Biscayne is advertised as one of the top rated steakhouses on the strip of Las Vegas, we were immediately intrigued to try it. As we had plenty of time to kill, we took the opportunity to check out the venue. It's located at the mezzanine level of The New Tropicana Las Vegas, facing Bacio Italian Cuisine. It's a little bit secluded from the casino area and frankly speaking, the set up failed to impress us. Too casual and too ordinary as one of the top steakhouses it claimed to be. We were expecting to be wow-ed, judging from the pictures on the adverts. But anyways, we went ahead to book our table.
Exactly at 5 PM, we were already at the entrance of Biscayne. The staff still busy with preparation, so we could not be seated immediately until about 10 minutes later. And finally we got shown to our table. It's quite comfortable seats and good size table, but poor lighting, in our opinion. Poor in the sense that not bright enough if it meant to be summery, or dimmed enough to give an intimate ambience. It gave us the impression that nobody bothers to switch on the lights. Oh well.. never mind, it's the food that we went there for.
As usual, we started with campari and soda, while deciding what appetizers to have. So we could cover both ends, we chose to have something from the sea to start with, which were selection of sushi and griddled lump crab cakes accompanied by a glass of chardonnay and followed by Biscayne specials which were XXL Kobe Burger and 8 oz Fillet Mignon, creamed spinach and sauteed mushrooms, accompanied by a good bottle of Joseph Drouhin Gevrey Chambertin.
First to arrive were our starters. The sashimi looked okay, fresh-ish, but the sushi roll looked dry and almost falling apart. The crab cakes didn't smell very crab-ey but looked good. The presentation actually explained the taste of both appetizers. All of the components were there but not put together properly. The sushi rice was not polished, that's why it's dry and the sashimi were just stacked up on the side as if an unimportant part of the dish. The crab cakes weren't made with fresh crabs as we hardly taste the crab. And it was under seasoned too.. What a disappointing start. The only good thing that came out reasonably good on the first part of our meal was the chardonnay.
Disappointment did not end just there though. We ordered a bottle of Gevrey Chambertin. The first bottle that the waiter brought us was corked. Which he had the suspicion even before he opened it. Of course we asked it to be replaced. Thank goodness the second bottle was okay.
Happy with the wine, we're looking forward to our main courses. Fillet mignon was looking good, so did the kobe burger apart from the dark looking french fries. It looked as if it has been fried in an old oil. So we did not touch it. The burger was enough to handle as it was. Not forgetting the creamed spinach and mushrooms.
Out of those dishes that we had, we could safely say the fillet mignon was the best, though we had better somewhere else. Reasonably tender, juicy, cooked and seasoned just right. Mashed potato was all it needed. We should not have ordered the creamed spinach and mushrooms, as they were under seasoned and simply too much. The kobe burger was huge but nothing extraordinary about it. It such a a let down as considering it supposed to be on of Biscayne's specials.
After such going through such large and savoury meals we looked for sweet comfort before we end our evening. We had choices of apple tatin, key lime tart, coconut candy bar, chocolate truffle torte, ice creams and sorbet, but we went for tahitian vanilla creme brûlée instead. Call us boring, but sometimes after few disappointments at the beginning, we'd rather go with the safe option at the end.
We found the creme brûlée as another 'okay' dish. We suspected it was not freshly made but it's a mix as the texture was rather heavy and floury. We didn't see the point of the short bread and the raspberry reserves were there for, but they went very well with a pot of green tea that we had at the end.
A rather expensive evening indeed, considering the price that we have paid and our disappointment topped with the fact the check arrived before we even asked. We would totally understand if the restaurant was packed with people queueing which it was not the case and the waiter purposely hovering about to make sure we pay immediately and leave. Very intimidating in our opinion. And as soon as we have paid, no after sale service whatsoever.
We would not recommend Biscayne to our readers to experience fine dining, as you would be disappointed. Unless of course you do not mind quick meal with a minimum service.
As usual, we started with campari and soda, while deciding what appetizers to have. So we could cover both ends, we chose to have something from the sea to start with, which were selection of sushi and griddled lump crab cakes accompanied by a glass of chardonnay and followed by Biscayne specials which were XXL Kobe Burger and 8 oz Fillet Mignon, creamed spinach and sauteed mushrooms, accompanied by a good bottle of Joseph Drouhin Gevrey Chambertin.
First to arrive were our starters. The sashimi looked okay, fresh-ish, but the sushi roll looked dry and almost falling apart. The crab cakes didn't smell very crab-ey but looked good. The presentation actually explained the taste of both appetizers. All of the components were there but not put together properly. The sushi rice was not polished, that's why it's dry and the sashimi were just stacked up on the side as if an unimportant part of the dish. The crab cakes weren't made with fresh crabs as we hardly taste the crab. And it was under seasoned too.. What a disappointing start. The only good thing that came out reasonably good on the first part of our meal was the chardonnay.
Disappointment did not end just there though. We ordered a bottle of Gevrey Chambertin. The first bottle that the waiter brought us was corked. Which he had the suspicion even before he opened it. Of course we asked it to be replaced. Thank goodness the second bottle was okay.
Happy with the wine, we're looking forward to our main courses. Fillet mignon was looking good, so did the kobe burger apart from the dark looking french fries. It looked as if it has been fried in an old oil. So we did not touch it. The burger was enough to handle as it was. Not forgetting the creamed spinach and mushrooms.
After such going through such large and savoury meals we looked for sweet comfort before we end our evening. We had choices of apple tatin, key lime tart, coconut candy bar, chocolate truffle torte, ice creams and sorbet, but we went for tahitian vanilla creme brûlée instead. Call us boring, but sometimes after few disappointments at the beginning, we'd rather go with the safe option at the end.
We found the creme brûlée as another 'okay' dish. We suspected it was not freshly made but it's a mix as the texture was rather heavy and floury. We didn't see the point of the short bread and the raspberry reserves were there for, but they went very well with a pot of green tea that we had at the end.
A rather expensive evening indeed, considering the price that we have paid and our disappointment topped with the fact the check arrived before we even asked. We would totally understand if the restaurant was packed with people queueing which it was not the case and the waiter purposely hovering about to make sure we pay immediately and leave. Very intimidating in our opinion. And as soon as we have paid, no after sale service whatsoever.
We would not recommend Biscayne to our readers to experience fine dining, as you would be disappointed. Unless of course you do not mind quick meal with a minimum service.
Biscayne Steak - Sea - Wine at Tropicana Las Vegas
3801 Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV -
Phone: + 1 702 739 2222
Website: www.troplv.com
Opening hours: Sunday - Thursday 5 PM - 10 PM, Friday - Saturday 5 PM - 11 PM
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