There are many things to recommend about Terzetto….unfortunately much of the food isn’t among them.

The setting and decor (in the new M Resort and Casino) are drop dead gorgeous: floor to ceiling windows, open kitchen, comfortable booths, and dramatic views of the entire valley looking north would make this a go-to venue even if it only served a Norwegian/Cambodian buffet.

The service is as spot on as the room is breathtaking, and the wine list doesn’t assassinate your wallet like those meat emporiums ten miles to the north.

They also serve good, prime-quality beef (from M owner Tony Marnell’s family ranch), and the kitchen knows how to cook it right.

But that’s pretty much where the dazzle-factor stops.

Nothing from the apps to desserts we had — from tepid tater tots to so-so rock shrimp to paltry potatoes au gratin — struck us as anything above what you get at any chain steakhouse.

And our somewhat smallish fillet of Dover sole struck us as the real deal; it wasn’t that bad….but it wasn’t that good either. Just a simple piece of not-too-old fish that the kitchen didn’t screw up — served with a barely warm beurre blanc.

Desserts were as uninspired as those apps and sides, with the chocolate bread pudding being the clear winner over a disastrous banana cream “pie” (basically banana mush inside a hard pastry shell)….and because it’s tough to combine “chocolate” and “bread pudding” in any form that results in any kind of disaster.

That being said, its attempt at architectural impressiveness (a chocolate cone-like wafer atop ice cream atop the aforementioned bread pudding) possessed neither sophistication nor structural integrity. But it still tasted pretty darn good.

So as steakhouses go, this is a pretty good one, and a pretty one, and definitely the prettiest place to get a good looking steak between Mandalay Bay and Barstow.

Unfortunately, the rest of the food is not parading around in the same pageant.

Our meal for four including five cocktails and a $115 bottle of wine came to $400 + a $65 tip.

TERZETTO

In the M Resort and Casino

12300 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89044

866.551.1540

702.797.1000