Dinner at Joël Robuchon Restaurant, MGM Grand, Las Vegas

After last year's decadent birthday dinner for Ann at the Lorenz Adlon in Berlin, I had my work cut out for me in finding a suitable restaurant at which to cap off a week of hiking around on rocks and celebrate my parents' 40th anniversary. After doing quite bit of research on the Las Vegas fine dining scene, it was clear that Joël Robuchon was the most highly recommended dining experience in town.  Reservations were made, and all was good.

As our trip drew closer, I began poking around to suss out dinning options for other meals, only to find Robuchon coming up again and again. This turned out to be a good thing, because a tip on Eater enlightened me to the fact that if you are dining at Robuchon, you can have the MGM gold limo come pick you up, no matter where you are staying in Vegas.  Such an opportunity seemed the perfect counterpoint to walking the red carpet at the Adlon last year.

Not only did the gold limo pick us up, it delivered us to the doors of The Mansion, a very posh group of private residences surrounding a climate-controlled courtyard redolent of fruit trees. At The Mansion, we were met by a member of the staff from Joël Robuchon who guided us through the labyrinthine passages of The Mansion to the main floor of the MGM Grand and the restaurant entrance. 

 The Mansion courtyard

I still can't get over how fantastic and special it was to see The Mansion. Even if our meal hadn't been totally amazing and memorable of its own accord, dining at Robuchon would have been worth it simply for the experience of getting there. 

Decor!

As for the meal itself, it ranks right up there with the best we've had. All of the flavors were so robust and sumptuous. Even though each dish had many different elements, each flavor was allowed to shine through in its own way. The sauces on all the dishes were particularly outstanding. As you can see below, the presentation was also designed with a lot of thought and care. This attention to detail and decadence was carried through in the bread cart, the butter carving, the cheese cart, and the megnardises cart. So many carts!!

 

Above four photos from the Joël Robuchon Restaurant look book, 

but they are pretty much true-to-life

The staff who manned those carts and attended to our every need are a fantastic group of professionals. They rounded-out the wonderful atmosphere of the restaurant and brought warmth to the beautifully designed dining room. Joël Robuchon is everything that a fine dining restaurant should be, leaving no detail overlooked, and most importantly delivering a truly delicious, sumptuous, and memorable meal.

 Amuse
corn soup with duck bacon, marshmallow, gingerbread

 Le Homard
Maine lobster on tomato gelee, avocado and medley of vegetables with turmeric oil

Le Zéphyr au Fromage
Heavenly cheese soufflé-flan served with morels fricassee

Le Black Cod
Black Cod on daikon velvet puree with lime zest

  

 La Langouste
Spiny lobster roasted in shellfish jus with bell peppers, lemongrass emulsion

 Mashed potatoes
(pretty much equal parts potato and butter, from what I could tell)

My cheese selection
(something French & very creamy, natural aged French goat cheese, Vermont goat cheese)

 La Sphère
Bubble sugar sphere filled with a mint sorbet, raspberries and mint foam

 Le Rubis
Raspberry dome on mascarpone with red fruit coulis and Calpico jelly
(ordered by Ann & Dad)

 Special anniversary cake
(top to bottom) raspberry cream, vanilla ice cream, raspberry sorbet, meringue

Les Megnardises
(clockwise from left center) strawberry champagne cupcake, chocolate covered candied orange peel, raspberry gel, mexican spice chocolate, caramel chocolate, nut ball, strawberry meringue, raspberry marshmallow, chocolate macaron, chocolate covered candied ginger

 Gift bag
(look book and chocolate bar)

Despite the fact that just about every dish on the menu sounded amazing, we all ended up ordering a lot of duplicate dishes. However, for those dishes that weren't ordered by all, the generous portion sizes allowed for plenty of sharing sampling.  Here's the run down:

Mom's Meal
Le Homard - Maine lobster on tomato gelee, avocado and medley of vegetables with turmeric oil

Le Zéphyr au Fromage - Heavenly cheese soufflé-flan served with morels fricassee

Le Black Cod - Black Cod on daikon velvet puree with lime zest

Le Porc Ibérique - Caramelized plume of Ibirico pork

La Sphère - Bubble sugar sphere filled with a mint sorbet, raspberries and mint foam

Dad's Meal

Le Homard - Maine lobster on tomato gelee, avocado and medley of vegetables with turmeric oil

Le Chou-Fleur - Cauliflower cream flavored with Madras curry finished with sea urchin

Le Bar - Grilled sea bass with spinach leaves, black Malabar pepper sauce

Le Veau - Sauteed veal chop with natural jus, pesto vegetable taglierinis

Le Rubis - Raspberry dome on mascarpone with red fruit coulis and Calpico jelly

Ann's Meal

Le Homard - Maine lobster on tomato gelee, avocado and medley of vegetables with turmeric

L'Archaut Violet - Violet artichoke and foie gras salad with parmesan shavings

La Langouste - Spiny lobster roasted in shellfish jus with bell peppers, lemongrass emulsion

Le Veau - Sauteed veal chop with natural jus, pesto vegetable taglierinis

Le Rubis - Raspberry dome on mascarpone with red fruit coulis and Calpico jelly