Lemon and Mint Marinated Chicken Thighs - Recipe

Very flavorful, cheap and easy.  Even pleases people who don't usually like chicken thighs.

Mix marinade of
4 large smashed garlic cloves ground into paste with 1 1/2 tsp of kosher salt
1/2 cup packed chopped fresh mint or other fresh herb (flat leaf parsley if you are poor)
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Juice of one lemon (about 3 tbs.)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup olive oil drizzled in while wisking

Put salt rubbed chicken thighs (about 4 or 5) into marinade for 1/2 hour to overnight in fridge.  You can use with skin or without, with bone or without, just adjust cooking time.

Cook on medium heat with heavy weight on top (eg. another frying pan with heavy things in it) for five minutes.  Remove weight and cook for another 5 minutes.  Turn over, replace weight and cook until done, 4-6 minutes.

Gobi Jhalfrazie - Recipe

OK, this is a basic Indian vegetarian dish, with cauliflower and carrots that tastes great over rice.  As is normal with Indian food, it is spice heavy.  If you like Indian food, you must invest in some garam masala.  You usually can find it cheap in import stores.  It tends to be overpriced in supermarkets.  You can make your own, by combining a lot of different spices (pictured below).

I like this recipe because it is made with things that I almost always have at home (I've included possible substitutions that I've used).  The only odd item is the cauliflower, which can be substituted with any vegetable.  This recipe tastes good as is, but tastes better the next day reheated.

3 tbs. canola oil (or olive oil)
5 cloves coarsely chopped garlic (or if you prefer a 2-inch piece of chopped ginger or garlic and ginger!)
2 large yellow onions coarsely chopped
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbs. ground coriander
5 or 6 large peeled and thinly sliced carrots
1 head of cauliflower, cut into medium sized florets
1 Serrano chile (with or without all of the seeds depending on how hot you want it)
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup ketchup to add sweet flavor if desired
1 can of tomato sauce (or preferably two ripe tomatoes cut into medium dice) (whichever you choose will dramatically alter the recipe, so essentially this is like two recipes in one)
1 1/4 cup frozen peas
1 cup water

In a dutch oven, cook garlic (and ginger) over medium-high heat for 30 seconds in oil.

Add the onions and 1 tsp salt.  Cook until edges are brown, about 5 minutes.  Add coriander and stir for 1 minute.  Add carrots, cauliflower, and chile.  Cook, stirring often for 15 minutes.

Add garam masala, cayenne, ketchup, tomato sauce (or tomatoes), peas, 1 tsp salt, and the water.  Simmer and cover for 5 minutes.

Agave

UPDATE: Now closed for business....color me shocked.

VERDICT: This restaurant looks great, but doesn't deliver good food.

First, I should let you know that I ate here for free.  I used a Groupon that I paid for with credit.  You see every time someone signs up with Groupon through the highlighted links and then ends up buying a Groupon, I get a $10 credit.  Don't click on the ads on my blog, but rather click on the Groupon links.  It's free to join and I have to say that it is a lot of fun too....do it, do it, do it...I want $10.

Anyway, the restaurant itself is impressive although an unfortunate shade of pink.  The unique architecture is further marred by the addition of TV's playing sports over the bar.

I immediately knew that I wasn't going to like the meal by the menus.  The menus have what appears to be a cover made out of copper.  That seems all well and good, but copper is not something you want to touch before eating.  Don't believe me?  Take out a couple of pennies and hold them in your hand.  Now smell your hand.  Gross, huh?  If you have a good sense of smell then you are going to smell this every time you raise your fork to your mouth if you don't wash your hands after handling the menu.  I am of the opinion that if you don't have a good enough sense of smell to notice this then you probably aren't a very good cook.

I decided to go safe.  I got the carne asada burrito.  It was flavorless and the meat was extremely chewy.  The brown beans were dry, undercooked, and bland.  I could only finish a small portion of the burrito before giving up.  I would much rather have Roberto's.  Greg got a taco sampler and found he couldn't finish his tacos either.  While he enjoyed the tacos "Al Pastor" (with pork), he couldn't finish the potato and portabella taco.

I've noticed that the people that like this place tend to talk about the cocktails a lot.  I'm thinking that you have to be drunk to like this place.  This barely missed being on my "Worst of Vegas" list, solely because the chips and salsa were good.

Martinis

UPDATE: Martinis is now out of business. 

VERDICT: Come here to talk about your 6-figure deal, not for amazing food.

I got a Groupon for Martinis.  It cost $15 for $35 worth of food.  I didn't even know where Martinis was, but I saw it was near and thought I would give it a try.  I'm all about the Groupons, I recommend all Vegas people take advantage of them.

First, Greg and I noticed the large amount of "luxury" cars in the parking lot.  I'm talking about cars that aren't bought because they are nice, but rather bought to show wealth.  At least, that is what I think of Mercedes and BMW.  They certainly aren't bought because they don't break down and let's leave it at that.

