text: Went to bouchon with a group for dinner. I guess I'm only giving it three stars because at that price point I would go elsewhere and because it didn't quite meet expectations which were admittedly high expectations.\n\nWe started with some cocktails which were very well made, strong and with great flavor. They also served bread and some excellent spread - I believe it was a salmon spread which was absolutely superb. I would have bought multiple jars of it on the spot if I could. Honestly, for me, it was so good it may have just been the highlight of the meal.\n\nFor an appetizer I got a squash soup which was quite tasty, but I've had better squash soups at Michael Mina, Circo, Mastros, etc. which are roughly the same price range. Again, it was good though, the flavor was there and the consistency was very good.\n\nMy entree was the braised short rib. This was the other highlight of the meal. It was cooked to perfection - soft, tender, melt in your mouth good. And unlike many other nice places, they didn't skimp on the sauce they put around it which I was very pleased about. The rest of the plate left something to be desired though, it came with some greens and as I recall some mashed potatoes both of which were flavorless and seemed like total afterthoughts to the protein.\n\nDesserts were entirely forgettable. As is the case with so many nice places and group meals they don't actually ask or provide desserts, but instead leave a sampler tray of their desserts in miniaturized form. This is always so disappointing because if there's something good, there's so little of it. But to be honest, there wasn't much good, plenty of little treats loaded with heavy creams.\n\nFor me, Bouchon is good, but I'd rather go to one of the Strip's many other top restaurants.