Ah, Viva Las Vegas!
Vegas will always be one of our favorite getaways. In my opinion, Las Vegas has outgrown the label of "cheap buffets and slot machines" and has transformed itself to be a great culinary city full of fabulous chefs/restaurateurs like Thomas Keller (Bouchon), Rick Moonen (RM Seafood), Hubert Keller (Fleur de Lys & Burger Bar), Joël Robuchon, and Charlie Palmer (Aureole).
For my "thirty-something-th" birthday, we decided to take a quick road trip (less than two days) full of pai gow poker, craps, and of course, fun food adventures.
After arrival and check-in at our newly remodeled suite at the Flamingo Las Vegas (a TV screen in the bathroom mirror? Score!), we walked over to Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino to experience the "World's Greatest Hot Sandwich" at the Earl of Sandwich.
Vegas will always be one of our favorite getaways. In my opinion, Las Vegas has outgrown the label of "cheap buffets and slot machines" and has transformed itself to be a great culinary city full of fabulous chefs/restaurateurs like Thomas Keller (Bouchon), Rick Moonen (RM Seafood), Hubert Keller (Fleur de Lys & Burger Bar), Joël Robuchon, and Charlie Palmer (Aureole).
For my "thirty-something-th" birthday, we decided to take a quick road trip (less than two days) full of pai gow poker, craps, and of course, fun food adventures.
After arrival and check-in at our newly remodeled suite at the Flamingo Las Vegas (a TV screen in the bathroom mirror? Score!), we walked over to Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino to experience the "World's Greatest Hot Sandwich" at the Earl of Sandwich.
After reading a few Yelp reviews, I was sold on paying a visit to the Earl of Sandwich for what everyone has called the best hot sandwich in Vegas. And, indeed it was. *drool*
Basically, it is a walk up "fast food counter" with a large menu above. The restaurant had plenty of seating on the other side, which was pleasantly full. This told us that our lunch choice was a fine one. We placed our sandwich order, moved along the line similar to a school cafeteria, grabbed some Earl of Sandwich kettle cooked chips (yum), a bottled water, and paid the cashier. We were given a pager, sat down on the counter directly across from the line, and patiently awaited the goodness we were about to receive.
As we waited, I watched each sandwich made-to-order as it journeyed through a large hot conveyor belt oven. Because the bread is super fresh and the sandwich is placed "open faced" through the oven, the bread is toasted and "flattens".
I have been craving a meatball sub for a while, but I wanted to have something that I couldn't get anywhere else. I ordered the Full Montagu, which received rave reviews on Yelp. The Full Montagu has roasted beef, turkey, Swiss & cheddar cheese, lettuce, Roma tomato and Earl's mustard all piled on freshly baked toasted bread.
My rectangular sandwich was wrapped in a pretty gold wrapper and sealed with an Earl of Sandwich sticker with the name of my sandwich, The Full Montagu. Oh, it was like opening a birthday gift. Really.
After telling my college BFF, Shaye, that we were going to Vegas, she recommended that we go to Hugo's Cellar for a one-of-a-kind dining experience in old Las Vegas.
Hugo's Cellar is located inside the Four Queens Resort and Casino in downtown Las Vegas on the Fremont Street Experience. As we approached the entrance to the restaurant, I noticed that it does resemble a "cellar" because there was a short flight of stairs that took you down to the waiting area & bar. It was very dark but welcoming. The environment reminded me of an old school "Butcher Shop" type steakhouse. Older men sat at the bar sipping their brandy, wine, and scotch and chatted as regulars.
The awesome thing is that every entree ordered at Hugo's comes with table-side made salad, potatoes, vegetables, AND chocolate covered fruit goodness.
*NOTE: The pictures taken here are BLURRY due to me rushing and not being totally comfortable taking pictures. I guess I shouldn't have felt rushed since the sweetest people work here!
I noticed that all the servers were male and dressed up in tuxedos with a neatly tied bow tie. Nice table cloths, bottled water, and an in-house Sommelier... this place was perceived to be "fancy schmancy", but I think it was inviting enough to welcome a bunch of casual tourists that have been exploring the city all day.
A basket of bread came our way with the famous cheese toasted lavosh and assorted fresh baked goods. The basket was accompanied by the prettiest butter rose I've ever seen. We placed our entree orders and patiently waited for the table side salad.
