Jan 19

The Buffet (Aria) – Las Vegas, NV

3730 S Las Vegas Blvd

Las Vegas, NV 89109

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Located inside Aria Resort & Casino, The Buffet serves up a variety of eats in a brightly-lit all-you-can-eat restaurant. There was no wait as we approached the counter for brunch (and soon to be dinner), and we were seated quickly in the half-full restaurant. Our server quickly brought our drinks and kept up for providing refills. The buffet area was very clean, but many of the items were missing signs, which left us guessing on what was being served. There were various breads, sides, carved meats, Mexican food, Indian food, pizza, small plates, cheese plates, breakfast items, pho noodles, Chinese food, dim sum, mussels, sushi, and crab legs. The highlight of the buffet would definitely be their carving station because of the sheer number of items available including sausages, pork belly, cowboy steak, ribs, and rotisserie chicken. The cowboy steak was actually quite tender and the grilled vegetables were delicious. The dim sum was quite plentiful, but was falling apart due to being steamed so long. The buffet actually has a Tandoori oven, so we got to enjoy fresh naan and Tandoori chicken, which was delicious and tender. The second most amazing part of the buffet was the ice cream wheel. There were so many flavors of ice cream and gelato available turning around a contraption for the server. The flavors were delicious and decadent. The other desserts also looked very appealing. The pasta bar came later on as dinner started, and it was very rich with cheese and olive oil. Salmon also made an appearance near the seafood area and tasted delicious. Overall, food quality was pretty good at this buffet, and items stayed stocked up. The sushi area looked horrible and was not appealing at all. The ice cream station and carving stations are reasons alone to visit this buffet. If you have a chance to come to Vegas, give Aria a try (after trying the #1 buffet in Vegas: Bacchanal at Caesars)!

Jan 16

White Castle – Las Vegas, NV

3411 S Las Vegas Blvd

Las Vegas, NV 89109

Rating: ★½☆☆☆ 

Located at the Casino Royale Hotel & Casino, White Castle brought their east coast sliders to Las Vegas. We took the trek up to White Castle to give the place a try for an evening meal. We ended up ordering various items on the menu including cheese sliders, french fries, chicken rings, loaded cheese fries, fish sliders, and chicken sliders. The order did take some time to get ready, but we easily located seating in the area. When we laid out the food, we really realized how small the beef patties were with fairly large buns. You have to add condiments to the sliders as they come on the side. The onions did go well with the cheese sliders, but the thin meat was very disappointing. The fries tasted OK, but they did not taste fresh. The chicken rings were surprisingly good and fresh, but they were nothing special. The loaded cheese fries tasted OK and reminded me of the loaded cheese fries from Denny’s. The fish sliders were quite oily, but went OK with tartar sauce. The chicken sliders were actually quite tender, but didn’t have any flavor. Overall, the meal was quite underwhelming for fast food standards. If you were looking for a quick bite, you are better off going to McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr., or Taco Bell. Better yet, go to Shake Shack. You can try White Castle for the hype, but don’t keep your hopes up.

Jan 12

The Buffet (Bellagio)- Las Vegas, NV

3600 S Las Vegas Blvd

Las Vegas, NV 89109

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Located inside the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, The Buffet serves up a multitude of culinary creations in an all-you-can-eat fashion. As we entered the restaurant for dinner, there was no wait to get seated, but the restaurant had quite a few patrons inside. We were seated off to the side near a beverage area consisting of two Coca Cola Freestyle machines as well as juice, and milk. Various stations lined the buffet line with items such as salad, quail, prime rib, brisket, rotisserie chicken, pizza, king crab legs, pastas, soups, Chinese food, oysters, salmon, fruit, sushi, desserts, and caviar. Everything seemed quite fresh, and food was refilled when low. The prime rib was quite tough, but it still went well with the au jus. The brisket was very tender and melted in your mouth. The paella was very tasty and went well with the rockfish. The mac and cheese was delicious, but the prime rib fried rice was very dry and unappealing. There was a nice variety of desserts and soft serve available, and the highlights were the doughnuts and meringues, but eating soft serve was a bit disappointing after the enjoyable meal. Service was consistent at cleaning up our table, but it was also a bit annoying because we sat right next to the door to the back areas. Overall, food variety and quality was pretty good at the Bellagio buffet, but there were definitely shortcomings in terms of ice cream and Chinese food. If you can get a good deal, coupon, or comp, then the Bellagio buffet would be a nice option. You should also make sure to make use of the Coca Cola Freestyle machines since they are so fun to use. Unfortunately, I cannot see myself paying full price for this buffet.

