Mon Ami Gabi — Restaurant in Paradise

Very nice décor and a more extensive and adventurous menu than I had allowed myself to hope for, so a pleasant surprise.

The atmosphere felt somewhat authentic, from the closer table placement, but not so much as to trade authenticity for comfort, glass doors, and overall aesthetic of the place felt very comforting. The only miss was maybe the music - having some authentic French music as it would be playing in the cafes today, or maybe going nostalgic with some 30s warblers. That would have really tied it all together - depending on the conversation, you might even have forgotten what continent you were on.

The waiter was gentlemanly with an air of the French authenticity. The service was typical, very good.

French onion soup: decent, good effort on the broth taste and the cheese was well prepared. The consistency of the onion and some interaction with the broth - unsure which was the cause, meant that the onion did not behave or travel through the soup as you would expect - not a detriment to the taste, but perhaps a bit to the texture. Otherwise good balance of sweetness and savory and upon desire... a glop of fat (cheese) to reset. I would not order again, but I would recommend it to someone there for the first time.

Next, the deviled eggs with white fish caviar: 4 half-eggs with a little bit too hard egg yolk, descent hollandaise-like sauce and topped with... roe, not caviar. This was overly bland, probably let down by the bland sauce and lack of a salty punch from the roe. Absolutely not memorable and would not order nor recommend. As an aside, I know very little about caviar, but my understanding is that roe and caviar are very well defined and distinct things. I am fairly certain that what I was served was roe, but happy to be corrected and educated. If however I am correct, I think it would be a little uncouth to not correct the menu (and while at it, kick the sauce up a notch :)

Lastly, the beef tartare: I was very excited to see this on the menu, as I had never had the chance to have it before, even though I have travelled through France a few times. Trusted the place, cleanliness/etc, so jumped on the chance. The avocado-sized tartare was plated crisps. Nothing special about the crisps, unsure if you were supposed to use them as a scoop? I did not. Never having tartare before, no idea how it is "supposed" to be, but the overall texture was fine/nothing off-putting about it, almost like a slightly textured cheescake that melted in your mouth? Off-putting description maybe, but trust me(?) it was actually quite nice. The flavour was heavy on the spice and fermented hit from some of the chopped veg and a very slight hint of onion - this was a little surprising as I was expecting heavy use of large chopped red onion which would have added a crunch and zest to cover the raw-ness of the meat. That not being the case may have been why I was so pleasantly eased in to the texture and flavour profile. Overall it did come together as a very pleasant and mellow pate - that was seeming to miss something... perhaps the salty kick of the crisps I foolishly did not combine?

So overall a really good experience and one that I would both return to and recommend to others. In a land full of big flavours and spectacles, it reminds us of the fun in subtle...

My fiancee' and I have dined at many restaurants in Vegas and as far as breakfast goes, this is by far our favorite!!! Finally tried it out this year and it was spectacular. Highly recommended!

We tried our 1st breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi on a Thursday morning and had reservations, but found out the hard way that if you want to sit outside - they do not take reservations...but after a short wait we were seated in a pretty tight spot right next to the servers area and I was a bit bummed because other reviews talked about the view.

However, once our waiter brought the house coffee and fresh squeezed juice things were starting to look up as both were excellent (extremely good coffee). Our waiter on Thursday was excellent and very attentive and helpful since this was our first time eating there.

The first day I ordered eggs Benedict with a side of hash browns and the date glazed bacon. Wowsa!!!! Everything was fantastic. Highly recommend a side of the date glazed bacon no matter what you get. The eggs Benny was great and exactly the traditional style I was looking for. My fiancee' ordered the French toast and a side of eggs. Double wowsa!!! The French toast was splendid.

So as far as the first day went - was bummed with the seating but extremely delighted with the service and food. So much so that we decided we would be back the next day. Yeah, It's that good and the food and service honestly made the seating issue non-existent and a distant memory since I was so happy with the food and knew we should return the next day.

The second day we were seated right on the strip with an excellent view of the Bellagio and if you looked up thru the gaps in the umbrella you could see the Eiffel Tower! It was fantastic.

Our server the second day was awesome. She was also very helpful and delightful to deal with.

The second day of our Mon Ami Gabi dinings, which was our last day of our four days stay in Vegas (I guarantee you there would have been a third day If we didn't have to leave) I decided to try the corned beef hash and reordered my newly found favorite bacon ever - The date glazed bacon 🤤.... My fiancee ordered the mixed berry waffles with a side of eggs and we also got a half order crepe to split since we really wanted to try it before leaving. I believe they make different types everyday so make sure to ask your server. Everything was exquisite! The food is so delicious and cooked to perfection.

This day I also decided to try their giant Latte in a bowl and that was even better than the coffee in my opinion. It was perfect and got me well caffeinated and ready for the drive home.

Another thing that threw us back was that the price seemed to be cheaper than any other fine dining sitdown breakfast establishment we visited on the strip over the last 11 years. So everything about this place is honestly a win-win.

Next year when we return - we always like to try new things, but we will definitely be coming back here. This has quickly became our favorite breakfast on the strip and pretty sure it will...

Below is the same review I wrote in response to Open Table requesting a review after my dining experience. I have now lowered my rating here, on Google, to 2 stars from 3, after speaking with Toni (female, I think) who identified herself as 'one of the managers'. I'll explain why below.

Dinner on NYE was disappointing. It was very evident that the food was precooked. The restaurant was booked to capacity yet the appetizers and soup were delivered to the table within minutes of being ordered, literally within 4 minutes. (The server joked that he was clairvoyant and knew that we would be ordering soup so he ordered it ahead of time. That was funny yet proved to me that the food was precooked and staged in the kitchen.) Soup and Appetizer served at the same time. That's wrong. The steak was thin and room temperature. (It was one of those that you buy in the grocery store marked SLICED THIN) The bearnaise sauce had a film on top because it had been pre-portioned and sitting in the kitchen. The Frites, served with the steak, were room temperature. Truly a rush job and disappointing. When a table of 3 can have a 4 course meal served in less than 30 minutes you know the restaurant management was more interested in turning tables as fast as possible then they are about the guest having a wonderful dining experience.

Management responded quickly to my Open Table review, via Open Table, and asked for my contact information so that they could speak with me about my review and ensure that my next visit was up to their standards. I provided that and they did not bother to reach out. I suspect that they post that response on Open Table so that it looks as if the management is truly interested in the guest. In my opinion, they are not. So, I called them. What Toni offered was to make a future reservation so that they could ensure a good dining experience. A good dining experience should be what is offered 100% of the time. If you have to call the manager to make a reservation to ensure that you get the best experience, that indicates mediocrity is the norm, not the standard. The response provided to me after informing management (Toni) that a 4 course meal was served in 30 minutes was "You must have had a reservation before our 7PM New Years Eve 'Dining Experience', as if to say, anyone who dined before the New Years Eve special dinner 7PM menu should have expected to be rushed.

In my opinion, if you are interested in eating a steak in Las Vegas, cross Mon Ami Gabi off your list. Go next door to Alexxa's or go inside Paris and dine at Gordon Ramsey Steak or enjoy any number of other steakhouses available in Las Vegas. (Peter Luger's, Stanton Social Prime, Hell's Kitchen, Golden Steer are just a few.) You won't be disappointed. You'll pay more for your steak but you'll enjoy your meal. If you want Onion Soup or Escargot, Mon Ami is a good choice but don't be surprised if they are served at...