First, I have experienced what I consider to be the best steakhouse in Las Vegas bar none in the form of Austins at Texas Station. After you've found the best it seems almost silly to keep trying new ones that usually pale in comparison.

Second, most steakhouses on The Strip are often overpriced for what they offer. If you're going to pay that much for a meal you should be getting something more special than a steak.

So when I walked toward Strip House, the new steakhouse at Planet Hollywood, I was already writing the shrugging review in my head.

But as soon as I stepped in the door, the shrugs went away and I started running through my mental thesaurus to come up with words that meant fantastic, unique, interesting, and worthwhile. (I've chosen superb, nonpareil, captivating, and propitious)

The first you notice is the decor. The "Strip" in Strip House does not refer to a type of steak or the road on which the restaurant is located but rather the act of shedding one's clothes. The entire place is done up with a bordello theme - red walls, padded booths, ornate chandeliers - and features hundreds of photos, mostly of women from the forties and fifties, in various stages of undress. It's all done in an eye-popping yet tasteful way and is an immediate harbinger that things are not done the same way here that they are done in every other steakhouse in town.

A quick side note to parents: some of the photos do involve peekaboo nudity so you may want to consider taking the wee ones elsewhere if you don't feel like having that particular conversation over appetizers.

The menu is limited - only two pages with about dozen options on each from the appetizer and entree categories. And at first glance it may not seem all that interesting with things like jumbo shrimp cocktail, clams casino, and a few salads in the starters area and some seafood and steaks in the main courses section.

But what they lack in originality they more than make up for in taste, texture, and presentation.

We started with one of the two table-share appetizers, billed as warm garlic bread with gorgonzola fondue. What we got was six big, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside chunks of explosively garlic bread sitting in a bed of creamy cheese. It was eyes-rolling-into-the-back-of-your-head delicious and we briefly considered ordering another plate of the stuff so we didn't have to share. We were actually disappointed when it was all gone and would've licked the plate clean if we weren't concerned about decorum.

My dining companion flirted with the idea of the Maine lobster linguine done in a lemon cream bordelaise and I considered the Colorado rack of lamb with Dijon bread crumb crusting but we ultimately decided that when in a steakhouse one should eat steak.

The bone-in rib eye that I ordered was enormous and, unlike many rib eyes that I have had in this town, almost devoid of fat. Cooked to perfection, it was spiced with a black pepper rub that may be overwhelming to some but was heaven to me and I don't even like black pepper all that much. Have water standing by is all I can say.

The filet was similarly spiced but much more subtly and the flavor of the meat was a smoky, rough-hewn delight. Filets, while dependable, can sometimes be boring but this one was a pleasant surprise with every bite.

Sides run the gamut from potatoes of all variety and several other vegetable options. We went for the fried onions, a baked potato, and an off-menu asparagus special. The latter were terrific but the fried onions were also heavily salted and once you added up the garlic bread we had horked down and the peppery steaks, it was just a bit too much.

The prices were typically expensive for this type of restaurant in this neighborhood but less than other high-end steakhouses and totally worth it. My dining companion and I did cocktails, an appetizer and salad, entrees, and three sides for $180 including tax but pre-tip. If you aren't throwing back the pricey Manhattans and glasses of wine like we were, you could probably expect an average of about $60-80 per person when all is said and done.

The service once we were seated was fantastic, but there were some unnecessary delays in actually getting us to the table. It felt like a ruse to get us to sit in the bar and order a drink beforehand but they had just opened and perhaps they hadn't quite gotten their act together when we showed up.

Strip House is fantastic on almost every level and while it still may not be my favorite steakhouse in all of Las Vegas it is absolutely the best steakhouse on The Strip.