Gung Chae Korean Healthy Kitchen recently opened their second location in Nevada. The Centennial Las Vegas Location is small and casual. You order and pay at the counter and seat yourself.
I tried the Spicy Chicken Hot Stone Pot Bibimbap.
It came with a small plate of kimchi and a plate of cabbage salad. The chunks of chicken are tender and delicious and flavorful. Not too spicy….There’s also bean sprouts, carrots, lettuce, a little nori, and rice. On the side is Korean hot sauce that isn’t too hot. It just delicious!
My husband tried the same thing but with Bulgogi (beef) instead of chicken.
The Beef Bulgogi is not bad but not nearly as delicious and flavorful as the chicken.
We didn’t know the servings would be so large and also tried the daily Banchan sides because you always have Banchan with Korean food.
Cucumber and potato salad…Forgot what the other two were but they were tasty.
Proper Sandwich is a little sandwich shop maybe 20 minutes away from the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. It’s a small casual place where you order and pay at the counter. They offer a good variety of good quality sandwiches. They also offer sides, house made potato chips, bottled and canned soft beverages, beer, and wine.
I tried the Chicken Banh Mi Sandwich.
It’s on a baguette bread with Duke’s Mayonnaise. There is plump moist white and dark meat chicken, fresh herbs with cilantro, pickled carrots and radish. There are also pieces of cucumber. It differs slightly from another that I was used to but I do think that this sandwich is very good.
We also shared some salted house made potato chips that were very good.
My husband tried the Italian Beef with added Italian Sausage. This came with a cup of Au Jus that I didn’t photo.
It’s a messy sandwich but messy sandwiches are often very good. VERY GOOD I hear and almost perfect. Very good beef, sausage, au jus, giardiniera, and bread but the sausage was slightly over cooked but not bad.
The Market Grill Cafe is a full service Greek/Italian Mediterranean Restaurant and Bar located in the Centennial Area of North/West Las Vegas Nevada. They offer appetizers like Saganaki (Flaming Cheese with lemon and Brandy), Tabouli, Baba Ganoush, Soups, and Salads. They also offer Greek Favorites like Moussaka (beef, eggplant, potato casserole), Pastitsio (beef macaroni pie), Spanakopita (spinach and cheese pastry), entrees, pastas, lamb dishes. Their signature dish happens to be Pomegranate Chicken. They also offer several house made desserts.
They do offer some patio seating for when the weather is right. Inside are traditional tables, and bar seating. At certain hours they also have live music.
Most likely you will try the Saganaki (Flaming cheese embellished with lemon and brandy) It come out on a skillet like a fajita.
It looks like this when the flames calm down and come with flat breads to scoop it up.
Another appetizer is the Mediterranean Medley –
Hummus, Tabouli, Babaganoush, Greek Salad, Dolmades, and Falafels
Or maybe you just want a Gyro Plate
Entrees come with a Greek Side Salad.
Here is their famous and Signature Dish The Pomegranate Chicken – Pomegranate and Walnut sauce, moist chicken breast, rice, pitas, hummus
Below is the White Fish Scallopini
A few other entrees are –
The Greek Trio (Spanakopita (spinach-cheese pastry), Moussaka (beef, eggplant potato casserole), Pastito (beef macaroni pie) with rice, pitas, hummus)
Below is what they call the Momma Mia’s Chicken
It’s moist Rosemary Chicken with Preserved Figs, Goat Cheese, Pistachios, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Balsamic Reduction. Lemon Herb Potatoes, Pitas, and Hummus complete the plate.
Monzu Italian Oven is Located not to far from the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. The Chef recently has been awarded Chef of the Year from the Nevada Restaurant Association. They offer a traditional Italian Menu, bar drinks, and wines. They also offer a variety of Sharing Menus. We always go for the $62. (subject to change) Chefs Table Sharing Menu.
It always differs some but they always start you off with their amazing five day crafted natural bread made with a 300 year old family apricot starter. It comes embellished with house made ricotta cheese and olive oil.
Next was a board filled with meats, cheeses, sage wrapped anchovies and other goodies.
Then come a variety of salads.
You always get some of their amazing pizza with embellishments of mascarpone cream and Calabrian Chiles.
Two pasta courses- Tonight it was pillowy gnocchi in gorgonzola sauce with walnuts
and Crepe Bolognese Lasagna
Next it is two main courses.
Tonight it was Crispy Skin Sea bream with leek potatoes
and Hanger Steak with Roasted Potatoes and Salsa Verde
The Sweet Ending was Cannoli and an Italian Doughnut with Citrus Cream
Monzu Italian Oven’s $62. Chefs Table Sharing Menu is Worth a Fork!
I recently read a local article stating the authors favorite salads in Las Vegas. I don’t think they’ve tasted what I’ve tasted and here is my take on best salads from what I’ve tried so far.
A really great salad that is really near the top is the Smoked Salmon Salad from Yoshiya Kitchen.
Romaine, REAL anchovy dressing, parmesan, toasted crumbs, black pepper (I once worked in a fine dining restaurant and made Caesar Salads Table-side so I really do know how a Caesar should taste) This Caesar I have to rate as #1 for Caesar.
For another traditional Caesar. The one from Rang’s Cocina Moderne is also one of the best.
This salad is very good and very close to Ferraro’s Ristorante’s Caesar. It’s just slightly a thinner dressing and is slightly light with black pepper for a Caesar Salad but still is very good and up there above nearly all the Caesars I tried..
The other Caesar that needs to be mentioned is the NON-TRADITIONAL Caesar from Soulbelly BBQ.
