What to order at Rosemary's?

[siam]

The menu at Rosemary's doesn't really knock my socks off, but the consistent reviews here on Chowhound do. So on our next trip, we will have dinner there (in addition to Picasso and LOS). What should we order?

[GroovinGourmet]

Can't disagree with any of the comments so far, 'cept the Hugo's BBQ Shrimp dissenter. :D

That is one of their most popular dishes, and highly recommended by this Rosemary's fan.

Other standouts that I haven't seen mentioned are the Twice Baked Parmesan Souffle (now prepped with Golden Chanterelles & Roasted Garlic Crema...YUM); the Prosciutto Wrapped Sonoma Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs; the Wilted Spinach Salad with Port Wine Shallots, Goat Cheese Cake, Spiced Pecans & Sherry Mustard Dressing; the Grilled Veal Tenderloin with French Green Lentils, Apple Smoked Bacon & a Sherry Mustard Butter Sauce; and my first entree (at the old Rio location), the Crispy Skin Striped Bass with Andouille, Rock Shrimp & Fingerling Potato Hash, Hushpuppies & Creole Meuniere Sauce.

With all that going on I can't figure for the life of me how somebody would not be impressed with the menu, but hopefully it will all become clear when you take your first bite of each dish you choose.

I'm up to 50 or so visits to Rosemary's in the last few years, and only 1 dish has failed to totally WOW.

[GroovinGourmet]

I stand corrected. I feel obliged to address the demi-glace dissenter as well.

How many dishes have you had at Rosemary's. What have you had?

A perusal of the latest menu reveals the following sauces and such (my faves in all caps...SCHWING!):

Port Wine Drizzles*
Lemon Caper Beurre Blanc
Saffron Sauce Emulsified Ravigote Sauce
Roasted Garlic Crema
Sherry Mustard Dressing
Roasted Onion Vinaigrette
Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette
Balsamic Extraction
Rosemary Bordelaise Sauce
Porcini Broth
Infused White Truffle Oil
Creole Mustard Reduction Sauce
Dijonaisse Sauce
CHIVE MUSCADET BUTTER SAUCE
Sherry Mustard Butter Sauce
Rosemary’s Own Steak Sauce
Creole Meuniere Sauce
Parmesan Cream Sauce
SMOKED TOMATO BUTTER SAUCE

*Port Wine Syrup shows up in at least a couple of dishes each menu rotation, but what's not to like.

While it is possible you might have orderered a number of dishes with brownish sauces, I strongly doubt that many if any were made with demi-glace.

[Frodnesor]

GG - I linked to my comments from our visit last year where I listed what we ordered, and I think both my post above and the one I linked to indicated it was our first visit. The menu has indeed changed some since a year ago. Nonetheless, when we visited, the caramelized shallot sauce for the sweetbreads, the au poivre for the tuna, and the bordelaise with the rack of lamb were all nicely executed but overwhelmingly similar. And again, as I pointed out, I'll concede this may have been due to some poorly planned ordering on our part.

As I also pointed out, we enjoyed the place, thought it was a good value, welcomed the break from the sometimes wearying vibe of the strip, and loved 50% off wine on Sunday. However I didn't think it was quite as good as all the raves here and elsewhere led me to expect. I'll put it this way - I did not feel compelled to make it one of the places we'll go to on our next visit coming up next month.

[GroovinGourmet]

Thanks for the clarification. And if everyone felt compelled to go to Rosemary's, you couldn't get in the place. Have a great trip, and good luck with your meals, though I'll bet the house that (unless your dropping 5x the coin it takes to dine at Rosemary's) the food quality will be happenstance and the service will leave you wishing for more.

[Frodnesor]

Yet again, I'm not knocking Rosemary's, but I'd happily take that bet.
Last trip we did L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Bouchon, and Rosemary's, and Rosemary's was the only one which left me in any sense disappointed.

We spent about 2.5x at L'Atelier which was one of the greatest meals I've ever had. We spent about 1.3x at Bouchon and it was faultless on food and service - and it probably would have cost roughly the same as Rosemary's if not for 50% off wine on Sunday. And most of that difference is probably made up for by the cost of the cab.

[CoffeeMan]

Hi, Siam -- great question and the replies are mouth-watering.
One favor: could you edit (or keep in mind for next time) your hedder to say "... Rosemary's in Las Vegas" or LV, to give scanners like me a clue as to the city this place is in? thanks!.

[Frodnesor]

We went to Rosemary's on our last LV visit with very high expectations given the lavish praise here, and were somewhat underwhelmed. Comments are here ->
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/353029

The best dish I had was the sweetbreads. From looking at the current menu, it appears the preparation is now different.

My primary gripe (and maybe it was the way I ordered) was that every dish seemed to have as its primary component a demi-glace based sauce, which (1) was rather heavy; and (2) gave each dish a "sameness" that made them less interesting.

Having said that, everything was good, was nicely prepared, and the place is a relative bargain by LV standards and also a relief from the glam and glitz of the strip. If you go, I highly recommend you do so on Sunday for 50% off wine night.

[themis]

I am a dissenter, as far as the BBQ shrimp appetizer. I was very disappointed in it -- the shrimp were large and fresh, to be sure, but the sauce seemed to takes of nothing but lots of salt and dark roux. It wasn't what I expected.

I was, however, blown away by their lemon icebox pie. That was some high-impact flavor! It's now the high water mark for me, for lemon desserts.

I'm a wine girl, normally, but at Rosemary's they've put just as much thought into pairing their courses with beers. You can tell your server you're open to such a thing, if you enjoy a good brew.

Go hungry. We'd made the mistake of filling up at Lindo Michoacan earlier in the day, and I still regret that.

[Jess321]

I ordered the tasting menu when I was there back in June (it was a Wednesday and that's "ladies night" where women dine for 50% off-I've never been so glad to be female in my whole life! haha) and it was one of the most delicious experiences I've ever had. I'm having a hard time remembering what was in it, but I believe some of the courses were: Salmon Tartar, Hugo's BBQ Shrimp, some type of steak that I maybe had room for one or two bites of, at least one other course and then the dessert platter that followed the steak, of which i barely got a few bites in before wanting to explode. We had them pack up the rest of the dessert which they gladly did, as well as boxing up the complimentary dessert truffley-things they gave us. Also, there was an amuse bouche (Sp?) at the beginning, but I don't recall what it was.

When I could barely only eat one or two bites of my steak, the server informed me that he's seen MAYBE one or two people actually finish the steak course, let alone the dessert course when they ordered the tasting menu, so just keep that in mind and make sure that if you order it (which you should because it's delicious!) to save room for the following courses, as everything is so tasty that it's easy to go overboard and eat every last crumb. Enjoy your visit! Be sure to report back on what you had.

[azbirdiemaker]

As mentioned, the BBQ shrimp app is very tasty as well as the carpaccio if available. The lemon icebox pie is an outstanding end to the meal. The entrees tend to rotate quite a bit but you can't really go wrong. For the money, it's the best restaurant in the area IMO.

[Debbie W]

I really enjoy the salmon tartare appetizer, which is very generously portioned. I tend to stick with that. My husband had a salad with duck that he loved. Many folks recommend the bbq shrimp with blue cheese slaw, I might've had that at the now-defunct outpost at the Rio, think it was very good. I've tried various entrees and enjoyed them all - halibut, scallops, rack of lamb, hangar steak. I'm not really sure that you can go wrong, actually. I also love their "House Manhattan" made with Knob Creek bourbon and a bunch of other goodies, if you're into cocktails.