My prevailing interest in visiting Vegas was attending Cirque du Soleil's 'Mystere' (which exceeded even my wildest expectations) - little did I know we would be staying right across the street from Thomas Keller's Las Vegas location of his more casual bistro, Bouchon.

Of course there's no way I could pass by this opportunity - Thomas Keller's cuisine for under the standard $250 prix fixe? It's just a given that I would go.

It was an experience to be sure, though I must admit it was not nearly as well attended as I expected it to be. For all it's grandeur, including the Keller name and reputation, it just wasn't any better than any of the other thousands of French restaurants dotting the country.

Nevertheless, it was a delicious meal. Additionally, I'm quite pleased to be able to say that I've visited one of Keller's restaurants.

Upon arriving at our table the server warned us to not gorge ourselves on the bread. It is made fresh daily in the restaurant and is loved by the staff and patrons immensely. He needn't have warned us - the bread was tough, cold, and altogether largely unpleasant. It may have been made that day, but it surely wasn't that evening - and it must've been left out all day to achieve that level of dryness.

I'm always concerned when I visit a French restaurant and their bread isn't out-of-this-world amazing. However, all restaurants can have an off day - so I was sure to not write off the experience on the bread alone.

Additionally, they serve their bread directly on the table - no bread plates. The servers then wipe off the crumbs with little scrapers. It's very messy and they don't usually get all the crumbs when they attempt to clean off the table. I wasn't very impressed with that at all. It seems like an attempt at a more casual atmosphere, but it doesn't work. It's just a mess of crumbs all over the place.

I started off with a melon and serrano ham salad.

The fruit is prepared in a most unusual way. The server told me a story about a sous chef in Bouchon's kitchen who was worried about a large shipment of fruit going bad. To try and save it he cut it all up and packed it into vacuum-sealed bags and placed them in the refrigerator. Later, when Keller asked for some of the fruit, the sous chef retrieved it only to find it oddly compacted and jewel-like.

The sous chef apologized profusely, but Keller - ingenious man that he is - recognized a fashionable new way to present their fresh fruit in certain applications. The technique is now used in several fine restaurants - including Keller's own.

The technique, although very interesting, cannot save fruit that has no flavor to begin with though - which was exactly the case with my melon and serrano ham salad. The ham was outstanding, and several of the cantaloupe chunks were perfectly ripe and delicious, but the majority of the watermelon and all of the honeydew were completely flavorless. It was very disappointing.

Both of our entrees were outstanding.

My husband ordered the steak frites.

The steak was cooked to perfection and the fries were some of the best we've ever had. They are cooked in a Belgian style - double fried, first at a low temp and then a second time at an extremely high temperature in peanut oil. They were amazing. It was an altogether pleasing combination for him.

The server recommended the haricot verte as an additional vegetable for the steak frites. They were well cooked, but not something to write home about.

I had the seared duck breast.

It was cooked perfectly, expertly seasoned, and in every way delicious. This was what I expected from a restaurant run by Thomas Keller. My only complaint regarding this part of the meal was the server arguing with me about the ingredients of the dish. He checked back to make sure everything was alright, and I commented that the tarragon in the red rice was exquisite. He insisted that I was wrong and that any anise-like flavors were from the fennel garnishing the top of the plate. I was insistent that I tasted tarragon, but he repeatedly said that it was the fennel.

My husband later showed me on the menu that tarragon was even in the description of the entree. Not impressed.

I would, however, give my left foot to find out how they cook that red rice. It was utterly divine in every way - perfectly al dente with a buttery, creamy flavor. In every way perfection.

We finished with a lemon tart in a pine nut crust.

It was nice, but quite eggy. I didn't like it much at all, but Mr. TA saw fit to devour nearly the entire thing himself - so apparently it was only me that cared about the eggy taste.

In the end it was a nice meal - but I am sad to say it was enjoyed more for the experience, less for the food. Not something I ever wanted to say about a restaurant such as this.

My love of French cuisine is unceasing though, and I will continue to seek out any venue that may provide it - perhaps a trip to Per Se someday will change brighten my outlook of Keller's restaurants.