When we entered at around 6:30, we were faced with a crowded bar area.  I mean packed with loud "successful" people, trying to talk louder than each other, as they discussed about how much money they have in some sort of money-fueled mating ritual.  These were the type of people that use phrases like "six-figure deal", "team building", and "after this, I'm going to the gym".  Greg, of course, wanted to leave immediately, as did I.  However, I didn't want to be stuck with a Groupon that I already paid for.  I didn't want this to be a lesson learned about pre-buying food. (Groupon is great...try it, I get $10 if you use my links and buy something).

Luckily, someone was there to assist us to the dining room, which was separated by a wall with fireplaces from the yuppie-packed bar.  The restaurant area was nice and sufficiently separated from the din.  She said that if we waited around, the live music was going to start later.  This only made us want to finish our meal quickly and leave.

We had the pork and shrimp dumplings.  They were good, but only came with 5 tiny dumplings for a substantial price.  I had the flatbread pizza. Among its toppings were pepperoni, Greek olives, and jalapeños.  I love jalapeños, but with the olives, the pizza was too pickle-y.  I ended up taking them off.  Greg had the shrimp scampi, which he reported was good, but the shrimp was slightly overcooked.

All in all, it was good, not great and a little spendy.  A place to see and be seen, which is just not my scene.

Mimi's Café

VERDICT: Bring your own butter...better yet, bring your own food.

I don't get this restaurant at all.  What is it suppose to be?  A family restaurant?  A French restaurant?  A New Orleans restaurant?  Because it fails with all of that.  The menu consists of rather bland café fare.  There is Chicken Cordon Bleu on the menu.  Rather than actual Cordon Bleu, it is deep-fried chicken served with a bright yellow mustard sauce that they have the guts to call Dijon sauce.  The room we were in was decorated as if we were in a New Orleans café, ironically painted with the names of fun, Cajun dishes that were not on the menu. 
I ended up getting the ravioli...I know, I know, how French is that?  The sauce would made Chef Boyardee seem gourmet and the ravioli seemed fresh from the freezer. We went with Greg's mother, who I refer to as the Dairy Queen.  She became absolutely disgusted that they didn't serve real butter with the bread.  It tasted as if it was Promise, a butter substitute..  You may remember her bringing her own butter to the Tournament of King.  She, after finishing with her unbridled disgust, decided to bring her own butter with her on any future trips to Mimi's Café.  I, on the other hand, was not offended by the butter substitute, but will not be returning to Mimi's ever again, with or without my own butter.

Paymon's

I love falafel, but I never get to have it.  Greg always chants, "Falafel is awful."  Partly because he likes the rhyme, partly because he knows it annoys me, and partly because he hates falafel.  I was super excited when he suggested Paymon's for lunch.  He tends to avoid Mediterranean restaurants, because he always says, "Isn't that whole area a little iffy?"  Paymon's serves what I think of as non-threatening food from a foreign country.  Nothing is very strange, falafel is perhaps one of their stranger things on the menu.  Everything is amazingly overpriced.

Greg had the pastitsio, which is basically bland Greek lasagna, something that I could never get excited about.  I had the falafel which had really large patties.  I prefer my patties smaller and crispier.  The fries were just superb though.  I could go to Paymon's for just the fries with their strange mustard like fry sauce.

The thing that pissed me off though is when we ordered a pot of tea.  They have a great selection of tea to order from, but when we asked if we could split a pot of overpriced tea, we were informed that it wasn't allowed.  Really?  Everyone has to get their own POT of tea...not a glass, a pot.  You can't split a pot of tea.  What a joke of a restaurant showing that they really just care about ways to make money!

Paymon's, by the way, is the restaurant that gets called in about on KNPR constantly.  Whenever they have a food critic on, people call in and rave about Paymon's.  It got the point that people at KNPR usually mention that they will not be taking calls about Paymon's and that Paymon's is just all right of a restaurant.  The people that called in about Paymon's apparently were over-enthusiastic employees.

Hash House a Go Go

VERDICT: Impressive LOOKING food...that is all.

Greg and I got so excited to see Hash House a Go Go on the Travel Channel or Food Network or whatever channel they got onto.  Finally, a really fun restaurant in Las Vegas that isn't on the strip.

I've been to Hash House a Go Go several times and I have to say, I'm not a fan.  Here's the deal, the food is impressive looking.  Just do an Google image search for Hash House a Go Go to see some of the creations.  The visual wowness of the food is really the only best part about it.  The biscuits are dry, crumbly and tasteless.  The "homemade" strawberry preserves tastes just like Smuckers.  The breakfast potatoes are bland and often undercooked.  The food that people rave about is basically food that is pretty hard to mess up, like pancakes, waffles and fried chicken.

Basically, the presentation can be summed up as this:  Stack a bunch of large portions of food on top of each other, throw some fried grass of some kind on top of it or uncooked spaghetti, and shove a large twig of rosemary down the middle to make it look fancy

I can throw food on my plate with some weeds at home.  Thanks.

Salad Creations

UPDATE:  Another one bites the dust....This location is out of business

VERDICT: Prepare to barf from either the horrible salad or the outrageous price.

How can you mess up a salad?  Salad Creations will find a way.

