More Vegas… lunching at Mon Ami Gabi
During the Vegas vacay, we lunched a couple of times (and cocktailed once!) at Mon Ami Gabi, a French resto at Paris (actually belongs to a Chicago-based restaurant group). The secret that kept pulling us back chez Gabi is that the place is dead centre of the strip, but doesn’t feel like it. Gabi is a reasonable facsimile of a traditional brasserie — not too Disney-fied or caricatured — prices are reasonable, and the food is well executed and relatively authentic. Best of all, the patio faces the Bellagio — from the bar, you can sit and watch the watershow and passers-by, but there’s none of that Casino sound or smell. And you don’t feel like you’re sequestered in the bowels of some monster-property… a disconcerting feeling that plagues even the finest of Vegas restaurants.
Given that we were lunching, our visits tended to favour raw bar items and salads, and the frisée salad with lardons, the Nicoise (again, called an ahi-tuna salad), and the butter lettuce salad are all nicely done. We put back a lot of oysters. And the bread is decent (I can never get enough warm baguette… ahem). Cocktails are quite excellent (Rabbit maman-in-law loooved her mojitos, and the sidecars were nicely done)… as was service.
Everything in Vegas is a little faux, but for a faux brasserie experience, this is très bon.
Posted on September 9th, 2007 by rabbit
Filed under: Las Vegas, Restaurant Reviews
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