Tiny Urban Kitchen

Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond

  • About
    • About Me
    • Tiny Urban Kitchen’s Favorite Equipment
    • Press
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Asian
      • Chinese
      • Taiwanese
      • Thai
      • Malaysian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
    • Appetizers
    • Soups
    • Salad
    • Pasta
    • Noodles
    • Rice
    • Vegetarian
    • Meat
    • Sweets
      • Baking
      • Ice cream
      • Cookies
    • Misc
    • Kawaii (Cute)
  • Travel / Restaurants
    • United States
      • Boston
        • Jen’s Picks
        • Boston
          • Allston
          • Back Bay
          • Brighton
          • North End
          • South End
        • Cambridge
          • Kendall Square
          • Inman Square
          • Central Square
          • Harvard Square
          • Porter Square
          • North Cambridge
        • Somerville
          • Davis Square
          • Union Square
        • Greater Boston
          • Brookline
          • Arlington
          • Belmont
          • Watertown
          • Newton
          • Lexington
          • Concord
          • Burlington
          • Natick
        • Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Berkshires
      • Vermont
      • Maine
      • New York
      • Washington DC
      • Philadelphia
      • Orlando
      • Chicago
      • Las Vegas
      • California
        • Los Angeles
        • San Francisco
        • Napa
        • Sonoma
      • Seattle
      • Hawaii
    • Canada
      • Montreal
      • Canadian Rockies
      • Toronto
    • Argentina
    • Europe
      • United Kingdom
        • London
        • Oxford
      • Italy
        • Rome
        • Piedmont
      • France
        • Paris
        • Bordeaux
      • Spain
        • Madrid
        • Barcelona
        • Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona
      • Germany
      • Switzerland
      • Greece
      • Finland
      • Norway
      • Denmark
    • Japan
      • Japan Guide
      • Tokyo
      • Osaka
      • Kyoto
    • China (Mainland)
      • Beijing
      • Chengdu
      • Shanghai
      • Shaanxi
      • Shenzhen
      • Xiamen
      • Yunnan
    • Singapore
    • Hong Kong
    • Malaysia
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Australia/New Zealand
  • Michelin
    • Formerly had a star
    • Michelin Recommended
    • 1 Star
    • 2 Stars
    • 3 Stars
  • Jen’s Eating Guides!
    • Boston Restaurants
    • Boston Dishes
    • Tokyo
    • Hong Kong
    • Las Vegas
    • Napa / Sonoma
    • Taiwan (night markets)
    • Taiwanese (casual eats)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part I)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part II)
    • Kitchen Equipment
  • Trip Reports
    • All trip reports
    • New England
    • New York
    • Washington DC
    • Las Vegas
    • California
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • Florida
    • Japan
    • China

Lago by Julian Serrano – Las Vegas

March 27, 2016 by Jennifer Che 1 Comment

D4C4532.jpg
This is the third post in the Winter in Vegas series. Other posts in this series include B&B Burger and Beer and Harvest by Roy Ellamar.

My absolute favorite thing to do in Las Vegas is . . . surprise! not food-related. I love, love, love the fountain shows at the Bellagio. During the rare opportunities I’ve had to stay in a fountain-facing room there, I’ve sat all night next to the window, watching show after show after show.

The next best thing to getting a fountain-facing room is to sit at one of the fountain-facing balconies at the restaurants inside the Bellagio. Several of them have outdoor patios facing the fountains, including Picasso, Olives, and one of their newest restaurants, Lago by Julian Serrano.
D4C4533.jpg
Lago has a gorgeous outdoor patio with phenomenal views of the fountains. During the winter, they have heat lamps, so you can even sit outside when it’s a bit chilly (it never gets that cold in Vegas, at least not by Bostonian standards!).

Chef Julian Serrano is well known in Vegas. He’s the executive chef at the two-Michelin starred French restaurant Picasso (also at the Bellagio with equally stunning views of the fountain!). He also has Julian Serrano inside Aria, which focuses on his native Spanish cuisine. Lago, his first Italian (more specifically, Milanese) restaurant, is his newest project, and just opened April 2015.

DSC5898.jpg
The concept is Italian small plates, and we ordered from various parts of the menu.

I’m always a huge fan of anything made with raw fish, so I opted to order two items from the Crudo di Pesce (raw fish) part of the menu.

Tonno ($19 for three pieces – pictured in front) consisted of an Ahi tuna slice topped with an orange segment and seasoned with citrus-colatura di alici. Capasanta ($18 for three pieces – pictured in back) was a raw scallop topped with blood orange  and pistachio.

