Question of the Day - 16 July 2006

You made us go out and survey martinis? Jeez, sometimes this job really sucks!

Actually, we'd already done a little field research into this topic and will gladly share our experiences –- good and bad –- below. When we put the call out to LVA staffers for their input on this one, we learned that several of them fall more into the bourbon-and-beer barrel as far as favorite tipples go, while one person admitted to being a Bailey's drinker and another refuses to drink any alcohol at all -– with the exception of shots of tequila. Still, there were more than enough martini aficionados among us to offer you some suggestions. However, in the interest of our livers, we once again welcome feedback from readers in the mission to cover this topic comprehensively, just as we did for "Must Sees" and "Must Eats." As usual, please send in your answers via the QoD submission link at the bottom of today's answer and we'll run them as a future feature in this column.

Here's what Bethany (Marketing Director) had to offer on the subject:

• "I've had martinis at so many locations in Las Vegas I can't remember them all (a hazard of drinking martinis, I fear). However, as far as the best places for martinis are concerned, the bar at the Eiffel Tower restaurant is a good choice. The service is excellent, the martinis delicious, and the view -- especially at sunset -- spectacular. The martinis here range from $12-$18 each and are well worth the price for the whole experience.

  "The 25¢ martini special offered with lunch at Commanders Palace (Aladdin/Planet Hollywood) has to be on the list. A beautiful restaurant with good food and excellent service. And did I mention that martinis are 25¢? What's not to like? Note that the martinis here are Smirnoff vodka or the house gin so obviously they're not premium brands. But again, they're only 25¢ and you can order up to four of them, if you can handle it.

  "My final recommendation is the Onyx bar at Red Rock. I know it's a dinky casino bar, but it's intimate and stylish and I not only thought the drinks were great (my party had Bombay Sapphire gin martinis with olives and Ketel One vodka martinis with a twist), but the style with which they were served was much hipper than most places. They serve the martinis in chilled stainless steel martini glasses with cylindrical steel olive picks that have Red Rock's multi-colored logo on them (look for these to disappear as customers accidentally put them in their purses and bags). Also, the large pour was $10. I almost qualified that with 'only,' but I would hardly call a $10 cocktail a bargain -– merely a bargain compared to other places offering a similar vibe.

  "Now to one of my lesser martini experiences. I recently arranged to meet someone at the Rio for a business meeting. We wanted to go up to the VooDoo Lounge but it was closed, so we wound up in the tiny cluttered bar (it seemed that there was so much stuff on the bar, there was barely room for your elbows) in the Café. Nothing close to the ambience of the Lounge, more like an afterthought so they can get money out of people who have a wait for a table. I ordered a Bombay Sapphire martini, up, with an olive, as usual. The drink was delivered in a standard cheap bar glass, the olives impaled on a cheap plastic pick, and the size of the pour was approximately two-thirds the standard at most fine drinking establishments. The drink was delicious — and they did use the super colossal olives, which are my favorite — but became far less appealing after seeing the tab: $14 for this one skimpy drink. The bill also showed that the price of a generic martini is $12, but an additional $2 was added because I ordered a premium gin."

And here's what Shannah (Research Assistant) had to offer on the subject:

And here’s what Shannah (Research Assistant) had to offer:

• "My personal favorite martini is the Lemon Drop. I have searched high and low for someone besides my brother that makes a really good one. I have been told it's the most difficult martini to make, almost approaching a science, and having sampled the whole spectrum from outstanding to appalling, I’m a tough customer to please. However, there is a new bar I’ve discovered that opened up within the last year called Ollies Tavern and they specialize in martinis (hence the name). They’re open 24/7 and on occasion they have live music. It's a very "cool bar." I love the atmosphere and they also feature my fav artist, Michael Godard, who sets the theme for the bar. The bar itself does not yet have a Web site, but the artist does: http://www.godard-artist.com/ Location: 8075 S. Decatur Blvd.

  "My other favorite bars for martinis are: The Elephant Bar (http://www.elephantbar.com/); and The Drop Bar and Whiskey Bar at Green Valley Ranch. My worst experience with a martini recently was at Hooters. I asked for a martini at the 13 Martini Bar there and was presented with a half-empty glass, for which they wanted me to pay $16. Sixteen dollars! I refused to pay, found another bar there that served me the same martini for $6, and took this one back to the 13 Martini Bar to show them what a proper martini looks like."

And now over to David (Web Site Director):

• "For me, a martini should be chilled, dry, have olives, and gin. While I do like vodka, gin provides me with the martini experience most suited to my palate. Being a Vegan (not to be confused with people wearing hemp sandals), my gin du jour is the one endorsed by our good Mayor, Bombay Sapphire.

