I’ve been to the Henderson location a handful of times and it’s still terrific. The wine list may be a little different, but I couldn’t point out anything noticeable.
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Lotus is also opening in Red Rock Station Casino. I think it is already open. This is west side of town. Not sure if Sahara is back open.
ate there in May - great dinner. One of our very good Astrea Caviar clients. I wasn’t ultra keen on a “classic” french ala carte restaurant but Chef Costagliola knocked it out of the park.
Andrew is a fantastic somm as well - we grabbed a 96 Leflaive Folatieres that was in tip top shape.
I had no hesitation when it came to eating every bread on the bread cart. The caviar dish was a multi dish prep which I found interesting and full of flavor. Really great use of our Schrenckii. They did a tomato salad dish that was epic, basically multiple ways of cherry tomatoes, some blanched, some roasted, but they all looked the same on the plate so every bite you’d be a lil surprised on the texture and flavor profile.
of course had to do the black truffle soup which was as good as you described. I also devoured it with the truffle brioche ha.
my wife had the Salmon Iceberg which was a very cool (ha) prep - basically seared on blocks of ice and put into a chilled soup. She loved it.
Highly recommend it for the one high end dining experience there.
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Quick trip report:
Stayed at the Cosmopolitan, which remains for us a good mix of location, fun vibe, playable casino (by Strip standards), and pretty nice rooms.
Dinner Friday night at The Black Sheep. It’s in the southwest, about 15 minutes from the Cosmo, in a strip mall (not far from the Jersey Mike’s). Jamie Trang (Top Chef) was at the host stand. Good casual neighborhood feel. Apps were the Salmon Skin Tacos (crisp salmon skin shell, spicy tartare filling – really good), Imperial Rolls (pork & shrimp – great), and Fried Beef Crisps (beef tendon crisps, reminiscent of cracklings – pretty compelling when they first arrive, once they cool down and soften a bit, less so). Entrees were the fried whole fish, hanger steak, and veg glass noodles. Less memorable than the apps, but the fish was the standout. All paired nicely with beer and a Washington Chenin Blanc. Very good meal. Wouldn’t run back, but would definitely return.
Saturday lunch at Siegel’s Bagelmania by the Convention Center. Good breakfast/lunch/bagel spot.
Saturday dinner at Momofuku at the Cosmo. We’ve been before; big buzzy room, service down a notch since last time. We ordered the large format duck dinner, which is excellent. 5-spice flavor, breast served over a large pan of crispy rice. Bones fried up to gnaw on. Lettuce cups, pancakes, and fixings provided to roll everything up. Apps were excellent pork buns, and fine cucumbers and shishitos. Raúl Pérez Ultreia Bierzo went well with it.
Sunday Raiders game at Allegiant Stadium. It’s somewhat annoyingly on the other side of the highway from the strip, so people generally base at the Luxor or Mandalay Bay and then walk across or under the Hacienda bridge. Stadium actually quite nice and dealable. Perfectly fine chicken burrito inside the stadium. Modelo. Pain in the ass to get a cab from Mandalay after the game, so we hooked up with a family from Nebraska and shared a limo.
Sunday night dinner at Barry’s Downtown Prime in the new Circa Casino on Fremont. Casino very sports-oriented, and very loud. But an excellent place to watch games if that’s what you’re looking for, and like most all downtown casinos has reasonable limits and rules (3-2 blackjack etc). Barry’s is a very nice-looking place in the basement. Clubby, good lighting. Exorbitantly priced, as all steakhouses seem to be these days. I had a rib cap and a shrimp cocktail and a Caesar. All pretty good. Nothing mind-blowing, but nothing bad. Desserts were out of hand (the pineapple upside down special was definitely the best we had). We had a Col Solare 2015 from Washington for 165. Very nice and enjoyable wine. (Corkage is available for 50)
Fun trip. Now I’m home and tired.
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Re: Circa. Did anyone see the WSJ article last week on Vegas sports books? It’s behind a pay wall. Crux of the story is that some now charge for NFL Sundays. Circa has two packages (one $500, one a thousand) but you get a reserved seat/couch and free drinks all day. What a deal.
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Wow-any idea which venue this is replacing? I wish I still lived a block from there LOL.
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Dan: Good to hear from you. I’m not sure who they are replacing. One of the Italian spots closed. I’m going to try to get over there soon.
JC
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Back from our latest trip out to Vegas. Stayed at the Cosmopolitan again. Upgraded to something called an angle suite that was a pretty good step up from the similar-sized studio suite (better configuration and second full bathroom). Another thing I learned is that the exorbitant price one pays to rent a cabana at the pool at the Cosmo is actually rendered as a food & bev credit. We were there on a crazy hot Saturday and needed some space and shade, so went for it. The fact that you need to spend up the credit gives you an excuse to drink pretty decent Champagne all day. Not so terrible.