This one is very unique and DECONSTRUCTED. If you taste a green by its self flavors are missing……..Then there are these SURPRISE and amazing cornbread croutons that contain all the missing flavors from the dressing and the salad POPS! (I added the very good BBQ turkey to make this salad a complete meal)
Below is the cucumber salad from Din Tai Fung.
It’s the best Asian Cucumber Salad that I have ever tasted.
The Insalata Nizzarda from Matteo’s (in the Venetian Hotel/Casino)
The Salad from Namu Korean Tapas and BBQ was amazing.
It was this scrumptious mix of sweet, cheesy, lettuce, tomatoes, nuts, and their spectacular house made ricotta cheese. It was super delicious!
One of the most exciting salads was the Sandiada Salad from Aroma Latin American Cocina.
Watermelon, soft greens, jicama, cashews, …….just magical…TOMATOES NIXTAMALAS and Chamoy Vin. I’m speechless. Really delicious and I never had anything like this before.
Food News – The BEST Salads I’ve tried in Vegas So Far…….
By accident I invented Halvah Fudge. I was reading several recipes for halvah……I also read a lot of complaints that most of them didn’t work out as well as people hoped for. This is my first try at it. It came out delicious. Anyone would like it as a confection. I think the cubes would also be FORKING FANTASTIC chocolate coated. I added around a 1/2 cup of pistachios. I added maybe a 1/3 of a 1/2 cup to the batter and some for the top and bottom. Do what you want for yours…a different nut? some chocolate chips? This makes 8-16 servings depending on if you eat one or two squares.
Ingredients for 8-16 servings
3/4 cup tahini
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup water
optional 1/2 cup pistachios
Directions
Spray a small tray (Like a take out container I didn’t measure it but it was something like 5×7 inches) with non stick spray. Add a few nuts if adding nuts and set to the side.
Mix all the ingredients well in a microwavable dish (I used a Corningware bowl) Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave 2 minutes (mix in nuts)
Pour mixture into small tray. Top with some nuts if using nuts.
Cover with plastic wrap and let chill over night in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!!!!
Halvah Fudge
Then I chocolate covered them and topped with a few more pistachios.
Asian Wok is an American/Chinese casual restaurant located in North/West Las Vegas Nevada. They offer most of the usual American/Chinese take out dishes and they also offer some of the popular Thai Dishes and do offer a children’s menu. Soft beverages are served here. It’s casual here. You order and pay at the counter. It’s also not a fancy place but it seems clean.
They started us off with fried crispy noodles and duck sauce.
I tried the Szechuan Chicken with brown rice.
It’s full of a variety of fresh vegetables and some of them are broccoli, snow peas, bell peppers, onion, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, carrots, and zucchini. The white meat chicken is nice and tender…..This sauce is the very first and only sauce so far that taste like something I would get at most east cost American Chinese Restaurants. It is spicy but not too spicy and is not flat or too sweet. It’s full of flavors and taste great…This is the best I’ve tried since I moved to Nevada.
My husband tried the Black Pepper Beef.
The beef was tender and he thought it was very good.
We’ll be back to try more!
Asian Wok is the most similar American/Chinese Food we’ve tried so far in Vegas!
Balla Italian Soul has won several awards and is by a James Beard Award Wining Chef. This restaurant is located in the Sahara Hotel/Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada.
It’s beautiful and rich looking inside.
It just feels like you are in a nice place.
We went with the three course special for single orders…..(the three course menu on the menu and website is for parties of four or more)
Not included but we added on focaccia with taralli crackers.
The bread is light and airy and seems freshly made.
First course is Caesar Salad.
The baby romaine is nice, fresh and crisp. I think that the dressing taste more like ranch dressing than Caesar dressing….It was also odd that the food runner didn’t offer black pepper. Our server offered black pepper when we were around halfway finished. After finishing we wait about 20 minutes for our next courses.
Casarecce – tomatoes, garlic, basil, Calabrian Chili
Rigatoni Fra Diavolo – Shrimp, Calamari, Bell Pepper, and Mint
Both were cooked nicely but neither was spicy.
We waited at least another 20 minutes for the next course.
We both had the Sea Bream for our third course.
The Sea Bream was garnished with greens and was served in a lemon butter type sauce and came with mushy broccolini and potato puree with a parmesan crust.
The fish was cooked nicely but was an extra small portion. The broccolini was mushy. The potatoes were tasty.
My husband asked for a refill on his water but never got his refill.
It was also a birthday reservation but nothing happened so we paid and left.
Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese Restaurant that specializes in serving steamed dumplings and noodle dishes. They have at least twenty locations with eleven in California, one coming to Scottsdale Arizona, one in British Columbia and one in New York, two in Oregon, four in Washington, and one in the Aria Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas Nevada.
The Las Vegas location is very large and very busy.
With multiple dining areas on multiple levels. They also have en exhibition kitchen.
This cucumber salad is amazing. This by far is the best cucumber salad I’ve ever tasted.
This next dish is good but was my least favorite because it was very bland and needed condiments. It was the cod dumplings….Again not bad but not exciting at all.
Next was the noodles with diced beef and Szechuan pepper. To my surprise this is NOT too hot spicy…..It’s good.
I thought the chicken and mushroom buns had a nice flavor but the chicken meatball inside was a little hard.
The CRAZY FORKING AMAZING DISH was the spicy chicken wontons….WOW were they delicious and not too spicy.
OMG! The sauce is so great that I would buy it by the gallon.