This place is weird.  It gave me strange vibes, just like Create did.  There just has to be something about the word "create" that inspires craziness.  I have learned my lesson though and am not going to flat-out call this restaurant a cult....but let's look at the facts.  They serve salads at a salad bar where you aren't allowed to touch anything.  Meat is at a super premium at $2.50 per added serving.  They serve you everything in a generic metal bowl.  Even though they serve everything in a metal bowl, they still only trust the customers with super-small, super-flimsy plastic utensils.

All this that you see before you cost $18.00.

They have this bar set up, where the worker places the food in the bowl for you after you either choose one of the featured salads or choose your own toppings.  Greg got a small Florida Sunshine Cobb for $7 (a large is $9).  A got a large 5 toppings.  The various lettuces are behind the counter in these large hanging bins.  It gives the illusion that they have cut the lettuce fresh.  Perhaps they have, but it tasted like bagged lettuce with the bagged lettuce taste (don't argue with me, I'm a super taster).  All I'm saying is that if it quacks like a duck and it walks like a duck, then....   The salads were horrible.  Greg labeled them "casino-grade", which is merely satisfactory only if it comes free with a meal.  

Look at their stupid hats!  Is that Carol Burnett with the mop?!?

They are trying to market themselves as the healthy alternative, but if they use bagged salads they are falling short.  Bagged salad is often contaminated with bacteria and poop.  Salads are not diet food.  A typical salad at Salad Creations almost always has at least 40 grams of fat or more.  It's the dressing that gets you, so order the vinaigrette.  

The urban dictionary actually has an entry for Salad Creations, which includes, "A place where 30 year-old lonely women come to bitch at the employees about how much they weigh."  This speaks wonders on how Salad Creations is preying on health-conscious consumers and consumers with body image problems. 

Don't buy into the Salad Creations lies.  It's unhealthy, bagged crap.

Try the more reasonably priced, Souper Salad.

Garduño's at the Fiesta - Revisted

VERDICT: My reluctant return visit to Garduño's surprised me with improved quality.

Previously, I had written of how Garduño's was bland and tasteless.  Due to lame circumstances, we had a return visit.  At this attempt, I was determined to find flavor.  I got a three item combo.  I had the carne adovada, chile relleno, and just a plain ground beef burrito.  For those not in the know, carne adovada is a spicy pork concoction.  I figured if they were going to fail to provide spice, it would certainly show in the adovada.

 

Here's a picture of carne adovada.  You can see spiciness, no?

I'm pleased to announce that the carne adovada was flavorful and delicious.  The chile relleno, having a chile right in the name and in the dish would have to be flavorful as well...and it was.  The burrito, my control group, was actually delicious.  Little Greg, who just got three tacos, commented that he thought the quality of the food had improved since last time.  I have to agree. 

One problem with the carne adovada was the large piece of fatty pork I encountered.  Small bits of fat are normal and increase flavor, but this was an obviously large piece of fat that any astute cook, not in a hurry,  would have removed.

Let's visit the salsa bar.  Of course, the salsa bar was one of the things that they always had going for them.  The bean dip is always a favorite.  I also got the green salsa, which claimed to be "medium" and was made from tomatillo and avocado.  I found it to be refreshing like a cucumber.  Greg found it to be just a little too hot.  I also got the salsa diablo, which they claimed to be "hot".  I'm sure it would be hot for Greg, who refused to try it, but I found it to be rather mild.  However, it had a delicious smoky, chipotle flavor which I could not deny as flavorful.  

I take it all back.  Garduño's is no longer a Mexican restaurant for timid, white people.  They don't lay heavy on the spice, but they are no longer afraid of flavor.   At their prices, it is a good restaurant to visit.

 

Midwestern Guacamole - Recipe

RECIPE VERDICT: They'll all come a runnin' for this fancied up version of avocados.

One thing that I can make well is what I call Midwestern guacamole.  This is actually how I grew up making guacamole and for some reason it really upsets guacamole enthusiasts.  At least, it upsets them until they try it.  After they try it, it's like crack and they can't get it in their fat, little mouths fast enough.  The first taste is free, but after that you need to pay!

Anyway, the secret to making anything Midwestern is to add mayonnaise (Ironically, that makes it more French, too.  Ironic in that people in the Midwest tend to despise France.)  I start with however many avocados I have and cut them in half and remove the pit using the cut and twist method.  Greg constantly thinks that I'm going to cut off my hand doing this, but this is how Martha Stewart taught me and I still have all of my fingers.  I score the inside of the avocado and use a spoon to scoop it into a bowl.  I take a regular spoon from the drawer and eyeball the amount of mayonnaise to put in.  I say about a tablespoon for every two avocados.  I then pour in my favorite salsa in an equal amount.  Add lemon juice if you got it to prevent it from turning brown and mash it all together until almost smooth.  Add salsa or mayo to your liking.  You've just made crack there...it's got high street value.

 

I learned something about avocados being stringy.  Stringy avocados are taken out of the maturation process at the wrong time or sometimes they are a certain strain of avocado that has string.  California avocados are rarely stringy, unlike avocados from other countries, so BUY AMERICAN when making your Midwestern guacamole. 

New comment system

OK, this is my last change to the comment system...promise.  I switched to Disqus, which has the added ability to use facebook.  Hopefully, it was worth it, because I lost all old comments.