We had some good tacos at China Poblano (and good but not great wonton soup). The Dim Sum steamer was broken!
Dinner at LOS on Flamingo. Food was good, service and vibe pretty off. Wouldn’t run back.
Dinner at Esther’s Kitchen was fun and solid. Enjoyed drinks at the Velveteen Rabbit around the corner.
Really good lunch at Carson Kitchen downtown. Oddly, the minted snap pea dish was a standout, but everything was good.
The last night we had dinner at Trattoria Nakamura-Ya, a local Italian-Japanese place. I have to say that the Spaghetti “Takana” Chicken was remarkably good. Place was empty on a Monday night. Excellent food, nice people, great value.
Oh, and for Downtown-style gaming (low limits, proper payouts) near the Strip, Ellis Island was a very useful stop.
Until next time…
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yep!! if you’re hanging there the whole day it’s not too bad!
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Thanks!
How much is the cabana and how much was the F&B credit? (And how much is the Dom?)
They vary, but this one at the Chelsea Pool was 1200 or 1250. We didn’t go for any big guns, and they were out of some stuff, but the menu shows Krug at 500, Dom at 700. We were drinking Taittinger at 200 or so, plus beers, food, etc. and a couple of bottles of wine to close it out. Not that hard to hit.
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We were at Cosmo a few weeks ago and met a nice couple in the pool. It was later in the day and they had only spent $500 of the $3000 they needed to spend on F&B for their cabana. Needless to say, it was a super fun final few hours at the pool.
Love Carson Kitchen as well. Always try to make a stop their for either lunch or dinner.
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Anyone go to Vegas with kids lately? I was thinking of a few nights at the tail end of an Arizona/Utah/national parks trip, figured they would enjoy the pool at whatever hotel, good restaurants, seeing some of the ridiculous hotels on the strip, Cirque de Soleil, aquariums, etc… However have heard from a few acquaintances lately that it’s gotten less safe post-covid, stinks like cigarettes and weed everywhere, etc…
We’re taken our kids (8 and 11) to Vegas twice this year. Both times it was great. I think a lot of it depends on expectations and where you stay. We stayed at The Palazzo and Mandalay Bay. Both are great properties with kids. The pool at the Mandalay Bay can’t be beat for kids. We took them to The Bellagio fountains/flower exhibit, Excalibur large arcade (connected to Mandalay Bay), aquarium at Mandalay Bay, the pinball hall of fame, and Circus Circus (a bit of a dump but fun games and trapeze acts on the weekend). Let me know if you have any questions as I’d be glad to help.
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Wife and I are making a 24 hour escape to Vegas in November and are looking to eat and drink our way around town all day. We’re thinking of it like an all day tapas style bar tour- sit at the bar and drink good wine by the glass, and then onto the next adventure. We’re looking for sushi, Korean, Italian, French, tacos and anything else that tastes good. We’re staying at the Palazzo and don’t want to travel too far given the number of places we’re looking to hit, but everything doesn’t have to be on the strip.
We’d love to hear any recommendations you all might have. Thanks!
There’s a lot of options within Venetian/Palazzo. I really like estiatorio Milos and have heard great things about Mercato della Pescheria. As a bonus, both of those have daily happy hours. You also have the Wynn/Encore next door, so between the four properties you’ll have many places to choose from. If you’re looking to venture off, then you open yourself up to endless choices.
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Sushi Samba for Hamachi collar is always a stop for us. Pick at it and move on.
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We did some more work and have some new questions.
For wine bars, does anyone have a preference between Garagiste and Wally’s?
We’re also looking at Bouchon, Shang Artisan Noodle, Best Friend, Scarpetta, Mott 32, Mizumi or Min’s Test Kitchen, Nomad and Cut. Anyone know those well?
Thanks
Personally, I prefer Garagiste over Wally’s. Eric and his crew at Garagiste are awesome. For me, Wally’s is a pain to get to and prices are high. Don’t get me wrong though, Wally’s has a big selection and much better food options (Garagiste has a ton of stuff around it but I think only serves smaller charcuterie boards).
As far as the restaurants go, Shang is fantastic. They just opened up a sizeable expansion, which was badly needed. My go-to order is the spicy wontons and the dan-dan noodles (hand-pulled).
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Thanks, was leaning towards Garagiste so happy to hear that
We’re so excited for Shang, thanks for the recc’s!
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