(with a stop at Zion National Park)
September 9-27, 2005
In December 2004 I decided to quit my job and enjoy life for a
while. Well, "a while" will be coming to an end in a few months,
so this might be my last trip to Vegas for some time. I decided
to do it up right. First, a stop at Zion National Park for three
days. Next, 15 glorious days in Las Vegas. I'd stay at nice
hotels, do all the activities I could think of, eat at all sorts of
great restaurants, catch some shows, and gamble!
I took copious notes, so this
trip report has gotten huge. To make things more manageable, I've
placed most of the photos, and some of the longer individual reviews,
on separate pages. Click on the specified link, and a new page
will open; close that page, and you're back where you started.
Zion National Park
Click here for all the details
Now, on to Las Vegas!!!
My hotel for the first 7 days was The Mirage. I've stayed at the Mirage twice before, and enjoyed both stays. Due to my contributions to its casino last trip, I got a pretty good rate. As usual, check in was swift. Lines were only about three deep - perhaps a five minute wait - but even then, they started moving folks to temporary check in people. Even though I checked in early at around 11 am, I was able to get a room right away. I didn't ask for any special view, and that's what I got - about the tenth floor, with a partial pool view.
If you haven't gotten your fill of white tigers, click here for a few more pictures.
The next 8 days were at Wynn Las Vegas. On my last two trips to Las Vegas, I had walked through the hotel, eaten at some of its restaurants, and gambled in its casino. I wanted to give it the once over this trip.
Registration
I arrived at check in around 11:30 am. Registration seemed a bit
busy and chaotic. It took about 10 minutes to get to the front of
the line. This isn't bad, but it suffers in comparison to The
Mirage. They offered me a room with double beds and no view right
away, or I could wait for a room with a good view of the Strip. I
chose to wait. They told me to call back on the house phones from
time to time to check on the status of my room.
I killed
time by playing craps - what a hardship. From time to time, I
called registration on a house phone. This involved its own wait,
albeit a fairly short one, as there was a queue here as well.
Around 3 pm, my room was available. BUT, I had to get back in the
check in line all over again. This time, it took about 15
minutes. None of this was terrible, but I expected better from a
hotel in Wynn's class. Not a good first impression.
The Room
Once I got to my room, I
decided it was worth the wait. Room 2343 is on the 23rd floor,
with a full strip view. I had a good view of The Venetian, TI,
Mirage, Caesars Palace, and Frontier. Further away were Mandalay
Bay, MGM Grand, Excalibur, and the Rio, among others. There was
also a view of a broad expanse of mountains, and of some of Wynn's
water features. Lastly, there was a great view of a big hole in
the ground - the future addition to The Venetian. Oddly, I
enjoyed looking at the activity there.
The room is
very large. Ten foot ceilings make it feel larger still.
The walls have a textured, dark bronze wall paper. The ceiling is
white; the furniture is light colored. One wall is completely taken up
by floor to ceiling windows. The curtains (both sheer and solid)
are electronically controlled by buttons near the bed.
There's a
good amount of drawer space. The dresser itself is somewhere
limited, as one side is devoted to a mini bar. However, there are
two very large night stands with drawers. There is a large
closet, with a safe.
The flat
screen TV is mounted on the wall to the left of the bed. It
swivels to provide a good view from the bed, or anywhere else in the
room.
The A/C is
OK, but if the curtains are opened and the sun is shining into the room
it never gets cold - cool, but I like cold.
There's a
desk, a round table, a sofa, and a large oval footstool (or
something). There are three phones, a FAX, and internet
access. There's a fancy clock radio. If you have an iPod, a
cable from the radio will plug into the iPod and play back your iPod's
music.
The bed is
wonderfully comfortable. It has more pillows than anyone needs,
but the turndown service moves most of them off the bed and out of the
way.
The bathroom
is huge. It has a large shower, a very large tub, two sinks with
a center area and chair, a small flat screen TV (nice for watching the
Redskins beat Dallas 14-13 in the fourth quarter), and a scale.
The toilet is in a separate room.
I liked the
room a lot!
The Rest of the Hotel
I also liked the hotel in general. For such a big place, its
feels compact. Walks are generally short, compared to other Vegas
hotels. Employees are friendly and enthusiastic.
Water
features are visible from many spots: Okada, Daniel Boulud, SW
Steakhouse, Sugar & Ice, Parasol Down, and probably other places
as well. None of the water features are terribly dramatic or awe
inspiring (a la Bellagio), but they are restful and pleasing.
Stores are
super expensive. I'd never buy anything (except at the chocolate
shop), but they're fun to look at.
I enjoyed
craps more at Wynn than at any other casino I tried. See the gambling section for details.
I've fallen
in love with the restaurants. They're not perfect (for example,
they need a good pâtisserie like the one in Bellagio or Paris,
and there was a service lapse at Red 8),
but their overall level of quality is superb. Of course, when I
go back to Las Vegas on a budget, I may sing a different tune.
The pool is
large, but not designed for playing; there are no water slides, lazy
rivers, or the like. The shape - long and thin - means that the
pool area doesn't feel as crowded, as people are spread out.
There's an adults only/topless pool as well. I liked the area,
but
couldn't enjoy the pool itself due to my mishap at indoor skydiving.
Wynn is
heavily into orchids. They use different genera in different
areas. Hundreds of big blue hybrid Vanda blooms grace the
elevator lobby
(and, if memory serves, the registration area as well). Each
restaurant seems to sport its own genus. As an orchid nut, I
enjoyed this nicety.
I had read
that the elevators were hot. I didn't notice this, even though I
like things chilly. However, I heard several other people
complain about the heat, or about the lack of air movement in the
elevators. I had also read complaints about long waits for
elevators. I never experienced this, although the elevators were
sometimes pretty full.
Valet
service looked like it could be a trouble spot, as it was pretty
congested. However, I never had to wait to drop my car off, and
the longest wait to get my car from the valet was about five minutes
(probably
less). The line for taxis was a little worse. Often there
was almost no wait, but in the evening, I twice had to wait between 10
and 15 minutes. This was at least in part due to the way the
taxis had to wait in a single line, underground, until each was called
in turn.
