BLT Burger

BLT Burger's staff members wear T-shirts emblazoned with various slogans, some a little racy, some not. We're guessing they can pick the shirts that reflect their personalities, or maybe their moods. In which case we think the hostess who seated us should get one that says "I'm snippy because my shorts are too tight." Or maybe it was her boots.

The seater is the customer's first contact and can do much to set the mood. This one barely spoke upon "greeting" us, ("Two?"), and when we asked for one of the unoccupied booths scattered throughout the room, wordlessly flounced over to one and dropped our menus on the table.

So maybe she should get more comfortable clothing. Or just a new attitude.

Fortunately, our waitress was the polar opposite of the hostess, which did much to improve our impression of BLT Burger. So did the reasonable (by Strip standards, anyway) prices, and the lighthearted menu offerings that sort of belied the fact that a serious French chef -- Laurent Tourondel -- was at the helm, though maybe not on the bridge.

But Tourondel's skills showed up in the food, starting right off the bat with the fried dill pickles ($5). Fried dill pickles are a favorite of ours, but these were unlike any we've ever had. Pickle tempura? No. Pickle beignets? Not quite. Maybe pickle doughnuts, only not sweet. Because the thick pickle slices were enrobed in a fluffy mixture before frying, which did much to cut down both the usual grease factor and the usual salt factor and left us with a very appealing starter. We're not sure we'll give up our other favorite fried pickles around town, but these were a nice change.

So was the macaroni and cheese bites ($9), a special that evening. We've had this sort of thing before, so the novelty factor is no longer there for us, and some have amounted to little more than balls of fried cheese-flavored starch. Not the case here. We're not sure how they did it (that's a good thing), but somehow the kitchen united al-dente elbow macaroni and some reasonably sharp cheese, formed it into balls, rolled it in crumbs and fried just until crisp. Nice.

BLT Burger offers the de rigeur Kobe burger, but most of its ground meat is certified Angus, and that's what we got with our combo. Actually, the restaurant offers three combos, one with a soft drink, one with a shake and one with a draft beer. We took the shake option, which the menu said was $19, but ordered the milkshake of the day and ended up with a $14 combo charge and $7 "shake special" charge, which adds up to $21. We thought the waitress should've mentioned it, but didn't really mind because this was one special shake. Toffee was the flavor, and it was thick and rich and the flavor of toffee carried throughout, instead of bits just sprinkled here and there.

The burger was fine, big at 7 ounces and medium-rare as ordered. The blue cheese we added ($1) was in generous supply; the fries were fries.

The lamb tandoori burger ($13) was something different, and also something really special. I won't say it reminded us of any tandoori dish we've ever had, but there was a definite Indian influence, and the mint-cilantro yogurt sauce was just perfect.

We also had a pint of Newcastle on draft ($7) from a respectable beer list that even gave a nod to our local brew pubs with a representation from Tenaya Creek.

It probably isn't hard to figure out what we did about dessert. Krispy Kreme Donut Bread Pudding was singing a siren song but man, not after that milkshake and those appetizers, and besides, we didn't think it'd go so well with beer.

So maybe next time.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.