Blossom — Restaurant in Paradise

Updated Review 19th Jul 2021 First of all, I would like to say that I had high expectations coming back here and I was not disappointed. Ambience is excellent - quiet and clean. Feels like I'm transported to the glory days of old Hong Kong.

HK Style Soup of the day - Reminded me of my mom's soup. Great, healthy, no MSG yet flavorful. The soup of the day was winter melon prok rib soup. For people who are used to eating MSG food might find the soup a little bland but if you understand Chinese cuisine (the time/work needed to boil a soup to have natural flavors), this soup hits the spot. The pork was really soft as well.

Egg white and dried scallop fried rice - Recommended by the server as the chef's specialty fried rice. Uncle Roger would be so proud. It may look plain but I kid you not, one of the best fried rice in the U.S. I've had. Reminds me of home.

Peking duck - The star of the night is the peking duck. Blossom uses a traditional method of hanging and dripping the duck and brushing it regularly, the style that I prefer. I got both the steamed buns and wraps but I prefer the wraps. Wished it was a little bit thinner or maybe the option of having fried buns as well (helps to amplify the duck taste).

I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to 4 staff: Lily, Li, Krisztina and Connie for their hospitality and stellar service. I'll be posting a video about the food here on Youtube when I get a chance, so be on the look out for it.

P.S. The head chef is cantonese so order canto styled dishes as those are his specialties. Get a server to recommend what's good if you are not familiar with canto cuisine. Of course, you can't compare to restaurants in Asia but definitely one of the best (if not... best so far) HK-style fine dining restaurants I've had in America. I'll try Wing Lei next time and see how it compares.

Original Review: The experience is by far the WORST experience I've had in my entire life. Yes. The worst. It was that terrible.

Called this bloody restaurant TWICE to confirm whether I need/can advance order the Peking duck. They said it's not necessary and they will have it during my reservation at 10pm and guess what? It got sold out.

I have the call logs as evidence to show I called twice to confirm whether I have/can make an advance order for the Peking duck at Blossom.

At 8:53am I spoke with MGM restaurant bookings who confirmed with the restaurant manager that no advance order is required but told me to call when the restaurant is open to confirm.

At 5:45pm I called the Blossom directly and asked the same question. The same answer was given. That an advance order was not required. And I even mentioned that I had a 10pm reservation and I would be able to order directly at 10pm. The customer service person who answered said yes I did not have to.

And twice, I was more than willing to order in advance or pay for it in advance. Yet I was told that I did not have to.

The manager of blossom, Klejdi Janllari also did absolutely nothing to appease my anger and disappointment even after I told him that they f*ed up. That fueled my anger even more. He and his team messed up and yet nothing was offered nor done. Even my interns can problem solve better than this. Terrible experience which I would not have expected from such a supposedly "fine dining" restaurant. Maybe that's why they don't have a Michelin star. If you want better service, maybe Wing Lei would be better.

P.S. Asked for the manager's email, he gave me his card and I sent him an email and he never replied or addressed the issue.

I decided to drive all the way from California to eat the Peking Duck (yes, just the damn duck) at Blossom and left with mega...

What a Joke! It’s a $$$$ restaurant in one of the most luxurious casino and hotel in Vegas - Aria. However, the foods and the services there are worse than a $ Chinese restaurant.

The atmosphere is crowded and noisy. The wait staff were hustled and pushy. It made you feel uncomfortable from the lack of honesty. I tried to ask the waiter about the different type of fishes from the steam fish menu; he would wishy washy us to order the most expensive one without answering my questions about the different type of fish. The hot and sour soup was cheaply made and was worse than that you could get at the Chinese buffet. The Peking Duck we ordered was a roasted duck. The waiter craved 16thin slices from its back and side to make just 8rolls to serve 6of us. He then brought the rest to the back kitchen to chop it into serving pieces. He brought back with only pieces of neck/back bones and 2legs. There was none of the breast meat. Cheated! The beef tenderloins and Portabella mushrooms sauté in-house special sauces was chewy and over cooked tasted like flat iron steak. Tenderloins aren’t that chewy even slightly over cooked. Cheated! We ordered three sets of coconut bird nest for dessert. One of them had a 2 inches plastic stringy thing inside of it that my spouse found while eating it. The waiter claimed it’s from the coconut fiber but it’s shiny and elastic. With that price tag, you would expect better quality/preparation. In addition, one of the bowl, the waiter gave us to serve the bird nest desert with, was filthy with some broken rice pieces and stains of some type of sauces, still visible along the rim. It made me think that they might not even wash dishes at all. I pointed it out to the waiter and he switched the bowl but then later he said his manager would give us a free charge of the of Portelbella mushrooms and beef tenderloin order. I told them I don’t want your free dish and it’s tasted awful regardless. There is news about restaurants serving imitated bird nest made of some types of clear angle hair noodles leave me wondering. The steamed rice tasted old and smelly. The rice is at least a day old and being kept warm in the unclean cooker. Who’s that chef in a $$$$ restaurant would allow this to happen!

We picked out this place randomly because we were in Vegas to celebrate my spouse’s birthday.

I am giving this restaurant one star, but I would give it zero if I...

I had the opportunity to dine at Blossom last Sunday, hosted by a friend. While I can't deny that the ambiance of the restaurant is undeniably beautiful, the food did not live up to expectations, especially when compared to other renowned restaurants in Vancouver, the Bay Area, or even Hong Kong.

We started with the soup of the day, which was a significant letdown. Priced at $16 per bowl, it tasted more like a plain broth with salt, rather than the rich, flavorful Cantonese soup traditionally slow-cooked for hours.

The appetizers, including goose liver, duck wing, and jellyfish, were the only dishes that met an acceptable standard. However, the main dishes left much to be desired. We tried the crab with garlic and pepper, chicken in hot oil and scallion, steamed salty fish, garlic choy sum, and dried scallop fried rice. The ginger paste that accompanied the chicken was flavorless, and the chicken itself was disappointingly mushy.

The crab was poorly cracked, and while it was passable in taste, it didn’t live up to expectations. We had to ask for a crab cracker, and no moist towels were provided, which is a common courtesy in seafood restaurants. Despite the restaurant not being busy, our plates, piled with crab shells, were left unattended, and there was no busser to clear them away promptly.

The steamed salty fish, a traditional Cantonese dish, was also a disappointment. The meat patty was paper-thin and lacked any notable flavor, which was surprising for such a classic dish. The fried rice and vegetables were decent, but the overall experience fell short.

Considering the many glowing five-star reviews, I can only assume the chef was having an off day. The pricing of the dishes was fair, and the wine, although marked up, was priced at three times the market rate, which seemed reasonable.

A word of caution regarding dessert: there is a bird's nest in coconut priced at $198, which is quite extravagant.

Based on this experience, I cannot recommend Blossom as an authentic Cantonese restaurant. It seems more suited to tourists or gamblers staying at the Aria who prefer convenience over culinary...