Your room
key card is also your players card. In some ways this is
convenient; there's just one card for everything. However, it's
also worrisome. I tend to forget my card in slot machines, and
did this once in Wynn. This means I also lost my room key.
The card doesn't have any room number on it, and doesn't have your last
name, so it's not too serious, but it's still a pain. When I went
to the registration desk to report my loss, they guessed what had
happened even before I spoke, as I was taking out my driver's license
as identification. I suspect this happens a lot.
Overall, my
complaints were minor, my enjoyment level high.
Click here to see some pictures of
Wynn Las Vegas
·
Hiking
Readers
of my past trip reports know that I like to hike, but am a fair weather
hiker. At the end of the day, give me a real bed in an air
conditioned room. Las Vegas is ideal for me, as it offers lots of
beautiful hikes - and the low humidity makes it comfortable as well
(just make sure to drink plenty of water). One of the best places
is Red
Rock Canyon. I've hiked there the last couple of times, and look
forward to hiking there again. It's about 45 minutes from The
Strip. However, it's still a little hot in September, so I chose
to hike in the Mount Charleston area instead.
Mount Charleston is a little bit further away, but still pretty
convenient. It's also much higher than Vegas - elevations range
from 8,000 to almost 12,000 feet - and therefore much cooler. It
may be 25 or 30
degrees cooler than Las Vegas, which is very nice when it's 100 degrees
or more on The Strip.
One caveat: some people react negatively to higher
altitudes. At the least, you'll probably notice that you start
huffing and puffing with even moderate exercise. This is
normal. If you're one of
the unlucky ones, you may also develop a headache, dizziness,
and nausea - a lot like a hangover. This is known as Acute
Mountain Sickness (AMS). Click
here
for more information. As I had had previous problems, I took a
prescription medication called Diamox. It's impossible to say if
it helped, but I had no symptoms this time, and felt great at nearly
10,000 feet.
OK, back to our regularly scheduled program. I met up with a
couple of friends for today's hike. We would start out on the
Bristlecone Trail, switch to the Bonanza Trail, hike until we reached a
crude unroofed wind shelter, turn around, then take an unnamed trail
back to our starting point. It was a cool and breezy 58 degrees
when we started the hike, at an elevation of about 8,700 feet, in a
beautiful area of pine forest - very different from Red Rock
Canyon. A lot of the hike was through colorless rock, but the
starkness, and the bristlecone pines, made it very attractive to me.
It was also pretty strenuous. Distance (according to GPS tracker)
10.1 miles; elevation gain just over 1,000 feet (to 9,850 feet), but it
felt like a lot more than that because the trail kept rising and
falling; time 4.5 hours hiking, plus 0.5 hours for lunch.
I liked this hike a
lot. It's moderately challenging but not too difficult, different
from Red Rock, in a quiet area, and is nice and cool.
See pictures from the hike
·
Rock
Scrambling
Also known as bouldering, rock scrambling doesn't require any
special equipment. You climb over, around, and through rock
formations without the use of ropes or any other assistance. All
you need is a sense of balance, stamina, and a certain degree of
care. I again chose to go with a guide - Neil Sobelson
of Hike
This!. If you've read my previous trip reports, you know that
I used to think very highly of Neil. Well, I still do!
Neil works with you to determine what kind of scramble (or hike) is
right for you. He's funny, caring, and easy to be around.
However, beware. Neil is half mountain goat, and if you ask for a
real challenge you will get one.
Today we would go to Brownstone Canyon. It was only about four
miles round trip, but it was steep and strenuous, and took four or four
and a half hours. I had a great time. There were many
memorable moments; some that stand out:
·
There were some beautiful views of mountains and
canyons.
·
We came across a good dozen bighorn sheep, close enough to get
a good view. What a sight.
·
We climbed down a small slot canyon. One technique I
hadn't tried before was to put both feet on a ledge on one side of the
canyon, then lean straight over until I was only a bit above
horizontal. Push against both walls and move sideways.
Interesting and fun.
Click here for pictures of
Brownstone Canyon
Another Hike?
Neil mentioned that the next day
he was going for an easy hike - about 6 miles, but
not strenuous - with a couple of other folks, and
asked if I was interested. Well...since it's going to be easy,
sure thing. Off we went. I failed to get the names of where
we went, but somehow or other we ended up hiking 4.8 miles one
way. Let's see, my math is a little rusty, but 4.8 miles times 2
= ...six? However, I couldn't complain, as it wasn't strenuous,
and I was enjoying it.
Neil even volunteered that he knew a shortcut back that could save a
mile or two, although it involved some rock scrambling through some
area that included a reference to Star Trek. Let's do it!
The result? It was
a
shorter distance, but it was also a class 3 rock climb. Remember
when I said that Neil was half mountain goat? The group probably
should have kept that in mind when considering his "short cut."
It was hard, sometimes scary...and I wouldn't have traded it for the
world. Thank you, Neil!
Total hike/scramble length 7.8
miles (see,
it was a shortcut, we saved almost 2 miles); time 4.5 hours. Oh
yeah, the reference to Star Trek was appropriate. The area
reminded me of some of the weird alien landscapes in the original
series. Sorry, no pictures for this hike.
·
Indoor
Skydiving. Also
known as
body flight, this is basically a vertical wind tunnel, with air speeds
up to 120 miles per hour. Put on a special flight suit, move into
the air, and you're borne aloft. Flyaway
Indoor Skydiving of Las Vegas runs the show.
Training took about 20 minutes. Most of the time was spent on
proper body position and, for those times when proper body position was
not maintained, on the proper falling technique (tuck and roll).
Finally, it was time for flight. The fan came up to speed, I
jumped over the fan and...son of a gun, this thing actually
works! Air time is only three minutes, but it seems a lot
longer. I fell a few times, but managed to escape major
injury. However, I learned one lesson that they don't tell you:
wear long pants and heavy socks. I was wearing shorts and short
socks, and during one fall got my feet too close together. One
shoe scraped across the opposite ankle - HARD - leaving a bruised,
bloody patch that hasn't finished healing after two weeks.
Nonetheless, I'd definitely go back.
·
Race
Car Ride
Located at the Las
Vegas Motor Speedway, the Mario
Andretti Racing School offers would be racers the chance
to indulge their fantasy of being an Indy race car driver.