  I'll rank the martinis I've had from 1 to 5 olives, with 5 olives being the best.

  "Wynn Las Vegas (sitting at a video poker machine on the casino floor) -- 5 olives. These are delicious and cold. Wynn treats its gambling customers well, with premium gin served chilled. They are large glasses with probably at least 3 shots of liquor each. The 3rd and 4th ones taste even better.

  "Red Rock Onyx Bar -- 5 olives. Chilled in stainless steel (not glass) stemware, with understated cylindrical olive picks, which, upon closer inspection, have Red Rock's multi-colored logo on them (look for these to disappear as customers accidentally put them in their purses and bags). Cold, crisp, with the fine liquor not profaned by excessive vermouth. The Onyx bar is also fun to watch as the waitresses struggle to carry and replace the 30-pound glass ashtrays on each table.

  "The Artisan [itself the subject of an upcoming QoD] -- 4 olives for the martini (around $10), 5 olives for ambience. I've heard rumors of ladies of the night patronizing this dark and intimate, yet little-known locale. Regrettably, I saw none the evening I visited. I did, however, have a fine martini (or three) sitting at the bar. This is the kind of place where if you pull out your choice of tobacco, the bartender has a torch lit for you before it touches your mouth. Knowing that, one knows the martini will excel, and it doesn’t disappoint. I give it a stellar, but not primo, 4 olives only because it was not as chilled as it could have been and because I did detect some evil vermouth in one of mine. (Location: The white hotel on W. Sahara, about a mile west of the Strip, just before the I-15 on the left.)

  "Palms Casino (sitting at a VP machine on the casino floor) -- this doesn't even get a pimiento, much less 1 olive -- Perhaps the foulest, most putrid liquid to ever touch human lips. The only thing that was good about it was the minute portion (5 of these might fill one shot glass) as more of this might cause damage to one's internal organs. I think when the bartender went to martini school and they said, "add gin, and a splash of vermouth", he forgot the "add gin" part. While being the equivalent of perhaps a tablespoon, neither I nor my companion could finish this beastly booze."

Some other suggestions include:

• Triple George, located downtown on Third Street, across from the old Lady Luck, which we reviewed as follows in January’s LVA: "The restaurant has the look of an old-style San Francisco eatery and projects a cool retro vibe that draws the martini crowd ($8.50 for Bombay Sapphire/Ketel One; $5.50 for the house) that shows up for the 4:30-6:30 weekday happy hour. In the downtown tradition, prices are well below what you’ll encounter in the newer Strip-based restaurants." The martinis were generously poured and nicely chilled.

• Another favorite of ours was Maggiano’s, the Italian restaurant in the Fashion Show Mall, across the street from the Wynn. We had some excellent Stoly martinis there and the happy hour price (XX – XX x days a week) is $XXX.

• Also check out the bar at Red Square in Mandalay Bay. They have an extensive martini menu (prices??) but there’s another fun option here for the vodka fan. Here’s the review from the 02/05 Advisor: "What we loved, was the huge vodka selection—160 in all. How do you choose? One way is by ordering themed flights of four shots each. For example, the Potato Flight (potato vodkas) is $26, the Motherland Flight (Russian vodkas) is $40, and the Ultimate Flight (premiums from around the world) is priciest at $56. The flights are delivered in chunks of ice--cool (actually, cold). In fact, our recommendation for eating at Red Square is to go for vodka and appetizers. Get the flight of your choice and a good steak tartar ($16.75), smothered blini ($33.50), or Siberian nachos ($16).

• We haven’t checked it out in a long while, but the Martini Ranch at Texas Station has a huge martini menu featuring standard gin and vodka offerings, plus fruit-flavored, dessert-flavored, and even truffle-flavored specialty martinis. Has anyone tried the Texas martini, made with Sauza tequila and Tabasco, garnished with a jalapeno? If so, and you survived, let us know!

Since this answer was written, a number of the venues cited have closed. 07/13/2006 We're getting a great response to today's QoD, with lots of suggestions for other venues and variations, so we'll post your feedback as a new answer, once all the results are in. In the meantime, we've received a request from Marissa Chien, co-author of HP's Tax Help for Gamblers: "I have a martini for you - pomegranate and mango Martini. Yum. They soak the mango pulp in pomegranate concentrate and then throw away the mango. Mix with vodka. Still trying to figure out the recipe. I actually went out and bought mango pulp and pomegranate concentrate at Whole Foods, but I haven't figured it out yet!" Can anyone help? 07/13/2006 LATEST UPDATE: We've tracked it down to Bonefish Grill, which opened in Henderson back in May. Their cocktail barman is not in until noon, but we've been instructed to call back then for the recipe, so stay tuned!