As promised, La Burger Brasserie was the next burger joint I visited after being unimpressed by Burger Bar. The burgers (beef, chicken or lamb) are good and there were many types of cheeses, sauces and other toppings to pile on. Beers come by the bottle as they have no draft beers. This is a major disadvantage compared to the local micro-brews offered at Burger Bar.
La Burger Brasserie does offer a sampler plate for potato-fanatics with a generous amount of steak fries, waffle fries and standard fries. It’s enough for 2-3 people to share.
We had dinner last weekend at FIX in Bellagio. It was Saturday night and the place was mobbed. Apparently, our brilliant plan of eating at FIX and then partying next door at The Bank was shared by many others.
The restaurant itself is amazing and looked more like an ultra-lounge than an upscale eatery. The lighting was subdued, music loud and decor sophisticated and trendy. The ceiling was covered with long, curvy, beams of wood to dramatic effect. The combination of the loud music and the wood ceiling made for a very loud dining room and it was difficult to carry on any kind of conversation.
The food has been described as “high-end comfort food” and “nostalgic cuisine”. We found it to be more or less American-fare with some fusion items thrown in. All of our dishes were adequately prepared and we were not disappointed (but neither were we blown away). If you go, try the deep-fried macaroni sticks. These arrived as Snickers-sized bars and were crispy on the outside soft and gooey on the inside. Probably +10,000 calories but worth every bite.
I dined with some friends at Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay this weekend and was pretty disappointed. Their Kobe beef is American, the buffalo burger tasted just like beef and their choice of toppings and sides were not that interesting. Even the jalepeno bacon that my buddy talked up beforehand failed to live up to the hype (not at all jalepeno-y). They serve a good local brew, Sin City Amber, so be sure to order a pitcher if you go to Burger Bar.
I’m hoping for a better experience at La Burger Brasserie in Paris.
There are lots of sushi restaurants around town. In fact, for a land-locked city 300 miles from the ocean, there may be too many sushi restaurants in Las Vegas. I often wonder about the freshness and quality of the little sushi places crammed between Kinkos and Quiznos in some random shopping center. So it was with much apprehension that my wife and I ventured into Sumo Sushi 2 for dinner.
This is one of those joints where everyone yells something in Japanese when you walk in the door. This greeting is slightly jarring to me because I don’t really know what’s being said. They did this with great gusto at Gyu Kaku in West LA. It seems more a yakitori greeting than a sushi one but I digress.
The sushi? Not bad. We had several cut rolls and a sashimi plate. The fish tasted fresh and the cuts were well-sized. If you like wasabi try the “sushi bombs” — 6 pieces with extra wasabi spread on the bottom and thin slices of jalepeno on top. Woo!
Also recommended is the miso cod. This dish was prepared extremely well and like the sushi, the portion was generous.
Sumo Sushi 2
8795 W. Warm Springs Road, Suite 106
Las Vegas, NV 89148
(702) 262-7866
One of my favorites types of food is Spanish tapas. I enjoy sampling many small plates instead of committing to one large entree and what’s not to like about a pitcher of sangria? When we lived in San Francisco we frequented Thirsty Bear and Cha Cha Cha (the one in the Mission). In Los Angeles we could walk to Orris which was more of an Asian take on tapas. We tried Primitivo on Abbott Kinney once and it was great but super expensive.
So we were pretty excited to read about Firefly Tapas Kitchen on Paradise Road and decided to give it a try. The restaurant is a lot of fun with its eccentric and Euro-campy design and festive music. The bar was packed and looked like a great place to grab a drink after work. The food though, disappointed and we will not be back.
We sampled 7-8 of their dishes but only liked 1-2 of them. The grilled baby octopus scored particularly well with my wife as did the creamy aoili they serve with the bread. The downside of many dishes was that they came drenched in a sweet, mole-like, dark sauce. This took away from the vibrant flavors and varied textures we look forward to when eating tapas. Avoid dishes that come with any kind of sauce if unless you like your food sweet and wet.
Firefly is located on Paradise Road, near the Hard Rock Hotel and in the same strip plaza as Ruth Chris Steakhouse. Be sure to call in a reservation as the restaurant was extremely crowded even on a random Wednesday night.
