Restaurant Review: CatHouse in Luxor - Las Vegas

Earlier I mentioned that I visited a few restaurants in Las Vegas. I mentioned the overall disappointing experience of Red White and Blue in Mandalay Bay, and now I want to mention a place I do recommend – CatHouse at Luxor.

The Luxor is a beautiful hotel and casino. It is a mix of post modern and ancient designs. The blend is pleasing to the eye and invigorating. The same can be said of the CatHouse restaurant/lounge.

I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, but the location of the restaurant/lounge is off the casino floor to the right, well inside of Luxor. It might seem an odd location, but it fits in nicely with the décor and feel of the casino. CatHouse opens its doors at 6pm, and has a happy hour until 8pm. And you would do well to arrive early or make reservations.

The theme of the CatHouse is exactly what the name implies. From the outside you are treated to the front of a house with the upstairs windows containing a silhouette of women in various stages of preparing garters. That tells you what is to come once you enter.

As you go up the stairs to the bar and dining areas (I believe a curtained area on the first floor to the left is a VIP area, but I’m not sure) you will note that the walls are filled from floor to ceiling with various photos of early 1900’s era women in lingerie and tasteful nude art. This is obviously not a place for children or prudes. But let me emphasize that this is art and tasteful.

The stairs continue to a lounging chair that I noted several female patrons stopped to take pictures on and against. All part of setting the mood and atmosphere of the location. As you circle around the stairs to the left, you enter the bar area.



The bar is a nice tall dark wood, with a lavish selection of top end liquors, as well as ample variations of beer. The selection is quite nice with about 6 or 7 separate scotches that I noticed (including the Glenlivet 12 and 18 year olds). Sadly the Glenlivet 21 reserve is not among the scotches anymore, but a fine selection for scotch drinkers.

A special point of interest, if you can afford it, is the fact that the Cat House does carry the Louis XIII cognac. For those unfamiliar with this liquor, which is almost everyone, it is a very top end drink. A bottle of this can go for $1,500 or more. The crystal bottle goes for $100 – 500 empty. There is a special edition of the liquor that sells for $43,000 (it has a 4 carat diamond embedded in the dark crystal container. At the CatHouse a single pour goes for $275 – and I swear I was tempted to have one. But this gives you an idea of the nature of the restaurant.

The interior design of the entire restaurant is modern, comfortable, and relaxing in a tempting sort of way. The lighting is dim, but easy to see everything. The colors are black and dark browns, making it seem far less well lit, and amplifying the intimate mood the decorations inside create. There is even a small room in the far wall of the dining area that contains a model that is dressed in lingerie and fixes her make-up and hair about every 30 minutes as if no one else was around. It reminded me of scenes from a Mae West movie.

If you have had a reservation, or you are in the ample bar area, the first thing you will notice is the bar maids and waitresses. They are all dressed in thigh high high heeled boots, garters, short skirts, a bustier, and a small shoulder jacket (not sure what it is called). While nothing on any of the women is exposed, there is plenty of cleavage though, it does catch the attention. I’m sure it’s been the cause of more than one man getting a slap upside the head from his partner. And it’s worth it.

Beyond the look, all the staff are polite, attentive, and well versed in the drinks and foods in the restaurant. Even the busboy is on the top of his game – as he told me about the various liquors in the bar and why the Louis XIII was not on display at the time I was there (sadly a former busboy accidentally broke the full bottle). In all they were completely pleasant and what you would expect in service from a high end restaurant.

But the big question for me at the time was the food. Having had the bad experience in Mandalay Bay, I wasn’t sure what to expect here. Was it going to be overpriced and underwhelming? Was it going to be a match of décor and expectations?

I can happily say that there is a reason that reservations are needed. The food was excellent. I was part of a party of 4 and we were in the bar area just after seeing Chris Angel (review pending) perform his 7:30 show. We had a drink and looked over the menu.

This is not an inexpensive restaurant. The least expensive item was $19 (Spaghetti and meatballs) and things went up quickly from there. I considered the steak, at about $44, but decided to try another favorite – the wild salmon. One of my friends had the brick roasted organic chicken, another had a prime "CatHouse" burger, and the last had a specialty of the night, an Ahi burger.





I wish I had my camera, but the best I could do was the cell phone camera one of my friends had. As you can see from the photos above, the presentation of each dish was excellent. One of my friends studied as a chef and was blown away at the quality of the presentation of each dish. There was no skimping or details missed.

As for the taste, well again this was a homerun. My wild salmon was perfectly seared with a well seasoned crust that just melted in each bite. The portion size was very good, even for me (I normally eat a 20+ ounce steak at a sitting with a baked potatoe or 2). The vegetables were in season, fresh and delightful.

