Steve
03-21-2009, 07:10 AM
Out to sea
Whether you're seeking exotic fare or Chinese classic, Sea Harbour is a catch.
By AL MANCINI/Las Vegas City Life
WHEN most people think of exotic cuisine, Chinese isn't usually the first thing to come to mind. While I've never been to China, I'd always assumed the Chinese takeout I'd experienced most of my life was about as exotic as the nation's food gets. I was originally dissuaded of that notion a few years ago when, in celebration of Chinese New Year, the chefs from China's official State Guest House came to Pearl at the MGM Grand to prepare the same centuries-old recipes from the archives of the Forbidden City they've prepared for visiting presidents and kings for years. There, devouring the exact same dishes that had been made for China's emperors hundreds of years ago, I got my first inkling of how unfamiliar real gourmet Chinese cuisine was to my American palate. Since then, I've had a handful of truly authentic Chinese meals in ultra-high-end restaurants here in Las Vegas. But for the most part I've been confined to beef and broccoli and General Tso's chicken.
I recently got the chance to try authentic gourmet Chinese cuisine again at a brand new Caesars Palace restaurant. Sea Harbour is a chain of eight Cantonese restaurants in mainland China that also has locations in Vancouver and California. The Las Vegas location is an absolutely gorgeous dining room, accessible through a private elevator in a Caesars Palace space that once housed Empress Court. The round dining room is quiet and serene, and there are several large private dining areas. But as beautiful as it is, it was the menu that recently lured in my fairly adventurous party of four.
Many of the offerings at Sea Harbour are things that a lot of Americans probably haven't encountered before. Signature dishes, most which are meant to be shared family-style, include hand-ripped boneless chicken ($20.80 for half, $38.80 for whole), braised shark's fin in brown sauce ($68.80 per person) and pan-fried goose liver in abalone sauce ($28.80). Soups include double-boiled squab with ginseng and herbs ($59.80 and $73.80), fish maw and crab meat ($8.80 and $28.80) and minced chicken and corn ($6.80 and $18.80). There's a half page of different variations of the mollusk abalone harvested from around the world ($48 and up) and another half page of the slug-like underwater animal known as sea cucumber ($18.80-$32.38) prepared with everything from goose feet to jellyfish.
That's not to say everything at Sea Harbour would be intimidating to the uninitiated. They also offer familiar dishes like prawns, scallops or squid sautéed with green peppers in black bean sauce ($25.80), prawns with green scallions ($25.80) and sweet-and-spicy boneless chicken ($18.80).
My party split our order between the familiar and the exotic. We had a large order of fried rice that was among the lightest and most delicately seasoned I've ever had. Next up was an order of Peking duck prepared two ways ($49.80). It began with a team of servers expertly slicing the delicious duck meat tableside and wrapping it with hoisin sauce in delicate crepes -- providing two or three to each member of our party. They then took the remainder and created eight lettuce wraps that were reminiscent of the basic dish you'd find in a P.F. Chang's, but infinitely better.
For our next two courses we went with abalone and sea cucumber. My friend Luis asked for the less expensive of the two Japanese varieties of abalone (about $60), while I opted for the cucumber in a slightly spicy traditional "XO Sauce" with jellyfish and ground beef. Both types of seafood arrived in small stew-like concoctions, and our waitress graciously plated them for us so nobody would miss the tiny portions of the main ingredients. I can honestly say the abalone was delicious, tender and well seasoned -- but certainly not worth $60 for the one small bite each of us received. The cucumber was also good, although I think the texture might make some people uncomfortable.
Sea Harbour is a beautiful restaurant with service on par with the finest gourmet restaurants in Las Vegas. Moreover, it offers a take on Chinese cuisine you won't find at very many places outside of China. And if you avoid the truly exotic dishes, the prices aren't all that bad. Of course, if you simply need to know how abalone or sea cucumber taste, this is the place to do it. (I'd implore everyone to avoid shark's fin, given the barbaric and unsustainable way in which it's harvested.) But whatever you eat, Sea Harbour is a reminder that Chinese cuisine has a lot more to offer than what you'll find at Panda Express.
