This year, my family chose to do something a bit different for the Winter holidays. Instead of gathering around a tree and opening presents Christmas morning, we went to indulge in none other than Sin City herself, Las Vegas.
We only ate two meals a day, I always find that heat makes me less hungry. We ate at our hotel ( The Mirage) for a brunch buffet named ” Cravings”. There were many different stations with themes such as Latin, Italian and Japanese. The food was O.K., the servers brought around orange juice and coffee. I left feeling a bit ill from the amount of food I consumed. The scale of the buffet is impressive, but I don’t think the quality was outstanding.
Also within our hotel, BLT Burger, branded by Laurent Tourondel, made a great lunch one of our first days on our holiday. I have never eaten a burger in Canada that is medium, most likely because of the fear of food-poisoning, or more specifically, restaurants not using good cuts of meat to grind for burgers. I had the wagyu burger (I think it was close to 20 dollars). You have to buy all the sides separately, so for lunch it can get a bit pricy. But the more classic burgers were around 11-13 dollars. The meat was juicy and succulent, I enjoyed having a pink burger. There is such a stigma against pink beef in Canada, so I have learned that if you start with a piece of meat that you could serve medium, then it will be safe for you to eat it in a burger!
I took my family out for a nice dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s baby, Spago, located within Caesars Palace. The space is beautiful and modern. The service initially was interesting, as the server was being “shadowed”. I felt like the server was talking a bit too much, but perhaps that is what expected of him at this establishment. The bread service was delicious with foccacia, lavash, sourdough and some type of nut bread, fresh butter and rosemary olive oil. The amuse bouche was a mushroom soup, and it was served piping hot. Nice and salty and bags of mushroom flavour.
My father ordered the Diver Scallops with corn and crab succotash. I had the duck breast with cabbage puree onions and huckleberries. My sister had the roasted chicken with wild mushrooms and potatoes. My brother had the short ribs with horseradish, ricotta gnocchi and shallots. We were all pleased with the food, and especially with the portion size. The plates were all about 30 dollars each. The food was very Classic American, with a couple of new additions. I enjoyed the meal, but I think next time I visit Las Vegas, I might try something more “out of the box”.
As for the rest of my Vegas trip, I enjoyed playing poker tournaments, the odd slot machine, and a great quality experience with my family.
Cheers
-Eating Victoria
