Eric S.
Yelp
I'm a So Cal Yelper visiting Vegas with the Mrs. Yelper.
We were staying in another hotel and coming to Mandalay Bay to watch the Cirque show. We figured it'd be nice to grab dinner at Mandalay. Unfortunately, the new place, Retro, which was my first choice was closed Mondays so we looked at the remaining options. I've been to border grill and the Puck restaurant already (although the name and menu changed).
Mediterranean sounded nice. Wife got the pick. I mean, who doesn't like a good kebab?
Well, this is one of Chef Michael Mina's restaurants and it's called Orla.
The menu looked promising and we made reservations. The website doesn't include pricing, so, be prepared for some sticker shock. It is Vegas.
First, let's talk service. I expected better. We were on time for our reservation. We were brought back to our table. The hostess didn't give us menus. She said the server will be with you shortly. I guess "shortly" is a relative term. 10 minutes passes at least. We were given menus not by our server but by the hostess who came back. We were just asked what water we wanted.
It was probably another 10-15 minutes before the waiter came to check in and he greeted us and said just said he'll be back to take our order. Another 10-15 minutes goes by. He was a tall friendly guy who looked stressed. He came to take our order and we decided on their meat feast and an order of flaming cheese. We had one special request due to an allergy (sub out babaganoush for hummus) and he said he'd have to check with the chef and if he didn't come back within a few minutes, it meant the chef was okay with it.
We waited another 20 minutes for the flaming cheese. Seemed to take a while to come out. It was tasty. $25 tasty? No.
Another 15-20 minutes passed and the waiter said the food is almost here. Another 15-20 minutes passed. We were sitting there with half filled water glasses.
I'm looking at the tables next to us who was sat after us and they were getting their food before us.
Then, the food came. The filet was tender but lacked salt, even with the jus they poured over it. Their lamb kofta was dry. The chicken dolmas (chicken thigh seasoned with what tastes like cinnamon and wrapped with grape leaves) were good. The rice was bland. They served it with a bunch of roasted shishito peppers (didn't feel Mediterranean), some baby roasted bell peppers, and a couple of small cherry sized oven roasted tomatoes. It was served with super fluffy pita (but just one piece split in half? Come on. ) and some tangerine labne (which was good) and instead of the babaganoush, they came some oily topping (?not sure if it was a chimichurri) instead of a small dollop of hummus which is what we asked for. The food was dropped off by a someone not our waiter and when waiter came back to check in, my wife mentioned the hummus deal and he was like "that's right" and quickly a small dollop of a super light and airy hummus came out.
This was not worth $160. I realize I'm paying a Vegas premium and that this chef is a fine dining chef. However, the service was disappointingly absent, except when we asked for the check, then that came out quick. The food (while there were some highlights) was mediocre. Living in LA, we have great Persian restaurants so I'm spoiled. I think Chef Mina and crew should take a field trip and check them out.
As an aside , I did see a lot of people order the salt crusted fish. They had a tableside presentation which looked nice. Maybe we should've ordered that.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention ambiance. It's a beautifully decorated, dimly lit restaurant.
In summary, while there were some highlights (the pita, chicken dolmas, hummus, saganaki, and labne were tasty), the rest was unimpressive. The service was not what I would expect from a fine dining restaurant.
Oh, and FYI, a lot of the photos of the menu are outdated.
Will I go back? No.