RM Seafood’s TOP CHEF Rick Moonen continues to woo clients with amazing displays of fish and seafood creativity beyond the usual surf and burf of Las Vegas. World-reknown for his committment to sustainable seafood, and authenticity, Moonen finds just the right balance of natural, organic herbs and produce to accent the seasonal offerings from the nets of fisherman around the world. Everything is flown in or delivered daily, prepared to your liking and plated to perfection.
Regular visits to RM will persuade you to try it all, but please, not at one sitting as we found last night.
Our first course was the Tower of Fisha??? (aka: Kitchen Sink) layered from bottom platter to top with sauces, oysters,mussels, calamari, shrimp and lobster and finally, topped with more lobster.
While we might have stopped there, the menu lured us with appetizers and starters including the corn and New England (white) Chowder, declared the best Chowdah outside Boston by a Celtics fan, A BLT salad with so much Maytag Blue Cheese there was a chunk for every bite!
Our main courses included Fish and Chips Moon-en style enough to feed two, Halibut on a bed of corn and fava beans, Swordfish graced with artichokes and fennel in a spicy tomato and secret ingredient (strawberry maybe) broth, Scallops the size of boulders amidst thin strands of pasta, and more lobster… Our sides included mac and cheese and asparagus perfectly blanched.
The wine list is carefully selected to match the flavors, budgets and tastes of the clientele, (but this night we stuck with simple versions of H2O, as some of our guests had allergies involving wine and shellfish. )
The service from Heather, was spectacular, from the menu suggestions to the delivery, we never once found an empty glass or plate sitting too long or wanted for more.
The deserts didn’t miss our tasting review, but we had limited reserve for but two, so we chose carefully; Rocky Road Brownie surprise, (I won’t ruin the surprise) trust me there is plenty of chocolate to tip the scale and Strawberry Shortcake with a dash of sherbert. My only comment (wish) was for more freshly-whipped cream to go with the just-baked shortcake, but who had room? The desert menu also features an unusual sight for Las Vegas, but not surprising from the detail infused Moonen, a tea menu featuring Puerh, Oolong and Green tea brewed from the leaf.
The portions were reasonable for the price, another nice surprise for a Vegas celebrity chef haunt. I wish we had tried the sushi, but alas, that too can be another reason to visit again. Don’t forget to sneak a peek at the RM Fish cookbook, voted #1 by Epicurean.com, a great tome for those afraid of cooking fish at home when they can’t get to Mandalay Bay often enough. Get a personally autographed copy while you are there,(makes a nice house-guest gift!)
I can’t wait to come back one night for the RM 5 course tasting menu, I hear is awesome, upstairs in the ship-like cavern open tuesday-sat. for dinner only. Stay tuned for more Reservations Required restaurant reviews.
