A Great Restaurant With a Tragic Flaw – But Wonderful Wines!
When in Las Vegas last week, we made reservations at Majordōmo Meat & Fish restaurant in the Venetian Resort. This came highly recommended and will begin on a positive note. As the name implies, majordomo means a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. To this extent the service was beyond reproach and the wait staff along with the sommelier was top notch. Additionally the food was also delicious, hot (or cold depending on the dish) and entrees plated nicely. That is one of the major reasons one goes to a sought after dining experience for delicious food.
The tragic flaw was the noise level. While sitting at a four top, we had to literally yell across the table to be heard. The music was so loud and the bass turned up to mimic a war drum cadence. What the restaurant failed to understand that when folks go out for a nice meal they want to socialize! Ambient music is fine, but it should not fill the room like the casinos. Unfortunately this was sufficient to ruin the experience or want us to come back for another meal.
I started off with a half dozen oysters on the half shell with mignonette, horseradish and Tabasco. The oysters were fresh and succulent. A glass of 2015 Mayacamas Chardonnay was a lovely pairing.
Next up was a beautifully prepared Heirloom tomato salad. This included avocado, Korean chili vin and salsa seca. The crunchiness with the sweet tomatoes was a culinary highlight of appetizers. A bottle of 2015 Optima Cabernet Sauvignon was selected to go with this and other appetizers at the table.
For the entrée a ten ounce prime flat iron steak was selected. This was prepared with a spicy garlic marinade and smoke onion. We brought a 2005 Silver Oak, Napa Valley to celebrate and kick off our Las Vegas stay. The wine was smooth and delicious from its deep color to the wafting fruits of the harvest. Oak, mocha and a hint of vanilla pipe tobacco made this wine while worthy of the time cellared. A smooth and long lasting finish. Kelly the Sommelier on duty did a great job decanting and preparing the wine for the entrée.
I normally don’t write a negative story and this is only negative about the loud music. The food and wines were great, but it overwhelmed what should have been an excellent experience. We left there without having dessert as our hearing was at this point completely diminished.
Sláinte,
Michael
California Wines & Wineries 
October 4, 2021 at 6:15 pm
Did you ask the host to turn down the music level? I’ve found that works, especially when the surrounding tables comment with agreement.
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October 4, 2021 at 6:30 pm
Great post, Michael. I remember back in the 90s when Patrick kuleto was the majordomo of restaurant design, the unfortunate equation of “noise=energy” ruled the day. There were no soft surfaces and I had to stop trying to have business lunches in his clients’ establishments. If I leave with a headache and having had no conversation, I’d rather save some money and go to a Marvel superhero movie instead.
Just curious, what was the corkage fee on that Silver Oak?
Thanks!
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October 4, 2021 at 6:37 pm
Great post. I remember when Patrick Kuleto was designing every high-end restaurant in the Bay Area with his misguided noise=energy equation, it was miserable.
What was the corkage fee on the Silver OK?
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October 5, 2021 at 4:59 pm
How sad.
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October 8, 2021 at 3:22 pm
it is horrible when it is so loud that you can’t enjoy the food or the conversation
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