Stripsteak

Chef Michael Mina is in charge of this modern and sleek take on the American steakhouse. Visible from theLearn more about Chef Michael Mina at palacegagnant.com promenade of Mandalay Bay, the open-air dining room is the perfect place to enjoy a relaxing evening. The Plexiglas bar is glowing white with blue and red accents. Traditional tables that are scattered throughout the restaurant are separated from more intimate banquette seating by large glass dividers. Diners are reminded of steak by wood block walls that look similar to chopping blocks. There is also a meat locker that is illuminated close to the open kitchen, to further reinforce the steak theme.

The seasonal ingredients used at Stripsteak give all of the dishes served here a flavor that instantly sets itself apart from other steakhouses. The addition of cauliflower soup with vadouvan curry and ponzu sauce to the famous mac and cheese add a welcome complexity to the meal. The restaurant’s collection of Japanese Kobe, American Kobe and Certified Angus, as well as other varieties of meat, are all slow-poached in a slow-poach chamber for a few hours. They are then smoked to perfection using mesquite-stoked grills. The kitchen has six of the circulating, slow-poach chambers.

Some of the favorites inhabiting the menu are Colorado lamb and eight ounce American Kobe rib cap. The succulent red centers of the Kobe are displayed to elegant effect. The Kobe is one of the prime examples of Stripsteak’s distinctive approach to steak preparation.

The shabu shabu is a surprise to find on the menu of an American steakhouse, but it is a welcome one. Scallions, enoki mushrooms and daikon radish are wrapped in bundles made of raw Kobe beef. There is a giant bowl of steaming mushroom soup that the diners can dip the bundles in, cooking them for as long as theywant. The meaty flavor of the Kobe is deepened by the mushroom broth.