We were so hungry. I was really looking forward to the table side salad that Shaye was raving about and it's "just a salad". The couple next to us got to experience the salad demonstration first and Mike and I quietly watched. It was pretty darn cool to see that the server goes through every single ingredient for each individual person, asking him or her if they would like it on their salad.
Shaye was right - my own "personal" salad was delicious. I ordered romaine lettuce, peeled tomato wedges, bay shrimp, toasted pine nuts, croutons - all tossed with ranch dressing.
My ribeye was charbroiled to a perfect "medium" and was covered in a mushroom ragout and rich bordelaise sauce. It was SO good and one of the most memorable ribeye steaks I have ever had. There's nothing like the taste of a charbroiled piece of meat cooked properly and rested for a perfect amount of time. Hugo's Cellar certainly knows how to cook a steak right. I enjoyed every single bite of it. The whipped potatoes melted in my mouth and the veggies were crisp and tender.
Mike's Chilean sea bass was moist and flavorful. He ordered it to be grill au naturale with no butter. I could taste the charbroiled taste in the fish as well. As if the meal couldn't get any better, we received our small platter of a dark chocolate dipped strawberry, milk chocolate dipped dried apricot, and white chocolate dipped fig -- one each for the both of us.
After sleeping in due to a late night we totally missed breakfast and my morning coffee. We left our hotel to search for Stripburger at the Fashion Show Mall. I found Stripburger via Kristi's website: VegasMusings.com. On the side note, her blog is awesome and I absolutely love her food photography. Hi Kristi! *waving*
To start, we shared the baked chicken wings with celery sticks and chunky blue cheese dressing. The savory wings were served in this cute paper box with "Stripburger" parchment paper. They were absolutely delicious and had the perfect hint of heat -- not too spicy, the way I like it.
Tip: Split a burger and get the pickles/fries. Saves you money and a heart attack.
The morning before we headed back to San Diego, we drove over to the Venetian for a Bouchon experience that I will never forget. Oh, Thomas Keller... you and your French macarons!
Bouchon Bakery is located at the main level of The Venetian right in front of the theater where Phantom of the Opera is played. It is this little coffee bar with pastries. Could be called a patisserie, I guess!
She started naming off all these flavors. Dang it, the pressure was on to decide which ones to order. I order one chocolate, one vanilla - my simple favorite frozen yogurt flavors - and a Cafe Mocha. My bill came out to about $13. Wow. I think each cookie was $3.59... but WORTH every penny!
*Sad face* We waved goodbye to Las Vegas and started our five-hour drive back to San Diego just in time for the Easter festivities. After passing by the numerous signs advertising Mad Greek in Baker, CA for many, many years... I told the hubby that I wanted to try what they call the "Best Gyros in the USA". This was one of Guy Fieri's first stops on 'Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives' when the show first aired. I figured, what the hell, I wanted to try it. I was a curious as a cat and the macarons did not fill me up.

We waited in line at the drive-thru and were two cars behind to order. Man, I tell you. The wait was LONG but that meant that they were cooking everything to order. At least that was what I believed as we moved like a snail. The menu board was old and falling apart. We located where it just listed "Gyro" on the menu and ordered just that. It was a big surprise to see what a $10.00 gyro came with because seriously, all it read was "gyro". Nice.
We waited in line at the drive-thru and were two cars behind to order. Man, I tell you. The wait was LONG but that meant that they were cooking everything to order. At least that was what I believed as we moved like a snail. The menu board was old and falling apart. We located where it just listed "Gyro" on the menu and ordered just that. It was a big surprise to see what a $10.00 gyro came with because seriously, all it read was "gyro". Nice.
After the last bite of the gyro that I could handle, it signified the end of our Vegas road trip. Las Vegas is just right around corner so next time, I have my list of restaurants that I want to visit for sure:
- RM Seafood
- Bouchon Bistro
- China Mama
- Raku
- Ronald's Donuts
4 comments:
have you been to Lotus of Siam? Awesome food and GREAT Riesling selection... amazing restaurant... have fun!
Lotus of Siam! That's another restaurant that I was recommended to go to. I'll add to the list. Thanks, JG!
OK, you had me at fried pickles! We'll have to hit that burger joint next time we're there.
It's a must, Kim! Those baked wings were mighty tasty too!
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