Japanese Curry - Recipe

RECIPE VERDICT - Fast, easy and delicious, who could ask for anything more.

OK, I know now someone is going to say something about how this is a restaurant blog and not a recipe blog...blah, blah, blah, we get it, Dad.  But what is better than going out, but making it at home.  If you don't live on the strip than I think that this fits into my blog.

I can't cook.  Or rather, I can cook, but I need a recipe and complicated instructions.  It becomes a frustrating, throw-yourself-on-the-couch hassle.  So, I generally try to do recipes that are easy to make and frustration free.  Think spaghetti without sides.  Think grilled cheese sandwiches.  Think one knife and one pot.  You get the picture.

I lived in Japan and always got the Curry packets that they have in Japan.  Just boil the whole thing, add rice and voilà, dinner is served.  In America, because of health concerns, you can only get the packets without meat and only one brand.  Luckily, I had a Japanese roommate when I returned to the States.  She made Japanese curry for Greg and I twice.  It took hours and always ended up with a pot so burned on the bottom that we would have to throw it away.  It came out perfectly both times.

The thought of slaving away for hours over a meal and having to throw away cookware never appealed to me.  I started to think about it and decided, my old roommate always did things in the most difficult way.  One time she ate all the cheese in the house.  Greg said, "Did you eat all the cheese?"  She said that she did and she wanted to know if 7-11 had cheese, because she couldn't drive.  We said not to worry about it and that 7-11 didn't carry cheese.  She then said she was going for a walk at about 7:00 PM.  Four hours later she returned from walking to the nearest supermarket miles and miles away.  She bought cheese.  She gave it to us and promptly went to sleep.  She did things a little oddly, perhaps just maybe I should try making Japanese curry.  Oh and we found out later that 7-11 does have cheese.


First, you start with curry seasoning.  This is easy to do as they come in convenient packets.  I decided on Vermont Curry, because it seems like such a funny name for Japanese curry.  I do have to admit that when in Japan I always drank Georgia coffee, produced by Coca-Cola.

 

A touch of apple and honey?  I couldn't taste it, which is a good thing.

The recipe is right on the box.  I cut up 1 and a half onions into strips (it asked for 2), 2 medium potatoes into small chunks, and 2 carrots into slices (it asked for 1), and half a pound of pork into small chunks.  I threw that all into a Dutch oven on the stove and cooked it on medium.  If you don't have a dutch oven you can certainly use a large pot, but I highly recommend a Dutch oven.  We got ours at Costco for $50 and it makes you feel like Julia Child.

I stirred pretty regularly and I didn't think that everything would get cooked.  About 14 minutes later, all the pork was cooked through and the onions were translucent.  I added 3 1/2 cups of water and brought to a boil.  Then you add the chunks of curry mix and simmer it on medium/low for 20 minutes.  Ta dah!

 

I stole this pic off of the web.  My curry looked similar.

Just serve it over medium grain rice.  I really suggest a rice cooker.  It makes cooking rice hassle free and keeps the rice warm until you want it.  I use calrose rice only because I can never find Japanese varieties in Las Vegas.  Calrose rice is a California rice and is close enough.  UPDATE:  Nishiki rice is now the household favorite and is, by far, better than Calrose.

 

The results were amazing.  It tasted great, took little time, and did not create much of a mess.  It is going into my normal rotation of recipes.

Capriotti's

VERDICT: Get a large and share these orgasmic sandwiches with someone.

Ever hear of someone talking about Capriotti's?  They get a glazed over look in their eye and their voice drops to reverence.  Capriotti's has some amazing sandwiches.  Their specialty sandwiches are all deliciously decedent.  One is the Bobbie with turkey, cranberries, stuffing, and mayo.  Another is the capastrami (excuse me while I wipe a tear from my eye from the rapture), it has pastrami and the most delicious coleslaw you can imagine.

 

This capastrami doesn't look amazing, but your mouth knows better.

The trick to an amazing experience at Capriotti's is to ensure to get one of the specialty sandwiches.  (Also, it helps to know the quality of the pastrami for the day.  Unfortunately, consistency of quality at this particular Capriotti's is questionable.)  So, when my parents came to visit and I hyped up the specialty sandwiches, what did they order?  An Italian sub!?!?!  I criticized my father through the entire ordering process, but he stood his ground and got the crappy sub.  It was like going to the Louvre and only looking at the landscaping.  My father's response was that his sandwich was just OK, which surprised no one.

If you want a mouth orgasm (hmmm, I need to come up with a better term).  If you want a taste orgasm, try a specialty sandwich.  If you want a so-so experience, order a boring sandwich.

Heidi's Brooklyn Deli

VERDICT: Pay the New York price without having to go to New York for these good sandwiches.

I've had on a couple occasions been asked to meet Little Greg at his work, so we can go to lunch together.  On every occasion, I've had to wait for an hour before his break.  Greg always claims, "This never happens!  I always go to break on time".  Way to play dumb, but I'm onto your tricks little one, so watch it.

