If it’s possible to do something quietly at Wynn, then Lakeside has quietly become one of the best seafood restaurants on the Strip and perhaps anywhere. Between its global lobster program and its “ocean to table” Hawaiian day boat fishing program, eating here enables you to taste beautifully prepared sea creatures you can’t get anywhere else.
Lakeside’s latest offering is a bit more fun. The poke and oyster happy hour offers some island influence in the lounge every night, serving up small, delightful plates at a steal ($9 each or three for $25) as well as fresh oysters on the half shell from both coasts ($2 each). Wynn restaurants aren’t known for deals, so take advantage while you can.
Three kinds of poke offer a variety of textures and flavors: bigeye tuna with cucumber, ogo and ponzu; charred octopus with pickled daikon, hearts of palm and sea beans; and New Zealand ocean trout with avocado, yuzu tobiko and sriracha aioli. My pick is the trout, just because its silky, meaty texture was a new sensation, laced with creamy avocado and slightly spicy sriracha.
Lakeside’s happy hour also does fish and chips, but nothing like the usual. Pillowy, tempura-fried, flaky fish is served with a pungent sweet-and-sour sauce and crispy taro chips, while the restaurant's version of a Spamwich layers Portuguese sausage, kimchi and roasted garlic on sweet Hawaiian slider rolls.
The crowning achievements of this mini-menu are the creamy, funky, addictive red miso and kimchi baked oysters (four for $9) and the Wagyu short-rib loco moco, a bowl of sesame rice with traditional Hawaiian gravy, a sunny side-up quail egg and melt-in-your-mouth chunks of slow-cooked beef. You’ve never had loco moco like this before, but somehow it makes sense that it’s available here—if only for an hour and a half.
Lakeside Wynn, 702-770-3310. Poke & oyster happy hour, nightly, 5:30-7 p.m. in the lounge.