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Image 1: Located in the biggest hotel in the world, the MGM Grand in Vegas.
www.mgmgrand.com/robuchon
Degustation (16+ courses): $450 6-course: $240 3-course: $160
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For those who want to escape from the casino action, or for those who just had a few lucky hands, this grand entrance to a world of gastronomy is the perfect spot.
Image 3: The name Robuchon speaks for itself. Our first encounter of this legendary chef's cooking was in L'Atelier London.
Image 4: This is one of the very few restaurants achieving the highest ratings in all of the country's most influential rating guides.
Image 5: Since then, this lavish Michelin 3-star version of Robuchon's was on our radar. It is the only 3-star in Vegas ever as Michelin has discontinued the red guide for this city.
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A mysterious lounge for pre-dinner drinks!
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The restaurant isn't big at all. A small classy dining room with a big chandelier as the centrepiece.
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And a few more tables along the grass wall on one side. The grass wall definitely reminded me of other L'Ateliers.
Image 9: Four of us ordered the 6-course dinner. There were at least two choices for each course, so we pretty much tried everything on their menu.
Image 10: Wow, look at this bread trolley. It was the most impressive bread presentation.
Image 11: What a luxurious presentation for an amuse bouche! As labelled on the plague, this is Le Caviar. Spectacular!
Image 12: Pâté of crab layered with fennel jelly then blanketed with caviar. The taste was even better than the look. A wonderful flavour from the sea to begin our extravagant dinner.
Image 13: How did they make a salad that attractive?! King crab, avocado, and slices of abalone resting in a heart of romaine decorated with a coral dressing. An artistically arranged salad with moist flaky crab, creamy avocado, and a slice of remarkably tender abalone.
Image 14: An interesting tic-tac-toe plate with black sand and sea shell décor along the diagonal. Served on the shell were six roasted clams in seaweed butter garnished with buck wheat tuile.
Image 15: The flavour coming out from each bite of the clam, plus the crunchiness from the tuile, along with a distinct seaweed aroma carrying throughout the dish -- a truly amazing starter!
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A creamy chestnut velouté topped with a smoked lardons foam.
Image 17: Swimming inside the soup were cubes of silky foie gras. Creamy and rich! The smokiness from the foam further enhanced this tasty soup.
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Now onto the main courses, starting with seafood.
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A meticulous dish-side gold dusted painting of a lobster!
Image 20: Hidden underneath thin slices of daikon was a poached whole spiny lobster tail soaked in a sea urchin broth with seaweed. A bit surprised to see such a strong Japanese influence but we always have appetite when it comes to fresh lobsters!
Image 21: Pan fried fillet of turbot accompanied by slices of octopus, artichoke, and baby leek garnished with an exotic lemongrass foam. I loved the variety of textures in this course!
Image 22: A pair of beautiful pink strip of duck breast served with seared foie gras and caramelized figs. The foie gras and the figs paired well, but I was confused about the grapefruit sauce. The acidity worked for the rich foie gras but the bitter aftertaste was annoying. The meat was juicy by itself and definitely needed no fruity sauce. Not convinced about this grapefruit sauce!
Image 23: As expected after the main course, they rolled out the cheese trolley with a large selection of cheese from France.
Image 24: For dessert, we tried all four choices on the menu. First up was Tahitian vanilla pineapple compote and peanut ice cream.
Image 25: Then, a stunning glassware with chilled orange and caramel sabayon topped with Ceylon Pekoe tea ice cream.
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Another "well-dressed" dessert.
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A shot glass layered with passion fruit, fresh aloe, and cheese cake at the bottom.
Image 28: And our last dessert, coffee ice cream smothered by a layer of white chocolate cream with warm melting dark chocolate underneath sprinkled with roasted Arabica crunch. All of us enjoyed every dessert!
Image 29: OMG, an impressive petits-fours trolley to conclude a high quality meal. At this point, I wished to have another stomach just for sweets.
Image 30: Of course, a small box of sweet as souvenir!
From all of our Robuchon's experience around the world, there is one thing you can always find in his restaurant -- delicious food!