Month: November 2017

With all my trips to Las Vegas over the years, I had never been to the Palazzo Hotel before. It was time for a visit. It was absolutely beautiful inside.

There are many options to choose from when it comes to food. What caught my attention was Lavo. Not only did they have a large presence inside the hotel but also outside facing Las Vegas Boulevard. This gives diners a choice to eat inside or outside on the patio.

  

Since it was a typical hot Vegas evening, I chose to eat inside. I got to enjoy the beautiful décor and the water fountain that echoed throughout the restaurant.

 

For my cocktail, I ordered the Lavolini. This creative drink was Zonin Prosecco, St. Germain, and passion fruit.

The taste was slightly sweet and more on the tangy side. It was actually pretty thick for a cocktail. The passion fruit really shined through.

While I was looking over the menu, my waiter brought a few things to the table to munch on.

First was the freshly made garlic bread. It was loaded with butter and garlic. Plus the bread had a nice crunch after being baked.

There was also a trio of bites:

(1) Hummus with capers – which was great on the garlic bread

(2) Olives, Salami, and Cheese – tossed in a little olive oil

(3) Pickled cauliflower and carrots – very tangy

As an appetizer I ordered the Arancini Sicilia. it was their version of an arancini (rice ball).  They used ground Wagyu beef and peas stuffed in the center of rice and then deep fried. It came with a spicy marinara sauce, but I did not think it was spicy enough.

They used a yellow rice that is different form other rice balls I have had. These were also not as cheesy either. I kind of wish they were because that would have paired well with the beef and peas.

What I learned about Lavo is they are known for their meatballs. They are made with fresh ground Wagyu beef, Italian sausage, and veal. They are also loaded with herbs and cheese.

When the meatball came out I was surprised how big it was. I would say this meatball was the size of a grapefruit. It must be shared, especially if you end up eating other items.

Despite the size of this meatball, it was still extremely moist on the inside. It came on top of a salad with fresh tomatoes and garlic crostini.

On their side dishes they listed Brussels sprouts. They were cooked with pancetta, shallots, and Parmigianino cheese on top. I love Brussels sprouts so I had to make sure I ordered these.

They were crispy on the outside and had a great smoky taste. The pancetta was cooked till crispy as well. This was my favorite part. I made sure I ate every piece of pancetta so it would not go to waste.

I did not have a traditional meal at Lavo. I really wanted to try their special items on the menu. I would go back to try some of their other dishes. You should check them out at http://lavolv.com/

Enjoy!

T

Here I am again, writing about another trip to Las Vegas. It has been a few months since my last trip. This time I stayed at the opposite end of the strip. I was hungry for Chinese food and it was recommended that I check out Wing Lei at the Wynn Hotel and Casino.

 

As soon as I walked through their doors, I was greeted by the most attentive staff. They were constantly checking on me to make sure I got everything I needed.

The restaurant was beautiful. Rather than the traditional Chinese colors of red and black, they used an uplifting color scheme of gold, ivory, and green.

  

They had large glass windows that over looked a beautiful garden. Located in the center was a giant gold Chinese dragon statue.

When I sat down at my table, I was greeted with a small cup of “Welcome” tea. It was a lychee black tea. It was cold and very sweet. It was really good and the cup they served it in was an extremely unique shape. It reminded me of a small fish bowl.

I asked my waiter for his recommendation of a cocktail to try. He said that the Pomegranate Martini was one of their most popular. It used Absolut Mandarin vodka, Cointreau, and pomegranate juice.

This cocktail was sweet with just a slight hint of sour. I sipped it slowly because I would have drank it quickly otherwise, that is how smooth it was.

Before all of the starters came out, the waiter brought a little palette cleanser. They called it “compressed” watermelon. It was a slice of watermelon that was extremely juicy. It was sweet, spicy, and salty. It was a unique preparation for a slice of watermelon.

Just as I finished my watermelon my soup came out. I ordered the Tofu Blossom Soup. It was a chicken broth with a few mushrooms, sugar peas, broccoli, and tofu. The presentation was pretty. The chef actually cut the tofu to look like a flower floating in the bowl.

As I ate the soup and cut up that flower, the tofu ended up acting like noodles. The soup had a subtle sweet taste. It was not filling because there was not enough vegetables in the soup itself. It simply made me hungry for more.