Anyway, one time, instead of waiting, I went to pick up sandwiches from Heidi's Brooklyn Deli on Charleston.  I found the atmosphere friendly, which Greg later concurred.  The friendly attitude adds a lot, because there are a lot of serious sandwich decisions to be made:  Type of bread?  Toasted?  Meat heated? Side dish?  Type of cheese?  Do you want a pickle on the side? (Yep, they ask that last one).

I had Hell's Kitchen, which was egg salad, bacon, swiss, avocado and a special spicy sauce.  It was delicious, but then again, it was $7.  It comes with a side of either a tiny bag of Lay's potato chips or a tablespoon of potato salad or coleslaw.  The sides are kind of a joke in their size, but after the sandwich I was full.  Greg had the Bronx Bomber, pastrami and egg salad.  Also delicious.

If you are looking for a good sandwich than this is another sandwich stop among many.  It clearly outshines subway and Quiznos, but is on par with Capriotti's.  This place has the added benefit of New York style pricing, which is great for people with too much money.

They also deliver.

Little Dumpling

VERDICT: Another Las Vegas Chinese crap-fest.

I often complain about the Chinese food in Las Vegas as either being crap or too authentically full of chicken beaks and moth balls.  This is just crap.  Although, to its credit, it is cheap crap, which is a nice twist.  I'm used to paying through the nose for crap in Las Vegas.  I thought this little place might be different with its slick look.  Just look at that font on the sign...trendy!

 

It already broke one of my rules:  I never eat at an Asian restaurant that serves food from more than one Asian country.  Chances are that they can only cook one well or even cook neither well.  I can't speak for the Thai food, which there wasn't very much of, but I can say that the Chinese food is bland.  I had the Kung Pao combination.  The shrimp was obviously low quality and not fresh with its overpowering fishy taste.  Overall, I've had more spice from a carrot than was in this flavorless Kung Pao.  Little Greg had the strawberry chicken, which appeared to be deep fried bread stuffed with small nugglets of chicken, covered with store bought strawberry glaze.  That's right, I called them nugglets; they were way to small to be considered even a nugget. 

 

I forgot to mention that flavorless fried rice.  The soup was super thickened and tasteless.  The hot and sour soup was like eating hot gelatin spattered with sparse egg whites.  The corn egg flower soup was like eating hot corn-flavored gelatin spattered with sparse egg whites.

In the way of a compliment sandwich, I must say that the crab rangoon appetizer was deliciously yummy.  By the way, this is an open-faced compliment sandwich.  There is only a compliment at the end.

Qdoba

VERDICT: Good news, it's a whole meal that fits in your hand.  Bad news, it's a whole meal that fits in your hand.

I never tried Qdoba (or its slick twin Chipotle) until recently.  And yes, Chipotle and Qdoba are almost the same restaurant, so feel free to take this to be Chipotle as well.  This is great quick Mexican food for when you want a burrito.  Greg doesn't like burritos because he feels like he doesn't get enough food.  "It's only one thing...that's not a meal".  Wah, wah, wah....what a baby!  I learned that if I get the three tacos instead, he's less likely to complain.

I happened to have discovered the perfect recipe for Qdoba.  Feel free to use it if you desire:
Flour tortilla
Pulled pork
Cilantro-lime rice
Black beans
Lettuce
Sour cream (I have it on good authority, that they add crack to their sour cream.)
Cheese
Salsa Verde

I didn't think I would like the pork, but then I saw 4 people in a row order it.  I tried it and it is far superior to any of the other meat choices.  By the way, this little meal that I created above runs about 1055 calories!  That is so a meal!  Check out their nutritional calculator.

Andre's at the Monte Carlo

VERDICT: Preorder the chocolate soufflé.

This is a fine dining establishment on the strip.  I don't do fine dining and I don't do the strip (very often), but I got sucked in to using a Groupon from Groupon.com (quite a fun thing to do, check it out).  It was for $75 worth of food for $35.  I knew that wouldn't cover the whole bill, but Greg had been dying to have a romantic dinner at Andre's for years.  I finally caved in when my cheapness was appeased by using a coupon at a upscale establishment; go ahead and judge me, I don't care.  Besides Greg had worked a ton of overtime and just won $1000 gambling.  How can we not be a little nouveau riche?

 

My first criticism of this place was the seating arrangement.  You, of course, can't see it on the picture above, but our table was along the wall, New York style, I was closer to the person sitting next to me than Greg who was across the table.  It made arguing difficult, which I guess only adds to the romance.  The previous sentence was a little foreshadowing for you literary types.  In way of more foreshadowing, our bill came to $310 before tip, but after Groupon.  I feel for that amount of money, there is no need to shove us together like cattle, but it is in a casino on the down-slide, so maybe they are hard up.

Everything on the menu looked great and a lot of items were only slightly outrageously priced.  Greg asked if I was going to have the chocolate soufflé, because I would have to pre-order it.  I said "no".  He then shot me the dirtiest look, like I just killed a cute, sleeping puppy while shouting racist comments.  I felt that I had to explain that I never have dessert and that I was thinking about a different dessert anyway.  Greg claims that events unfolded differently and that I'm going to make him out to be a monster on the blog.  If you would like to hear his side, please feel free to look at his blog...oh, that's right, he doesn't have one.  Score: me - 1, little Greg - 0.  This ended up being a huge fight after dinner about how I don't live it up and try new things...blah, blah, blah.  The rest of the dinner was fight free though and we have since made up.