The Ahi burger was fantastic. While it sounded a bit odd, the texture and taste was a great blend. Again the portion was just right. The organic chicken was tender, juicy, and held just enough spice to have your attention without being close to overpowering. The "CatHouse" burger was also cooked to perfection.

The average price of a beer was $7, and a mixed drink – Captain and Coke – was about $12. The average cost of each entrée was about $36 per person. I believe this restaurant, like most in Las Vegas, had a gratuity already included but I added more to the bill.

To summarize the CatHouse in the Luxor Hotel & Casino is a great experience. It has the atmosphere, mood, and food that one would expect from a high end restaurant in Las Vegas. It is an adult place, and children should never be here (not sure if they could be if they wanted). It’s excellent for a couple, or a group of friends that want to explore finer dining or just have a really pleasant time.

In addition I want to mention that I thought Marisol (I recall that as her name) who was working from 6pm on Friday night, was especially pleasant and friendly. Plus, if you are there at happy hour you can get 2 for 1 drinks with the purchase of an entrée. Well worth the deal that it is.

I highly recommend the CatHouse to anyone in Las Vegas.

Restaurant Review: Red White and Blue - Mandalay Bay Las Vegas

While in Las Vegas, I had the opportunity to check out some of the restaurants in various casinos and hotels. One of the places that I went was to Red White and Blue, along with the rest of my team from Guys and Dolls pool hall in Endicott NY.

This restaurant is located inside the Mandalay Bay Casino and Hotel. There is no question that Mandalay Bay, and her sister Casino Luxor, are on the top end of places to see in Las Vegas. The atmospheres in both are modern and beautiful. So you would expect that the restaurant would emulate that same feeling.



My teammates picked this restaurant based on the look of the place and the fact that it was not as expensive as several others nearby locations. But the outside had the feel of a decent steakhouse. And the look of it from the outside is very much steakhouse style.

But once you enter the restaurant things change a bit. The layout is nice, if a bit cramped. The bar area to the far right as you enter is more reminiscent of an upscale pub than anything else. Anyone who has been to some of the older NYC bars in the midtown area will know the feel of the bar. Still it is a very nice wood bar with a full assortment of liquors and beers.

The tables were very nice with modern style cutlery. The layout as I mentioned is small, with just enough room for an average sized adult to pass between tables. The lighting is subdued but bright enough to see everything the place has to offer without trouble. There is no music, thank goodness, just the sounds of people passing in the hotel, the casino floor a little ways away, and conversations from various tables. The flooring was unremarkable. The wood and glass walls are simple and effective in giving a warm feeling to the place without making you feel claustrophobic.

But the feel was odd. It felt like a very upscale diner. And I couldn’t place why. But when one of our party was able to order a bucket of several bottles of beer, it started to hit me why.

Then we had the menus in hand. This confirmed my suspicions. It read like a diner alright.

Unlike most restaurants, Red White and Blue has no specialty. It’s not a steakhouse, though it had 3 types of steak prominent on the menus. There were a couple of chicken dishes, seafood, and a combo platter as well. The menu read and was designed like any you might find in a decent local diner, except for the prices. They were more steakhouse or upscale.

I like steak so I was inclined towards the 18ounce bone-in rib eye. When I asked the waitress about it, and she was very pleasant and honest, she told me that it is a very fatty cut. Few that order it are very satisfied. She recommended the New York Strip, a mere 12ounces large for $44 as I recall. Several of my teammates had that, a couple ordered pasta, 2 ordered the combination platter of roasted chicken, a sausage, ribs, and something else I forget.

While I awaited my meal, I ordered a house merlot. Again the prices were higher end, $11 a glass. The merlot was a decent wine. Not outstanding, but I did ask for a house wine. Several of the other wine choices I saw on the wine list were familiar to me, and every one of them was dramatically overpriced compared to the real cost and other venues I had tried them at.

When the meal came, the pasta selection was huge portions. The combo platter was equally large and smelled great. The steaks though were ok. They were cooked to the right temperature (I order medium-rare), and looked appealing. The presentation on the plate was boring and ordinary though. The taste was average at best. Hardly worth the price paid.

The staff at Red White and Blue is good though. The waitress was attentive and informative. She had a pleasant demeanor and was energetic in providing drinks or answering questions.

Was Red White and Blue a nice restaurant? Sort of. It was adequate in terms of the meal. It was warm in the atmosphere but not inviting. Nor could I shake my feeling of an upscale diner.

Was Red White and Blue price properly? No. In all honestly I found it to be overpriced for what I received. The steak was ok. The wine was over the norm. The presentation was boring. Nothing excited me about the place besides the neon sign in the front.

