The Early Word on Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill

Shouty chef Gordon Ramsay's second restaurant opened a mere three weeks ago at Caesars Palace. Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill debuted a short five days before his third venture, Gordon Ramsay BurGR at Planet Hollywood Resort, and so far, the reaction to the British gastropub seems to be rather mixed. Let's take a look at the early word.

The Safe but Sound News: Max Jacobson at Vegas Seven hustled over to Ramsay's restaurant to find the place decked out in London nods such as the red telephone booths and sklyine on the wall, "just in case you didn't already know this was, in essence, a British pub. Good thing, because the food here didn't convince me I was." He compares the Welsh rarebit to British Velveeta and the English ale onion soup he calls "sweet, oily and forgettable." High points included the Yorkshire ale-battered fish and chips — "deliciously crunchy exterior, and come with large, proper English-style chips and a side of mushy peas" — and shepherd's pie. He recommends sticking with the desserts, such as the sticky toffee pudding; the Peanut Butter & Jelly, a blackberry cobbler with peanut crumble; the Spotted Dog, "an unreasonably rich bread pudding;" and a butterscotch pot de crème, which "almost made me forget the previous occupant here, Mr. Bradley Ogden. But not quite."

The Lack of Flair News: Brock Radke at Las Vegas Weekly says the layout is rather confusing. "The food is tasty, but the menu is mildly confusing. GRPG is open for lunch, dinner and late noshing, and at night, there are two menus: pub and grill. On my first visit, I was seated in the bar, given no explanation of this dual menu stuff, and given only the grill menu. Weird, huh?" He liked all of his food (of course), including Scotch eggs with Innis & Gunn beer sausage, deviled eggs, a lamb burger and a ham sandwich. "Almost everything is hearty and satisfying, which makes me think maybe this place isn't trying to blow our minds. Maybe it's just a good pub."

The Foursquare News: Among the 28 tips on Foursquare, one of the most popular suggests, "Try the Butterscotch pudding, while many of the commenters were disappointed in the food here. "Not even close to good. Chef Ramsay needs to visit this place and break heads. The service was crap and the food middling."

The Bad Service News: Yelper Dario D. says this is the second Gordon Ramsay restaurant he tried and his second disappointment. The "food was good but portions are tiny, ridicoulously [sic] overpriced, terrible service at many levels: 10 minutes wait for the warer [sic] order, 15 more to order drinks and 20 to order food; no napkins; 5 waitresses at front door doing nothing and a bunch pf [sic] customers trying to catch their attention?Bottom line: Gordon you're full of s***, you talk about consistency but that's what this is: inconsistent and not worth the money."

The Overpriced News: Another, Jade U., says she's a big fan of Ramsay's and "was so disappointed?But in the form of his words it was pure S.H.I.T.?RIDICULOUS OVER PRICED NASTINESS! GORDON WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!!! This joint needs help."

But Some Good News: Another Yelper, Jessica B., says of the fish and chips, "The fish is so buttery and melt in your mouth delicious!" and of the shepherd's pie, "The mashed potatoes were so buttery delicious. Everything really worked well together, it was easy to see why this is a signature dish."
· All Coverage of Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill [~ELV~]