My out of town buddy wanted Italian somewhere he hadn't been before. He's a frequent visitor to Vegas so he has been to most of the good ones on the strip (thanks to me! ha!). Throw in Restaurant Week and a lack of last minute tables available at 9pm on a Saturday and I was back at Rao's for the first time in 6 years. \n\nI wanted to dine in the Christmas room again but there was a wait so we just opted for the lower floor area facing the pool. We ordered a plate of antipasto (prosciutto di parma, mild sopresata, marinated artichokes, gaeta olives, buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, grana padano, gorgonzola cheese, dressed arugula) to kick things off and that was very good. Everything was fresh and that was a nice substitute instead of four people getting individual salads.\n\nThe osso bucco was literally calling my name right off the page but I figured I could come back for that any other time of the year. I decided to take advantage of the great value of Restaurant Week and use the couple of bucks saved on drinking more wine. \n\nThe appetizer was \"Mozzarella in Carrozza\" which was described as fried fresh mozzarella sandwich served with marinara. In reality it was 2 HUGE wedges of deep fried breaded mozzarella. So unhealthy yet so delicious. Fried cheese has never tasted bad...ever.\n\nThere were four options for the main course but since everyone else was getting pasta (scampi, spaghetti and meatballs, shells) I decided on the pork chop and MAN OH MAN was that a solid choice. It was a double cut of pork that was pan seared and sauteed with hot and sweet cherry peppers. It was juicy, spicy, well seasoned and I ended up gnawing on the bones at the end like a dog. \n\nI took only one bite of the tiramisu since I was so full and my wife ate the rest of it. \n\nThere are so, so, so many Italian options around these days (and better values to be had) but I wouldn't mind splurging a little more for this gem a few times a year.
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