Firefly* on Paradise, Tapas Kitchen and Bar
3900 Paradise Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 369-3971
St. Patty’s Day is just around the corner so I’m looking for a nice Irish pub where I can get me some green beer. I have seen a few around town and hope to check at least one of these soon.
McMullan’s Irish Pub - This place is located pretty far from the Strip on Tropicana and Decatur (between The Orleans and Home Depot) so I’m sure it’s mostly a local crowd. That’s a big plus.
Hennesey’s Tavern - You’ve probably seen this place out on the east end of Fremont Street. My wife works nearby and she says they have a fun happy hour.
Molly Malone’s Irish Pub - I’ve passed this location a dozen times driving in and out of Las Vegas. Perhaps I’ll drop in for a Guinness when I go on my Southern Highlands exploration trip.
McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon - Next time at the Rio I’ll stop by and check this pub out. It opened not too long ago with lots of advertisements. Johnny Drama was there for the opening weekend!
Here are links to Irish pubs listed on Citysearch and Yelp in case you want to see what else is available.
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One of my favorite foods is Vietnamese beef noodle soup, pho. I love pho so much I maintain a whole site devoted to appreciation of pho. It should be no surprise then that my wife and I have visited each of the dozen or so pho restaurants in Las Vegas.
The majority of the restaurants are clustered along Spring Mountain Road. There are good choices right in Chinatown like Pho Little Saigon and Pho Kim Long. Venture a little further out and you’ll find Pho So 1, the newer Pho Hung (excellent Vietnamese smoothies) and our favorite - based on the quality of the broth - Pho Sai Gon 8.
Be warned that many restaurants are packed on weekends, especially Sunday afternoon, when tourists turn to pho to fight their hangovers.
A Las Vegas location for Kona Grill opened with lots of advertising (”You’re Kona love it”) last fall. We recently visited with a group of friends and were lucky enough to try many selections from the menu.
With a name like “Kona Grill” one expects island-style and grilled foods so there are staples like Macadamia-nut chicken, seared ahi and several cuts of steak to choose from. But the menu really surprises with its unusual juxtapositions. For example, traditional Margherita and topped with garlic-shrimp in the pizza section. Or Basil Pesto Linguine and Pad Thai under noodles. Perhaps the menu is most aptly described as “Pacific Rim fusion” exemplified by my choice of entre: Big Island Meatloaf. It was a big slab of “Angus beef, sweet Italian and Andouille sausage, served with a mushroom ragu, white cheddar mashed potatoes and wok tossed vegetables”. Very good and very filling.
You can visit Kona Grill in the Boca Park shopping center in Summerlin.
Kona Grill
750 S. Rampart Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89145
(702) 547-5552
When we lived in Los Angeles the best place for hot tofu was BCD. It was my first experience with soon tofu and will always be the gold standard. So last weekend we were in the mood for something “soupy” and decided to try D.J.K. Korean & Tofu Restaurant. We discovered that the “Tofu” part of the restaurant’s name is a little misleading. There are only four types of tofu on the menu: plain, seafood, kim chi and pork and they are buried in the back of the menu. The tofu was good and did not disappoint but did not live up to our BCD-hyped expectations. Fewer pickled dishes, no fried fish appetizer and no rice scraped out of the metal bowls - blasphemy!
The real draw at DJK seems to be the traditional Korean BBQ. They have huge hoods sitting above each table and an extensive selection of meats to grill. We made a mental note to go back and try their barbecue.
DJK is open 24 hours so you can get your tofu or Korean BBQ on anytime.
D.J.K. Korean & Tofu Restaurant
3943 Spring Mountain Road
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 638-2222
Zagat’s 2008 Best of Las Vegas Guide is out with ratings and reviews of over 745 restaurants, nightclubs, golf courses, hotels and retail shops. Joel Robuchon and Mario Batali got top honors for their restaurants and Tao was voted the most popular nightclub. The best overall hotels are the Four Seasons, Bellagio, Wynn, Venetian and Ritz-Carlton. Wait - there’s a Ritz-Carlton in Las Vegas? Yep, it’s located out on Lake Las Vegas.