Greg decided that he wanted to try the tasting menu, then he decided he wanted to add the two extra courses to make it a full seven course meal at $125 each.  Then he decided to add the wine paring for$90.  That kind of irked me in that he doesn't like wine and I hate the 1000% mark-up on wine at restaurants.  To his credit, he enjoyed the wine immensely, so I can't fault him.  I had the coke, which was served in a tall, thin glass jammed with ice.  They, of course, overcharged for coke and charged for each refill.  $25 for what resulted in basically a swish of coke seems outrageous.  The expensive things in fine dining should be for things that actually deserve the price.  This practice only cheapens fine dining in my opinion.  It makes it seem like is expensive for expensive sake....lame!

The meal began with a small, compliments-of-the-chef crab salad.  I don't know what it was actually, it was about two teaspoons of seafood crap served with a sliver of a potato chip on a cute, little fish plate.  I determined that this little morsel is just to remind you of how bad it could be and that everything afterwards will shine in comparison. 

First course:  A cold crab salad with what appeared to be Japanese radish served on a bed of lemony lentils.  It was delicious.  The crab was perfect, although, I did bite into a stray piece of crab shell.  I, of course, made no fuss about it, because my mother always taught me to pretend like nothing happened.

Second course: One large diver scallop with American sturgeon caviar placed on top served over artichoke puree and hollandaise sauce.  I've had caviar a couple times in my life and always found it too fishy to be enjoyable.  This caviar became pure bliss the instant it touched my tongue.  I can't describe the flavor.  It is unique and heavenly.  It did have a fishy finish, but was well worth it.  The scallop was cooked perfectly and the artichoke puree was the perfect compliment.  I dare say it was better than the first course.

Third course: This is where Greg and I are going to hell.  It was foie gras and was one of the extra courses.  I know, I know, it is horrible how they treat those geese and ducks.  Foie gras has been around since the ancient Egyptians.  I just have to wonder, how did they discover it?  "Hey, grab that goose and force feed it.  When it is good and fat, we'll eat its liver".  However it came to be, I can see how people look the other way to the treatment of fowl.  It was served over apples with some delicious sauce.  It was amazing.  I have only ever had the paté and it always tasted like...well, liver.  This tasted buttery and smooth.  I also find that this would be the perfect diet food.  The memory of it remains on the tongue even until the next day.  Greg and I both hesitated to eat again for fear of losing the flavor.  It also caused some sort of "warm tummy hug", which is my way of describing the feeling you get in your intestines after eating certain foods.  That tummy hug lasted well into the next day as well.  I dare say it was better than the second course.

Fourth course: Pork belly served with a wine reduction.  I was not looking forward to this course.  I'm not a big fan of pork and when it arrived it looked to be mostly fat.  OH MY GOD!  It was the most delicious fat I've ever had.  It melted in my mouth.  When I cook pork, it doesn't do that!  How do they do that?  Even my bacon fat is not delicious.  This was truly amazing.  I could not believe my mouth.  Thisalso added to the tummy hug.  I dare say it was better than the third course.

Fifth course: Ribeye served over mashed potatoes with a wine reduction and a small amount of Roquefort cheese.  The meat was slightly tough and Greg encountered gristle.  It was a let down, but then I knew that ribeye would never overshadow the previous courses.  I dare say this was worse than all previous courses.

Sixth course:  This was one of the extra courses.  It was a slice of goat or sheep cheese served with one hazelnut and a little hazelnut sauce on the side.  It had that horrible after taste that goat or sheep cheese has.  It was like there was a farm in my mouth and everybody was being milked.  Blek!  I dare say this was worse than all previous courses.

Seventh course: Dessert.  This was very exciting for Greg.  He is all about gourmet desserts.  It was a disappointing sampling of three desserts.   It came with a spoonful of flavorless chocolate mousse, a quarter-sized piece of cheesecake and a warm piece of brownie-like chocolate cake.  The cake was good, but certainly not gourmet.  I dare say this was better than the sixth course, but that's that.

All in all, the meal was amazing.  The first four courses really were mind-blowingly good.  I would recommend staying away from the ribeye and maybe getting the individual meals of scallops with appetizers of pork belly and God-forgive-me foie gras.  To avoid fights, pre-order the soufflé.  To save money, stay away from the cola.

Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris

VERDICT: One of the better strip restaurants.  Good quality and not as overpriced as other dumps.

I love Mon Ami Gabi.  It is one of the few strip steak restaurants I can go to and not feel like I've been mugged afterwards.  This is one of the few restaurants in which I don't mind sitting outside.  It really has the French feel where you can sit, eat and watch the tourists walking by.  As an added bonus, you can see the Bellagio fountains going off across the street.  Greg, who always has to sit outside, is in love with this restaurant as is his mother who calls it, "Mon Amy Gamby".  I always correct her, which leads Greg to say, "You not only correct people's English, but you correct their French as well.  You must be fun at parties."  I am, little Greg, I am.

I always get one of the steak frites, which is just what it says, steak and fries.  My favorite is the Steak Roquefort, covered with bleu cheese.  Next time though, I'm going to have to try the Beef Bourguignon.

