Pub 1842
Aviation – Plymouth Gin, Fresh Lemon, Maraschino, Crème de Violette
Hot Salted Pretzels – ‘Merican beer cheese, poached egg
Duck Spring Rolls – Ginger-Chili Dipping Sauce, Mint, Cilantro
Crab Louie Deviled Eggs – Maryland Blue Crab, Dill
Tempura Maitake Mushrooms – Scallion Dipping Sauce
Roasted peach & almond buckle & Caramel shake – bourbon toffee
LAMill Americano
Not really sure what to make of the celebrity chef ‘gastropub’ boom in Las Vegas a late night visit to Michael Mina’s Pub 1842 was scheduled for a few reasons, the primary ones being excellent prior experiences at other Mina spots in various cities and the second a friendship with one of the staff members that dates back to a meal years ago in Detroit. Featuring a menu heavy in reinterpreted bar foods, enough televisions to watch every game on NFL Sunday Ticket simultaneously (apparently part of the future plan,) and a soundtrack with a little too much Journey and KISS for my tastes the decision was made largely to stick with items recommended by the staff and not particularly a beer aficionado I opted for one of their ‘limited edition’ Aviation’s as well – a truly excellent cocktail liberally spruced up with crème de violette. Speaking to the quality of the food I found much of what I ate at Pub 1842 to be quite good – the pretzels soft and salty with a poached egg gilding the proverbial lilly along with the beer cheese while the reinterpreted deviled eggs were also excellent. Less impressive, both the spring rolls and the mushrooms came off far too oily and while the duck paire with mint and cilantro was at the very least tasty the mushrooms were actually rather terrible and flavorless, a fact I mentioned to my server with the item subsequently stricken from the bill. In traditional Mina fashion dessert proved a strong finale to the meal, in this case featuring a “buckle” that ate more like a soufflé pairing sweet peaches and a caramel shake with boozy toffee sauce, a great variance of texture, temperature, and flavor that I’d gladly return for along with a cocktail and a few non-fried snacks during Saturday or Sunday football.
http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/pub-1842.aspx