Joel Robuchon at the Mansion is a high end restaurant located at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Winner of many five-star awards and notable mention on forbes, Joel Robuchon delivers some of the best food Las Vegas has to offer. I brought Robin here to finish up 2009 in style. We were the first to arrive and our stay spanned five hours. They say it is formal and that a jacket is required, but I did notice several patrons simply wearing collared shirts. The decor is largely done up in a purple theme with cathedral ceilings, ginormous chandeliers, and lots of artwork. Each table has a handful of small pieces of silver metal pieces. The candles are fake due to some restriction to have real candles in Vegas restaurants. Water is served only from a bottle and is left at the table. We began with wine and bread. Robin had Riesling and I had port–a good size glass I might add for port. The bread selection featured more bread than I had ever seen in a restaurant! They keep bringing it all day long until you ask them to take your plate away. Robin did the six course menu and I did the Menu Degustation. They started us off with caviar and crab; I was a bit scared at first having never tried caviar but it was awesome. I enjoyed the black truffles which are most abundant around January in France. Robin had a side of mashed potatoes that were almost soft as a thick cheesy soup–incredible. The veal chop was extremely tender. After dinner, they rolled out a cheese trolley. There was a very strong odor emanating from the various cheeses, most of which cannot be bought in this country. One of our cheese picks had rosemary and various herbs around the edges of it. My favorite was a toss up between the fuji apple confit dessert and the yuzu macarons. Should you decide to dine here, I say bon appetit!
Wines
Robin had 2001 Reisling and I had 1995 Colheita Port. The port was a very tasty and generous portion!
Bread Selection
A vast selection of complimentary bread
Part I: Menu Degustation
Le Caviar
en fine gelée de corail anisée, servie en surprise
Caviar on a fennel cream served as a surprise
La Truffe Noire
en duo mêlé de pomme ratte comme un carpaccio aux copeaux de foie gras
Shaved black truffles and potatoes, topped with foie gras carpaccio
La Symphonie de Truffe
une tarte friande aux oignons confits, champignon en macaron mitonné dans un bouillon au jarret de veau, une gelée chaude de poule tremblotante
Crispy truffle tart with onion confit, paris mushroom broth with veal ravioli, trembling chicken royale
La Saint-Jacques
la noix poêlée, lait de coco épicé et un condiment de coriandre fraîche
Seared scallops, spiced coconut’s milk and fresh coriander condiment
Les Crustacés
L’Oursin, zéphyr lacté et fleuri d’un nuage tout moka, le homard rôti au curry et fines graines de chou-fleur, langoustine croustillante à la menthe poivrée
Delicate flan of sea urchin with mocha foam, crispy peppermint flavored langoustine, roasted lobster with green curry
I almost ate the starfish and then found out it was decorative.
Le Riz
pilaf à la saveur d’une "Paëlla" avec une fricassee de grenouille et une rapée de tartuffi di Alba
Paella style pilaf rice, fricassee of frog legs and shaved tartuffi di Alba
La Châtaigne
un fin velouté soyeux sur un voile virtuel de lard fumé
Delicate chestnut cream with smoked lardons foam
Le Bar
poêlé à la citronnelle avec une étuvée de jeunes poireaux
Pan-fried sea bass with a lemon grass and stewed baby leeks
Le Veau
en côte cuit au plat avec un gel d’herbes fraîches et une mêlée de courgette aux pistaches
Sauteed veal chop with herb gelee, zucchini and fresh pistachios
I mistook the herb gelee for a green bean. It was supposed to complement the veal chop. The pistachios were rolled up in very thinly sliced and baked zucchini; a very nice touch.
Le Soja
les pousses cuites comme un risotto aux zestes de citron vert et ciboulette
Risotto of soybeans sprouts, lime zest and chives
Les Fruits Exotiques
en cocktail aux parfums des îles, sorbet au yogourt
Exotic fruit cocktail, yogurt sorbet
La Fuji
pomme confite au granité Calvados, crème à la confiture de lait
Fuji apple confit with Calvados granite, dulce de leche
Part II: Six Course Menu
The Six Course also began with Le Caviar surprise as shown earlier. It also had a vegetarian version of the aforementioned La Châtaigne, but since it looked the same, I omitted the picture.
Le King Crabe
Le King Crabe en duo d’avocat dans un cæur de romaine relevé à l’huile d’olive coraillée
King Crab, avocado in a heart of romaine and olive oil with coral
La Sole
La Sole, cuite au beurre salé, petites capucines et girolles
Sole, cooked in salted butter, capers and roasted chanterelles
Le Turbot
Le Turbot et poulpe aux fins aromates avec un jus de citronnelle, jeunes poireaux et artichaut
Turbot filet, octopus with lemon grass, baby leek and artichoke
Mashed Potatoes Side
purée de pommes de terre
Mashed Potatoes
Cheese Selection
A vast selection of cheeses
Les Fromages/Cheeses
The picks from the cheese trolly.
Le Chocolat
Le Chocolat, Grand cru, rafraîchi à la glace Arabica aux grains de café torréfiés
Coffee ice cream, melting chocolate cake, roasted Arabica crunch
Notice the decorated the dessert with coffee beans painted purple and a veil-like surrounding.
Mignardise Selection
A whole galaxy of mignardises!
Mignardises
We took all the Yuzu Macarons!
Yuzu Macaron
An intimate encounter with Joel Robuchon’s yuzu macaron
Le Moka - Le Thé
escortés de mignardises
accompanied by affectation
The Bill
If there’s anything worth doing, its worth doing right.
Tasting menus start at $89 and work their way up to $215. Then they have the degustation for $385 which many might assume to be overboard; don’t kid yourself, it’s a lot of food! So unless you have a football player size appetite like me, you’d do just fine with the four course or the six course tasting. Joel Robuchon is a once in a lifetime experience and I wouldn’t take it back for anything in the world. I highly recommend dining here. Five Stars! Bravo!
Joel Robuchon at the Mansion
3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109-4319
(702) 891-7777
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