FIX
Bellagio (last visit: October 2012).
American.
FIX is the first restaurant run by The Light Group, which previously had created several trendy lounges and clubs (e.g., Light, Caramel, Mist). FIX was their chance to create a trendy restaurant. It was a success, and they've since followed up with STACK, a similar type of restaurant at The Mirage.
The Menu
The menu concentrates on trendy or inventive variations of standard American fare. Lobster tacos, yellowtail sashimi, and Kobe sliders share the menu with scallops Benedict, steak and for dessert, banana filled doughnuts. Trendy drinks are also available. Care for a habanero mango margarita?
The Atmosphere
The bartenders and servers certainly have that trendy look: young, thin, dressed in tight black skin-and-tattoo revealing clothing. A typical outfit was a black corset with a red bra. Service is friendly and efficient.
Located just off the casino floor, the room is loosely divided into three areas: bar, lounge, and dining room. The same menu is available everywhere. It can get pretty noisy, but somehow it's not objectionable - just fun.
The Meals
Meal #1:
The bill (including one drink): $80.
- I started with a crab cake made of shredded (not lump) crab meat, but with very little filler. It was baked, and served on a pool of remoulade sauce. Rating: good.
- For my entrée, I had Scallops Benedict: three large sea scallops, barely cooked through, on top of applewood smoked bacon ,a thick layer of spinach, and shredded potato cake. It was a good combination of flavors, executed well; very good.
- For dessert, Shake and Cake: espresso milk shake and a brownie. The milk shake was in an espresso cup, with icy froth, and a strong coffee/chocolate shake; very good. The brownie was soft, chewy, nutty, intensely chocolaty. Wow! I want another.
Meal #2:
The bill: too much. With one martini (gin of course; none of those newfangled vodka martinis for me), it came to a little over $90.
- I started with their daily special: toro tartare. This consisted of several thin slices of tuna that tasted more like maguro (regular tuna) than toro (tuna belly). Nonetheless, good.
- For my entrée, I had Drunken Lobster with Prosciutto Gnocchi: a lobster tail, medium size, split and resting on what was presumably an alcohol based sauce. That doesn't sound so great, but it was very good.
Meal #3:
The bill: $60 plus drinks, tax and tip.
- No appetizer this time - straight to the main course: seabass with risotto. The fish was crisp on top, but tender inside. It was a very good choice. The risotto was standard but good.
- Wood grilled forest mushrooms. They sure give simple dishes fancy names. In this case, it was deserved. A large bowl of mushrooms were grilled enough to be cooked but were still very firm. There was enough butter (or oil) used to give them good flavor. This dish was more than enough for two people, but I somehow managed to finish it.
- Warm doughnuts with two sauces. Three small cake doughnuts were dusted with crystalline sugar, and filled with bananas. That doesn't sound all that great, but they were really, really good. Accompanying the doughnuts were an excellent dark chocolate sauce, and a peanut butter sauce. The people next to me saw me devouring the doughnuts, and just had to order their own set.
Meal #4:
The bill: $53 plus drinks, tax and tip.
- Bobby Baldwin burgers. Three sliders made of "Kobe" beef. Yeah, right. Whatever they were made out of, they were pretty good: juicy, good flavor, with tomato, pickle and onion. The accompanying spiced fries were also pretty good. This was hardly a gourmet dish, but was satisfying.
- Wood grilled forest mushrooms. The same as last time: a lot of nicely grilled mushrooms.
- Banana bread pudding. Recommended by the bartender, it was a decent rendition of bread pudding, with some banana flavor, but I liked the other desserts I've had batter.
Meal Updates
I've eaten here a few more times, but with nothing much new to report. The gin martinis are as strong as ever; Bobby Baldwin burgers are as good as ever. Scallops Benedict were even better than in the past; the bacon was a little less chewy, and the flavors seemed to blend just a little bit better. I tried one new item: fried adult mac 'n' cheese. This consisted of four rectangles of deep fried macaroni and cheese - very good, if your arteries can stand it.
Summary
FIX is loud and trendy, and serves trendy food - just the kind of place I'm likely to hate. However, the atmosphere is more fun than anything else, and the food is surprisingly good. If you can put up with the prices, it's a worthwhile destination.