Julian Serrano was our first stop in Vegas. Small plates, perfect for lunch, perfect to not fill us up prior to going crazy at a couple other spots.

If you love tapas, the menu has some of your familiar favorites, and then some things that really push the envelope. We loved the sauteed padron peppers – very simple mini green peppers with olive oil and sea salt. We found the tuna-raspberry skewer to be absolutely beautiful:

That’s ahi tuna at the bottom, coated in sesame seed with dots of wasabi in between. On top is a “molecular” raspberry – a compressed raspberry that’s so creamy it’s almost like a jello. I’m not 100% sure that these flavors work together (the umami of the ahi and the slightly sweet raspberry), but I loved the texture play and the idea.

 

 

The lobster gazpacho was amazing. Tons of lobster with like a bubble tea bubble of gazpacho in the middle. It was absolutely delicious.

 

We finished with an Arroz Marinero: some monkfish, mussels, clams, shrimp and vegetables in sofrito rice. For $14, it fed us both, and was perfect. Nice stickiness to the rice, great flavor, just delightful.

There was a great selection of sherries as well, I highly recommend drinking sherry with your tapas – the flavors perfectly compliment each other, and Americans (myself included) don’t drink enough Sherry.

I found the prices very reasonable and the experience a ton of fun at Julian Serrano!

Julian Serrano
Inside Aria Casino
3730 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV
http://www.aria.com/dining/restaurants/julian-serrano