Options range from a quick 6 lap session to a multi-session course
involving racing against other drivers. I chose something a
little less intense - the champ ride. Instead of driving, one
rides as a passenger in a two person, open wheel, Indy-style car, with
a
claimed top speed of 180 mph.
As a non-driver, there was virtually no preparation. Sign a
release, get your picture taken, put on a helmet, and you're off on
three quick laps around the track. I think I heard that the
actual top speed that day was 145 mph.
The speed is mildly interesting, but cornering is awesome. It's
actually painful being pushed so hard into the side of the car, and
it's hard to believe the car can stick to the track cornering so
hard. My neck muscles had to tense up each time we
cornered.
I don't see how drivers do it for hundreds of laps, at even higher
speeds. What a blast! It's not really worth the money, but
what the heck. It's quite an experience.
Click here for some photos
of the cars
·
Bungy
Jumping - No More!. I had planned on my third bungy jump this
trip. And, since the fourth jump is free...well, why not! I
even planned to do my jumping at night - it's supposed to be more
fun. But, horrors! A.J. Hackett sold its land to a real
estate developer, and closed at the end of July. Not fair.
It's some comfort to know that they plan to relocate and reopen in 2006.
[On the brighter side, I may be able to satisfy my bungy urge
with a special bungy jump in October. If all goes as planned I'll
bungy jump from Colorado's Royal Gorge
Bridge. The former Vegas jump tower was 170 feet above
ground.
The Royal Gorge Bridge is 1,050 feet above ground. All
right! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity - although maybe
that's a bad way of putting it.]
UPDATE:
Well, I actually did it! Click here for info on my crazy Royal Gorge Bridge
bungy jump.
·
Avenue
Q
At
the Wynn Hotel. Winner of the 2004 Tony Best Musical award,
Avenue Q is a puppet show. Sort of. It's an adult version
of kids' daytime puppet shows, kind of like Sesame Street meets Last Tango in Paris, and is
definitely not for
kids.
In my trip reports, I'm always torn between giving lots of
detail about a show, and maintaining the suspense. If you want to
read a little bit about the show, click
here for a pop up window with my summary. For even
more, check out the Avenue
Q web site.
I loved the show. It may be my favorite show in Las Vegas.
I say "may be" because it's hard to compare this kind of show to Cirque
de Soleil-type shows, or Blue Man Group, which I also like.
·
Toxic
Audio
At The Luxor
Hotel. How to describe this? The Luxor web site says that
"The five vocalists in TOXIC AUDIO use no instruments other than the
human voice to create complex sonic textures, rhythmic drumbeats,
thumping bass lines and searing guitar-like solos in their performance
of contemporary pop songs, timeless classics, jazz-scat and
vocally-orchestrated original compositions".
The show is about an hour long. It consists mainly of sound
effects, vaudeville type humor, and a few songs. It's an OK way
to spend a little time, but $40 is too high a price. If you can
find half price tickets, give it a try.
If you'd like to hear more,
check out the Toxic
Audio web site.
·
Las
Vegas BikeFest
This is an annual event. About 30,000 bikers converge on Las
Vegas for a few days of shows, parties, concerts and gambling.
Most of the action is downtown, but you'll probably also see bikers
riding their motorcycles up and down The Strip.
No, I'm not a biker; I've never even been on a motorcycle.
However, it's still fun to participate in the spectacle. Last
year, it was by chance that I happened to see the very beginning of the
festival. This year, I made sure I'd be around for the whole
thing. In addition to all of the great cultural events from past
years,
such as the wet T-shirt contest, this year they had an artificial
beauty contest (open only to those who have had errr...ummmmm...body
augmentation), as well as Sinfest at The Plaza Hotel, with such sports
as
jello wresting. What more could one ask
for?
OK, now that I have your attention, I'll mention that there were also a
custom bike show, numerous bands, and a huge vendor area.
It was a
friendly crowd, with a broad mix of types. There were some who
fit the biker stereotype in one way or another, but there were even
more middle age, middle America types.
The Vendor Village was interesting to browse through. It seemed
like there was less variety this year - or maybe I'm jaded. Not
owning
a motorcycle, I bought a few t-shirts (click
here).
The most interesting event was the
motorcycle show, Artistry in Iron. There were dozens of custom
motorcycles of all shapes and colors. I've placed a number of
photos on my blog site. Click here to see them,
plus a few others
from elsewhere at BikeFest.
And, in case you were wondering, scheduling constraints prevented me
from attending any of the cultural events I alluded to above, except
for the Miss Las Vegas BikeFest Competition. The contestants were
an odd combination of women pulled out of the audience at the last
minute, professional strippers, women you might see on The Howard Stern
Show, and other contestants that were harder to classify. It was
humorous at
times, but mostly forgettable. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures.
·
Porn
slappers.
Well, they're kind of a show. These are the people with t-shirts
saying "escorts delivered to your room" and stacks of playing
card-sized handouts picturing their escorts' assets. They
grab the attention of the unwary by slapping the cards against each
other, and then thrusting the cards at the startled recipient.
The first time I saw porn slappers, I was amazed. Later, I was
annoyed by the immense amount of trash that ended up on the
sidewalks. However, they're really not so bad. As long as
you ignore them, they won't bother you. I still hate the trash,
but I've come to think of the porn slappers as part of the Las Vegas
experience, and would miss them if they disappeared. Perhaps this
qualifies as pre-nostalgia?
On the other hand, I hold no such tender feelings towards those dreaded
vermin, the time share vendors - but that's another story.
·
The Bar at Times Square. Located
in New York New York; cover charge Fri-Sat after 8pm. I'd gone to
this place earlier this year, and enjoyed it; pretty much the same
comments this time. It consists of a
medium sized bar, two pianos and two piano players. Songs are by
request, and the piano players are not shy about letting the crowd know
that requests must be accompanied by money. Five dollars seems to
be the minimum, ten dollars will get you more attention, and I've seen
people get a bit crazy and offer a hundred or more to play, or not
play, a particular song. As the evening wears on, especially on
weekends, the crowd gets larger and more boisterous.
·
Fremont Street. It's hard
to believe, but in all my trips I had never been to Fremont
Street. That would change this trip. I headed downtown on
Thursday, September 15, the first day of the Las Vegas BikeFest.
