Michael Jordan’s Steak House – Mohegan Sun Casino

This past weekend I went with my mother to enjoy a meal at Michael Jordan’s Steak House up at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. We had a wonderful meal, and since there were two of us, we got to share a couple of cuts of steak, which is how I always like to dine. I love tasting many different menu items in the same meal, so that I can get a real feel for what a restaurant has to offer. Anyways, I know you want to see and hear about the food, so I might as well get straight to it. Thank you to Executive Sous-Chef Enrique Reyes (pictured below with me), not only for the great meal, but for coming out and talking to me about the restaurant and the meal.

To begin with we of course had some of their rolls and split a Caesar Salad. They do something I like here, which is that they split the plate for us (with no charge) so that we each had our own smaller salad, rather than having to pass it back and forth. So this picture is actually 1/2 a Caesar Salad.

The rolls were actually excellent. Obviously fresh, warm, and fluffy, these rolls had a nice buttery texture (which did not stop me from adding more butter… yum) and also a bit of melted cheese on top. Great start. As for the Caesar Salad, it certainly matched up to Caesar Salads I have had at other high end Steak Houses. That being said, there was nothing that necessarily made it stand out from these other restaurants. If you like a good Caesar Salad, with excellent aged cheese on top, you will like this one too, just as I did. Just don’t expect the salad to be the highlight of the meal.

Next we moved on to our entrees. We split the Bone-In Filet Mignon with a lobster tail, the New York Strip, and the MJ’s Home Fries.

Now here is where you should expect the highlight of the meal. Let’s start with the Home Fries. These babies are freshly wedged potatoes and sliced onions, seasoned well and fried in bacon fat. BACON FAT! This means, of course, they are delicious. They were also cooked very well… Crispy on the outside and nice and soft and fluffy inside. Then there was the lobster tail. The meat was so sweet and buttery on its own, I almost did not want to dip into the melted butter… But I had to, because butter makes things taste even better… and what do you know, it did. Now lets take a moment talking about these two very different cuts of steak. To begin with, the Bone-In Filet has that nice fat on it that you usually don’t get on a regular filet cut, which imparts some extra flavor. Add to it the fact that this cut of meat is then cooked in a devilishly delicious garlic butter and seasoned with MJ’s Worcestershire Glaze, and you have one juicy, well flavored, and well cooked steak. The New York Strip on the other hand is a fantastic cut of aged steak, coated in a signature dry rub and the Worcestershire Glaze, and grilled off to perfection. Ask me which one I liked better, and I would be hard pressed to tell you because the flavor profiles were so different and unique. If you are looking for the steak itself to be the hero, where you are tasting mostly just the high quality meat, I would suggest the New York Strip. However, if you are a garlic lover, and enjoy a juicy, flavor-filled, well seasoned cut, go with the Bone-In Filet. Both were excellent, so what I really suggest… do what we did, and split some different styles with the people you are dining with.

Finally, we come to dessert.The Creme Brulee!

I am a Creme Brulee fanatic. I make it, I order it everywhere, I love trying new flavors (my specialty is a Chambord Creme Brulee topped with Fresh Raspberries), but for me the traditional vanilla creme brulee is a must have staple at any quality steak house. Michael Jordan’s delivers and hits a home run with this one (yes, that is a shout out to MJ’s baseball career). With a nice smooth and creamy textured custard, bursting with fresh vanilla flavor, and topped with just the right amount of bruleed sugar, I will say, I was impressed. The cranberry and pistachio biscotti was a nice touch and paired well with the rest of the dessert. As a fanatic of this dessert, I have learned some tricks of how to tell the quality of the ingredients used. Here is my favorite. Take a look at this picture of the partially eaten Creme Brulee.

See those black dots on the bottom of the dish? That is fresh vanilla bean. That is how you know that the restaurant is using fresh vanilla and not vanilla extract or syrup. If you see those black dots, you have found a place that cares about the quality of the ingredients in their desserts.

Overall we had a fantastic meal at MJ’s. I will say that they are very pricey, so it is definitely a place for special occasions. Our meal with no drinks was $92.00 a person after tax and tip, which is pretty steep, even at Casino prices. However, not only was the food excellent, they have a Sunday Special I will be going back for. It includes Caesar Salad, Creamed Spinach, Mashed Potatoes, Prime Rib, and Fruit Cobbler, all for only $25.00 per person. THAT IS A FANTASTIC DEAL. I look forward to trying that out and will give you all my feedback once I do. Thank you again to Michael Jordan’s Steak House and Chef Reyes for a great meal, and for allowing MaurPowerFoodie into your home.

Until next time, this is Jason “MaurPowerFoodie” Maur signing out.