Places I've Eaten: SeaBlue

My parents recently took a trip to Las Vegas, where they ate at Michael Mina at the Bellagio. They had the cookbook tasting menu, and thoughtfully brought me back an autographed cookbook. Nice, right? Well, after hearing their rave reviews, Steph and I decided to hit up SeaBlue at the Borgata. Doing some previewing, nothing was really grabbing me off the tasting menu, but I figured that we couldn't go wrong with it, seeing that it was the same one my parents ate.

However, after a late lunch at Continental, and after looking at the tasting menu, Steph and I decided that we would pass and order from the regular menu.

Initial Impressions: Wide open, no intimacy whatsoever. Also, for a restaurant called SeaBlue, I didn't expect the decor to be in reds, oranges and browns. Our server was probably the most scarily perky and happy person I may have ever met. She asked us about drinks, we replied we wanted to figure out what we were ordering first . Her exact response: "I love food, and I love wine, and I love drinking and pairing food and wine!". Yowza.

Appetizers: I had the fried sampler trio, which consisted of lobster corndogs, soft shell crab with papaya salad and rock shrimp lettuce cups, paired with a 2007 Belle Vallee Pinot Gris that was surprisingly fruity. Steph had oysters, of course, 3 each of Kumamotos and Wallfleets, paired with a very tart and grapefruit-y 2007 Manifesto! Sauvignon Blanc. My app was pretty good, with the lobster corndogs being the highlight. It makes me want to go make some lobster sausage. I'll assume Steph's oysters were tasty, as she didn't offer me any (but, in full disclosure, I didn't offer her any of mine either).

Entrees: Steph got the medallions of ahi tuna with foie gras, shallot-potato cake and pinot noir sauce which was paired, unsprisingly, with a Ramsay Pinot Noir that Steph thought very highly of. As for me, I had the trio of steak, which consisted of filet mignon with foie gras and pinot noir sauce, strip steak with bearnaise, and a rib-eye with a lemon-butter sauce. Everything was cooked to perfection, and it was matched up with a 2005 Simi Cabernet that was a little more assertive than I prefer, but it was still tasty.

Dessert: Steph had the chocolate trio of chocolate mousse, flourless chocolate cake with bing cherries and molten chocolate cake with chocolate cookie crumbles. I tried the mousse, it was mellow and subtle, not very sweet. I had blueberry clafoutis, apricot ice cream and caramelized sponge cake. Not bad, the clafoutis was a bit runny, tasty though.

The verdict: Normally, when Steph and I look at menus, we drive ourselves crazy deciding what to order. Not so much at SeaBlue, unfortunately. The food was phenomenal, the wine was fantastic, and the service was great. I'd recommend it, but I don't think I'd dine there again.