The area was packed. I liked the energy of the place, and the
slight seediness of it all. The overhead LED display is fun to
watch.
I decided on a gourmet meal at Mermaid's Casino. See the food
section for details. I further contributed to the economic health
of downtown by contributing money to the Golden Nugget Casino.
Last stop: Hogs & Heifers (see below).
Take your pick:
·
Hogs & Heifers. I think
they've been open for a while, but September 15 was their grand
opening, timed to coincide with the Las Vegas BikeFest. It's a
branch of
the New York bar of the same name. Hogs & Heifer's main claim
to fame
is that it was the model for the look of the bar in the movie Coyote Ugly (although the bar
Coyote Ugly was the inspiration for the movie itself).
It was a zoo. The bouncers were getting a little nervous, but all
worked out OK. The bartenders are all young, thin, reasonably
pretty women - with attitude. Some dance on the bar top,
encouraging female patrons to do the same. Mildly interesting,
but not worth a repeat visit.
Enthusiastic patron and barmaid:
The gains quickly changed to losses. The Mirage was not good to me. Once I moved to Wynn Las Vegas, my luck changed as well. I ended up winning for the trip, making up for my losses last trip. I like the Wynn even more now!
Of course winning is more fun than losing, but it's more than that. When the shooter is hot, especially late at night, the entire table goes wild. One night, a boisterous group of Spanish speaking gentlemen starting chanting "Nueve! Nueve!! Nueve!!!" louder and louder with each roll. You could hear it through that section of the casino. When a nine was rolled, thunder erupted! I was at that table for about an hour, and it was a lot of fun. I left, and returned later; there were so many onlookers I couldn't even get close to the table.
I played craps at a number of casinos (Wynn, Mirage, Flamingo, Imperial Palace, Harrah's, Luxor, New York New York, Palms, Hard Rock, Golden Nugget), but Wynn was the most fun. Dealers were friendly and frequently funny or quirky, players generally seemed happy to be playing, and you might end up playing at a $10 minimum table right next to someone with $50,000 in chips (as happened to me). Dealers tend to be helpful at any casino, but they seemed to catch on to one's particular habits faster at Wynn than at most casinos.
Another nice touch was their willingness to rate even low rollers - or at least seem like they were rating them. At The Mirage, when I handed my card in at the craps table, I was quickly informed that I had to bet at least $25 per roll (excluding odds) in order to be rated. At Wynn, when I didn't give them my card (I had heard that I was way below their rating radar) they asked me for my card. When I told them I was a low roller, they said that was OK, perhaps I'd at least get a buffet out of it. It doesn't so much matter whether I'd get something or not, it was more the attitude that low rollers were welcome.
Wow, did I eat high on the hog this trip! Almost every dinner was at a top restaurant, and even some breakfasts and lunches saw me eating pretty well. I've placed some of the longer reviews on their own pages; follow the links as directed. When I specify the amount of the bill, it includes tax and tip.
·
L'Atelier. MGM Grand.
This is a newly opened restaurant, one of two at the MGM Grand operated
by famed
chef Joël Robuchon (the other is Joël Robuchon
at the Mansion). Robuchon is a food god in
France. He retired a few years back, then un-retired and opened
L'Atelier in France. Now there's a second L'Atelier.
To quote from an MGM
blurb, L'Atelier "...draws inspiration from
France, Spain and Japan. This cultural fusion is reflected in the menu,
which includes “tapas” or small plates, as well as an “a la carte” menu
and a nine course tasting menu with wine pairings." The restaurant is small, with 24 seats
at a food counter, plus four tables with four chairs each. There
are no reservations.
I had many great meals on
this trip, but the two meals at L'Atelier were undoubtedly the
best. In terms of food, service, and enjoyment, one of those two
meals was the best meal I've ever had in Las Vegas.
Click here for all the
juicy details
·
Okada. Wynn Las
Vegas. I've
eaten at Okada's sushi bar twice before (see my last two trip
reports). It's become my favorite sushi bar in Las Vegas, edging
out my former favorite Hyakumi. This trip I ate at Okada
two more times: once at the sushi bar, and once at a table. My
opinion has not changed. If anything, Okada's service has
improved over the last couple of months, and the food quality remains
high.
Click here for a full
description of my two meals
·
SW Steakhouse. Wynn Las
Vegas. Not much
mystery about what this restaurant serves, eh? Now, as to the
name...Steve Wynn has a
healthy ego. This restaurant bears his initials (another
restaurant - Wing Lei - is the Chinese version of his name).
As I've said in the past, I'm not really a steak person. The only
steak house in Las Vegas that I'd eaten at was Delmonico's.
However, I had heard good things about SW, and in any case was trying
to eat my way though Wynn.
In some ways, the atmosphere is typical steakhouse: busy and
noisy. There are lots of browns and tans. Each table has a
single orchid (genus Paphiopedilum) in a vase of water. The
restaurant has a view of the Wynn water show. However, my table
was too far away to see anything except for colors reflected off the
trees.
Service was generally efficient, and courses were well paced.
Minor issues: my server was slow to take my order; my server and
various assistants came across as a bit impersonal.
The food:
·
The bread basket was excellent. My favorite was the bacon and
cheese bread. Both the flavor and texture were top notch.
Not far behind was some Italian style white bread, with a hard crust
and good flavor.
·
Foie Gras Duo. The first was pate de foie gras with specs of
truffle, some fruit puree for sweetness, and toasted brioche. It
was buttery, creamy, smooth, with pretty good flavor. Rating:
good to very good. The second was sautéed foie gras on a
bed of
nectarines and onions. It was a very large hunk of foie gras -
rich and flavorful. It lost a few points because it was so thick
that there was too much soft insides as compared to the seared
outside. Still, very good to excellent.
·
Filet Mignon with Three Sauces. The filet was about 2-1/2 inches
thick, crusty, maybe with butter on it. It cut easily, was tender
as could be, but also had excellent flavor - the best steak I've ever
had. The sauces: Bernaise (thick, rich, tangy, wonderful in every
way; my favorite); some sort of Dijon mustard sauce (very good);
Bordelaise (good). Overall rating: excellent.
