Luna Rossa

Twice a year we do a stay vacation at The Westin. For the past four years we have always ate here. The food is beautifully made its authentic Italian food! The strawberry tiramisu is to die for so yummy & fresh strawberries. I could seriously eat three. We've always had good service. Spent New Years Eve as well it's a up scale mom and pop restaurant.

This fabulous Italian restaurant sits in the village of Montelago on Lake Las Vegas,and is a great find. Miguel was our waiter for the two times we have visited for dinner. His wise direction has never steered us wrong. My wife and I are never disappointed with the lobster and shrimp stuffed ravioli and a nice bottle of Chianti or Pinot Noir with our dinner. The martini I had prior to dinner was perfect and had blue cheese stuffed olives. The restaurant gets crowded, but I have never seen the wait over 10 minutes. We have always made a rez for 6:30PM, and have promptly been seated. I don't know how or why people have rated this restaurant badly, as we have always been treated with respect and have always had a great meal. Ask for Miguel if you want to be treated the best.

I was excited to try this place, as we live near Lake Las Vegas and had not been here yet.  We typically go to Auld Dubliner when we are down there.  So, one weekday afternoon I decided I wanted Italian for dinner, and we settled on Luna Rossa.  It was not crowded, we were seated immediately.  The wine list is actually more expansive than I was expecting at a place at Lake Las Vegas.  But, the reds are kept at room temperature.  During the hot summer months in the Valley, this made the wine seem even hotter.  So, that was frustrating.

To start, the wife had the caprese.  The ingredients were not of good quality.  The tomatoes seemed like they were purchased from a local grocery store and then stored in the fridge, which is not good for a tomato's flavor.  Likewise, the mozzarella was mealy, didn't have a nice pull when you would cut it.  I had the gnochetti fritti, which was basically fried cheese balls that you dip in red sauce.  The red sauce needed a hit of herbage for flavor, but the cheese balls were good.

To eat, the wife had the lobster ravioli with tiger shrimp in a vodka cream sauce.  I'm ignorant, so I can't remember the Italian name of this dish.  But, it was a winner, and it saved Luna Rossa from getting a 2 star review all on its own.  It's a LARGE portion for $28, approximately 8 or 9 huge raviolis plus 3-4 large shrimp.  The sauce had a little bit of creaminess to it which was nice when you cut into the ravioli.  We took a good amount home.  If you eat at Luna Rossa and like seafood, this is your dinner.

I had the sun-dried tomato gnocchi with prosciutto in a cream sauce (again, can't remember the Italian name).  The cream sauce was forgettable, I had to douse it with pepper and parmesan cheese at the table to impart any flavor.  The gnocchi was solid, and the prosciutto was of good quality.  It basically was just 2 large pieces draped over the dish.  

We didn't plan on having dessert, but when I saw they had strawberry tiramisu we had to give that a shot, as strawberries are my favorite fruit.  It was good, but we couldn't finish it due to sweetness.  It comes in a large wine glass and is layered with cream, lady fingers, and strawberry sauce.  There were a few fresh strawberries on top, and I could have used more of them.  The bites with all ingredients were excellent, but you only got a couple of them.  This is a fair price at $8, but I would prefer to pay a little more and get fresh strawberries in every bite.

They have a large patio which I bet is an excellent place to dine when it's not 100 degrees daily.