The day of our arrival at the Bellagio, we were celebrating my Wife's birthday. We chose to try Le Cirque for dinner. Two of our good Friends from California met us for dinner to celebrate, and two more were scheduled to arrive that night and possibly join us for dessert.
The venue is located at the front of the main floor overlooking the famous fountains. It is a very intimate setting with probably not more than 15 tables. The Decor is (surprise) reminiscent of an old circus tent with vibrant colors and overhanging draperies. Our waiter was a great gentleman originally from Beaune (Burgundy) with great flair and sense of humor to match :)
We started with cocktails. I stuck with one of my new faves: French 75. The wife ordered a Framboise (raspberry puree and champagne), Our friends had a Lychee martini and a margarita. Everyone loved their choices.
With the help from our new friend from Beaune, we selected a Nuits St Georges bottle of a Gran Cru burgundy that was superb. Everyone loved it! Even our friends who don't drink red wine that often.
For a starter, I chose to be daring and order the Escargots. My wife chose the Foie gras terrine with fruit chutney and Gewurztraminer jelly. Our friends had the Le Cirque lobster salad with truffle dressing.
My escargots were phenomenal. I usually don't order them because my previous experiences have been mixed. I was at Le Cirque, so I had to trust them this time, and they didn't disappoint. They had the right balance of buttery goodness along with the herb and garlic finish that lasted on your palate. My wife concurred. Her Foie gras terrine was good, but we have that so often that it had to be outstanding for us to comment on it. We felt the chutney was overly sweet for our palate. It's hard to do outstanding terrine all the time, so no fault there.
For the meal, Our friends ordered the sea bass paupillete and the Rabbit prepared three ways over a bed of mashed potatoes. My wife and I ordered the rabbit and the tenderloin with Foie gras and asparagus, respectively.
I did not have a chance to taste the fish dish, but the consensus was that is was very good.
I tried the rabbit dish and it was very well executed. The meat was tender and the rabbit flavor was very good without being too overpowering. The ravioli version (it was three different preparations of rabbit) was particularly good.
The tenderloin dish was probably the best meat dish I've experienced to date. The meat was perfectly seasoned, and the seared Foie gras on top added that extra level of decadence one can only feel "okay" doing in Vegas. (side dish? asparagus?). It was a puff pastry short of a magnificent beef wellington. Frankly, it didn't need it. It was decadent enough as is :) To be honest, I usually ignore tenderloin because they lack in flavor. My preferred cut of ribeye. This dish was the first time I've felt this happy about ordering tenderloin. It was buttery tender and the seasoning was out of this world. It probably was just plain sea salt and pepper, but it made the meat just perfect. Every sip of the Pinot made a great experience even better. My wife had a taste, made essentially the same comment I did, and kept coming back for more :) Overall, a wonderful dinner experience.
Our other friends made it to the hotel in time to meet us for dessert. By the time they met us, we had the place to ourselves. The staff was so gracious to accommodate our new arrival in our table they made us feel great. They chose an ice cream bomb presented in an ice sphere that looked awesome. Their smiles and rolled eyes confirmed it :) My wife had the creme brulee (she must have it everywhere) and I had a crepe suzette prepared with a grand marnier sauce that was right on the money.
By the time we finished, everyone had a big smile on their face. My wife was so happy everyone made it that could not stop smiling. It was as perfect of an evening as we could have hoped.
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