Carmines @ Atlantis

The time has finally come for me to share with you the BEST meal at Atlantis. I honestly don't remember what else I ate while I was there, but I'm sure after looking at my pictures it will jog my memory and I can blog some more.

Upon arriving at Atlantis, we were told that it was strongly recommended that we make reservations because the restaurants get really busy. Well, we didn't know how strict this policy was until we got there Monday morning, and I tried to make reservations for dinner that night. Unfortunately we weren't able to, but still had an amazing meal at The Point. There were two restaurants that were on our meal plan that we could eat at that I really wanted to go to - Carmines and Chop Stix. We made reservations for Carmines on Tuesday at 9pm, and although really late at night, it was COMPLETELY worth the wait. Carmines is a MUST if you go to Atlantis, and definitely make reservations ahead of time.

We were definitely starved when we got there since it was so late, and when at first looking at the menu it just seemed like Bucca di Peppo, but the food was so much more better than Bucca, which after awhile just tastes like cardboard. We looked at the menu, and were like WOW things are really expensive. I don't think there was a pasta dish that was less than $30, and the cheapest appetizer was $13 (garlic bread.) We soon learned that like Bucca, plates are to be eaten family style and a plate of pasta can feed four people, there was five of us. HOWEVER, we informed the waiter that we were on the meal plan, and he said to us that EACH of us can have: an appetizer, an entree, a side, and a dessert. That means we could have a total of 5 appetziers, 5 entrees, 5 sides, and 5 desserts, where one plate is to feed about 3-4 people. Well...we were all like, well we paid for the meal plan, and if we can order what would cost more without the meal plan, why not? We get to taste! So that is exactly what we did. The waiter was ASTONISHED about the amount of food we ordered, because technically we could of just had 2 appetizers, one pasta, and one meat dish and that would feed 5 people. We were greedy, we were hungry, and above else we were asian (but what else is new, right?) There was so much food, that our table could not fit it and we actually had to borrow a neighboring table that did not have guests. We stayed until closing, we were the last diners of the night. Our bill came out to about $4000-$500 that night, but that wasn't the price we paid for...because we were on the MEAL PLAN! $69/person per day, doesn't matter WHAT YOU EAT!! yea! this was my kind of vacation..i love just TASTING food.

Get ready for the extravaganza...

Menu

Wine

Complimentary Bread
we barely touched it because we knew the amount of food that was coming...didn't want to fill up on it

Zuppa di Mussels
omg this was so good...it was so fresh and so smooth tasting. the broth was to die for, where there was a slight taste of white wine reduction with garlic. would have dipped bread into it...but had to save room in the stomach. we ate all of this.

Fried Calamari
one of the greatest calamari i've ever had. the calamari was well bread, well seasoned, calamari was not chewy, and they included the tentacles which are my favorite part. the marinara sauce was exceptional, and done perfectly. this plate was almost all eaten, thanks ash!

Baked Clams
wow...i did not expect how flavorful and fresh it was when i popped them into my mouth. each shell had its individual clam that was seasoned very well, and breaded with bread crumbs. it was baked when it all blended together, and just melted in my mouth. we ate the entire plate.

Garlic Bread with Mozarella Cheese
honestly, you have not had good garlic bread until you have eaten here. just like the other dishes, this was an utter surprise in all our mouth. how can garlic bread be that good? it's just garlic bread no? well it has to do with the bread, it was toasted not only until it was crispy but it had a nice chew and bite. it didn't hurt my jaw to eat it, like some breads are when they toast it too long. i also think the bread was soaked in garlic butter over night until every bit of the bread was covered in garlic-butter-delicious-ness, and then to top it off, a giant slice of mozarella cheese right on top of it. the chef probably placed the bread wih the cheese straight into the broiler until it melted like gooey-ness, because when you take your first bite the cheese stretches for miles on end like a good cheese should. wow...i'm hungry, you?

Chicken Parmagiana
again...a really amazing dish. the chicken was tender, and full of flavor inside, and the marinara sauce...wow...the cheese..ALL of it. i have no more words, just pretend you're there eating it

Mixed Seafood in White Sauce with Angel Hair Pasta
[lobster, mussles, shrimp, scallops, clams, squid]
so there was no price listed next to this item, all it said was "market price," and we asked the waiter if this was included in our meal plan, and he said yes. how much it ended up costing i have no idea, i just know we could order it and just pay our flat $69/person per day which includes breakfast and dinner. my uncle loved this dish so much, that he just kept snacking on it even when he was full. honestly, i took a bite of this and while it tasted really good, my stomach was nearing its end and carbs were just going to expand, and we had a few more dishes to come. i was disappointed in the lobster tail because it was overcooked, but hey not everything can be perfect right?

Shrimp Scampi
i don't think i've ever ordered shrimp scampi and liked it, but this shrimp scampi ranks all the way up above the rest. it wasn't greasy like all other srhimp scampi i've had. the shrimp was cooked to perfect and was very tender, and the sauce...gosh i can't even remember what was going through my head during it. i guess if you put bread crumbs on anything it tastes good right? i just remember it was nearing the end of our meal, and i ate like 4-5 pieces. so delish. i would have dipped my bread if i had room, and we didn't have more things to come.

Veal Scallopine with Lemon and Butter
this dish was ok, but i mean it was pretty good. however in comparing it with the rest of the dishes we ate that night, it just didn't reach the amazing pedestal we put all the other dishes on top of

P.A. Porterhouse Contadina
ok this is like...wow omg orgasmic. i don't know what they did to this t-bone, i don't know what they injected to it...but MAN! not only do they bring the entire t-bone to your table with the t-bone intact, they actually cut the slices for you, so when it arrives at the table you just need to pick the piece you want. but they left the pieces intact, as if it was just the t-bone. the t-bone was broked to perfect, medium rare, and it had minced garlic and butter smothered all over. i believe this was unc and panda's favorite dish of the entire night. they ate ALL of it, and get this...this one plate alone cost $100...and yes we were on the meal plan :)

Side of Meatballs
so you know how i said we were each entitled to order a side, which would mean we would have 5 sides? well when we were ordering our meal, we decided that it might just be too much to order 5 sides considering all the other food we ordered. panda wanted meatballs really badly, so we were like why not? we figured a "side" of meatballs would consist of 4 meatballs at most, and they would be a reasonable size. boy were we wrong! the side of meatballs contained 7 meatballs, and they were HUGE. nontheless, they were really tender, and full of flavor. if our stomachs could only fit it...we would have eaten more than we left here in this picture

dessert time!

Italian Cheesecake
i was not impressed, and i don't like cheesecake.

Tirimisu
this thing was MASSIVE, and we barely put a dent into it. it was good, but too much rum for my taste. this was the ONLY thing we packed togo with us.

Our Table with food - this wasn't even all the food

so this meal was so good...that...we ended up going the next night! yes...there are no pictures of that night...because it would just be too gluttony-ness. we perhaps wasted a lot of food that night, and we would have loved to take things back, but we didn't have a refridgerator and there was no microwave...what a waste :(

are you hungry now?