Ever since the Pandemic, there has been a lot of changes around the world. Not just in one area, or one category, I mean everywhere.
Still, I don't think Las Vegas hotels and restaurants should be one of these. Especially when Las Vegas is hitting record numbers every month. Most hotels and restaurants in Las Vegas are so understaffed and sub par when it comes to quality and service, it's kind of ridiculous now.
This past weekend, after returning from our Tecopa, Pahrump vacation, we checked in to Aria to stay here for a few days. We had 1 standard room and 1 room at the Sky Suites. Thankfully, the rooms were not bad this time. Not perfect ( Our standard room at Aria could have been cleaned better ) But we are so used to this sub par quality now, we didn't even bother to complain this time.
As soon as you get off the elevator to the Sky Suites, you know that you are in a different area of the Hotel. The furniture for the most part is very similar to the standard rooms, but the structure, paint, design, amenities, definitely an upgrade And of course you get access to the lounge where refreshments are updated throughout the day, and the espresso machine is actually pretty good. The Restaurants however, a different story.
Let's start with Jean George's Steakhouse. I had to try JG this time because the last few people who I referred here were not too happy with the taste here. Jean George's Steakhouse is the only steak house where I ordered a whole Steak dinner right after finishing one because it was so good. This was years ago, way before the Pandemic of course. For starters, we were already on a bad start because we normally get the scallops when we come here, but they took that off of the menu. So we started with the Oysters and a Sashimi plate. Ok, I know, what am I doing ordering Sashimi at steak house. I was not expecting super high end fish, but I was not expecting this horrible quality either. The salmon was about 2 days passed discarding time, the yellowtail was already discolored, and of course they served us frozen Tuna, which was as dry as the Steak they served. The fish was so bad, the lemon and their Jalapeno Ponzu sauce couldn't even cover the bad smell.
The Oysters, hmmm what can I say, they were not Jean Georges Steak house quality, but with some lemon and Tabasco, it was not bad. Probably the best thing here tonight. And the Steak. Wow, I cannot believe they are even serving this here. Have you ever had steak at Denny's or Norm's, well done, well that is probably much better than what they were serving here for just under $100. For starters, the Steak was dry as the desert that we are in. Coincidentally that was the same complaint from other people that came here recently. I will get in to it a little later, but the next day I had a Steak and Eggs for breakfast room service. Half the price, tasted way better than what they are serving here at JG. I still cannot believe it, I think JG is, or now was the number 1 restaurant that I recommend to people. Not anymore.
I think I should have known when they brought out 4 different sauces to eat with my Steak. Most good Steak Houses will actually get offended if you ask for any type of sauce for their Steak, let alone 4!
Next up, we went to another of my favorites, Citizen, inside Mandalay Bay. Ok, I am not going to lie, I do not have any complaints about the taste here. I was SUPER shocked about how small the portions of the food got here. Of course that doesn't mean the price went down at all. Price actually went up, and portions went down. I know that has been happening at a lot of places, but Citizen kind of took it to another level. If you look at the picture of the Fish and Chips, it used to be about 4x bigger. For $39, not really worth getting anymore. Normally 3 plates for 4 people at this place, we always had to TO-GO leftovers. Now, there it is not enough food. It was also very dark and loud in here, not the same chill place that people used to come to, to eat some good food, enjoy a drink, and watch the game. A lot of tables had to actually take their phone out and turn on their flash lights to read the menu. Why the negative change?
Our best meal this weekend came from Room Service. I am pretty sure this came from Salt & Ivy based on the taste, another place I love to go to for breakfast. My Steak and Eggs tasted, and was cooked way better than the over priced steak I had at Jean Georges Steakhouse the night before. The pancakes were fluffy and tasted delicious! I was expecting to get my food in a bag since it was under $100, but they were kind enough to bring our meal on a table and served us with a smile. The eggs, hash browns, everything was just superb!
Since we ordered through the supplied tablet, ordering was very easy, and I was able to fine tune my food. Only bad part, it didn't let me leave a cash tip, which I like to do for servers. The only options were 18%, 19%, 20%, or none. Don't get me wrong, the tablet is really cool, especially when it comes to controlling the lights and the temperature, but it could use a little more input from actual customers and change the UI a little bit. Nonetheless I wish I had one of these wired to everything at my house =)
