Rick Moonen is an excitable man. These days, the celebrity chef/sustainable seafood patriot is even more amped up than usual now that he has a new culinary adventure awaiting you: Rx Boiler Room.
Entering into Rx Boiler Room—pronounced Rick’s Boiler Room, BTW—means immersing yourself in a steampunk environ reminiscent of a Jules Verne novella. The rooms are ornately decorated with a variety of reclaimed artifacts and collectibles, the vast majority of which were uncovered right here in the Las Vegas Valley. The space is a sight to behold and there’s as much to pique your interest on the walls as there is on the menus.
About all that connects Moonen’s two venues (Boiler Room sits above his flagship cafe) is the gregarious owner himself, his frenetic pursuit of innovative dishes and an interconnecting staircase to his eponymous restaurant below. No slight to his name-making restaurant below, but Boiler Room is as engrossing a dining experience as there is on the Strip.
World-renowned for his seafood stylings, Moonen’s seafood dishes are unsurprisingly the most remarkable. Start with some small plates like Rx Fish Tacos, which nestle kampachi tartare—a sustainably farmed offering from Hawaii—in taro root shells for a unique taste. Jalapeño, grapefruit yuzu gelée and an avocado purée provide some textural differences to round out the irresistible dish.
Even more impressive is the citrus gravlax smoked under glass—a play on lox and bagels. Served under a glass dome obscured in a cloud of walnut cherry smoke, the salt-cured salmon is accompanied by toasted bagel chips and chive cream cheese for a taste of the Big Apple.
Of the larger plates, the Peking duck lettuce wraps are rife with crunchy poultry rivaling that of your favorite Chinatown version. Boiler Room’s version combines duck skin and leg confit, melding crispness and unctuousness in each bite. Squid-E-O’s with spicy merguez meatballs are an innovative play on SpaghettiOs, with calamari rings immersed in a mild squid ink tomato sauce—just enough to instill a hint of ocean flavor while not obscuring the sauce.
Bacon-wrapped bacon-n-egg
Be sure not to turn a blind eye to Boiler Room’s mixology program, where innovative spirits and housemade bitters are combined in almost every drink. If you thought the gravlax presentation was innovative, wait until you order the Smoked Whiskey and Cola—George Dickel whiskey, housemade cola syrup and cherrybark vanilla bitters combined with smoked cherrywood in a smoking glass skull. Watch the eyes at the next table turn to greet this cocktail.
Do save room for the inventive desserts. Pie Americana is a deconstructed presentation of the American favorite, while equally American are the cookies and milk—housemade chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies presented with a bottle of milk. You’re given straws for sharing the bottle or an empty glass for dipping; whichever you decide is up to you.
Best of the desserts may be the Mahalo Matcha Panna Cotta. A sublime green tea panna cotta is layered with sharp li hing mui pineapples, a macadamia nut crisp and passion fruit sorbet for a return to flavors of our Hawaiian brethren. Leave it to Moonen to take you on a trip without leaving your chair.
The Shoppes at Mandalay Place, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. daily. 702.632.7200
