What up awesome people? I’m back from my U.S trip and ready to share stories of my eating adventures. Those who follow me on twitter would have seen that I ate up a storm in Las Vegas. Vegas is not just a city filled with casinos and enormous hotels. It also has a vast number of eating joints scattered around. A lot of good restaurants are located within the vicinity of major hotels. Since we were in America, we wanted to visit restaurants that offered American cuisine. Here are three of those that I enjoyed heaps:
Grand Lux Café
On our first night in Vegas, we wanted to go somewhere that would have a wide range of American cuisine. Luckily, The Venetian Hotel offers such a place that would please all foodies and visitors on a holiday in Vegas.
The Grand Lux Café is located in the casino area of the Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas. The décor reminds me a lot of the Cheesecake Factory and so does the menu. One of their super friendly wait staff did confirm that they are in fact, The Cheesecake Factory’s (pretty) sister restaurant. The menu does look a little more high-end and the décor is more Venetian-themed.
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| Strawberry lemonade |
The strawberry lemonade is citrus and sweet. It’s a very refreshing and soothing beverage to have after a long walk in the Vegas strip.
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| Buffalo wings with blue cheese dip |
We started with some buffalo wings with blue cheese dip. The hot sauce spiciness was very moderate in my opinion but could be spicier for others. The dip had a very potent blue cheese taste.
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| Barbecue chicken and ribs combo |
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| Barbecue pork ribs with coleslaw and fries |
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| Corn bread |
I settled for the barbecue pork ribs (around US$22). It’s one of the best racks of ribs that I’ve had. It passed two categories in my ribtastic standard: 1. The barbecue sauce is smokey and slightly sweet; 2. The meat is juicy and tender. So tender that it falls off the bone. It came with three sides – cornbread, coleslaw and fries. It is the best coleslaw I’ve ever had. The coleslaw had creamy garlic mayo, which was almost like aioli. I was in pork ribs heaven!
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| Red velvet cake slice |
The slice of red velvet cake serving was quite big. Two people could share this piece. The cake itself is very moist and velvety.
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| Crème brulee duo |
The crème brulee duo was pretty good too. It came with a classic vanilla and a deep chocolate brulee. Both brulees have a crispy sugar top. Once you dig in, it is hard to stop.
I loved all the food that I tried at the Grand Lux Café. Also, as expected, servings were big and quality was pretty good.
Serendipity 3
The first Serendipity restaurant located in New York City has been a popular eatery visited by celebrities such as Oprah and Tom Cruise. Now a branch has opened in Las Vegas, right in front of Caesar’s Palace. Apparently, celebrities such as the Kardashian sisters and Holly Madison visit the Vegas branch too.
I can see why celebrities frequent Serendipity 3. The place has a very vibrant look and atmosphere and the food is great. It is all you need to have an awesome dining experience. Just sitting there makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The menu on the other hand got me excited.
The mac and cheese (US$14) was full of cheesy goodness. It was topped with panko crust and contains some essence of aromatic truffles. The extra pancetta added extra awesomeness to this classic dish. I could eat this all day!
The Margherita pizza (US$14) is one of the best thin crust pizzas I’ve had. It also folds and has a bottom that shows evidence that it was truly cooked on hot stone. The dough was hand tossed and ingredients used are of high quality.
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| Deep fried oreos and ice cream dessert |
The main event of our Serendipity 3 experience is the big serving of deep fried oreos & ice cream dessert (US$15). It had deep fried oreos, cookies & cream ice cream, hut fudge and marshmallow sauce. This deep fried dessert is both amazeballz and awesome! It was mind and taste buds boggling! The oreo innards were soft and creamy surrounded by crispy and tasty batter. I miss it already.
If you ever visit Serendipity 3, make sure that you leave some space for the deep fried oreos and ice cream dessert.
Holstein’s Shakes and Buns
I found this particular burger joint whilst searching for the best burgers in Las Vegas through Yelp. As it was highly rated, I added it to my Vegas wish list. It is a mod American burger joint that takes old school milkshakes and burgers to a whole new level. They use fusion of flavours to create new types of exciting burgers and shakes. Even the place itself looks very funky and contemporary. It is located inside the new Cosmopolitan Hotel (right next to the Bellagio and across Planet Hollywood hotel)
For future reference, they do take bookings during weekdays/nights. The staff was very attentive and accommodating. Unfortunately as the food was pretty filling, there was no room for shakes.
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| Crispy pork belly bun |
We started with the crispy pork belly bun (US$9). The succulent pork belly is wrapped in Chinese steamed bun with hoisin sauce, cucumber and pea shots. The bun was perfectly cooked and the pork is juicy good.
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| Truffle lobster 'mac and cheese' |
The truffle lobster ‘mac and cheese’ (US$16.50) tasted as good as the name sounds. Well-balanced flavours of creamy tallegio-mascarpone sauce with maine lobster and black truffle.
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| The gold standard |
They call my burger, the gold standard (US$17.50). I can understand why this dry aged beef sirloin burger with smoked bacon, aged goat cheddar cheese, tomato confit, baby arugula and garlic-chive aioli was given such a name. The taste is gold rated!
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| 'The rising sun' |
Our cousin shared her burger called ‘the rising sun’ (US$16.50) with us. My whole brain started to rise to sunshine of happiness with my first bite. It is also called the rising sun because it is a Japanese inspired burger. It’s a Kobe beef burger with teriyaki glaze, nori furikake, crispy yam, spicy mayo (which wasn’t that spicy) and tempura avocado.
All three eateries were all American and all tasty. But, it’s the modern twist and flavour fusion that made it amazing. Check them out if ever you are visiting Las Vegas in the near future.
Grand Lux Café
The Venetian Hotel
3355 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109,
(702) 733-7411
Serendipity 3
Ceasar’s Palace
3570 Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV 89109, United States
(702) 731-7373
Holstein’s Shakes and Buns
3708 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 698-7940
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