I had never eaten Russian food before, so when I found the Red Square at the Mandalay Bay, I was all over it. My husband and I made reservations for a Saturday night in July 2007. You’ll know you found the right place when you see a giant headless statue of Lenin with makeshift bird poo all over it. This place has an amazing selection of Vodkas. You can actually pay like $200 to take a vodka tasting tour of their frozen cellar. You get to use Lenin’s head to set your drink on. I didn’t take the tour, but I did try one of the caviar appetizers. They offer an ounce of fine caviar with toasts, tiny Russian blinis (itty pancakes), egg yolk, egg white, chives, onion, and crème fraiche to accompany it. We ordered the Osetra at $200. You could get Beluga for $250. I thoroughly enjoyed the Osetra. It was fresh and delicious. We also enjoyed 6 different martinis, such as key lime pie (my favorite), espresso martini, a yummy banana martini with a chocolate covered plantain, a pomegranate martini, a blood orange martini ….and ……and another martini ….of which the name eludes me … go figure. These were all especially tasty. We also tried their monthly special grapefruit vodka. Now that’s strong stuff. But if you like flavored vodkas, it was good. For dinner, we shared a goat cheese salad, which was excellent. The cheese square was breaded and fried almost like a mozzarella cheese stick, but oh, so rich and creamy. I ordered a special, lobster tail and their famous Roquefort filet mignon. It came with a huge pile of mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. My husband ordered the stroganoff with chunks of filet mignon in it. Both meals were excellent. I really enjoyed the flavor of the stroganoff, and the taste of the Roquefort sauce on my steak, which was quite large for a filet. For dessert, which we didn’t need, we tried the Strawberries Romanoff. It comes in a large champagne glass and it has large fresh strawberries in a Grand Marnier cream sauce. If I wasn’t so full it would have tasted better, but it was still very good.

Don’t expect a completely authentic Russian menu however. Borscht is conspicuously missing. I understand that some folks do actually like beets. Rather, the restaurant seems to be centered aroud vodka and fine dining with a Russian influence. The bar is actually frozen so your vodka shot remains cold while it rests on the bar. That’s pretty nifty. The “red square” theme is quite conspicuous around with the bread plates being red squares to the floating square piece of red colored white chocolate in my espresso martini. It’s fun. This place is a nice change from the standard Italian, Mexican, French and Oriental fare from most restaurants.

I would definitely eat here again. And if you are a vodka fan, definitely check it out. It is relatively expensive. Expect to pay anywhere from $50 - $300 per person depending on if you drink much or want any caviar.