite item of the night.

For appetizers, Amy ordered Le King Crab; king crab with avocado, hearts of romaine, and olive oil with coral. The crab was incredibly fresh, and the accompanying sauces were quite tasty!

For my appetizer, I chose Les Palourdes; clams roasted in seaweed butter and caviar, topped with a buckwheat tuile. I’m not usually a huge fan of clams, but the flavor of this dish was incredible! The clams were extremely fresh and chewy, and the seaweed butter and caviar sauce was what really made the dish. Savory, and definitely tasting of the ocean, but without being overly fishy. The crispy buckwheat tuile on top didn’t add anything to the flavor of the dish, but made for a nice texture contrast.

For entrees we both ordered Le Boeuf; beef ribeye with wasabi spinach and a medly of bell peppers and asparagus. This dish was quite different than the ribeye I’d tried at L’Atelier. It was served in rare chunks, and unfortunately a couple of mine were quite stringy. The accompanying spinach and veggies were delicious, though, as the sauce the entire dish was served in was exquisite. Along with this came Robuchon’s famous pommes puree, which were fantastic. Minus the pommes puree, this was probably my least favorite dish of the night because of the tough cuts of meat, unfortunately.

For desserts, Amy ordered L’Aloe; a passion fruit cheesecake with aloe gelee and coconut granite. The presentation of this was beautiful! Although I tried the top portion and didn’t get to the cheesecake, that portion was delicious. It tasted like a sweet gelee encased in a coconut shave ice!

I can’t remember the exact name of the dessert I chose, but it was a melting chocolate cake with coffee ice cream, and it was quite good. My only complaint is that the dessert was a lot less chocolatey than I’d hoped; most of the dish seemed to consist of the ice cream and foam on top. Being a chocolate lover, I was left wanting more of the gooey chocolate at the bottom!

After our desserts- surprise! I was presented with a passion fruit ice cream birthday cake! Not only was it beautiful, it was delicious. Tart, sweet, and creamy, with what tasted like some type of merangue crust that just melted in my mouth. Really, really good. I only wonder… we were served two small slices of the cake. What happened to the rest of it? I hope the staff was able to enjoy it!

At this point, we were both beyond stuffed. But out came the mignardises cart, with around 40 treats, all made in house, of course. My mind told me to try each and every one, but my stomach couldn’t handle more than a few. Okay, so I picked out 5, actually! A chocolate eclair, berry gelee, puff pastry, citrus marshmallow, and cheesecake. All of them were delicious little bites. I think my favorite was the chocolate eclair, as it really was like a miniature eclair, and quite delicious! I’d love to try the pastry chef’s full version of an eclair someday.

Before we left, we were presented with a box each of the fruit gelees. I’m still savoring those!

All in all, it was a wonderful and memorable meal, and definitely one of the best restaurants I’ve been to. Maybe some day I’ll return to try the degustation menu. Until then, I’m glad to have finally gone here!

Rating:

3799 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Phone: 702 891-7925

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Kristi