King's Fish House - Green Valley at The District

VERDICT: A decent seafood chain for Las Vegas.

Greg and I decided to go wild and head to the opposite side of the city to shop at The District, next to Green Valley Ranch.  The District is such a strange area: condos over stores of a outdoor mall.  The really strange part is all the people with dogs in the mall.  Seriously, go and look, they just hang out for hours outside in the mall with their dogs...and they aren't homeless.

I noticed that the Coffee Bean has free Wi-Fi.  If you were going to have a condo in The District, I would have it above the Coffee Bean, then you would never have to pay for internet.  Of course, people that can afford condos in The District and can afford to hang out all day with their dogs in a mall, well, those people can easily afford internet.

Anyway, we were going to go to Lucille's Barbeque, because everyone raves about it, but there was a wait.  We were instantly drawn to King's Fish House.  The outside is decorated with posters declaring lobsters for sale and ichiban sushi.  It was a nice day and Greg immediately said that he wanted to sit outside.  I need to point out that Greg always wants to sit outside at every restaurant and in every weather condition.  I've sat outside in 50 degree weather and in 113 degree weather with Greg.  My knee jerk reaction is always to say "no" to sitting outside now, but today was really nice.  We went inside to get a table and the atmosphere was wonderful with small black and white checkered tiles lining the floor with dark wood walls and furniture.  It reminded me of a traditional fish market restaurant I frequented.  The waitress then walked us through another door into the sushi room, which was decorated more whimsically, but still enjoyable.  Finally, we walked outside and were seated at our stupid table with the traditional vinyl red and white checked table cloth.

 

If you want atmosphere, eat inside.  It's really nice in there and you can be protected from the elements while you eat.  Greg admitted that even he wished he ate inside in the well decorated restaurant.  The glare from the sun on our menus blinded us, but otherwise sitting outside was decent.

The lobster bisque was average.  My taste in lobster bisque must have been tainted by having exceptional bisque in Maine.  Every time I have lobster bisque now, I'm disappointed.  I was disappointed again.  The flavor was slightly fishy and there was not much in the way of actual lobster bits in the bisque.  I know, I know, bisque is not suppose to have bits in it, but when you've had a lobster bisque with lots of lobster bits in it, you'll never want to eat anything else.  Really, you can't get in your face fast enough...it's that good.

Greg had the scallops, which he thought was superb.  The sides are a nice selection ranging from coleslaw (not the best I've had) to a house salad or steamed vegetables.  Most meals come with two sides, which really makes the prices at King's seem reasonable.  I had the King's combo platter, which was a deep fried platter with two scallops, two shrimp and one piece of cod.  In hind sight, I should have avoided the deep fried stuff.  I only choose it because it is usually safe as far as fish goes and well, I do like it.  Next time, I think that I will have no problem ordering something that might ordinarily not be good at other restaurants.  They appear to have fresh seafood and have the added bonus of knowing how to prepare it.

Grand Lux Cafe - Venetian and Palazzo

VERDICT: This is one of the few decent places on the strip to eat that won't cost you an arm and a leg.

One of the things that I hate about going to the strip is the horrible restaurants.  They are horrible in that they are either very poor quality or they are extravagantly expensive...or both.  That's why I always recommend people go to the Grand Lux Cafe.  They aren't cheap, but at least you get better quality food for your money.  Owned by the same group that brought you the Cheesecake Factory, the Grand Lux has a large menu, but not the phonebook menu with ads that you get at Cheesecake Factory.  The food is a little more upscale I find as well.  

  I love the Asian Nachos (Crispy Fried Wontons Covered with Chicken in a Sweet-Hot Peanut Sauce. Topped with Wasabi Cream and Melted Cheese).  I almost always get the amazing Shaking Beef (Southeast Asian Inspired! Pieces of Beef Tenderloin, Red and Green Onions Sauteed with a Mildly Spicy Marinade. Served with Steamed White Rice).  Also, take advantage of A Box of Warm Homemade Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies, because they are amazing.  You have to order them at the beginning of the meal, because they do bake them fresh.  I always eat them later at home anyway.

Original Pancake House at Aliante Station Casino

VERDICT:  New York-style seating (cramped) with over-priced breakfast food, but still good.

UPDATE:  This location is now closed and replaced by a restaurant I've been told is horrid.

I never get to eat breakfast at breakfast places, because they are only open during the hours in which I sleep.  Before you start to think that I'm super lazy, please understand that I worked nights and it would be a daytime equivalent of a restaurant open from 10:00pm to 6:00am.  In other words, this is an operation that was only open while I slept and if you apply heavy-handed philosophy, that means that it didn't really exist....until now.  I'm pleased to announce that I'm daydreaming about quiting my job and have taken to sleeping at night while on hiatus from working.  Greg suggested we go out to breakfast.  This is something that I haven't heard of in seven years.  I jumped on the opportunity.  Although secretly I wanted to go to one of the egg-themed restaurants: Cracked Egg, the Egg and I, or Egg Works.  That's only because I had a dream of eating at a restaurant called "Egg".  I was delighted to learn that there were restaurants with "Egg" in the title upon waking.

