Sensi

Monday - Thursday, 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. 
Friday - Sunday, 5 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Global gourmands dining at Sensi restaurant in Bellagio's Spa Tower can embark on a global journey where no passport is required. Sensi's Executive Chef Martin Heierling was born in Germany, grew up in New Zealand and has cooked his way around the world. His creativity is evident in the simplest dishes. A bowl of seafood chowder, recently enjoyed, was so distinctively his. Each spoonful tweaked my senses.

For those who like to be up close and personal, request a table with a view of the kitchen. It's a delicious entertainment. Sensi's environment includes waterfalls, carved stone walls and mirrored chrome. The effect is dazzling, and so is the food. Sensi's food is original and tasty. The lunch and dinner menus are similar, yet different. Be aware that Sensi's menus change daily, so dishes written about here may not always be available. Specials are offered at lunch and dinner.

Featured at lunch are soups and salads, Italian pizzas and pastas, burgers and grilled or broiled or wood-fired fish, chicken and a New York steak. A daily signature lunch special includes all four of the kitchen's specialities.

Asian and Italian specialities abound. Headlining the dinner menus are sensuous Santa Barbara prawns fresh from the seafood tank. These large, succulent crustaceans may be ordered grilled, tempura-style, drunken or raw. The freshly shucked oysters are briny delights. Have them on the shell or as oyster shooters. A silky lobster bisque studded with Maine lobster nuggets is baked under puff pastry and accompanied with a twist of caramelized fennel salad.

From Little Italy comes a thin-crusted Margherita pizza or a pizza alla salsicca with imported salami. A warm goat cheese and prosciutto salad is enhanced with baked polenta, Marsala-stewed figs and arugula. More than creative ... exceptional. For a touch of Asia, have the roasted duck appetizer cooked in banana leaves or Thai marinated crab and rock shrimp salad or the exceptional crisp fried shrimp coated in rice flakes.

Carnivores will adore the bone-in meat selection. A dry-aged New York steak, Colorado lamb T-Bone steak, Kurobuta pork chop (raised naturally) and so much more have excited my taste buds at each Sensi experience. There's a bar and a bold and adventurous wine list as well as the best green tea.

Chef Heierling works side-by-side with Chef de Cuisine Christoph Schoettle creating fabulous dishes. End your meal with a sampling of desserts -- four small plates with bite-size portions of such whimsical, wonderful sweets as a banana fritter lollipop on a stick. Such a delectable way to dine.

-- Review by Muriel Stevens