Jan 09

Gallagher’s Steakhouse – Las Vegas, NV

3790 Las Vegas Blvd S

Las Vegas, NV 89109

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Located inside New York New York Hotel and Casino, Gallagher’s Steakhouse travels all the way from New York City to provide their signature cuts of beef to visitors of Las Vegas. Just in case, we made reservations the day before via OpenTable. We arrived a few minutes early, so our table was not ready yet. Just outside the restaurant, you see large chunks of beef going through their own dry-aging process behind glass windows. After a few minutes of waiting, a hostess brought us to our table with menus. One of the runners provided us with water before being greeted by our server. After reviewing the menu, we were ready to order.

Today, we decided to order the Maryland crab cakes, Parmesan & truffle steak fries, dry-aged New York strip, and the cowboy rib-eye. The meal began with some fresh bread and whipped butter. The sourdough had a fairly tough crust, but was flavorful. The other bread was a chewy yet fluffy cranberry or raspberry bread that was delicious. The large crab cakes came next with a deliciously creamy dipping sauce. Each crab cake was loaded with fresh crab with a nice crispy crust on the outside. The crab cake went well with and without the dipping sauce. Each bite tasted fresh like it just came out of the ocean. I would say this was one of the best crab cakes I have ever ate. The steak fries were huge and it looked like it came from a whole potato. You can taste the truffle oil with the Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. The fries went well with ketchup. The dry-aged New York strip tasted tender and was cooked to medium as requested. There was not a lot of fat in the steak, so there were times where it got a bit chewy. The steak did taste good and had a nice char on the outside. However, the cowboy rib-eye was the better steak tonight. The rib-eye cooked medium was a whole lot more tender without having too much added fat. Each bite tasted delicious and you could really taste the high quality meat. As we neared the end of the meal, we realized that we may have over-ordered since we underestimated the size of the steaks.

Overall, Gallagher’s serves up delicious tasting beef with high quality ingredients. The star of the show was really the cowboy rib-eye and not the New York strip as expected. Although the meal was quite tasty, it was very expensive as expected from a high-end steakhouse with a lot of hype. We could have probably shared a porterhouse steak and saved some money and still get an excellent cut of beef. Service was excellent as runners consistently refilled water and the server checked on us often. If you are in Vegas and want a good steak, you can’t really go wrong with Gallagher’s, but just don’t be surprised with the prices.

Jan 05

Lemongrass – Las Vegas, NV

3730 S Las Vegas Blvd

Las Vegas, NV 89109

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Located inside ARIA Resort & Casino, Lemongrass claims to serve authentic Thai cuisine to those visiting the resort. Prior to actually coming to the restaurant, we reviewed the menu and were surprised to find dim sum on the menu for a Thai restaurant. When we approached the main desk, the hostess was not there. We had to wait for a couple of minutes before the hostess came and sat us at an available table. We were provided with menus, and our server came by to take our drink order. The restaurant ambiance is quite fancy and dim, and that is reflected in the menu prices. After reviewing the menu some more, we were ready to order.

Today, we decided to order the phad Thai with chicken, red curry with beef, and a side of steamed rice. We attempted to order dim sum, but the server actually said that the dim sum is pushed in a cart that will be brought around shortly. Not too long after ordering, another server pushed the expensive dim sum cart to our table, and we decided to order the har gow, sui mai, and sticky rice wrap. Both the har gow and sui mai actually come with three pieces instead of the traditional four in each order. The har gow actually contained a very large dense chunk of delicious shrimp and the wrapper was not too thick. The sui mai was quite meaty and savory and had more flavor than most dim sum restaurants. The sticky rice wrap actually contained quite a few different toppings including tender meats and even shrimp, which was quite tasty. Not long after finishing the dim sum, our entrees arrived. The red curry with beef came with a decent amount of beef, but the rice was not included. The curry was ordered hot, and they did not disappoint. The spiciness was perfect and went well with the rice and beef. After digging around the curry bowl some more, we found that there could have been more beef inside, but the beef itself was very good and tender. The phad Thai was ordered without any veggies or peanuts because I was being picky. There was a good quantity of Chicken and egg with the noodles, but the sauce was a bit overly sweet.

Overall, Lemongrass serves up decent tasting food, but the authenticity of the Thai dishes were a bit borderline, and serving dim sum at all was odd since that is a Cantonese specialty. With that said, the expensive dim sum did taste quite good. The Thai dishes didn’t taste bad, but they could have tasted more authentic. Service was pretty good as the server did check on us often and the dim sum cart came around more than once. The value for any of the food was not really there, but that is expected when you dine at the resort. If you have some resort credit or comps, then Lemongrass would be a nice restaurant experience, but I would not want to pay full price for a meal here.

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