— Originally posted on Yelp on 9/8/09 —
It was restaurant week so I thought I’d give Bradley Ogden a shot and I’m disappointed that I haven’t tried this place sooner. I actually enjoyed this place more than my dinner at Daniel Boulud Brasserie a few nights before. The atmosphere, while not as elegant as DB Brasserie, felt more warm and inviting. We were seated at a cozy 2-top in the front half of the restaurant. I appreciate the fact that they space out the tables as to give diners a little privacy. Many places will cram in as many tables as possible, leaving diners about a foot apart from their neighbors (and I hate it when larger patrons have to squeeze by and their big ass knocks into my beverage).
We ordered the prix-fixe restaurant week menu (which is also available on a nightly basis as their pre-theater menu).
FIRST COURSE
– Blue cheese souffle: smaller than I thought they would be. They look like 2 little muffins. The plating was nice and the flavors were great. The blue cheese souffle matched with the figs was fabulous.
– Yellow corn soup: as good as the blue cheese souffle was, this was even better. Creamy, yet not too thick or watery with a little bit of a kick from the spiced popcorn.
MAIN COURSE
– Alaskan halibut: one of the better fish dishes I’ve had recently — delicate and flakey, tremendous flavor. I’m usually not a big fan of bok choy, but it went well with the fish.
– Pork loin: this dish had 2 sizable cuts of pork, both very tender and tasty. The star of this dish was the potato croquettes. There were only about three of them but I could have eaten a whole plate full of them. Fabulous!
DESSERT
– PB&J bread pudding: tasted much better than I thought it would. Subtle hints of peanut butter, not too overpowering. Warm, moist and delicious.
– White chocolate panna cotta: light, creamy, not too sweet. Accompanied with fresh berries. It was a really good dessert.
– Butterscotch pudding: loved it! It was a great way to end the meal.
The service was really good. Very buttoned-up and formal with the way they clear dishes and silverware between courses. I guess I don’t know enough about fine-dining because I asked the server to bring me a new fork for my halibut. They were so quick to swap out silverware that I thought the small fork left on the table was the salad fork. It wasn’t. It was a fork specifically for a fish dish. As the server pointed out it had three prongs like Neptune’s trident and was designed to pair perfectly with the delicateness (is that a word?) of the fish. I’m an idiot for not knowing that. The server still brought out a regular fork, which I used. By the end of the night our server finally seemed to loosen up and joke around a little bit. Before that point he was a little too formal (all the servers wear suits which just adds to the stiffness of the service). A little personality always adds to the experience in my opinion.
Great restaurant, great food, service, and atmosphere.
4.5 stars
— Updated below: 9/5/11 —
We decided on a last minute dinner for Restaurant Week (dinner for $50.11 each), but couldn’t get a babysitter. Hoping for the best, we brought our 3.5 year old to Bradley Ogden. Eating dinner at six was the perfect time — very few patrons in the restaurant and we were able to get a booth for the three of us.
Service and food were fabulous. The twice baked maytag blue cheese souffle was better than we remembered. The presentation was also different than it was two years ago… an improvement in my opinion.
The pork loin was a large portion of swine atop a corn succotash, fingerling potatoes and mustard greens. The free range chicken was a beautiful dish served with heirloom tomato flatbread, falafel and basil yogurt. Unfortunately, the chicken was dry. They don’t have a kid’s menu, but the waiter offered to bring out some chicken poppers — fried chunks of chicken — that he said was on their lounge menu.
Desserts were delicious. The chocolate pudding served with candied peanuts, frozen caramel souffle and chocolate rice crispies was my favorite — rich and creamy. The bananas foster cake was a tasty mix of macerated bananas, spice cake, chocolate clusters, cream cheese and ice cream. We were also given a complimentary foursome of ice cream — goat cheese and strawberry, caramel, vanilla bean, and chocolate. The goat cheese flavor was mild and paired beautifully with the strawberries. The vanilla was exquisite and the other two were wonderful, as well. If that wasn’t enough, they ended the meal with shot glasses of a butterscotch budini topped with espresso beans. As much as I love sweets, I definitely hit my limit and couldn’t finish everything. That’s possibly a first for me with desserts.
What made this experience truly outstanding was the service. Our waiter and other staff members were warm and welcoming even though we had a three year old with us — an uncommon experience for upscale dining. Our waiter made great recommendations for our son, like the chicken poppers and a strawberry slushy that he couldn’t get enough of. He also brought out an impromptu wine flight for my wife when she couldn’t decide what to drink with her entree. It was three glasses of wine, each with a generous pour considering it was just a tasting.
There are rumors that Bradley Ogden will soon be closing. Rumors which our waiter said were most likely untrue. I hope he’s right because I’d gladly come here again. With its combination of great American cuisine and wonderful, genuinely friendly service, it’s safe to say that this is one of my favorite Vegas restaurants.
4.5 stars
Caesar’s Palace
3570 Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 731-7413
