Can you improve on a winning formula? In the case of StripSteak at Mandalay Bay, the answer is a resounding yes.
Michael Mina’s steakhouse, which debuted 16 years ago and set the bar for the steakhouses that followed, has undergone a makeover. In addition to a new look in the dining room—now with warm, desert hues, midcentury furnishings and one of the largest private dining rooms on the Strip—the menu is studded with new offerings, while keeping some favorites close at hand.
“We’ve really had a lot of fun with the menu,” Mina says. “We’ve probably changed 70 percent.
“Obviously, the techniques that we use [for] the steaks haven’t changed. The rib cap probably will always be the signature steak here, but to be able to do great appetizers with some good Japanese influence, have a lot of light choices and shareable things, is really fun and whimsical. It’s a nice way to start your meal and still be able to have that classic steak with those sides done really well. That’s what StripSteak is all about, and that’s what we wanted to keep it about.”
How to approach the new menu? Start with the savory-sweet palate pleaser caviar jelly doughnuts ($17), filled with bright yuzu curd and topped with Daurenki caviar. You’ll find that Japanese influence in the hamachi nori tacos ($28), fresh yellowtail wrapped in crispy seaweed and topped with soy-cured ikura and wasabi tobiko. Share an order with the table.
The prime rib Wagyu ($86) is a deeply flavored cut of meat. Covered in duck fat and aged 45 days, it’s served with fresh horseradish and black truffle au jus.
Or for a truly decadent steakhouse experience, splurge for the Kagoshima A5 Wagyu ($260 for a 5 oz. portion), served with StripSteak’s signature red wine-shallot butter and prepared in Mina’s tried-and-true way—butter-poached and fired up in a wood-burning grill. Some things need not change, and that’s fine by us.
STRIPSTEAK Mandalay Bay, 702-632-7414, mandalaybay.mgmresorts.com. Daily, 5-10 p.m.
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