Primrose At The Park MGM: A Superb New Las Vegas Lunch Option

Last year, MGM Resorts International announced that they'd be completely renovating their Las Vegas resort-casino Monte Carlo into an entirely new concept, the Park MGM. The new hotel has a distinctly French country feel, best exemplified by its all-day restaurant Primrose, which is located right off the lobby. We recently had the opportunity to have lunch there at the invitation of the restaurant, and it's a fantastic spot for a leisurely meal.

Primrose, which opens at 6 a.m. daily, is made up of a few different rooms, including a spacious and inviting bar and lounge (formally called the Drawing Room), an elegant and simply-appointed dining room inspired by a French garden (which gets plenty of natural light through large windows), and terrace inspired by the French Riviera. A wide variety of original art (much of which is from 1950s Provence) decorates the rooms; artists include Picasso, Cocteau, and Boncompain.

We sat out in the shaded terrace, which is separated by the pool by a large amount of lush greenery. The lunch menu corresponds perfectly with this atmosphere; dishes are made with fresh, seasonal ingredients and many are inspired by traditional French cuisine, with an emphasis on Provencal dishes. Appetizers include chicken tenders with grilled lemon and herbes de Provence and beef tartare; salads include tuna Nicoise, Cobb, and a Mediterranean plate (with avocado, tomato, cucumber, yogurt, feta, preserved lemon, and hard-boiled egg); share plates include crudités and a variety of ham with tapenade; and more substantial fare includes French onion cheeseburger, short rib ciabatta, rotisserie chicken, King salmon, ratatouille, and filet mignon and frites. All-day breakfast dishes are also available, including pancakes and a ham and Gruyere omelette.

We started our meal with a couple cocktails, created by cocktail manager Emily Yett. Like the food, these utilize fresh seasonal ingredients, and were creative and tasty. The Di Coco contains pineapple rum, Aperol, pineapple juice, and coconut water; the Moulin Rouge contains bourbon, Lillet, and Angostura bitters; and the Mai Tai (certainly not unwelcome on a warm day) is made with Mount Gay rum, dry orange curacao, orgeat, and lime. All were well-balanced and well-presented.

To eat, we started by sharing the Garden Fries (fried pickled string beans and hot peppers with sauce gribiche); fresh corn roasted in a custom-built wood grill with feta, espelette aioli, and fines herbes (above); and a farro bowl with a poached egg, baby zucchini, basil pistou, tomato, and fennel pollen (below). The "fries" were light and crispy, the corn creamy and flavorful, and the faro bowl full of bright and fresh flavors (there's the option to add chicken, salmon, or vegetables to make it a main dish, we recommend it).

For our main courses, we tried the classic Croque Monsieur and the rotisserie turkey club. The Croque Monsieur was prepared in the traditional style with high-quality ham and Gruyere cheese, topped with mornay sauce and browned under the broiler; a "skirt" of crispy Gryuere was a welcome addition.

The rotisserie turkey club is one of the most popular menu items, with good reason: It's stacked with honey-glazed house-roasted turkey, crispy maple pepper bacon, tomato, bibb lettuce, and dijonnaise on brioche (you can also add a fried egg or avocado), and it was about as satisfying and well-constructed a club sandwich you'll find anywhere.

Lunch is Primrose is one you'll want to linger over as soon as you walk into the elegant, comfortable space. It's a little slice of France in Las Vegas, and everything we sampled, from the refreshing cocktails to the fresh seasonal fare, was delicious.

The meal that was the subject of this review was provided at no cost to the writer. To follow Dan Myers' dining adventures, follow him on Instagram @sirmyers.