Todd English Pub

*Restaurant is permanently closed*

It is no secret that Las Vegas is pretty much a playground for tourists alike.  There is a little of everything including my favourite pastime - eating!  Yes, there are other things that could interest me, but really, it's all about the food now.  Imagine the possibilities for eats, considering we had rented an Escalade from Budget a good 8 months ago.  You see, we had a group of 6 people and a large vehicle was necessary.  Well, that came to a crashing halt at the rental car counter...  No, they did not have an Escalade for us and apparently it doesn't seat 7 people, despite it saying so right on the Budget website.  Last time I rent from them!  Anyways, that limited our eating possibilities.  Therefore, we ended up at Todd English Pub in Crystal Mall (the irony) for lunch since we were staying at the Cosmopolitan.  For pub food, the menu seemed diverse and overly expensive (even for a celebrity chef's restaurant in Las Vegas).  Whatever, we were famished and weren't too picky.

We started with the beer on tap right at our table.  Yes siree Bob, we could pour away, at the comfort of our table.  Of course booze pairs up well with pub food, so we started with 2 appies.  The Duck Buns consisting of shredded duck, hoisin sauce and scallions were fantastic.  I wasn't holding out too much hope for these, but in the end, the mantou bun was soft and warm while the duck was moist (with a touch of crispiness) and plentiful.  What brought the whole thing together was the rich hoisin sauce.  It seemed liked they jacked it up by further reducing it.  Next we had the Fried Oysters which were barely cooked.  That ensured their soft texture and retention of moisture.  On the outside, the light crispy batter was not intrusive nor was it greasy.  Nicely done. 

As for our entrees, I went for the Lobster Roll which had 3 separate toasted buttery garlic bread halves stuffed full of nicely cooked lobster.  I didn't particularly like the side of coleslaw as it was wet and full of red onion, which killed all of the other flavours.  The bag of kettle chips were crunchy, yet seriously salty.  Chill had the Burger which was meaty and somewhat moist.  It was decent with a soft bun and fresh ingredients.  However, the wedge fries were super salty and not crunchy at all.  They were slightly oil-logged as well.  Vandelay ended up with the Mini-Sliders with caramelized onions and skinny fries.  The sliders were not bad with similar qualities as the burger, but the amount of onions overwhelmed so much so, I couldn't taste the meat.  The skinny fries were crunchy, yet a bit dry and once again, super salty.

Costanza had the 1/2 Pound of Brisket with challah and black truffle mayo.  The brisket itself was meaty and tender, yet a touch dry.  When combined with the bread and mayo, it was fine though.  Snake went for the Fish n' Chips and it was cooked nicely more or less.  However, the batter was quite thick.  It was crunchy though.  Overall, we found the food to be mediocre considering the prices.  However, the appies were really good though.  I guess if one was to get some small dishes with their brew, it would be okay.  But for a full meal, there are better places along the strip at that price point.

The Good:
- Interesting menu items
- Love the tap at our table
- Appies were fantastic

The Bad:
- Food is generally "meh"
- Expensive
- They love their salt