Restaurant Week: Blossom

For our second Restaurant Week meal, benefitting Three Square Food Bank, we dined at Blossom inside Aria. My brother joined us. He's matured so much over the years and I'm happy to share my love of food with him. It's something he's definitely come to appreciate. He used to eat nothing but chicken fingers and BBQ cheeseburgers. Now, he can find the value in a good meal and I respect his willingness to try new things.

Blossom receives little attention, yet reviews for the restaurant are pretty solid. Prices are steep, but in line with other fine dining Chinese restaurants. The restaurant has a lovely quiet ambience tucked away near Baccarat. Service was attentive. The Restaurant Week menu offered dinner for $50.14, we were started with Wor Wonton soup, then we had the choice of Pot Stickers or Shrimp Toast for appetizers, followed by entree selections of Crisp Fried Chilean Sea Bass or Beef Tenderloin with Portabella Mushroom, served with Pork Fried Rice. Dessert was Mochi Ice Cream.

We sampled all that was available. The Wor Wonton soup had large shrimp, scallop and two wontons with broccoli and mushrooms. The broth lacked depth, flavor improved with a spoonful of garlic sriracha.



The Potstickers were large and nicely prepared, but it was the Shrimp Toast that were memorable. Each bite was so buttery it seemed to melt in your mouth. It was a pleasant surprise.





Chilean Sea Bass is my second favorite fish, so I was very excited to dig in. The filet was deep fried and it had a nice tempura crust, but I found it unfortunate that the breading overwhelmed the natural flavor of the fish. Still, it was beautifully presented. The BBQ Pork Fried Rice was nicely done, but the flavor was a bit mild for my taste. Another spoonful of sriracha, gave it the kick it needed. The Bok Choy was fresh and tender. The Beef Tenderloin was bursting with flavor from the black pepper marinade. It was a tasty dish.





Dessert concluded our meal with Mochi Ice Cream, Green Tea and Mango were the flavors. I usually enjoy green tea ice cream, but the mango was a strong favorite. It was light with bold refreshing flavor. The Mochi was chewy without being too gummy. When asked how he enjoyed his meal, my brother replied, "It's fucking weird, but I like it." Just like that another foodie is born.



Blossom was a great choice for Restaurant Week, it's not likely a restaurant I would have chosen otherwise. However, it was a nice treat and it left me drooling over their peking duck and dungeness crab on the regular menu.