When you think about Las Vegas’ most acclaimed restaurants, Wing Lei at Wynn Las Vegas probably doesn’t come to mind, but it should. It’s received 5 Diamonds from AAA, 5 Stars from Forbes, and was the first Chinese restaurant in North America to earn a Michelin Star. In 2016, John Curtas named it one of Las Vegas’ “Essential 50” restaurants in Eating Las Vegas. So what took us so long to try it? Well, mostly because it took this long to get a comp. Just kidding. The real reason is we plain overlooked it. We had occasion to try Wing Lei last month and it was fantastic.
5 Stars
A lot goes into becoming a 5-Star restaurant — food quality and service, obviously, but ambience is a big part of it, too. This place has a great feel. For example, since plates are usually shared, every seat has two sets of chopsticks, one for grabbing food from the communal plates and the other for eating it off of yours. That makes so much sense, but the over/under on how many attempts before you forget, or get them mixed up and serve yourself incorrectly, is 2.5. You get the amuse-bouche (free appetizer) to start, mini-pastries you didn’t order for dessert, and a box with cookies to take with you. First-class all the way. You a foodie baller, bro.
Order the Duck
We asked an F&B director we know what to order and he said, “You gotta go with the duck,” as in the Imperial Peking Duck. Same advice from John Curtas in Eating Las Vegas. And before we ordered, our dining partner announced that he’d already ordered it ahead. Yep, the word’s out on the duck. We’ve had Peking duck before, but this one was better. The glistening cooked duck is wheeled out, presented, then carved tableside in a little show of its own. Then the server prepares a few Mandarin crepes (so you get a clue about how you’re supposed to eat them) and leaves the rest to you. This dish is $131.88 and, with some appetizers, it was the only entrée needed for our party of three. Those appetizers included a sampler for $53.88, a mushroom combo for $29.88, and potstickers for $28.88 (8s are lucky in Chinese culture). Beers — Lucky Budha and Yanging China — were $10 each.
The Verdict
Chalk up Wing Lei as another primo dining experience at the Wynn. This is a first-rate splurge and not an overly expensive one at that. Appetizers are mostly in the $20s, so an app or two and that $130 duck will get you out at around $100 per person. And it can be less: soy sea bass is $53.88, General Tao’s chicken is $41.88, and Cantonese chow mein is $27.88. We didn’t try them, but it’s -300 that they’re excellent. Check it out, and good luck with that chopstick challenge.