·
Jardiniere. Baby vegetables (string beans, yellow squash,
carrots, pea pods). They were pretty good, but too crisp even for
me, a crisp vegetable lover. Rating: good.
·
"Not Just a Hot Ding Dong - Molten dark chocolate lava cake,
marshmallow center." A circle of chocolate cake with dark molten
chocolate and molten marshmallow, plus 2 small marshmallow
squares. The very dark chocolate was excellent, but the
marshmallow
only helped a little. Rating: very good+.
SW Steakhouse served the best steak I've ever eaten. That's from
an admittedly small group of restaurants (two in Vegas, a handful in
D.C, and a few elsewhere), but I was impressed. The bill: $120.
·
Bartolotta. Wynn Las
Vegas. This is an Italian seafood restaurant. Chef Paul
Bartolotta gets fish flown in daily from Europe. This place has
garnered mostly rave reviews, but a few people have been underwhelmed,
as the food is presented very plainly. I stopped by for lunch.
The color scheme is creams, browns and oranges. Six foot tall
urns, with large aloes atop, are spread throughout the dining
rooms. Tables are spaced far apart, and it is fairly quiet.
There's a view of a lake, the mountain, and trees. Each table has
a vase with one orchid bloom (genus Cymbidium).
Service was friendly and relaxed. My server presented me with a
menu shortly after I arrived. He explained the menu, and made a
few suggestions, noting that Bartolotta serves simply prepared Italian
seafood with no American influences...and the pizza isn't that good.
On the lighter side: I take copious notes while dining.
This helps me when I write up my trip report that evening. As an
added benefit, fellow diners sometimes notice, and I've struck up a few
conversations as a result. Servers also notice, and have glanced
over from time to time. Tonight, the server came straight out and
asked if I was a food critic. If only I could get paid for doing
this!
I started the meal with a recommendation by the server: Octopus
Salad. It consisted of bright red quartered cherry tomatoes,
bright green fava beans, and chunks of black and white marinated
octopus. The dressing was a small amount of olive oil. Very
light, very fresh, very good.
For my main course, I had "Rags of thinly sliced swordfish with Tuscan
bread." Two thin slices of grilled swordfish sat atop cherry
tomatoes, diced cucumber, and Tuscan bread. All had been dressed
with olive oil, a little vinegar, and onions. The fish was
tender, not at all dry, its flavor not masked by anything. The bread
had soaked up some of the dressing and was delicious. Not to
sound like a broken record, but it was very light, very fresh, very
good.
I'm a chocolate lover, so it when my server recommended Budino di
cioccolatie banana, gelato allo zuccaro di canne, there was no
argument. This was described as warm chocolate banana custard,
passion fruit pearls, and natural sugar cane gelato. The custard
was so thick it was served free form. It had a very dark
chocolate flavor, with banana in the background. All in all, it
was more like a flourless chocolate cake than a custard, but slightly
softer and smoother. The gelato was wonderfully creamy, with a
delicate flavor. Sour passion fruit puree with (tapioca?) pearls
provided a good flavor contrast. Rating: excellent.
I really enjoyed lunch here, and would love to come back for dinner
some day. The bill: $60.
·
Tableau. Wynn Las
Vegas. Tableau offers American cuisine by chef Mark
LoRusso. It's located next to the Tower Suite elevators, but is
open to everyone for lunch and dinner. In keeping with the theme
of this trip, I ordered the tasting menu.
Click here for my
review
·
Red 8. Wynn Las
Vegas. Red 8 is Wynn's informal Asian restaurant. It serves
a variety of Southeast Asian cuisine:
Malaysian satays, Japanese noodles, Cantonese noodles and, on weekends,
Hong Kong style dim sum. The restaurant is decorated in
black, white and cream, with red accents. It's fairly quiet, with
an informal feel. There's a communal table, which was full when I
arrived. I was seated at a small high top table, which was
good. I checked out the communal table while I was dining, and
people weren't mixing, just keeping to themselves. Too bad!
I ate at Red 8 on a Sunday, and chose Dim Sum. There are no
rolling carts; ordering is from a menu. Each order comes as two
or three pieces, so it would be more fun to order as a group, but
ordering solo worked out OK. It took a little while to prepare
the food, but the wait wasn't too long. I had:
·
Shrimp in bean curd rolls. Like a flat, fried egg roll, it was
filled with shrimp, what tasted like shrimp paste, and bits of carrot
and some green vegetable. A dipping bowl contained Worcestershire
sauce. If you like bean curd skin, it's a very tasty dish.
Very good.
·
Deep fried taro dumplings. Light and crispy outside, with soft
(mashed?) taro inside, mixed with barbecue pork. Very good+.
·
Sticky rice in lotus leaf. Similar to the dish at The Noodle
Kitchen at The Mirage. Here, the filling was small shrimp and
barbecue pork. Overall, there was less filling, and less variety,
than at The Noodle Kitchen. Good.
·
Thai ice tea. Layered cream (?) on top of very sweet strong
tea. I liked it, but some people might have been turned off by
the sweetness. Good.
Overall, the Dim Sum at Red 8
beat that at The Noodle Kitchen by a little bit. However, there
was one service flaw that left a bad taste in my mouth. After I
was finished, my server disappeared. I waited for 15 minutes
(actually a little bit longer than that, as I didn't check my watch
right away), looking around for someone. I finally managed to
flag down a bus boy, and asked him to get my server. She appeared
a couple of minutes later, with no explanation. The bill: $24.
·
Zoozacrackers. Wynn Las
Vegas. This is Wynn's delicatessen. It's modest in size and
variety of foods offered, but not in price. At the recommendation
of a server at a competing hotel (!), I had the Zoozaburger: a thick,
large hamburger cooked to order, topped with warm pastrami, melted
Swiss cheese, cole slaw, and Russian dressing, surrounded by a large
bun. On the side: onion, pickles, tomato, and lettuce. It
was too big to pick up; I used a knife and fork. Sounds strange,
but it was very tasty - a day's worth of calories, and two days' worth
of cholesterol, but worth it. The bill: about $20, but I didn't
write it down.
On another visit, I had a warm pastrami sandwich. The pastrami
was warm and juicy, reminiscent of Canter's deli. The bread was
dense and chewy, also similar to Canter's. A very good
sandwich. The bill: about $20, including a bottle of water.
