text: My boyfriend took me to dinner here for my 26th birthday.\nWe were seated on the patio with an amazing view of the Bellagio fountain show.  They even let us move closer when a small table was available.\n\nI started my meal with a cocktail, the Lychee Blossom, and it was definitely flowery... a little too floral for my taste.  The bread and cracker basket was alright; it was fun to taste the different tapenades and olives that came with it.\n\nWe had the infamous Beef Carpaccio, which was really saucy but tasty nonetheless.  We also tried the grilled octopus dish, served with chickpeas and tomatoes, which was also tasty.\n\nMy boyfriend had the shortrib with a truffle fried egg and I had the butternut squash tortelli.  I had a bite of his short rib, which was alright...but I've had better. My tortelli was good, but a bit sweet.  We ordered some corn/polenta dish that was a little weird.  We usually love polenta but this had fresh corn mixed in and it kind of threw the texture off for me.  The garlicky spinach (compliments of the chef, I guess) was really good.\n\nWe ordered the lemon tarts for dessert (I LOVE lemon desserts) but I was  a little disappointed when it arrived.  3 little store-bought tart shells (I work pastry in a kitchen...so I know the brand) with a bit of raspberry puree and runny lemon curd sloppily spooned in, topped with over whipped cream and some pretty candied lemon rounds.  \n\nThey also sent out their salted caramel cheesecake, which sounded good, but needs just a little bit of work (I enjoy salty-sweet desserts, but this one was a tad heavy on the salt). \n\nBottom Line: \nIt was a nice birthday dinner.  The weather was nice enough to sit outside (keep in mind it was the beginning of November) and the Bellagio fountains were  beautiful.  The food itself was so-so considering the amount that I can assume he payed.  I would come back for lunch if I was in the area just to have the carpaccio, but I do not think I'd come back for a full blown dinner.