PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

There are many, many steakhouses in Vegas, as if there were some natural law stating that any hotel without one will suffer from entropy and eventually collapse into a black hole. Discerning palates know there can be a significant difference between steakhouses; discerning wallets might not care. If you find yourself among the former, do try Charlie Palmer's, probably the best of the costlier shrines to beef. Those with the latter can be reassured that with entrees weighing in at around 22 to 45 ounces each, diners can legitimately -- and in the name of decency ought to -- share portions, which makes this a much more affordable experience than it might appear at first glance. And why not? Those enormous slabs o' meat are as tender as anything because with the big bucks, you do get the best cuts. We prefer the flavorful rib-eye to the other favorite, the Kansas City. Be sure to try the spinach salad topped with truffled fried egg and warm bacon vinaigrette as a starter (it gets a plus for presentation), and split sides like citrus-braised asparagus or a truffled potato purée (we are such suckers for what we call \"gourmet baby food\"). Desserts are stylish creations, and the entire thing is set in a generic fancy Vegas restaurant space that can be a bit noisy and crowded, so if romance is on the agenda, ask for one of the two-person tables in the back. Charlie Palmer, by the way, is the chef mind behind Aureole on the other side of Mandalay Bay; this makes two-for-two for this one celeb chef.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Las Vegas 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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