This week we headed to a restaurant I have had on my list for a while but never managed to get there. One of the hottest restaurants in town for Italian cuisine is Carbone located at 3730 Las Vegas Blvd., inside Aria Hotel and Casino.
This is gourmet Italian at its best, and with that comes above averages on prices. From the décor as you walk in that reminds you of a fine steakhouse with its dark wood look, you know you are in for a special evening. I was with a group celebrating some great news that one of my friends had received earlier in the day so it was already a great day that was about to get even better.
The meal started with a couple of appetizers. We shared an order of octopus, which was outstanding. I have had octopus, or calamari, prepared many different ways but this was totally different. There was no breading involved. All you tasted was the octopus and it was outstanding.
The other appetizer was a lobster cocktail that was loaded with nice big chunks. This was a light refreshing start to a meal on a hot summer night.
For entrees, I had heard from several different people that the Veal Parmesan was to die for, so I just had to order it. The dish was massive as the veal covered almost the entire plate.
Now just because something is big doesn’t make it good but in this case it was. The veal was very tender and the breading didn’t dominate but rather complimented. I hate when the breading is all you taste, as I want to taste the veal. A great touch was they served the bone from the veal chop it was taken from alongside the dish, detached from the veal itself. This lets you know it came from the best part of the veal. I put this Veal Parmesan as one of the Top 3 in the city.
My friends ordered some pasta dishes. One ordered the Spicy Rigatoni Vodka, which was just what the name suggests. I got to taste some of the pasta as I traded some Veal Parm. I will be ordering this pasta dish on a future visit for sure.
We also ordered a plate of meatballs for the table to share and they were very good – big, very tasty and a great dish to share. One item that looked very interesting on the menu that I want to try when I go back is the Cherry Pepper Ribs.
The waiter brought over the dessert cart for us to view and it looked amazing but considering we were all stuffed we sadly passed. Then we got a nice surprise ending to a great meal as the waiter brought over a complimentary glass of lemon cello for each of us, which is the classic Italian way to end a great meal. Everything about Carbone was all class, so this was a fitting end to a great meal.
Carbone has outstanding service and is definitely a great restaurant for a special occasion. I give it a rating of 3.75 forks.
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