The Original Pancake House at Aliante Station Casino is small.  If you don't get in a booth, then you are going to be sitting close to someone that you don't know.  That's fine, but not the best if you are going to break-up, fight, or plan a bank robbery.  Greg and I were not in a fighty mood as we are always in perfect harmony and bank robberies are so white trash.  The seating was not an issue.  I had coffee and it was predictably good; a breakfast place should have good coffee.  I got the bacon lovers special, which seemed like a good idea, but in retrospect I wish I ordered something a little more extravagant.  I got seven pieces of  thick bacon, scrambled eggs and three small pancakes.  The bacon was pretty good, but not the best.  The scrambled eggs were cooked perfectly, which seems easy enough to do.  I have had runny scrambled eggs at other restaurants that I won't name that rhyme with "Lenny's".  In fact, I only order scrambled eggs in restaurants because of the habit of short order cooks of deciding that over-easy and over-medium are the same thing and both should have runny whites.  The pancakes I got with my food were exceptional.  They were just plain pancakes, but they were really good.  I didn't think there was much difference in the quality of plain pancakes, but now I know better.

This is a picture of one of their pancakes...That's not a pancake, that's a meal!!!

Greg's omelet was huge and unique in design and flavor.  It was some sort of corned beef concoction.  I wish I had ordered one of their unique pancakes.  Now that I know that they do pancakes so well, I will have to try them in a future date, as long as I remain happily unemployed.

Pick Up Stix

UPDATE: R.I.P. Pick Up Stix, now out of business.

VERDICT: You have to know what to order at this Chinese take out, then it is good.

Las Vegas has a lot of Chinese restaurants.  I love Chinese food...who doesn't.  The problem with the Chinese food in Las Vegas is that it is too authentic.  It tends to appeal to Chinese taste buds rather than American, so what you end up with is more fish heads and chicken feet than chop suey.  Chop suey is actually American in origin, so if you can find a Chinese restaurant with chop suey, they cater to American tastes.

The Chinese restaurants here either smell like moth balls for some odd reason or they use a spice that makes everything taste like old, wet straw.  I'm being harsh, of course, I'm sure there are good Chinese restaurants, but I'm seriously done experimenting for now.

So, in comes Pick Up Stix....a chain.  The very thing that I want to rally against.  This chain though has good Kung Pao Chicken, no fish heads, and only uses spices I can recognize.  The first time I went, however, I hated it.  I had the horrible orange peel chicken.

There are three types of "tasters" in the world.  50% of people are "regular tasters", 25% are "super tasters", and 25% are termed, "non-tasters".  This happens to be reflective of the number of taste buds that are on the tongue.  As the name implies, super tasters can taste more and non-tasters taste very little at all.  I am a self proclaimed super taster.  I can determine if a cow has been grain fed or grass fed by the taste of milk.  So, I have this to say.  People that like orange peel or anything with citrus zest are non-tasters.  It is like eating the most bitter, inedible garbage.  It's just horrible.  There's a reason everyone throws the peel out.  Everytime, I see someone adding zest to food, I just cringe.  Pick Up Stix adds strips of orange peel.  Silly Pick Up Stix, that goes in the trash.

The other thing to avoid is the sweet and sour.  It has lemon peel.  Blah.

Everything else though is good and fresh.  The vegetables tend to be a little undercooked, which I like and is better for you anyway.  Avoid the teriyaki.  I've never had it, but I've seen people complain about it and it goes against my rule of never ordering Japanese food from a Chinese restaurant.  Wednesday is wonton Wednesday and all cream cheese wontons are 25 cents each, so try to go on Wednesdays.

Melting Pot

VERDICT: Expensive food that you could make easily at home, but I like it.

I love cheese fondue.  I love the traditional Swiss fondue.  Greg does not like fondue or rather he doesn't like the prepackaged fondue that you can buy in the supermarket.  Luckily, my parents came to town and that throws his vote out the window.  3 to 1, how do you like fondue now, Greg?  They have the whole meal set up in four courses.  First, you have a choice of cheese fondues, followed by a salad.  The main course is an oil or broth fondue where you cook the food that you choose at the table, which is followed by dessert.

Everything was delicious.  The courses seemed to be spread out over a long period time.  I don't know if this slowness was because we had a horrible waiter or if it was on purpose.  Either way, it made for an enjoyable meal that included my mother saying, "Ladies like to eat salads in front of other ladies."  A gem of wisdom that I will never forget.

The dessert is a must have.  I never order dessert in a restaurant, but I'm so glad I did.  It's a chocolate fondue that they give you an assortment of things to dip into including fruit and marshmallows.

The overall opinion of our group was that it was all too expensive.  The cheese and the dessert were the best part, so if you are going and want to save some money just order those (maybe with an extra portion of cheese).  Greg even liked it, but has since refused to ever return because of the price, "Why get it out when you can make it yourself?"  Of course, he never has and I'm way too lazy to deal with even looking up recipes.  That being said, if you really want to save some money, get down that dusty fondue pot that your friend gave you.  It really is a fun and easy dish to make, maybe just pay the Melting Pot a visit to get ideas.