Unfortunately, I was not impressed with the crudo. I felt that the raw seafood was not super fresh and the citrus fruit together with the dressing overpowered the delicate seafood flavors. Perhaps my standards are a bit too high, as I am probably instinctively placing sushi-level standards onto the crudo. Nevertheless, I would not recommend ordering this dish, especially at these prices.
DSC5900.jpg
The Insalata Caprese ($15), made with heirloom tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella and dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, was solid and pretty classic.
DSC5908.jpg
My favorite dish of the meal was the Polpo alla Diavola, a spicy, tomato-based octopus and chickpea dish served with garlic bread. The flavors were excellent, and the octopus was really tender.
DSC5907.jpg
The Margherita Pizette ($14), a smaller sized Neapolitan pizza with tomato sauce, house-made mozzarella, and basil was very good and tasted quite authentic.
DSC5905.jpg
The Linguine al Frutti di Mare, a seafood pasta dish made with seafood ragu and a touch of tomato sauce had great seafood flavors. The pasta texture was a bit soft for my taste, but the sauce was so tasty everyone still ate that dish up.
DSC5903.jpg
Another tasty dish was the vegetarian dish Verdure e Farro, made with farro grain, roasted vegetables, and arugula all tossed together. The flavors were nice, and I loved the nutty flavor and chewy texture of the farro, one of my favorite grains to eat.
DSC5911.jpg
We finished with the Branzino Livornese ($16), sea bass served with capers, olives, tomatoes, and roasted asparagus. It was fine, not bad but again not particularly not memorable.
DSC5892.jpg

General Thoughts
All in all, the food at Lago is fine with a few standouts (octopus!) and a few sleepier dishes. It’s a safe place to have a reasonably enjoyable meal all while enjoying stunning views of the fountains. Keep in mind I did visit during lunchtime, which has a more limited menu compared to dinnertime.

I thought the food was good, but I wouldn’t come out of my way to dine here. It’s probably not necessarily a destination-worthy restaurant. However, if you happen to be attending a conference in the area or are staying at the Bellagio and don’t feel like traveling far, it’s a perfectly fine place to enjoy a meal while enjoying the fountain shows.

Lago by Julian Serrano
3600 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Filed Under: Las Vegas, US Travel

« Harvest by Roy Ellamar Bellagio Las Vegas
Chinese Braised Peanuts »

Recent Posts

  • El Cellar de Can Roca – Best Restaurant in the World November 9, 2019
  • Carbone Hong Kong October 22, 2019
  • Tickets Tapas Bar Barcelona Spain October 8, 2019
  • Reflections on a Decade of Blogging: Happy Birthday Tiny Urban Kitchen! October 1, 2019
  • Massana Girona – Michelin Star September 27, 2019
  • Girona Spain – Historic City with Fantastic Food September 23, 2019
  • Amelia San Sebastian – French food with a bit of Star Wars September 19, 2019
  • Mugaritz San Sebastian – 2 Michelin Stars September 14, 2019

Latest Chinese recipes!

Trackbacks

  1. Las Vegas Eating Guide - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    November 11, 2017 at 11:13 am

    […] Harvest by Roy Ellamar Lago by Julian Serrano Le Cirque Jean Philippe Patisserie Picasso Bellagio Buffet – probably the most famous (and […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Archives

Categories

Awards

Saveur
PFB

BostonGlobe

Most Recent Posts

El Cellar de Can Roca – Best Restaurant in the World

Carbone Hong Kong

Carbone Hong Kong

Tickets Bar Barcelona

Tickets Tapas Bar Barcelona Spain

Reflections on a Decade of Blogging: Happy Birthday Tiny Urban Kitchen!

Massana Girona Spain

Massana Girona – Michelin Star

Girona Spain

Girona Spain – Historic City with Fantastic Food

Amelia San Sebastian

Amelia San Sebastian – French food with a bit of Star Wars

Mugaritz San Sebastian – 2 Michelin Stars

Arzak San Sebastian – 3 Michelin Stars

Topa Sukaldería

France!

Kawaii! (Cute)

Norway!

Food Advertising by logo

Chinese Recipes

Food Advertising by logo

Shop & Support us!

Spain!

Misura San Sebastian

Japan!

Tofuya Ukai Hana
Potsura Potsura Tokyo
Shinjuku Gyoen Tokyo

Cambridge restaurants

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2019 · by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress