The Best Part About Wing Lei Came at the End

Wing Lei is a highly acclaimed Chinese restaurant located inside the Wynn in Las Vegas. When the Michelin guide was briefly in Vegas, the restaurant was the first Chinese restaurant in the USA to be awarded a Michelin star. It has a sister restaurant in Macau that has 2 stars. It will be interesting to see if the Wynn location will get stars when the Guide returns to Vegas.

Anyway, the initial impression of the venue itself is grand. It is in keeping with the overall theme of the Wynn, but with a slightly Asian vibe. The front door staff make you feel as if you are entering a grand venue. The nicely suited gentleman at the front opened the door for us upon arrival.

You can order a la carte or go for the tasting menu which is what we did. The meal started with an amuse from the kitchen which was pretty good.

The first course of the night was the king crab, It was beautifully presented. The crab was served cold with foie gras shaved on top, and pineapple gelee. The crab itself was very good but I feel like it would of been better served warm. The foie gras did not come through and more would of been better. The gelee added acidity to the dish.

The next course was a take on the XLB (soup dumpling). It was pork and truffle filling with a broth. The dish was tasty, but the skin was no delicate like at a place that specialized in XLB.

The next dish was my least favorite. Sea bass with curry sauce. The curry sauce did not pack a punch and I felt like the kitchen was holding back. The fish was a bit dry, but buttery and moist like a good sea bass should be.

The Peking duck which came next was visually appealing and was good but not mind blowing.

The last dish, braised prime short rib, with beans and white rice was melt in your mouth good. However, the plating reminded me of a hotel banquet dish. The rice and beans were not transformed in any way and I felt like the kitchen could of put more effort into this dish.

My favorite dish was actually the dessert. Not very Chinese but it was well balanced, well executed and well plated. There were a variety of textures and temperatures.

At the end, they served petit fours and gave us a gift for breakfast which I forgot to take.

Overall, service was pretty good. During the end it got a bit slow, but overall, the service, food, and venue all came together to create a nice dinner. I don’t know that I would return, but I certainly would not discourage anyone from trying it themselves. If you are looking to celebrate something, get dressed up, people watch, and have a good night out, this may be the place for you. However, if you are looking for Chinese food as the primary reason for eating out, there are other places that might suit you better, if you are ok without the splashy scene.