·
Wynn Buffet. Wynn Las
Vegas. I had tried the breakfast buffet back in April, and
thought it was pretty good - but I hadn't eaten that much. This
time I wanted to give it a workout, so I tried the lunch buffet.
There is a huge variety, and in general the quality is good.
Desserts were a bit of a letdown - only a moderate selection, and most
were pretty good but not special. Most foods were just warm; a
few were very warm. I had:
·
Prime rib. This was not the traditional whole prime rib, cut into
rare pieces by a carver. It was already carved slices of meat,
apparently cooked after being sliced. That being said, it was a
hit: slightly pink, with a little crispy fat, tender, flavorful.
Rating: very good+.
·
Jerk chicken. Truly spicy, and not overcooked. Very good.
·
Kobe meatballs. Slightly spicy, good texture. Good to very
good.
·
Smoked sturgeon. Good.
·
Tempura rock shrimp. Good to very good.
·
Salmon and scallop ceviche. Ok flavor and texture, but nothing
special. Good.
·
Red snapper. Juicy, good flavor; not overcooked. Very good.
·
Roll. Average.
Desserts:
·
Madelaine. Fair.
·
Lemon curd tart. Good. Would have been very good, but the
lemon flavor was not sour/intense enough.
·
Creme brulee. Surprisingly, the sugar was properly caramelized
and
crackly. However, the cream was too soft. Good to very good.
·
Chocolate mousse with brownie pieces and walnuts. The mousse was
not too sweet, with a rich, dark chocolate flavor. The brownie
chunks and walnuts were a good addition. Very good.
·
Peanut butter cookie with candied peanuts. Good.
Over all rating: pretty
good, but buffets aren't worth the money to me. The bill: $23.
·
Terrace Point Café. Wynn Las
Vegas. This is Wynn's 24 hour coffee shop. I had breakfast
there once, days after visiting The Original Pancake House (see below), still dreaming of The Perfect
Pancakes. Well, they ain't at the Terrace Point
Café. The four pancakes were huge - thick and large
diameter. Sadly the quality was only fair; they were heavy.
However, the link sausage was good: crispy, chewy skin, and juicy
meat. The bill: $20.
·
Sugar & Ice. Wynn Las
Vegas. This places serves desserts and light snacks. It has
a view of some of Wynn's water features. I had my usual dessert -
ice cream. Coconut crunch ice cream was very good to excellent -
very good coconut flavor, rich ice cream, and a pleasing crunch.
Peanut butter ice cream was merely good - rich ice cream, but the
peanut butter/chocolate flavor was too sweet.
·
Michael Mina. Bellagio. This
would be my third trip to Michael Mina. Both prior meals had been
excellent. This time, I decided to sit at a table, so I made
reservations in advance. I got to the restaurant, gave my name
and...sorry, we have no reservation listed. Based on some checks
they performed, and the different ways I know, it appears there are
three sources of reservations: on line, the central dining reservation
number at Bellagio, and the restaurant itself. Sounds error
prone. However, what really ticked me off was their attitude that
seemed to say "the customer is always wrong". Well, there are too
many good restaurants in Vegas to have to deal with this again.
·
Roy's. A little
east of The Strip, on Flamingo Road. Roy's is a branch of the
Hawaiian chain. The chain is known for friendly service, and this
branch was no exception, from the valet to the bartender to the
waiter. It was very easy to relax here. My meal:
·
A complimentary appetizer of a grilled shrimp (good), barbecue spare
rib (very good), potsticker (good to very good), and crab cake (fair to
good).
·
Asia Pear Salad. Recommended by my server, it had a few (but not
too few) thin slices of Asian pear, with a large amount of good mixed
greens. The passion fruit dressing was far too sour.
Rating: fair to good.
·
Japanese Misoyaki Butterfish. Grilled butterfish, nearly black on
one side, using a sweet miso grilling sauce. Served with baby bok
choi, rice, and a little bit of a couple of sauces. The fish was
delicious - soft, buttery, tasty. The nearly black grilling gave
it very good flavor. The only criticism is that the fish was of
uneven thickness, and as a result part was nicely cooked while part was
slightly undercooked. Very good.
·
"Roy's Melting Hot Chocolate Soufflé - Flourless Chocolate Cake
with a
Molten Hot Center, with Vanilla Ice Cream." This was a dark
chocolate soufflé. The very hot molten center has an
intense
chocolate flavor. The vanilla ice cream was ordinary.
Rating: very good to excellent.
Overall, a very good meal. I wasn't sure what to expect from a
chain that has grown rather large over the years, but was pleasantly
surprised. The bill: $65.
·
FIX. Bellagio.
FIX is the first restaurant run by The Light Group, which previously
had created several trendy lounges and clubs (e.g., Light, Caramel,
Mist). FIX was their chance to create a trendy restaurant.
The bartenders and servers certainly had that look: young, thin,
dressed in tight black skin-and-tatoo revealing clothing.
Given the emphasis on trendiness, I wasn't expecting anything great in
the restaurant itself. I was pleasantly surprised. Service
was friendly and efficient. The menu concentrates on trendy or
inventive variations of standard American fare, and does a good job of
it. I started with a crab cake made of shredded (not lump) crab
meat, but with very little filler. It was baked, and served on a
pool of remoulade sauce. Rating: good.
For my entree, I had Scallops Benedict: three large sea scallops,
barely cooked through, on top of applewood smoked bacon ,a thick layer
of spinach, and shredded potato cake. It was a good combination
of flavors, executed well; very good.
For dessert, Shake and Cake: espresso milk shake and a brownie.
The milk shake was in an espresso cup, with icy froth, and a strong
coffee/chocolate shake; very good. The brownie was soft, chewy,
nutty, intensely chocolatey. Wow! I want another.
The bill (including one drink): $80.
·
Emeril's. MGM Grand. Emeril's
is a medium sized restaurant, pretty, but noisy. The food was
very good:
·
Seafood gumbo. Fish, shrimp, beef, okra and rice, in a somewhat
spicy, rich broth. Good flavor. Very good.
·
Cream of mushroom soup. Sister-in-law says it was delicious.
·
Barbecue shrimp. A signature dish. Brother says it was very
good.
