Get Wasted With Flair: Mandarin Bar at Mandarin Oriental

Las Vegas can be experienced in so many ways. You can go for a gritty, quantity-over-quality experience or a refined, high-end experience, or just about anything in between. You tend to get what you pay for.

Sometimes, you just want to get out of the chaos of The Strip and have a classy cocktail in an upscale environment, and the Mandarin Bar at Mandarin Oriental certainly qualifies. You won’t find buckets of beer for $3, but you also won’t be surrounded by people who have had buckets of beer, so there’s that.

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas bar
Elegance without the snooty. Feel free to steal that, Mandarin Oriental marketing copywriters.

If a bar can be sophisticated without being pretentious, Mandarin Bar would be that. The prices are slightly elevated, but the view is provided at no additional cost.

Mandarin Bar is on the 23rd floor of the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas hotel. The floor-to-ceiling windows provide a sweeping view of The Strip, both north and south.

We have a heights thing, so 23 floors up is just about right.
We have a heights thing, so 23 floors up is just about right.

If the view from Mandarin Bar is a jaw-dropper, the Firewater cocktail (pictured below) is a panty-dropper.

It features Purity vodka, muddled watermelon, espelette pepper-infused syrup, fresh lemon juice, and salt and pepper on the rim. (Million dollar idea. Self-defense for epicureans: Espelette Pepper Spray.)

So pretty, you'll be tempted to buy this drink a drink.
So pretty, you’ll be tempted to buy this drink a drink.

We don’t tend to spend a lot of time at the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (no casino!), but it’s a stand-out in terms of luxury and service in a town known for both.

Aside from the great signature cocktails, Mandarin Bar also serves up some delicious appetizer dishes, too. The sacrifices we make for you.

Getting between your companion and this appetizer could result in you having to wear a hook.
Getting between your companion and this appetizer could result in you having to wear a hook as a hand.

The MObar sliders are great. Yes, that’s how they spell it. The “MO” stands for Mandarin Oriental. Please try and keep up. In Las Vegas, you don’t have to understand it, you just have to eat it.

MObar sliders Mandarin Bar
“Damn, we wanted to call our sliders Mobar sliders.” ~Mob Bar

View the Firewater. Seasonal cocktails are added, you know, seasonally.

Mandarin Bar at Mandarin Oriental is an elegant diversion and well worth a look. And taste. Especially the taste part.

Mandarin Bar at Mandarin Oriental