Craftsteak at MGM Grand.... Top Chef's Head Judge cooks up a winner

MGM Grand is full of some great names for dining.  Emril Lagasse has his fish house there, Joel Robuchon has two places there and so does Michael Mina.  But if your looking for a good steak at that hotel, you stop at Craftsteak by Top Chef's head judge Tom Coliccio.

Craftsteak is set up among the long hallway in the back of the casino with the other restaurants.  As you walk down the aisle from the casino, it's lays dead ahead.  Like most steakhouses I have been to, it's all ala carte.  One of the specialties the Chef Coliccio has in his menu is the Wagyu beef.  He has an assortment of cuts from USA Wagyu and Japanese Wagyu.  I've had Wagyu beef in Japan on some of my trips there and it is heavenly.  Supposedly the beef is massaged and the steer is fed beer and the finest of grains.  The meat melts in your mouth.  It even tastes better when someone else flips the bill so there was no Wagyu melting this evening.  Come on, 1/2 of the cuts were over $100 and the Japanese Wagyu topped off at $240 for an 8 oz. steak.

So this night, we went the cheap road.  Well not so cheap.  I'm yet to go to a steakhouse where the average steak is less than $40.  And let me tell you, this was real good.  I can't imagine that the Wagyu was worth paying double because the steaks that we had were phenomenal.  Let me walk you through our evening.

My cousin Mike and I were accompanied by two very good clients of ours who like us, were craving a nice steak.  We were seated in a very comfortable round booth and figured out what we would order.  One of us started with a Shrimp Cocktail that looked like the size of a small fist.  You heard the flesh snap as he bit into it.  We ordered two salads for the table.   One Farmers Market Salad and the other was Arugula and Preserved Lemons.  Both were excellent and bright tasting.  The portions for both were enough for all four of us.

The main dishes consisted of really two types of beef.  two of us got the 10 oz. Filet Mignon and the others got the 16 oz. bone in Rib Eye.  The Filet's were served to us in cast iron skillets and the Rib Eye's were served to us in Copper pans.  It was certainly an impressive display as the meat comes out this way.  I had gotten the Rib Eye and it was very tender.  The great thing about having the steaks served to us this way was that you can cut a piece and dip it in the juice that came with the pan.

The Filet was even more tender as that is the general nature of the cut.  One of the guys we were with had me try his since he was getting too full.  His steak was ordered medium well which is not the way I generally get my steak.  It was funny when he ordered it as he told the server the chef will hate him for what he was going to do to his steak.  But even cooked Medium well, the steak was so soft and tender and full of flavor.

Now as great as the steak's were and the way they should be, the sides were really spectacular.  One of our four said he really wanted the Sweet Potato Puree.  I'm not a real sweet potato guy so I ordered the Yukon Gold Puree.  We also got the chantrelle mushrooms and the asparagus to round off the sides.  The Asparagus were cooked perfectly and real soft and had some sprinkled Parmesan on the top.

The Chantrelles were a bit disappointing as they really lacked flavor.   The Yukon Gold Puree was really great and there is nothing better than mashed potatoes with a good piece of steak.  But the shining star for the sides were the Sweet Potato Puree.  As I mentioned before, the Sweet Potato is not one of my favorites.  But these were incredible.  They were cooked with Maple Syrup, brown sugar and fresh chopped thyme.  If you go here, you have to get the Sweet Potato Puree.

We also got the Maui Onions that were almost as sweet as the Vidallia onions we get in June.

We were almost full at this point.  But when we saw the dessert menu, there were too many things not to pass up.  So here is what we got.

The most unique dessert was the Orange and Basil Sorbet.   It was savory and sweet and just really delicious.    we also got an assortment of Sorbet's and a Chocolate cake that had the rich chocolate ooze out when you cut into it.  It looked so good, the only thing that got in the way was the plate.

This was truly a memorable steak dinner.  The atmosphere there as well as the servers were all excellent and always available for any questions or requests that you might have.

Craftsteak can be found at the MGM Casino.  You can get more information here: http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/craftsteak-steak-house.aspx