Q: I am a fan of Scott Conant from Chopped fame but I have to say the Las Vegas outpost of his iconic NYC restaurant just did not live up to the hype. I went with a group of guys and we ordered the tasting menu. They were nice enough to allow us to order it on a Friday night since it is usually not offered on that night of the week. We tasted 8 dishes for $110 pp. The quantity of food was great - really full at the end of the meal - but most of the dishes were just ok. The real highlight for me was the creamy polenta with truffled mushrooms. Wow, that was delicious. Probably the creamiest polenta I've ever had and it paired so nicely with the earthiness of the truffles and mushrooms. The chocolate cake served for the dessert course was also terrific, served with toasted almond gelato. Too bad I was so full by that time I could only have a couple of bites. Nothing else was particularly memorable. Disappointing for me was the restaurant's signature spaghetti - a seemingly simple preparation of pasta, fresh tomatoes and basil. It arrived very simply plated - a perfect cylinder mold of spaghetti covered by a clear plastic cloche that I suppose is meant to preserve the freshness of the preparation or perhaps to concentrate the aroma. The cloches are removed with a flourish releasing nice smells of tomato and basil. The pasta was a bit overcooked and the sauce, while wonderfully creamy (how do they do that?) was just too sweet, as if Chef Conant and Chef Boyardee had a bastard love-child. Another disappointment was the black cod. In the past I have found this fish to be among the most delicious owing to its high fat content and buttery texture and flavor. Scarpetta's rendition of this fish, pan-roasted with concentrated tomatoes and roasted fennel, was so overcooked that it was unrecognizable as black cod. Just a piece of fish. Other dishes were a bit more successful including the raw preparation of yellowtail and tuna, the diver scallops, the short rib/bone marrow agnolotti and the duck breast. The wine list is voluminous and expensive. The cocktail menu offers some nice selections. There is certainly a lot of eye candy to be enjoyed at this swank place in the Cosmo. However, one annoying thing was the lighting. Over every table there is a large fixture containing multiple yellow/gold colored lights. This lighting casts the food in a weird color and makes taking pictures of the food impossible. All the food looks bad in the pictures I took - I suppose that's no surprise that the pictures were a disappointment too. OPTIONS:
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A: negative

Q: Grounds are pretty, dated property. Therefore the greeting staff -- valet, bell men, front desk -- needs to be top notch: which they are not. No smiles, no warmth, impatient and unknowledgable when asked asked a basic question the street name parallel to the running/walking path. Get nice, people! There are many other resort options in the beautiful Valley of the Sun. OPTIONS:
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A: negative

Q: Remember eating here a couple years ago and the pho was really bland. Even though it's the closest pho place to my house, I'd rather make the trip to Pho 68 or De Vangs. OPTIONS:
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A: negative

Q: my friend and I went here during restaurant week. It was a Saturday night and they did become busy later in the evening. The food was fine. My complaint is that the portion size was smaller for the restaurant week menu. My friend ordered the extra salad and the extra dessert just to feel satisfied. Our waitress did not tell us about the reduced portion size, I overheard her telling another table who were debating between the regular menu and restaurant week. also my friend's fancy drink was not prepared correctly and the waitresses excuse was the bartender does not get many requests for that drink. OPTIONS:
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A:
negative