Emeril's New Orleans Fish House (in Las Vegas)

If you enjoy fish as much as I do AND are planning a trip to Las Vegas, make sure to schedule a reservation at Emeril's New Orleans Fish House. It's located in the MGM casino/hotel along a hallway of restaurants known as Studio Walk. Be sure to remember "Studio Walk" because my fiance and I had so much trouble finding Emeril's. We were five minutes late as a matter of fact.

Here's what will happen: Once you are seated you will be welcomed by a server or two and seated at a table with Emeril's Fish House plates (funny thing is you don't get to eat off these plates....I'll explain this later). The place will be dimly lit with a circular bar in the middle of the restaurant. Of course your servers will ask you what drink you would like. When you receive your drinks they will give you enough time to order your food but I warn you now. They keep an eye on you the whole time and once you make eye contact, they will walk right up to you and ask if you're ready to order.

The next thing that will happen is they will offer you a tasting menu that consists of five courses and I believe they vary day to day because underneath the description of the menu's food is the names of those who made the recipe. They even have the location of the individuals. If you're familiar with Emeril Lagasse's show on the Food Network, you may know what I'm talking about. He brings on people from across the country to share their recipes and cooks it in front of them so "they" can be the judge. This tasting menu cost my fiance $75.00 but it was worth it. I ordered sear scallops with gulf shrimp which included homemade pasta in a buttery sauce. Magnifico!

Now that our entrees were ordered, a male server came by and put a corn muffin and an herb flavored piece of bread on our plates. He didn't touch them, don't worry. He used tongs. There was also the best whipped butter I've ever put on a corn muffin, and this was a delightful beginning to a wonderful meal. Once we were done with our bread and muffin, the serve came by and retrieved the Emeril plates. But then she came back and swiped the bread crumbs from my side of the table cloth...with a razor blade! Chow time!

I don't want to ruin what's on the menu for you guys but I'll just tell you that if you're ordering from the tasting menu, expect to be treated like a VIP. I found something odd before the tasting plates were served. I witnessed my server staring at my fiance's plate while reading from a pad in her other arm. She came to serve him and after she placed the plate down, she explained exactly what he was about to eat pointing to each different ingredient. Since it was five courses, one course couldn't fill the plate up. Instead, it was decorated with the finest sauces surrounding the entrees and my fiance licked those plates clean. This happened five times for his five different courses. Now it was MY turn!

Since you know what I ordered now I can tell you how it tasted, which really doesn't need much explaining. But the presentation was brilliant. The homemade pasta (and it was freshly homemade) sat delicately in the middle of my deep dish with three gulf shrimp seated outside the pasta while three sear scallops were in between each shrimp. If you've ever tasted homemade pasta, you'll never want to go back to Ronzoni or boxed pasta ever again. It brings true meaning to the word "al dente" (firm at the teeth).

My fiance's last course was dessert. His dessert was an espresso oreo-crust cheesecake. We shared that one and it was one of the richest desserts we've ever had. It certainly completed our meal.

After we were done and got our bill, it wasn't much considering what we'd eaten. For the two of us it came out to a total of $140.00 and my fiance included a nice tip. Don't forget that! Our bellies were satisfied and we ended the meal with a mint life saver to freshen our breath. Compliments to the chef on this treasure of a restaurant!