Bernard M.'s Profile

Superb experience.  My wife and I enjoyed L'Atelier from the beginning to the end.  The small dishes were excellent and the main courses, such as the  quail stuffed with foie gras, were tasty.  Definitely will be visiting again.

It's Vegas, so I didn't care about the price so much.  This rating is purely about the food... well, I think all my reviews are.  The sushi was mediocre.  The rice was too moist for sushi rice... all 16 pieces I ate.    The fish and cuts weren't good either.  Strike one.

The salad dressing was a soy sauce-based dressing that was too salty... and I'm an Asian American that even loves soy sauce poured directly on my rice. Strike two.

Their sukiyaki was lame.  The base sauce was too salty again and their beef was either chunks of flank steak or a tough tenderloin.  Cheap beef cuts when sukiyaki is traditionally thinly sliced beef (preferably sirloin) is strike three.

One saving grace was their teriyaki sea bass, which was good but not great.  But this was not enough, so I'm not going back here.

Their meats are ok to good, but nothing was really exceptional.  Their salad/side bar was good.  Probably the best churrascaria place in the peninsula, but mediocre compared to other places in the U.S. But I would still eat here every week if my wife let me :)

The first time we came here we ordered four dishes.   Three were okay and one was pretty tasty.  The second time we went we ordered three dishes (my wife has been ordering me to cut down on my food intake:) and all three were so-so.

The food is okay if you're hungry, but there are better choices if you really want good Chinese food.

We love visiting Domaine Chandon. Yes, it's a large commercial vineyard, but the atmosphere and landscape is excellent.  More importantly, Etoile Restaurant is a solid place.  The portions are small, but the taste is good to great.  Their dayboat scallops are tasty, tenderloin is okay to good, and their fish dishes are generally great.  And of course, their wine and sparkling wine is excellent.

We've tried their tasting menu, which is great, and going a la carte is good too, especially if you want to eat light during your tour of Napa.

Decent place.  The decor and scene is great, so maybe a light meal and drinks is worth it.  Otherwise I would say the food was 'eh' to okay.  Nothing really grabbed my taste buds.  We tried all the main courses and many of the appetizers.  Not one "yummm..." came out of my wife's mouth or mine.

My one strong criticism is their short ribs.  How can you mess up short ribs?  The dish was plain and not tender.  Not horrible, but if the short ribs aren't at least tender then you don't know how to do it.

Ming's is OK.  Nothing really stands out.  Of course I kept eating and eating, but it had nothing that really satisfied me.  Maybe this is why I'm chunky?  Even though I'm not satisfied or even critical of the food, I'll still eat it.

Anyway, their shau lon pau is not shau lon pau. It's regular dumplings.  Almost like Korean mandu (beef dumplings). Oh, how I miss Hong Kong or Shanghai!

Fuki Sushi is solid.  Their sushi is pretty good.  Their small plates are okay to good.  Their sukiyaki and shabu shabu are 'eh'.  It's close to home and convenient.

One big plus is that they serve shishamo (grilled smelt), which many Japanese restaurants in the U.S. don't have.  I love shishamo... head, fish eggs, tail and all.  My wife gets grossed out, but I grew up eating it with my dad.

I am a spam lover.  I grew up frying spam with heavy pepper and eating it with rice.  I put it in my kimchi stew and sometimes ate it raw.  All this stopped when I got married.

I love plate lunch.  When I go to Hawaii, the first thought that comes into my mind is "plate lunch."  Spicy shrimp plate lunch from great places on the islands is to die for.  Kalua pork I would bathe in.  Mahi Mahi plates I lust after.

So going to L&L was let down.  I didn't expect much, but it was still a let down.  I still might go here for lunch when my memory demands a taste to tease, but probably not often.

While Bay Area Korean places are typically bad to mediocre, this place is good enough.  Their soon doobu (soft tofu) is tasty most of the time, and their hottest flavoring is hot enough.  The side dishes can go through an upgrade, but it's the Bay Area.

Not a BBQ joint, but their bulgogi and pork bulgogi is decent to fill an empty stomach.  I still miss places in Seoul...