I chose L'atelier as the restaurant for our first wedding anniversary as I figured it would be nice…read moreto celebrate a special day with an equally special meal. Being one of the few Michelin starred restaurants in vegas I figured we would be in for an incredible time.
Customer service was about as exceptional as you would hope it would be. The woman seating us did inform us that where we were sitting does typically experience a draft and might be cold, and that they had accommodations (likely a jacket or similar). She was right it did border on uncomfortably cold, however we just tolerated it. The rest of the staff was great, they explained things well, were quick, kept our counter area clean, and our drinks filled. No complaints here.
The restaurant itself feels similar to alot of other higher end restaurants with the very dim almost dark atmosphere, it was clean and well kept. Prior to arrival I did not know we would be sitting at a bar style counter which was most certainly not the vibe I was looking for to celebrate with each other, as you are seated right next to other people on either end and the bar counter feels very cramped once you get dishes coming and going. We did not care for this setup, it was said to be this way as an experience watching the kitchen staff prepare your food. From our seats and angle mainly the only thing we could see was the one guy whipping the potatoes all evening.
We had ordered the 9 course tasting menu for $255 per person. I requested the seafood to be substituted which they were able to accommodate, she ordered hers as it comes normally. The first thing we received was the bread, which despite looking very aesthetic it felt like nothing more special than anything you would receive at a mid tier chain restaurant, and there are some chains with bread I prefer over this.
First course was a layered foie gras foam, I know this is strong but we both absolutely hated it and felt it set a terrible tone for the meal.
Second for me was a take on a salad tomato with guacamole and other veggies with a sauce, her second was a small glass with caviar and lobster, these were both fine.
Third was a corn themed soup that I found to be very good, the presentation, and flavor was top notch. Her third was a friend wonton type of langoustine. She said it was good but nothing special.
Fourth up for me was a soft boiled egg with cheese crisps, and for her a scallop in some kind of sauce or foam, she said this was the best course of the evening. I thought mine was boring, bland, and underwhelming although it looked nice.
Fifth was a foie gras ravioli for both of us, we both disliked this dish.
Sixth was quail legs stuffed with foie gras for me, and a salmon or branzino dish for her. They told me mine was a house specialty, I thought it was bland, under seasoned, and generally unappealing. Again she said hers was good but nothing outstanding.
Seventh was the main entree, you get to select this from a choice of 3, we both picked the ribeye. I understand this is not a steakhouse but for a main entree at a Michelin restaurant, it was disappointing to say the least, meat was on the tougher side and undercooked from how we ordered it, the flavor was good though. The famous mashed potatoes had an insane texture but the flavor was mediocre just tasting like a stick of butter.
8th and 9th were the dessert courses, first was a tart cherry sorbet, and second was a complex yuzu ice cream dish. She really enjoyed the cherry tart one, and I thought the yuzu one was the star of the entire evening. I would return solely to get that, it was absolutely spectacular. We were gifted a trio of little pieces slice desserts, all three were good but not as special as the yuzu dessert. The final thing we were given was 2 macarons to go. I ended up thinking the macaron was my second favorite thing I ate all night. It is a shame we spent as much as we did for my favorite bites to both be desserts. Also after leaving she had mentioned that it bothered her that none of the dishes were hot and only room temperature at best, I did not notice until she had said it.
In summary for as much as we paid, there were very few standout dishes, and we both left fairly disappointed having had just a few good bites of food while sitting at a cold, and unpersonal bar to celebrate. Maybe it was an off night but with prices like this, that to me would be unacceptable. Most of the dishes we had felt unimpressive, bland, and just relatively uninteresting, the most interesting thing about some of the dishes was the waiters ability to memorize the descriptions.
If you have money to splurge on things like this frequently, I would recommend you try it as your experience may be better than ours. However if this meal is an extremely special or once in a lifetime type of meal, I would unfortunately recommend you find somewhere different.