·
Grilled hebi (spearfish). Medium to large filet, thick, grilled,
with chive olive oil. Served on a bed of potato pieces, orange,
and onions. Very good; brother also had this dish, and agrees.
·
Pecan crusted Texas redfish: SIL says "very good."
·
Banana cream pie with banana crust, chocolate shavings, and caramel
sauce. Tall wedge of pie. Very dense, rich banana cream
with pieces of banana. Thick layer of good whipped cream.
All three of us thought it was excellent (and I'm not very fond of
banana cream pie).
My brother has been to Emeril's before, and thinks it may serve the
best food in Las Vegas, with the possible exception of Picasso. I
liked it a lot, but nothing knocked my socks off. Still, it is
one of the better restaurants I've tried - much better than I would
have expected from a restaurant empire.
The bill:
Sorry folks, I paid in cash, and don't remember. Compared to the
other places I ate this trip, it seemed reasonable.
·
Sushi
Roku.
Caesars Palace. This was my second visit
to this small
California based chain. On my first visit, I felt it was good but
suffered in comparison to Hyakumi and Okada. This time I decided
to take my own advice, and try some of the house specialty rolls and
appetizers.
·
Tap water. At least, that's what I asked for. What they
provided was house water (no charge), which came in a glass with a
cucumber slice, and a bit of cucumber half way dissolved in the
water. There was just the hint of cucumber flavor. It was
refreshing and a pleasant surprise.
·
Smoked salmon wrapped ankimo (monkfish liver pate) topped with toro
tartar, uni (sea urchin) and caviar. It also included a layer of
spinach, and gold leaf was placed on top. There were three
pieces, each piece too big to eat in one bite, so eating it was
tricky. Other than that, it was very tasty. Very good to
excellent.
·
Bincho maguro (albacore). Seared, topped with onion and a
vinegary sauce. Good to very good.
·
Kohada (shad) served with shiso leaf. Moderately strong flavor,
but milder than other similar fish (like saba/mackeral). Very
good.
· Unagi (eel). Pretty
standard. Good.
The
sushi chef recognized me from last trip. How do they do
that? The bill: $50.
·
Commander's Palace. Aladdin
Resort. I like this place. I've eaten dinner here twice
before, and both times food and service were excellent. See my
previous trip reports for details. This time, I decided to eat
breakfast here: beignets. Beignets are little squares of fried
dough, dusted with powdered sugar. They were served nice and hot,
with a little cup of caramel dipping sauce. Delicious.
Accompanying them was a cup of chicory coffee. Surprisingly, I
even
liked that (although I confess to adding lots of sugar and milk).
The bill: perhaps $10.
·
Nobu. Hard Rock
Hotel. I had been to Nobu once before. Sitting at the sushi
bar, I was not impressed. Since then, I've gone to Nobu in Miami
Beach, sitting at a table and having the omakase
meal. I enjoyed that a
bit more, so decided to give the Vegas location another shot.
Click here for details
·
Bouchon.
·
Omelette with chicken, pequillo (sp?) peppers, onion confit, tarragon
and swiss cheese; sausage links served on the side. The sausage
was very good, but no match for the boudin blanc (see below). The
omelette was really good. The egg was cooked through but still
soft; light but not too airy; rich. The tarragon flavor was
strong but not overpowering. There was a lot of onions, soft but
not squishy. The chicken was not dry. Lastly, there were
two thick half slices of toasted brioche. Very good.
·
Boudin blanc with scrambled eggs, croissant and beurre noisette.
About the same as last time. The soft, smooth, flavorful sausage
was excellent. The scrambled eggs were standard, i.e., nothing
fancy added, but prepared just right. The croissant was very
good, but not as good as last time; it was soft yet chewy inside, but
it wasn't as incredibly flaky as last time.
·
Steak hash with eggs any style, and brioche toast. The hash was
very good, with lots of tender diced steak. The scrambled eggs
were well prepared, and I liked their brioche a lot. Again,
simple food prepared very well.
·
Bread that comes before the meals (at least, most meals) is very good -
crusty, chewy, great with a little butter.
·
There are numerous choices for tea and coffee. The lattes that
I've had (caramel and mocha) have been good.
The bill for a full breakfast, with latte, was between $20 and $25.
·
Noodle
Kitchen.
·
Glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf. This was my favorite.
I've had it before, and this time the filling was slightly different:
bits of beef; minced shiitake mushroom; tiny shrimp, slices of
(slightly sweet) Chinese sausage. Very good.
· Steamed minced beef balls. Just
like it sounds. Bland beef, on a bed of bean curd skin. I
liked it, but have a feeling that many people wouldn't be
thrilled. Good
·
Fried spring rolls. Filled with vegetables, there were hot and
crisp but very greasy. Fair to good.
·
Thai tea. Sweetened tea with milk or some milk-like
substance. Fair to good.
·
Aloha
Kitchen.
To quote from a previous trip report: "This is a
couple of miles off the strip, not
too far from UNLV. There are a couple of
other locations as well. It caters to
the large local Hawaiian community. A
typical meal is the mix plate, consisting of a large amount of white
rice, a
scoop of macaroni salad, and one or more items such as kalua pork,
chicken
katsu, and pork lau lau. Spam is also a
mainstay (spam sushi!), or try the loco moco (bed of rice, hamburger
patty,
eggs sunny side up, and a big ladle of brown gravy).
Health
food lovers need not apply. Their food is
cheap and filling. I like it a lot."
This time, I tried the location on Decatur Avenue. It's newer and
a little fancier, although still informal. I got the local plate:
chicken, beef, Spam musubi, macaroni salad, and rice, all for the
bargain price of $6.99. The beef consisted of thin small slices
of beef with a sweet barbecue sauce, on top of sprouts of some
sort. On top of the beef was a thin piece of chicken, skin on,
sautéed until the skin was crisp. Both were very good.
Next, Spam musubi; I had to try it. There were two pieces.
Each pieced consisted of a thin slice of Spam (about 3" x 1.5" x 1/8"),
fried until crisp, on top of a thick layer of warm rice with barbecue
sauce, wrapped in a large sheet of seaweed. It wasn't as weird as
I expected, although the seaweed was too chewy. I'd give it a
mild thumbs up.
