You missed the Leroy downturn. And it was bad…
To me, this isn’t the same experience most would describe from the Vegas establishment, to which I’ve been probably 10 times or more.
Lyle, you didn’t answer my question. Did they know you or Ray? Curious, as someone emailed me and told me they knew you and/or Ray at the restaurant, so they weren’t surprised you got good service. As I have no idea if this is true or not, I just asked but didn’t get an answer.
I love LOS Vegas, which is why I urged my 7 friends to change their plans from Sichuan Gourmet and go to LOS NYC. We were an enthusiastic group who want nothing but the best from them.
Maybe they’ve had a miraculous change in 24 hours???
Lyle, thanks for explaining on FB. As you know a chef there, not surprised you had a different experience than we had.
Can I go with you next time? (Seriously!)
There was some floor staff that worked at Cru who knew several of us last night. However, these people were very professional while a Cru so I see no reason why this shouldn’t carry over to LoS.
So when will you disclose that you know somebody that works at the restaurant?
Pretty chicken shit move to come here to defend them when you have an interest there.
I’m pulling for them; if they can get it right (big if right now but…), it will be terrific to have a LOS of the Vegas quality in NYC. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed. My hope is they’ll be open to feedback (and maybe work with the GM more) and have a steep learning curve to improve things. I think its too early to tell yet and I have some serious doubts I didn’t have before we went the other night, but if they can get it right, it would be a great asset to NYC.
A bad sign that the walk-in crowd is treated differently as the ‘in the know’ crowd.
Not to belabor things, but it was interesting that one friend who joined us was the former wine director at Tabla. He’s a graduate of the Cornell hotel and restaurant management program and somebody who’s very knowledgeable about front of the house issues. He lived in Las Vegas for a year (works for some kind of restaurant consulting company now and was there for his job) and used to eat at LOS in Vegas twice weekly when he lived there.
He, like myself and I presume my friends, wants LOS NY to succeed, but he pointed out some concerns he had that made him worried. He pointed out that one of our guests (Brad) was taking photographs of the dishes with a large lens SLR camera. He said “That’s a key sign to a restaurant that you have a serious foodie here–that’s a table to show special attention to and get it right.” Seemed none of the staff noticed the photographing of the food, and he commented that that was a worrisome sign.
It was interesting to hear his comments. At the end of the night, he shook his head and said “I don’t know…they may not make it.”
I hope they prove his doubts wrong.
But, isn’t this fairly common in any metropolitan culinary Mecca?
fixed
Wrong wording.
This whole thing is getting blown out of proportion.
Clearly Brad and his party had a poor experience. I’m sorry it happened.
Clearly Lyle, Ray, and their party had a great experience.
So we have some variability here.
What it says to me is that the restaurant has been open for a week or two and they have some serious kinks to work out. I don’t think it’s possible to draw inferences such as “they treat walk in’s differently from known diners, etc.” Give them a few weeks to get their sea legs under them.
I’m glad that Brad posted his review. That’s the glory of the internet…near instantaneous information. However, most professional reviewers try a restaurant several times before publishing a review. There’s a difference. Neither method is right or wrong, they just are what they are.
Having enjoyed more than 50 meals at the LV LOS, I would feel bad for people who are going to make their decision to avoid the NYC outpost based on one review. I encourage people to vote with their wallets, but I also encourage them to do so with as much information as possible.
LOS LV is such a unique experience. If LOS NY is not as good, no one will be more disappointed than me. I hope that Brad’s experience turns out to be an outlier.
Dude, alone?
I will join you anytime your in town.
Wilfred,
Reading this excerpt I ask myself: up to what point will a restaurant encourage or discourage this? I am fully aware that food documentarists are here to stay (within reason I suppose), but I have read about the backlash from FOH & BOH starting to occur. Could it be that LoS is one of those places that will discourage this activity for some reason or other?
No staff noticed. No flash was used, and we were at a table in the back towards the wall. Brad was seated with his back to the dining room, so I’m sure no diner noticed. But the wait staff who brought dishes should have seen it. But it was quite unobtrusive…no flash, back to dining room, etc.
LMAO. That is all. ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Speaking of pictures, here’s what we ate. Bear in mind that the problems we faced really weren’t with the food, but with the abysmal service from top to bottom.
Tuna Koi Soy- Diced raw tuna tossed with cilantro, mint, scallion & kaffir lime. I liked this dish, but felt a couple of pieces had a funny texture. Christine opined that they may not have a sushi chef in the kitchen and so the tuna may have been cut incorrectly.
Tod Mun Plar- Bangkok’s favorite fried fish cake flavored with red curry. Two per person. They were small and nothing to get excited over.
Nam Kao Tod- Crispy rice with Thai sausage, fresh chili, ginger, peanuts & lime. My favorite dish of the night, but the one we had to ask for more of. That tiny bowl you see below had to be divided by four people. We literally got two or so tiny spoonfuls each.
Fried chicken ballantine. At least that’s what I’m calling it. The menu said chicken satay, but that’s not chicken satay and there was no other chicken dish listed on the menu. One piece per person with an extra piece to be divided among four people.
Tom Kha Hed- Spicy coconut milk soup with oyster, maitake & shimeji mushrooms. Good flavor, though I found mine a tad salty, though no one else thought theirs was excessively salty. Brandon mentioned that there were no mushrooms in his bowl.
We were supposed to get two entrees and dessert after that, but left after the soup. For the above we were charged $72, which is why a lot of us are feeling ripped off.
Btw, Wilf, I do have to correct you. The above pictures were taken with a flash. However, as you mention, my body blocked out most of the flash as we were along the back wall and my back was to the rest of the dining room and the restaurant wasn’t that full for the first hour we were there, which is when we got the food.
I had the same dishes as you did except my chicken satay was in fact chicken satay. We also had several additional appetizers before having several main courses. I can eat, and I left full. I don’t have a reference point to judge if our table was treated differently by the kitchen and the wait staff than any of the other tables.
Brad, that much rice for four people is criminal. Period.
Ray-
You got a lot more food than we did and from the sounds of it and the extra apps that weren’t on the menu you guys received surely had something to do with the fact that you folks knew someone in the kitchen and on the floor, no?
We received similar sized dishes of rice (maybe a little bigger) but they were per two people not four