The Great Las Vegas Food Blog - 2015 Edition
As a non-smoking, non-drinking, non-gambling person, I go to Las Vegas to try new restaurants and shop. Having just spent 5 days there, I tried as much as possible to eat at places I'd never been to before. Here's my mini-reviews of my meals.
There were several other places I had on my list that I didn't get to, but, hey, there's always next time.
Fresh off the plane, I had already planned out that I wanted to go to Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay. The American Classic (a bacon cheeseburger) came with a side of fries. It was really good but would probably be at best the third best burger I've had in Vegas. Still, if you've never been there, this won't disappoint.
Also high on my list of places to try, I had to give Guy Fieri's restaurant a whirl. I'm a fan of big, decadent breakfasts when I'm in Vegas, and the maple bacon French Toast fit the bill perfectly. While it was quite good, the standout on this place was the bruleed bananas, which were outstanding with that caramel crunch of burned sugar on the outside and the soft, warm banana underneath.
As I was eating pretty big meals, I decided I could get away with just two per day. My mid-afternoon dinner one day was at the Double Barrel Roadhouse at Monte Carlo, where I really wanted to try the fried chicken with a side of mac and cheese. This wasn't nearly as good as I hoped it would be. The fried chicken was absolutely nothing special. The mac and cheese was very good, but it wasn't enough to save this from being an overall disappointment.
Hexx, the former Sugar Factory Bar and Grill, at Paris, is one of my favorite places to eat in Vegas. They have a killer chocolate french toast that is sometimes on the menu, but they also have these absolutely amazing chocolate pancakes with caramel sauce. Only for chocolate lovers, of course.
Oh. My. Goodness. My brother was in Vegas a couple of weeks before me and told me I had to - HAD TO - try the chicken and waffles and watermelon at the Yardbird at Venetian. Except he told me that it's a family style patter for 2-4 people and I should bring a friend. Unfortunately, no friends were to be found that day, so I, er, I ate the whole thing myself. It was the best single meal I ate in Vegas on this trip and one of the best meals I've ever eaten in Vegas. The watermelon is marinated in lemon juice and mint leaves and a little chili pepper. It was absolutely the best water melon of my life. The friend chicken was tasty and crispy and the cheddar waffle with bourbon maple syrup was terrific. A great meal. Highly recommended. But bring a friend.
I actually had Tom's Urban at NYNY penciled in for a dinner visit, but I happened upon meeting a friend and former co-worker in Vegas during my time there for a couple of meals and that changed my schedule around so I wound up there for breakfast. They had a "make your own omelette" section on the menu, so I chose bacon, cheese and red pepper, with sour-dough toast, and really good cheese-laden hash browns. But here's the thing: I went mid-week and ordered this and it was very good. I went back on my last day and ordered the exact same thing, and it was not good at all. The second time around, the omelette had too much cheese and was greasy and so many red peppers it overwhelmed the eggs and the omelette basically fell apart. The lack of consistency was disappointing. Still, the first visit was a really delicious meal.
If you had to make me pick one single favorite restaurant in Vegas, it would be Gordon Ramsay's BurGR at Planet Hollywood. These are, hands down, the best fancy hamburger's I've ever eaten in my life. This was my third visit here, and I've gotten a different burger each time and never been disappointed. I was with my friend and former co-worker for this meal, so we ordered the truffle Parmesan fries and the sweet potato fries. Both were great. My Uber cheese burger was amazing. I love this place.
Caesar's Palace renovated their food court recently and one of the places that caught my eye was La Gloria, which does authentic Mexican. I bought the Tacos al pastor, to the great jealously of my children who have been to Mexico and had real Tacos al pastor. While I've never had them in Mexico and can't compare, these were delicious - crispy pork and little bits of pineapple on fresh tortillas. My only complaint was that the three of them barely made an appetizer, never mind a meal. But they were very good and I'd eat them again with no hesitation. I'd just order several more.
Shake Shack is one of those "hot" places right now, and considering there was one close by at NYNY, I decided to give it a whirl for my last big meal in Vegas. It was... a burger. There was nothing wrong with it, but as far as casual/fast food burgers go, I'm a "5 Guys" guy, and that's my standard. This didn't measure up to 5 Guys, but it was a perfectly fine bacon cheeseburger. It just didn't rock my world.
There were several other places I had on my list that I didn't get to, but, hey, there's always next time.
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