Sea Harbour Express
Caesars Palace
731-7110
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2009/03/20/eat_and_drink/dining/iq_27540775.txt
Whether you're seeking exotic fare or Chinese classic, Sea Harbour is a catch.
By AL MANCINI/Las Vegas City Life
WHEN most people think of exotic cuisine, Chinese isn't usually the first thing to come to mind. While I've never been to China, I'd always assumed the Chinese takeout I'd experienced most of my life was about as exotic as the nation's food gets. I was originally dissuaded of that notion a few years ago when, in celebration of Chinese New Year, the chefs from China's official State Guest House came to Pearl at the MGM Grand to prepare the same centuries-old recipes from the archives of the Forbidden City they've prepared for visiting presidents and kings for years. There, devouring the exact same dishes that had been made for China's emperors hundreds of years ago, I got my first inkling of how unfamiliar real gourmet Chinese cuisine was to my American palate. Since then, I've had a handful of truly authentic Chinese meals in ultra-high-end restaurants here in Las Vegas. But for the most part I've been confined to beef and broccoli and General Tso's chicken.
I recently got the chance to try authentic gourmet Chinese cuisine again at a brand new Caesars Palace restaurant. Sea Harbour is a chain of eight Cantonese restaurants in mainland China that also has locations in Vancouver and California. The Las Vegas location is an absolutely gorgeous dining room, accessible through a private elevator in a Caesars Palace space that once housed Empress Court. The round dining room is quiet and serene, and there are several large private dining areas. But as beautiful as it is, it was the menu that recently lured in my fairly adventurous party of four.
Many of the offerings at Sea Harbour are things that a lot of Americans probably haven't encountered before. Signature dishes, most which are meant to be shared family-style, include hand-ripped boneless chicken ($20.80 for half, $38.80 for whole), braised shark's fin in brown sauce ($68.80 per person) and pan-fried goose liver in abalone sauce ($28.80). Soups include double-boiled squab with ginseng and herbs ($59.80 and $73.80), fish maw and crab meat ($8.80 and $28.80) and minced chicken and corn ($6.80 and $18.80). There's a half page of different variations of the mollusk abalone harvested from around the world ($48 and up) and another half page of the slug-like underwater animal known as sea cucumber ($18.80-$32.38) prepared with everything from goose feet to jellyfish.
That's not to say everything at Sea Harbour would be intimidating to the uninitiated. They also offer familiar dishes like prawns, scallops or squid sautéed with green peppers in black bean sauce ($25.80), prawns with green scallions ($25.80) and sweet-and-spicy boneless chicken ($18.80).
My party split our order between the familiar and the exotic. We had a large order of fried rice that was among the lightest and most delicately seasoned I've ever had. Next up was an order of Peking duck prepared two ways ($49.80). It began with a team of servers expertly slicing the delicious duck meat tableside and wrapping it with hoisin sauce in delicate crepes -- providing two or three to each member of our party. They then took the remainder and created eight lettuce wraps that were reminiscent of the basic dish you'd find in a P.F. Chang's, but infinitely better.
For our next two courses we went with abalone and sea cucumber. My friend Luis asked for the less expensive of the two Japanese varieties of abalone (about $60), while I opted for the cucumber in a slightly spicy traditional "XO Sauce" with jellyfish and ground beef. Both types of seafood arrived in small stew-like concoctions, and our waitress graciously plated them for us so nobody would miss the tiny portions of the main ingredients. I can honestly say the abalone was delicious, tender and well seasoned -- but certainly not worth $60 for the one small bite each of us received. The cucumber was also good, although I think the texture might make some people uncomfortable.
Sea Harbour is a beautiful restaurant with service on par with the finest gourmet restaurants in Las Vegas. Moreover, it offers a take on Chinese cuisine you won't find at very many places outside of China. And if you avoid the truly exotic dishes, the prices aren't all that bad. Of course, if you simply need to know how abalone or sea cucumber taste, this is the place to do it. (I'd implore everyone to avoid shark's fin, given the barbaric and unsustainable way in which it's harvested.) But whatever you eat, Sea Harbour is a reminder that Chinese cuisine has a lot more to offer than what you'll find at Panda Express.
Sea Harbour Express
Caesars Palace
731-7110
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2009/03/20/eat_and_drink/dining/iq_27540775.txt