Gordon Ramsay BurGR at Planet Ho

I have to admit, I've only seen Gordon Ramsay on commercials.  All I know about him is that he yells a lot.  People who yell that much tend to care about things going on, and have high standards.  From what I ate and saw at his new restaurant last weekend, he really just likes to yell.

We were told at the hostess stand that there would be a 20 minute wait, and were asked for our phone number so we could be texted when our table was ready inside the nearly empty restaurant.  I like that the place is technology forward, however texting inside a casino is spotty at best.  Plus, it's easy to ignore a text, how will they deal with that once they are busy?  What if the guest left their phone in their room?  Then they can't eat there?

After only waiting a few minutes we were texted and seated.  I looked around at the uniforms, and they looked pretty bad.  It looked like the losing team on Project Runway for a challenge where they designed Virgin Airline's new flight attendant's uniforms.  I'm fairly certain I could do better, and I don't know how to sew.

It was clear that the "brand" needed to be sold at the expense of everything else.  We were even asked after we ordered if we wanted to keep the menus "as a souvenir."  I felt like the arrogant monster was watching me eat, and there was no way to escape.  The name was on the plates, and the waitress actually turned around my hor d'oeuvres plate so that the brand name was facing me.  I took note that in clearing the plates, the brand was throw out the window, so clearly Gordon wasn't the dishwasher that day.

We ordered the roasted jalapeño poppers, and I was actually pretty excited at this point.  I was still under the belief that for these prices, the food had to be amazing.  The presentation was pretty good, only adding to the anticipation;

They told us that one of the poppers actually had the seeds left in it, and I couldn't wait to be the one that got it.  I bit into the first one, and the taste brought to mind a just warmed up TGIFridays frozen jalapeno poppers.  It wasn't even remotely hot, and as it turns out, no one could tell if they got the hot one.

One of my friends ordered the "Just Fries" as well for an appetizer.  That was how it was listed on the menu, and when it was presented to us, the waitress actually said "Here are your 'Just Fries.'  Actually, not just fries, Gordon Ramsay Fries!"

I almost threw up my lackluster jalapeno poppers.

The main course was so dreary I don't even want to write about it.  My burger was burnt, had a dry bun, and the "blue cheese" on it was barely tasted.  It had so much arugula on it that I just took all of it off.  The standard ketchup and mustard were never even offered to our table, and I didn't see it on anyone else's table either.  We ended up using the "spicy ketchup" that came with the "Just Gordon Ramsay Fries" to our burgers to make them edible.  By the way, the spicy ketchup had more kick than the jalapenos.

After the meal, the iPad was brought out again (it was previously dropped at our table for us to order drinks), for deserts.  The Neon Beast decided on the Salted Peanut Push Up Pops, and let me have a little taste.

Now, I love salty things.  I'm a chips and salsa kind of girl, and salted anything will win me over.  This push up pop was too salty.  It was just this side of ocean water, and was not happy in my mouth.

With this all being said, the service was great.  Maybe it was just me, but they seemed nervous, almost as if Gordon was going to come around the corner and fire them if they weren't good.  The decor was nice, and really it was only his face and brand everywhere, in conjunction with bad food, that I take issue with.

I was sure to note all that in our iphone survey that came with the bill.