For 13 years now—an entire lifetime in the Las Vegas restaurant world—N9NE Steakhouse has maintained its delicious stature as one of hottest celebrity hangouts, one of the hippest dining rooms and one of the best beef emporiums on or off the Strip. Now that the Palms has decided to refurbish the space with a sleek new design, N9NE is surging ahead. It’s an impressive feat considering this perennial favorite didn’t seem to be in need of improvement.
And yet it’s there. The always bustling dining room has all-new booths, tables and finishes, highlighted by purple and shimmering silver tones. The focus is on the Center Table, a spherical space made semi-private by sheer curtains and enlivened by a throwback chandelier. The bar and lounge space, which has developed a boisterous reputation of its own over the years, has been streamlined and new high-top tables have been added to accommodate the constant stream of guests who want a great view of the action.
Of course, a new room deserves some new food, and longtime executive chef Barry S. Dakake is always happy to shake things up. The congenial cook, long one of the city’s favorites, has bolstered his already stacked menu with a few stunning new entrées, chief among them a truly decadent lobster thermidor. The seafood is gently sautéed before being served back in its shell slathered with sinful Gruyére cheese sauce, garlic bread crumbs, fresh herbs and white wine. This tasty treasure demonstrates N9NE’s trademark balancing act of old school against modern.
Prime ribeye
Another new star is a steak built for two ... or more. The 48-ounce prime ribeye served tomahawk style is crusted with black pepper and grilled to perfection, with roasted baby Dutch potatoes and bone marrow along for the ride. If your table can’t come to an agreement on this juicy cut, allow each his own. N9NE offers dry-aged bone-in ribeyes or New York strip sirloins in addition to standards like 8- or 12-ounce filets and the best-of-both-worlds porterhouse. The chef’s favorite is a prime rib cap, cherished for its sumptuous marbling of fat that melts into the meat during the grilling process.
Lobster pot stickers, crispy-spicy rock shrimp and king crab-stuffed mushrooms are the most popular starters here, and the chophouse-appropriate smoked bacon Caesar and iceberg wedge salads are being challenged by the new hearts of palm salad, which boasts frisée, roasted beets, pickled onions, goat cheese and crispy pancetta. As you can easily tell, even the salads are packed with fresh flavor. You’ll need a side to go with that steak, and while the truffle french fries are the obvious choice, do consider potatoes au gratin laced with aged Vermont white cheddar and jalapeños.
A restaurant as fun as N9NE deserves the most playful of desserts, and that’s where the s’mores come in, a package of do-it-yourself goodness featuring the chef’s own homemade marshmallows in flavors of strawberry, hazelnut and Grand Marnier. You’ve never splurged like this before ... well, unless you’re a regular at N9NE Steakhouse. Now it’s just that much sweeter.
Palms, 5:30-10 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., 5:30-11 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 702.933.9900
