Restaurant Reviews Archives - Small Barrels Magazine

Gotham Restaurant There’s something dark, elegant and suggestive of extravagance in the name Gotham. Gotham Steakhouse and Cocktail is a high-end steakhouse in downtown Vancouver, Canada. As its name might suggest, the interior of the restaurant is dark, elegant and yes, even somewhat extravagant in its brooding glamour. Tones of rich, chocolatey brown abound on the walls and in the furnishings, larger than life artwork evokes a stylized version of the swing-jazz era.

The menu is brief and honest as should be expected from a restaurant under the same ownership as Hy’s Steakhouse. At Gotham, there is even more emphasis on serving the best version of traditional steakhouse fare. You are offered simple appetizers, like shrimp cocktail, fried calamari, oysters, crabcakes, beefsteak tomato and red onion salad with blue cheese. We highly recommend the Caesar Salad; we’re always seeking out a version with the best spin on this familiar recipe (must include copious quantities of garlic, of course). Gotham’s take on Caesar was a hit.

Accompaniments to your steak main course (would you really choose anything else?) are served “family style” to share. To put this in perspective, even the potato was supremely shareable and at the recommendation of our server, this is precisely what we did. Half of an enormous, Baked Idaho potato was served to each of us. Even looking at this beast gave me carpel tunnel syndrome. We soon stopped gawking and started eating as we drowned this perfectly baked treat in butter and sour cream.

The steak was quite divine. Devoid of decorative sauces or distracting spices, we were served generous portions (the porterhouse being consumed next to us nearly tipped the table) of perfectly medium rare, beefy goodness. Definitely a steak worth writing home about and coming back for.

We accompanied this much anticipated meal with an absolute treat – the Torbreck RunRig 2001 (Barossa Valley, Australia). This wine is a true gem – a deeply-coloured, full-bodied shiraz with intense flavours of berry, espresso and spice and a wonderfully long finish. It is sure to please palettes that seek out the bold and the beautiful! You need something big to go with your honest-to-goodness steak at Gotham, so go large and get the RunRig or something like it (if you can!).

We recommend Gotham for its swing-era ambience, friendly service, and food that does not pretend to be anything other than it is – simple, top quality, and awesome.

For more information or to make reservation, call (604) 605-8282 or visit www.gothamsteakhouse.com.

Trendy, contemporary, hip. These are the words that will no doubt occur to you when you walk into Nectar at the Bellagio hotel, struck with the sight of strange stalactite-like pillars and walls painted in a blend of colors. The ambience is more high energy than intimate with its open kitchen concept and brightly lit adjoining cocktail lounge, and there is a slightly crowded feel in the single room dining area, especially if you are seated at a table in the center.

At Nectar, you will find dishes typically offered in fine American restaurants, with an emphasis on interesting combinations and modern presentation. The menu offers familiar starters such as Caesar Salad, and clearly recognizable beef and chicken dishes as entrees – the usual suspects, but prepared with care and presented quite attractively. The 8 oz filet mignon, for instance, was tender and flavorful accompanied by sauteed oyster mushrooms and shallots, and potatoes romanoff with a delightfully crispy exterior. The notable feature of this dish was the intriguing rich, sweet port sauce generously dressing the beef. My dining companion had the hearty 14 oz prime rib. Resting in a pool of au jus, the beef was served with shallots, a warm corn and bean salad, and deep fried potato wedges. The accompanying creamed horseradish sauce was pleasantly zesty.

The wine, a 2000 merlot, was pleasant although not exceptional. I must say that though there was nothing wrong with Nectar, the menu was pricey, especially when compared to the exceptional menus and elegant ambience of Bellagio’s other fine restaurants.

Overall, the food was quite good at Nectar, and our waiter was exceptionally pleasant. The whole experience was overshadowed by the finest of the fine that Bellagio has to offer – a perhaps unfair comparison. You may want to visit Nectar earlier in your trip before trying the likes of Prime, Aqua and Picasso.

Another bit of valuable advice – make reservations for Nectar as far in advance as possible. We were fortunate to secure a table here after we arrived in Vegas, but unable to get into other restaurants at Bellagio on short notice. Late reservations at popular Bellagio restaurants are a gamble, so hedge your bets and book early!

Overall Experience
We give Nectar 3 Stars- Very Good

Nectar is located in the Bellagio Hotel, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd South, Las Vegas, NV 89109. For more information or to make reservations, call 702-693-7223 or visit www.bellagio.com.

Gotham (Vancouver, BC)

Nectar (Las Vegas, NV)