By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com
BLT Burger - Interior
On our first night in Las Vegas we had tickets to the Cirque du Soleil show called Love which is all about the music of The Beatles. My wife and I didn’t have much time between our arrival in town and the show so we opted to eat dinner at BLT Burger in The Mirage. I figured it wouldn’t take much time to eat there and The Mirage also is where the show is located.
I had read about BLT Burger in Zagat’s book on Las Vegas and they highly recommended BLT Burger if you wanted a good burger in town. One of the things I read about on their menu was their Kobe burger and this is what really had me interested. I’m very picky about only eating hamburger if it tasted great and typically Kobe burgers fit into the category of hard-to-screw-up.
BLT Burger is a casual restaurant created in part by chef Laurent Tourondel. The name BLT actually stands for ”
Bistro Laurent Tourondel”. Tourondel has created several restaurants around the nation built on the concept of Americanized French cooking. As of March 2010 he split from the group that created the restaurant in Las Vegas but it is claimed that he still oversees kitchen operations.
In the Zagat book I read about BLT Burger looking like something out of the 50’s era so I was expecting stainless steel rimmed tables and checkered floors. It looks much nicer than what I had imagined and I’m not sure what century the contributors to Zagat’s are from but the place did not resemble a 50’s restaurant in any form or fashion. It has nice dark reds, a central kitchen with a large brass/copper ventahood, and was well laid out. It is a casual restaurant but they pull off look very well.
We arrived at 7pm and waited only a few minutes to be seated and were put next to the waiters station (where they ring up tickets and retrieve table settings.) This proved to be a bad location as the wait staff was constantly retrieving items from the station and disrupting our conversation. We didn’t have reservations though so I wasn’t too upset about it. What I did get upset about was the time it took for a waiter to come to our table. Even with the score of wait staff next to us it still took about 15 minutes for someone to show up and take our drink orders. I was about ready to walk out and go to the Carnegi Deli next door when a waiter finally showed up. I told him we had to be at a show in an hour and he said it would be no problem; which, turned out to be true! From the time we placed our drink orders to when we paid only about 30 minutes has passed.
BLT Burger - Kobe Burger and Fries
For our drink order my wife had the
Back Porch Lemonade ($12) that is described as being made of “Citron Vodka, Fresh Lemon Juice, Ginger Ale” and I had the Mocha Mudslide ($7) that is described as being made with “Coffee Ice Cream, Oreo Cookies, Chocolate Syrup”. Neither of these items (or anything else we had all week) are low in fat, but hey, it was a vacation!
For dinner I ordered the American Kobe burger ($17) that is described as being a “7oz Grilled Snake River Farm American Wagyu Beef Burger”. I also had it topped with Oregon Cheddar cheese ($1) and bacon ($1.50). I requested that they cook it Medium Rare. My wife had the same thing minus the toppings. We also ordered the Sweet Potato Fries ($5), Skinny Fries ($5) and Jalapeno Poppers ($6) that come with a Tomato-Cilantro Salsa.
Our drinks came out first and the milkshake I had was the star of the entire dinner. It was topped with a homeade chocolate whip cream that tasted almost like a chocolate mousse and had a great blend of ice-cream and syrup. I would go back to BLT Burger just to order the milkshake if I had it to do all over again. I didn’t taste my wife’s cocktail (I don’t drink alcohol any longer) but she said it was very strong and had a good flavor to it.
Our dinner, and jalapeno popper appetizer, arrived at the same time and we dug in. My burger had sear marks on it but was over-cooked compared to what I ordered which resulted in it being Medium (not Medium Rare.) It had a good flavor to it but I could tell from the texture that it was not fresh ground or freshly formed. A freshly ground burger will fall apart when you eat it and this one stuck together. Although it was pre-formed (and maybe even frozen prior to cooking,) it did taste good. The sweet potato fries are another story though as they tasted over-fried and were cold. I would never order the fries again, ever.
The first jalapeno popper I had was over-fried and on the mushy side. The tomato-cilantro sauce tasted great though and the popper had a spicy kick to it. For those out there who don’t tolerate spicy food my wife said they were very spicy (although I disagreed.) The second popper I tried was fried properly and I enjoyed it much more.
Our total bill came out to around $100 USD and the meal proved to be one of our cheaper meals while in town. Did I mention that eating dinner in Las Vegas can be expensive? From what I read it’s actually the most expensive town to eat at in the United States, so be forewarned. Obviously you can eat at places on the cheap, but don’t expect a foodie experience while doing so.
So, the bottom line, would I eat a BLT Burger again? At first I enjoyed the burger but ended up having a much better American Kobe burger at Burger Bar later in the trip that changed my mind. I’ll be writing about that trip too so don’t fret. I would not go back to BLT Burger for the dinner but would order the Mocha Mudslide again. It was good enough to warrant a dessert trip.
BLT Burger
3400 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109-8923
(702) 791-7111
www.bltburger.com
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