Tasted: 2/4/2012,11/8/2012
Accompanying Drink: Pellegrino, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
I am revising this review after my 4th trip to Vegas and to Olives, because it’s fresh in my mind.
Olives is famous for their Carpaccio, if you look around the tables on a busy lunch or dinner hour (it’s almost always busy there), you will see an order on probably 50% of the tables. And for good reason. This carpaccio is presently standing atop of the ratings with 10 capers.
The price for this delectable dish is currently $18, but if it were on the menu for $30 I would still order it and make a point to visit Olives on every trip to Vegas.
The dish is huge, and they don’t skimp so the issue I have is, when doing a review and eating the whole thing by myself, by the end of the dish I am scraping some of the balsamic reduction off. If I were sharing the dish with another person, the amount of dressing would be perfect because I would be exposed to less.
The reduction is perfect in itself, it’s just a liberal application. So in essence, this rendering really treads the line between perfect and over-dressed, but the dressing is so fantastic I am willing to let it slide.
As a side note, it’s worth saying that no matter how good the recipe template, each dish like this relies heavily upon the individual assembling it. One dash too heavy on the garlic or the balsamic and the dish is unbalanced and ruined.
I doubt there are official names for the dressings so I’ll just refer to them as “green sauce”, “white sauce”, and the balsamic reduction. I found it very interesting that you are hit with a strongish garlic flavor from these sauces but the best part is that it does not linger. It cuts off like a fine dry wine. To be honest I’ve never had that experience before, usually when you have a strong garlic dish it lingers in your mouth until you brush your teeth 5 times. Very cool.
If you look closely you will see a very fine fresh cracked pepper. You can taste it but barely see it because it’s so fine. Very nice job in application. In the center, buried under a mound of arugula is a corn muffin of some sort. I personally did not care for it, it’s nothing like corn bread because it was tart and not sweet, but I’m certain they were not intending for it to be sweet or they would have gotten it right. So, that remained on the plate when I was done but I’m sure it is a good complement to some people’s palettes.
Also over the arugula is a hefty squeeze of lemon. It was a nice change to the sweetness of the meat while I worked my way into the arugula. Potent tangy lemon and the addition of the Parmesan. The cheese was perfect, not over pungent, not too little or too much. A dash of finely cut parsley tops it off.
There are 3 roasted onions on the plate as well. It lends an upscale look but in my opinion they are out of place and I don’t eat them for fear of tainting my palette.
So next time you make it to Vegas I highly recommend stopping by Olives and having this dish. In the warmer weather you can sit outside on the patio overlooking the fountains and catch a water show if they’re running.
Score: 10 Capers
Todd English’s Olives – in the Bellagio
3600 South Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Phone: (702) 693-8181