The sautéed green beans were spectacular. They used very fresh green beans and cut them up to make them easier to eat. They used a ton of garlic and sea salt when they cooked the beans, but it did not make the beans overly salty. It was just enough for flavor. There was something about the taste that made the beans addicting to eat.

At this point of the meal it was time for another cocktail. This time I got the Sparkling Blossom. It was a blend of Absolut Citron vodka, Pavon orange blossom liqueur, lemon juice, simple syrup, and sparkling wine. Twisted in the glass was a thinly sliced cucumber.

It was a pretty presentation in the glass. This cocktail was even sweeter than the first. It was also refreshing because of all the citrus flavors that were combined together.

For my main dish, I ordered the Cantonese Chow Mein. I got it with chicken. Now because this was Cantonese Chow Mein I expected the noodles to be crispy. That has always been my experience. However, they used a soft noodle. So this ended up being more like a Lo Mein. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not disappointed by this at all. The dish was fantastic.

The taste was amazing and the noodles soaked up all the flavor from the ginger, garlic, and soy sauce that were used. The few vegetables that were mixed in added crunch. The chicken was cut into nice pieces that were tender and moist.

The portion sizes for each thing I ate were just the right size. It prevented me from getting too full. This also left room for dessert.

I ordered the Red bean ice cream. I really enjoy Chinese desserts that use Red Beans. Red beans are very sweet, which is why they are used so frequently in desserts. Having them made into ice cream would be a new experience for me.

The taste of the ice cream was sweet, just like the bean. The texture of the ice cream was slightly gritty, which also resembles the red bean.  This is not a creamy ice cream, so if that is what you are looking for then do not get this one. I enjoyed this ice cream because it was different and it balanced out all the salt I had from the chow mein and the green beans.

Now to my surprise, when the check came, the waiter also brought out a little tray of candies for me to enjoy. There were five pieces of candy:

(1) Coconut chocolate truffle

(2) Chocolate covered caramel

(3) A jelly candy

(4) Mini macaron

(5) Mango candy

Each of these candies were the perfect bite size. Two bites and they were done. It was a fun little treat.

My waiter also gave me a little cake that was boxed up for me to take for later. I did eat the little cake the next morning for breakfast. It was like an apricot glazed cake with a cookie on top. It was perfect with a cup of coffee.

This was a very fancy Chinese dinner. It was not a traditional Chinese meal. There were many elements that felt more French to me. The food was extremely enjoyable and I would go back in a heartbeat.

Check out their menu at http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/Dining/FineDining/WingLei

Enjoy!

T

There are so many hotels to stay at when visiting Las Vegas. Every time I go out, I do like to stay at different ones, if nothing else than for a new experience. This most recent trip to Vegas, I stayed at the Trump Hotel. What surprised me was this hotel had no casino and they only had one restaurant.

The night I got in I was hungry for a small bite to eat. I headed to the restaurant DJT located on the main floor of the hotel.

It was a pretty big place that was decorated nicely. I kept staring at all the crystal light fixtures around the restaurant. They were very sparkly and kept catching my eye.

  

I ordered their French onion soup to start with. The presentation was beautiful because of the bowl they used. They used melted gruyere cheese and sheep’s milk gouda. Those are not cheese I would normally have in onion soup. they tasted perfect with the salty onions and broth. They actually helped cut down on the overall saltiness. They used a generous amount of onions in the soup, along with nice pieces of bread that added extra texture. And for the added touch I loved the crunchy onion strays that they added to the top of the soup.

Since the soup was not enough for dinner so I also ordered the Margarita flatbread.  The cracker thin crust was covered with fresh mozzarella cheese, heirloom tomato slices, and fresh basil.

The crust was very crispy. Because of that it was very easy to pick up to eat. The sauce they used was slightly sweet. The cheese was amazing and my favorite part. The fresh tomatoes were good but because they were large slices it made it a little hard to take a bite of the pizza without the whole tomato slice falling off. So I ended up taking them off and eating the tomatoes by themselves.

I had a really nice dining experience at DJT. My waiter was very attentive. You can check out their menu options at www.trumphotels.com

Enjoy!

T