At a cost on average (from the 8 people in my party) of $65 per person, including 1 – 2 drinks and including the mandatory 18% gratuity, it’s not the most expensive meal I’ve had by far. But for the cost I expected better. Far better. I would have expected a meal of this quality to cost around $40 per person or less.

I don’t recommend Red White and Blue to those that visit Las Vegas or Mandalay Bay. For those going to the area I would recommend the Cat House in Luxor. That review will come soon.

Vino Volo: making airports worth being in

Last week I was on a business trip down to Florida. The flight I was taking included a layover in Philadelphia. I had about 2 hours of free time so I decided to look around and see what was available in the airport.

I ran across an assortment of clothing shops and various goods, all severely overpriced, as you might expect. In general I was a bit disappointed at the selection available to me there, and then I ran across Vino Volo.



What first struck me about the wine bar/restaurant was the clean and smooth look of the place. Then I was caught by the huge wine selection. My interest piqued I decided to walk in and see what it was all about.

In essence Vino Volo is a wine bar. The food, décor, and arrangement was very much like what you might expect in a mid-town Manhattan wine bar, or similar to many upscale bars throughout the nations larger cities. There was no music, nor other distractions. And the artwork on the walls was decidedly modern art, though not glaring or distasteful. And for all the modern styling, there was a very comfortable feel about the place.

I sat at the main bar, though there was plenty of seating inside for groups, and seating outside the bar where you could watch the passing traffic of people going to and from flights with ease.



I looked over the selection of wines. They varied in location, price, and style. There were several categories of the wines, each with 3 types of wine representing the group. The wines located on the left half of the menu are wines that are generally rotated with new selections every 2 - 3 months, those making it due to popularity on the right side of the menu are selections are more standard and only some are rotated off for new selections every 6 months or so.

I learned this about the selection of wines from Brian, the bartender on when I arrived. Brian was knowledgeable about the various wines and helpful in providing me clues about which wine he thought might be a good match for my tastes. He was also pleasant enough to discuss they young company, which started 3 years ago, and informed me that they were in 7 airports around the nation right now, including L.A. and New York.

Another great thing about the wines presented is the fact that you can get a taste of 3 separate wines to get an idea of their different flavors. Also aiding the patron, and providing you with a bit of information to purchase the favored wine for yourself in the future, was the charts provided with each wine. This provided the name of the winery, the grape used to make the wine, the wine and the year it was made. There even is a short description of the flavor of the wine as well.

In all I tried 5 wines, all reds. I prefer reds, so if you like white wine you will have to visit the location to taste them yourself. In order of my preference will list the wines, best at the top of the list

Top 5 red wines of Vino Volo:

• 2006 Mirrabooka Shiraz from Australia – on the 6 month rotation list
  
• 2006 Farnese Montepulciano d’Abruzzo – on the frequent change list
  
• 2005 Rivetto Nemes Piedmont – Tour of Italy - on the frequent change list
  
• 2007 Villa Pozzi Nero d’Avola from Sicily - on the frequent change list
  
• 2006 Castillo de Monseran Grenache from Spain - on the 6 month rotation list
  

I spent roughly $45 for the wine and food, not including tip. Overall I would say that the entire experience was pleasant and comfortable. The wines were of better than average quality and taste. The staff was easily capable of explaining the wines, mentioning their favorites, and in general good conversationalists. The establishment was clean, the presentation both of the food and the furniture crisp.

I recommend that any traveler in an airport that has a Vino Vello in it, and 15 minutes or more of time, go in and enjoy a bit of tranquility in what can easily be described as the suffering of airline travel these days.

Review of Maxwell & Dunnes

I had the chance to enjoy a wonderful meal recently at Maxwell & Dunnes in Plainview Long Island with 2 friends of mine. My friends had been to the restaurant previously and assured me of the quality of the restaurant. I was somewhat skeptical, not because of my friends tastes but because of my particular preferences when it comes to steakhouses. Few ever get my approval, even if others find them to be quite good.

Walking into the hotel where the restaurant is found you might be a bit thrown off. Upon entering you will see a bar directly in front of you and stairs leading to horserace betting on your left. For many the horse racing is the only reason to be here, and I am told that the sports book there is on par with most in Vegas or Atlantic City. But the reason my friends and I had gone there took us into the bar and immediately to our right.

