eats - mesa grill caesars palace

we chose to descend upon bobby flay's mesa grill for lunch on monday for two reasons: 1. the menu is much more affordable, and 2. saturday and sunday have separate brunch menus. now i've been a pretty big fan of flay's food since his time on the food network as well as his stints on the original 'iron chef' (who can forget about his taunting of morimoto by jumping atop the cutting board), but i haven't always been a big fan of his personality.

early on he came off as kind of a smug, smart-alecky know-it-all, but over time i've relaxed my views and came to appreciate where he's coming from. it takes a bigger man to take on a show like "throwdown with bobby flay," where basically he's stepping out of his comfort zone and into a boxing ring where he's the overwhelming underdog.

part of my attraction to his food is his bold take on southwestern cuisine, using a bevy of spices, chilies and peppers to go along with a colorful palette of greens, oranges and yellows in his food. which brings us to mesa grill, where i flubbed my opportunity to try in NYC a few years back. redemption came calling at its caesars palace location...

our lunch order consisted of the following:

* blue corn pancake w/barbecued duck, habanero chile & star anise sauce (out of this world)
* tuna nachos w/mango habanero hot sauce & avocado crema (could have eaten for days)
* new mexican spiced pork tenderloin sandwich w/grilled red onion, arugula, ancho chile mayo & southwestern fries (both cold & hot)
* grilled swordfish club w/bacon, avocado, tomato, arugula, chipotle aioli & southwestern fries (never seen swordfish so thin & delicate)



turns out we saved the best meal of the trip for last, so we all left as happy campers...

mesa grill las vegas
caesars palace
3570 las vegas blvd.
las vegas, NV 89109
http://www.mesagrill.com/las-vegas-restaurant/index.php