Once our final Vegas Uncorked event was finished ... Afternoon Tea at Payard's which I've not yet posted ... Jay and I hoofed it down to Mandalay Bay and Red Square to meet our friend Catherine for a night of lounge hopping. This is something that we have always wanted to try but have never managed due to the perpetual food coma we eat ourselves into while visiting Vegas.
Catherine was waiting for us at Red Square's icebar, which is a unique design featuring a solid block of ice down the center of the bar that keeps drinks nice and cold. I started the night off with a Bolshevik Bellini, which was made with champagne and a choice of peach or raspberry vodka. You can tell from the picture which vodka I chose - it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who knows me well! This was a lovely drink - a vodka variation of a Kir Royale, which is one of my all-time favorite cocktails.
Bolshevik Bellini
Jay took Catherine's advice and ordered Red Square's version of a Bloody Mary, which was made with Red Square's infused pepper vodka, homemade spicy mary mix, and fresh lime juice garnished with lemon, lime, celery, and bleu cheese stuffed olives. He said this was one of the best bloody marys he's ever had and he really liked the heat from the pepper vodka.
Russian Mary
For snacking we decided to try the Beef Pelmeni - beef dumplings in fennel consomme with dill sour cream - and Salt and Pepper Fried Calamari - squid dusted with a five-spice blend and served with sweet and sour sauce. Jay and I have had pelmeni previously thanks to our college Russian professor - the ones from Red Square were just as good as the ones we tried at our professor's house many years ago. These tender dough pockets filled with well-seasoned meat (think ravioli for comparison) were floating in delicate meat bathwater and topped off with a dollop of sour cream lightly flavored with dill - what's not to like?
Actually, we didn't like that the serving portion only included five dumplings because they were so good we could have eaten many, many more!
As for the calamari, it's my sad duty to inform you that I don't like it and so I have no opinion to offer. Jason and Catherine, however, like squid just fine and said this was really very good - properly cooked and well-seasoned.
Pelmeni ... and a fluorescent pig???
Squid platter with extra tentacles
Before pulling up stakes to head for our next snack-n-slurp stop, we had to order some liquid dessert. On a previous visit to Red Square Jay and I ordered this for our actual dessert and we loved it so much that we convinced Catherine to give it a try with us this time. It's a really cool presentation: four two-ounce shot glasses each filled with the restaurant's liquid desserts (alcohol included, of course) and served in a Red Square ice block to keep them extra cold!
Our dessert shooters included the following, starting with the upper left-hand corner and moving clockwise: Key Lime Pie (smirnoff vanilla, keke beach liqueur, pineapple juice, and lime juice); Russkie (zone banana vodka, creme de cacao, creme de banana, and half & half); Espresso Martini (espresso, smirnoff vanilla twist, bailey's, kahlua, and creme de cacao); and Anastasia's Dream (van gogh double espresso vodka, frangelico, chambord, and half & half).
While I don't care for banana flavored much of anything (other than an actual banana) all of our shooters were tasty and well-made; they also packed quite a punch! My personal favorites were the Key Lime Pie and Espresso Martini.
You can shoot me with this any time!
This was our second visit to Red Square and it remains one of our Vegas favorites thanks to tasty and inventive food and drink options. And it has some of the most interesting and unique decor of any Sin City restaurant, featuring a mix of imperial Russian and Soviet photographs and posters. We enjoy it so much we're going back again for dinner in April 2011 ... here's hoping for continued deliciousness!
As an aside, should you like to read about our 2008 dinner experience at Red Square, just follow this link to my blog review from that trip:
1 comment:
So much alcohol goodness makes me jealous! I took a chance the other day and tasted my daughters Tic Tac drink. Orange Vodka, orange juice and red bull. One little sip and I felt it. I drank a ton of water and had some bread. I didn't have any medication and my throat was feeling a little funny. I just kept drinking the water and I was fine in half an hour. But now I know that Vodka doesn't like me.
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