Do you
have a special occasion coming up? Or maybe you have friends or family coming
into town and you want to share a home-style dinner without the hassle of
cooking, cleaning up. Then the perfect dining spot is waiting for you at
Carmine’s at The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace. They recently celebrated their
1st Anniversary. Talk about a
“wow” factor! Family sized portions will have your eyes popping out of your
head and you nose will appreciate the delicious Italian smells wafting off the plates.
Start
your meal off with a refreshing cocktail or a glass of wine. The drink menu is
quite extensive and I really enjoyed the Sinatra Iced Tea made with Bulleit Rye
Whisky, Fresh Lemon Juice Maraschino Cherry Juice, on the rocks and extremely refreshing!
However
since one of my favorite drinks is a Manhattan it is always a test to see what
type of cherries are used in making one, a nice brandied cherry is the best
choice, if you run into a Manhattan made with a maraschino cherry sadly to say
not up to par! Well order a Manhattan at Carmine’s and it comes with a brandied
cherry. Score a point for Carmine’s.
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| Eggplant Parmesan |
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| Cold Antipasto Platter |
Next
what type of appetizer would you like? They have eighteen to choose from and
all are simply delicious. If you order the Caesar salad remember it can feed up
to six and is covered with fresh mozzarella cheese. A mountain! The fried zucchini
is freshly breaded and is thin not the thickly breaded spears that you might experience
somewhere else. If a Cold Antipasto plate is on your list of
favorite appetizers then you will be delighted with this gargantuan sized
serving. My favorite appetizer is the
calamari, which is fresh and tender and not over breaded. It is served with a
spicy marinara sauce that compliments this tender seafood which when cooked
correctly is so so very good. After tasting Carmine’s calamari you will become
a tad spoiled.
Keep in
mind that these dishes are all family sized so an appetizer or two and two main
courses will feed a party of 4-6 comfortably. Now on to the main course. All of
the favorites are well represented on this menu, pasta, chicken, seafood, beef
and house specialties. We had three of the dishes including Eggplant Parmesan, Chicken
Marsala and the Porterhouse Contadina.
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| Porterhouse Contadina |
The Eggplant Parmesan is a tower of food. Thinly
sliced and covered with fresh mozzarella, fabulous! Some Chicken Marsala can be sauce heavy but
this sauce is divine. The chicken is so tender it literally melts in your mouth
with the Marsala sauce which has the perfect tastes of butter, olive oil and mushrooms
a little piece of heaven right there in the plate right in front of you. BEEF! The Porterhouse Contadina consists of a
45 oz. sliced porterhouse steak and is served with sweet Italian fennel
sausage, onions, peppers and potatoes. You
cannot go wrong with a porterhouse steak, well I guess you could but Carmine’s
serves this dish perfectly. You can cut
the steak with your fork.
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| Bread Pudding |
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| The Titanic |
After
all of this food you had better keep a little room left for dessert. They have nine desserts to choose from and we
had the Bread Pudding and the Titanic. Bread pudding happens to be one of my favorite
desserts but yes it can be quite heavy and gooey. NOT here! They use fresh bread and it is light airy and
decadent. Even people at our table who were not so keen on bread pudding were oohing
and ahhing over this dish. I can say,
the best Bread Pudding I have ever had. Oh and by the way I hear that they "individually
toast and butter each slice of bread" for the pudding. TRY IT!! Another popular dessert here is the Titanic,
which is just that, Titanic sized! What
is in this famous dessert? Try a
flourless Chocolate Torte, 3 scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream, 2 scoops of Chocolate
Ice Cream, fresh whipped cream, freshly sliced strawberries and bananas,
pineapple roasted with cinnamon, chocolate syrup and chopped hazelnuts and 4
Ferraro hazelnut chocolate swirls that
make up the smoke stacks. If a family of 4-6 could finish all of the
food in this article then hats off to you.
Carmine’s
the best place to pick up the check!
Takes
Reservations
Walk-Ins
Welcome
Good
For Groups
Good
For Kids
Take
Out
Delivery
Catering
Waiter
Service
Outdoor
Seating
3500
Las Vegas Blvd S
Las
Vegas, Nevada 89109
(702)
473-9700
www.carminesnyc.com/locations/las-vegas/