Clockwise from left:
chicken and beef, Spam musubi, macaroni salad (bowl of rice barely
visible at upper left).
·
Le
Café Île St. Louis. Paris.
This is the 24 hour coffee shop for the hotel. My brother and
sister-in-law had just arrived, and we were meeting for lunch. I
wasn't expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. SIL had a
corned beef Reuben sandwich; verdict was good. Brother had a
Fruits de Mer sandwich - open faced sandwich with seafood, melted
butter and melted cheese; excellent! I had a Parisienne - smoky
ham with Swiss cheese on very crusty, chewy bread; very good.
·
Paris
Breakfast Buffet. I'm not a big buffet fan, but they're fun to try now
and then. From what I had read, the Paris Buffet took top honors
for breakfast. The Sunday buffet cost $14. There
was a 30 minute wait, but I didn't mind much as I had remembered to
bring a book. My overall impression of the buffet was that the
selection was small to moderate, but the quality tended to be high (for
a buffet). My biggest criticism is that nothing I had was hot -
only warm at best. Nonetheless, I thought it was pretty
good. I had:
·
Eggs Benedict. Fair English muffin, good Canadian bacon; eggs
properly cooked.
·
Croissant. Good for a buffet, but not nearly as good as at
Bouchon.
·
Lyonnaise potatoes. Disappointing. Bland; very little onion
flavor.
·
Country sausage. In many ways, like the link sausage you can get
at any pancake house - but done right. Very good flavor and
texture.
·
Veal sausage and onions. Smooth texture, mild flavor, executed
nicely. Very good.
·
Andouille grilled sausage. Short, fat sausage in a chewy
casing. Strong grilled flavor, coarse, slightly sweet, slightly
spicy. I liked this a lot. Very good to excellent.
·
Smoked fish (unknown type): hard and chewy, with a strong, smoky
flavor; not too salty. Very good.
·
Pain au chocolat. OK bun, but with very little chocolat.
Fair to good.
·
Cinnamon bun. Strong cinnamon flavor, not too sweet. Good.
·
Nondescript cookie. Fair.
·
Pastry. A flat dense, cakey pastry with slivered almonds and
white icing. Inside, a layer of marzipan. Very good.
·
Carnegie Deli. Mirage. The food here has been disappointing, but I was at the
Mirage and wanted something fast. I got a hot dog that was huge
and pretty good. A chocolate chip cookie was also huge, and also
pretty good.
·
Lenôtre. Paris.
Based on prior experience, I knew that this place served wonderful
pastries - a close second to Jean-Philippe Pâtisserie. This
time I tried a Framboisine: dark chocolate mousse with a layer or
raspberry preserves, all covered with dark chocolate ganache, topped
with three fresh raspberries and some chocolate decorations; very good
to excellent.
·
Vosges Haut-Chocolat. The Forum Shops at Caesars
Palace. They
don't just sell chocolate. They also have some very exotic
flavors of
ice cream, such as Naga (curry and coconut) and Red Fire (ancho and
chipotle chilies, cinnamon and dark chocolate). I tried
Naga. The coconut curry flavor was interesting, but the
consistency was odd. It was full of crunchy ice crystals. I
don't know if this was intentional, or if it was the result of poor
temperature control. Either way, I was not impressed.
If you'd like to try for
yourself, go to the Vosges web site and have it delivered by mail.
· The Original Pancake House. OK, so this wasn't exactly a gourmet experience, but I just needed to have some pancakes. This restaurant is a Northwest chain that has expanded through much of the U.S. I got bacon pancakes (i.e., bacon inside the pancakes) and a side order of sausage patties. The pancakes were heavy, the sausage not bad. Oh well, I'm still looking for the elusive perfect pancake.
·
Megadog
at the Deli. Westward Ho. Also known as the Ho Dog,
this 12 ounce behemoth costs a mere $1.49; cheese, chili, or onions is
$0.59 extra. Based on reports I'd read on the web, I hesitated to
put this in the Food section.
Maybe Bears a
strong resemblance to food
would be a more appropriate section? I was even tempted to put it
under Gambling.
I'm here to report that the poor Ho Dog has been libeled. This
culinary treat...well, OK, I'm getting a bit carried away - but it
isn't all that bad. Its size is intimidating, and its appearance
is less than stellar, but it's merely a huge, bland-but-not-disgusting
piece of meat. I had skipped breakfast, was hungry, and managed
to finish a good two thirds of the dog.
I walked out of the Westward Ho under my own power. I never got
sick. I even had an appetite for a late dinner.
I can now say that I've eaten the legend. This is especially
poignant as I've just learned that the Westward Ho closes its doors
forever on November 17, to be replaced by a new resort and a giant, 600
foot tall, Ferris wheel. Make sure you sample the Ho Dog before
it's history.
I bet a ride on the Ferris wheel will cost more than $1.49. And
it won't come with cheese.
Ho Dog was cut in half to fit on plate; reconstructed for photo.
·
Deep Fried Twinkie and Deep Fried Oreos. Mermaids.
Two more culinary masterpieces, in the same genre as the Ho Dog: a deep fried Twinkie, and deep
fried Oreos. Both were covered in a thick layer of heavy
batter. The
Oreos had a bit of chocolate flavor. The Twinkie's creamy center
helped enhance an otherwise nondescript piece of fried dough. I
was a
little disappointed. They were neither good enough nor bad enough
to
be memorable. The bill: $0.99 each.
Oreos on the left, slightly eaten Twinkie on the right:
Miscellany
·
Wear good shoes. Even if you don't go hiking, odds are
you're going to do a lot of walking. Just walking from your room
to the front of the casino can be a quarter mile in some hotels.
A pair of broken in walking shoes, with good socks, are worth their
weight in gold.
· Bring blister pads. With all of my hiking, I took proper care of my feet and managed to avoid blisters - but all it took was one hour walking on The Strip in bad shoes to develop one. A blister bandage kept it from getting worse, and allowed me to keep walking while it healed.
· 101 uses for... The last full day of my trip, a cap fell off of one of my teeth. Not a happy event. I called my dentist back home, and he told me to get some denture adhesive gel (like Fixodent). Clean and dry the cap, put a little bit of Fixodent on the cap, set it back in place, and it would hold until I got home. Worked like a charm!
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