After over a year of wanting to try TAO group’s New York location, I finally made it to their more recently opened outpost of Beauty & Essex (Menu, Yelp) on a recent trip to Las Vegas. I made a reservation for a group of nine for my birthday and our experience was perfect start to finish.
Service was on point, it felt as though the whole restaurant knew we were celebrating a birthday and they made sure our group felt special. Decor/atmosphere of the restaurant was better than I could have imagined, I think B&E will continue to be one of my favorite restaurants simply for the fact that the design is beautiful – they perfectly marry chic with antique. Food was excellent, our whole table agreed that we would come back again if presented the opportunity.
Top 3 (see pics below):
What we ordered and what we thought: (*=wouldn’t order again, **=potentially order again, ***=definitely order again):
Tomato Tartare (***)
Avocado, Lemon, Espelette Toast (**)
Yellowtail Sashimi (*)
Kale and Apple Salad (**)
French Onion Soup Dumplings (***)
Tomato and Grilled Cheese Soup Dumplings (***)
Thai Style Deep-Fried Shrimp (*)
Short Rib Mac and Cheese (*)
Elote Style Scallops (***)
10 oz. Classic Thick Cut Filet (***)
LES, NYC Donuts (**)
Tuna Poke Wonton Tacos (***)
Lobster Paella (**)
#1: Tomato Tartare – Absolutely delicious, we were all very impressed by this dish and the unique taste, largely influenced by the quail egg on top.
#2: Yellowtail Sashimi – This dish was tasty and fresh, but the taste wasn’t quite as good as I thought it was going to be – the ponzu wasn’t as bold as it should have been.
#3: Tomato Grilled Cheese Soup Dumplings – We ordered seconds of these! Highly recommend if you’re going to Beauty & Essex that you order whatever “soup dumplings” they have on the menu.
Let me say it again: These dumplings were amazing
#4: 10oz Classic Thick Cut Filet – This filet had an spicy and smokey rub, was perfectly cooked to a light medium-rare, and came with a trio of sauces.
#5: Elote Style Scallops – Juicy, fresh, well seasoned, I could have eaten ten of these. The charred corn salad underneath them was super yummy too.
#6: Lobster Paella – Lobster was succulent and well seasoned, the paella was good, but not great. It lacked seasoning and was a bit to sticky for paella.
#7: Short Rib Mac and Cheese – I had very, very high hopes for this dish… and I’m sad to report it was disappointing. The mac and cheese wasn’t bad, but for how much potential it had, the dish came up short. The pasta was good, but there just wasn’t enough short rib and the cheese wasn’t seasoned enough.
#8: French Onion Soup Dumplings – These were epic, ‘Nuff said.
Comments