Once you enter the restaurant proper, you get an immediate feeling of 1930’s New York City. The tall ceilings and wide space accentuate the area. There is amble elbow room at each table, which is a nice change from the often crowded conditions in many NYC restaurants. The whole dining area is done in a tan and dark brown, which combined with the soft low lighting give a comfortable feel to the restaurant. Even at 6:30, just prior to the Christmas holiday, with office parties and revelers in the bar, the restaurant is quite calm and subdued.

While the impending holiday may have been a factor, the crowd never filled the restaurant. In fact during my meal there was never more than 1/3 of capacity in the area, and my friends mentioned this is not overly unusual. The difference compared to say Smith & Wolensky or Peter Lugers is both dramatic and welcome.

There isn’t much to say about the dinnerware, seats, tablecloth or much else aside from the meal. It’s all somewhat plain and common. The money was not spent on these items, as can be seen at a glance. Again I found that to be good things as far too many establishments seek to gratify the eyes of diners and fail miserably in the real reason for being there, the food. I will note that one thing did annoy me a bit. That is the base of the tables themselves. They are somewhat awkward, being raised slightly and wider than the single column supporting the table. It’s also worth noting that nothing in the restaurant is cheap. Lifting the table cloth and looking at the tabletop you will not the marble top and decent wood work. It’s just the base I found mildly annoying.

Moving on to the wait staff, I am pleased to say they are personable and knowledgeable. All tended to be quite younger than what you might expect at many other establishments of similar nature. This is not a negative though, other than the designer glasses that one waiter wore. They were quite glaring and gaudy to me, but I have noticed they are quite popular among young men and women. But that’s a personal preference, and in no way impeded the ability of our waiter in attending to our needs.

The selection at Maxwell & Dunnes includes several types of steaks and seafood. We had a choice that night that included Swordfish, lobster tail, and several other seafood choices. For my friends and me, we focused on the steak selections.

As for the main meal, any reservations and imperfections were more than made up for. My friends and I are all fans of good steaks. We ordered the King Filet Mingon, and the “Cowboy Cut” Prime Rib Eye. My rib eye was medium-rare. We had a Praxis merlot with the meal.

The first thing you notice when your meal arrives at the table is the portion size. It is ample. In fact I would say a large and generous cut. Compared to the more widely known New York steakhouses you will note that you are receiving more for the money.

Now you might question that this is because you are being given a lower quality of meat. Thankfully that is not the case. This cut easily compares to that found in Ben Benson’s and the other Manhattan restaurants. Beyond the size of the cuts of meat is the question of taste. This is the ultimate determination of quality and where any meal is worth finishing, or the restaurant is worth returning too.

My rib eye was tender, cutting quite easily. The steak was cooked exactly to my standards, which is a nice change as often medium-rare steaks can be a bit overcooked. The seared steaks were lightly spiced, but enough to catch the flavor on the tongue immediately. But as I mentioned it was a light flavor, not taking away from the steak but enhancing it. This combination of flavors required no steak sauce, or other addition or cover to the taste. I can think of little better description or compliment than to say the steak itself needed nothing more.

In fairness I will note that while the portion size, was generous, the sides were not. To give you an idea, I can easily finish a 24 oz Prime Rib steak and have room to spare for a baked potatoe, dessert, and of course wine with the meal. The “Cowboy Cut” was enough to fill me up, and that is a good thing as the mashed potatoes, and broccoli rabe we had as side dishes were barely enough to color the plates, in my opinion. Obviously they were not intended to be the focus of the meal, but if you preferred the smaller Kansas rib eye or any of the fish based meals, you may well be disappointed in the sides.

Once the meal was over, another benefit of Maxwell & Dunnes was available. That is the fact that there is a cigar room on premises. Merely crossing the restaurant, and through the bar area again to the other side and you enter the cigar room. In there you will find several tables (without the tablecloths) and multiple television screens. Most of the televisions will be set on horse racing, for the sports book that was mentioned beforehand. But there are 2 massage chairs available, and a selection of cigars.

I am not knowledgeable about cigars, so I will not try to ascertain how good the selection is. I will note that there are several available. And smoking on premises, in the cigar room is allowed. For those that HATE going outside in the winter to smoke, and wish to sit back with a good scotch while smoking after a good meal this is a huge benefit. Virtually no other place in NYC or the state now allow this, so I’m sure many will find that option palatable.

The last item to note is the cost. The dining experience is completely comparable to some of the top steakhouses found in Manhattan. The price though is lower. While the sides seems to be universally about $7 each no matter where you go, at Maxwell & Dunnes you will be able to get a better portion steak for just under $50. Add to that the décor, room to dine with comfort, lack of crowds, quality and the cigar room and that price is beyond paltry.

I recommend this restaurant to anyone that might find themselves in the Plainview, Long Island area, or just looking for a change from the bustle of NYC.