China Star is an all-you-can-eat and take out American/Chinese restaurant located in Las Vegas Nevada.
It’s not a fancy place and doesn’t serve upscale food but for what you it’s ok! (not positive but the regular price is low…something like $12…… I came on a holiday so prices were slightly more.)
One word of warning. They did have some of the food labeled but everything seemed inaccurate so you had to figure out what the food was yourself. That is part of the joy of buffets. It’s always a surprise.
Today they actually served the best strawberries that I’ve had in a long time.
I kept going back for strawberries.
A few of the offerings were-
Shellfish and garlic bread.
shrimp and fish dishes
pizza, dumplings and lo mein
beef, chicken, and pork stir fried dishes
sushi, edamame, seaweed salad and more. There also was a soft serve machine.
I didn’t take the fried shrimp but my husband said that they were pretty good today and the cocktail sauce was more flavorful than expected.
They offered two kinds of whitefish today and salmon. I didn’t try the salmon because you never get good salmon on a buffet but did try both whitefish. The one whitefish in the middle of the plate was actually very good. It was seasoned nice and not over cooked. The even milder whitefish (something like swai) to the right was cooked perfect but lacked seasoning. I added Mexican hot sauce to it and it was better. The vegetables were good. Chicken wing looked good. Had a good flavor but also had a spongy unappetizing texture. Went back and tried the teriyaki and that was pretty good.
Made a desert bomb!
Strawberries, vanilla soft serve, coconut pudding, and a doughnut.
It’s ok for what you pay.
China Star
4595 W Charleston Blvd Las Vegas NV – 702-870-1888
Tacos El Gordo is a family owned Mexican Restaurant with three locations in California and four locations in Las Vegas NV. The North Las Vegas location is extra casual. Most of the seating is inside but they do have a few tables outside for when the weather is nice.
On the menu they offer around a variety of beef fillings such as (carne asada, suadero-brisket, cabeza- head meat, lengua-tongue, tripa-guts, Azteca-grilled beef and cactus, masiza, ojos-beef eyes, sesos- brain) or pork (adobada-spiced, bouche-stomach, chorizo-spiced beef & pork, boche-maw stomach), for your tacos, mulas, tostadas, sopes, vampiros or quesadillas.
Ordering at the North Las Vegas location is slightly awkward.
Oh my what to get and where do I go?
When you take a closer look you can see that they have certain meats at the four stations. You might need to go to all four stations depending on what you are ordering.
You move down the line like you are at a cafeteria.
You can get some complimentary fried onions and jalapeño here.
Next you get your beverage, pay, and seat yourself.
cabeza and chorizo tacos
carne asada taco
If you eat beef or pork Tacos El Gordo is Worth a Try!
Tacos El Gordo 3260 Losee Rd North Las Vegas NV – 1-702-641-8228
Lotus of Siam is a James Beard Award Wining Northern Thai Restaurant with a James Beard Award Wining Chef Saipin. Lotus of Siam has three locations in Las Vegas Nevada.
The Red Rock Casino location is very opulent and lavish with hanging lanterns, bamboo and lots of foliage.
just past hostess stand and part of bar area
Bar area
Dining room with open roof
We decided to try an appetizer of chicken wontons.
They are crisp with a small piece of plain chicken in them. They were served with a sweet sauce.
The last Thai dish that I was crazy about was pad prik king so I tried it here with salmon.
It looks similar but taste completely different. I don’t know what to think…I know the base of this dish is red curry so that means the formula here is very different………But the salmon was nicely grilled with char marks and is very moist and flakes.
My husband tried the drunken noodles with duck.
The duck is good but this also taste very different and much milder with flavors than we are used too. I do need to mention that the duck was prepared especially well.
That was my trip to Lotus of Siam Red Rock Restaurant Las Vegas NV
This recipe is a variation of the Ottolengi Test Kitchen’s Middle Eastern Mac ‘N’ Cheese with Za’atar Pesto. I made it a few months back and it was SO FORKING AMAZING!!!!!!!! Incase you don’t know Yotam Ottolenghi is a famous chef, restauranteur, and multi award and James Beard winning cookbook author. Anyways that Middle Eastern Mac ‘N’ Cheese really was FORKING Amazing…. so
Middle Eastern Mac & Cheese with Za’atar Pesto & Crisp Onions
I thought these same flavors would also be great on a flatbread so I gave it a try.
I made my own bread and my own crisp onions but you can buy a flat bread already made. I always just wing bread because bread recipes are very rarely perfect to the brand flour you buy. They are all ground different so your results will differ. I basically made the bread the way I try to describe on how I make pizza dough. You can look that up on The Forking Truth if you like. The onions are easy. Either you can buy them already made crisp in a bag or slice onions yourself and coat them in either flour or cornstarch and fry in oil on medium heat till crisp. After that all I had to do was to make a cheese foundation that taste like what was on the pasta from the original recipe and then make the pesto. Serving size is difficult to judge. This recipe makes enough to dress two 14 inch breads that I cut into 16 small slices. I don’t know if you want one, two, three, or four slices to eat? I think the majority of people will eat two slices so I’ll guesstimate 8 smaller servings.
Ingredients for around 8 servings
2 – 14 inch flat breads
1/2 cup crisp onions
5 Tablespoons butter room temperature – topping
3 garlic cloves – ground to paste – topping
1/8 teaspoon turmeric – topping
1+ 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin – topping
5 Tablespoons cream cheese
1 + 1/3 cup mature cheddar cheese – shredded
6 + 1/3 oz feta cheese – crumbled
sea salt – to taste
black pepper – to taste
1 lemon – zest & supreme the segments and chop the supremes, squeeze what’s left not to waste the juice – pesto
3 Tablespoons za’atar – pesto
1 cup either parsley, cilantro, or celery leaves or a bit of each – rough chopped – pesto
1 garlic clove – ground to paste – pesto
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts – lightly crushed – pesto
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – pesto
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – to oil pan
Directions
Depending on your bread depends on the temperature you need. If you are using a purchased bread you only need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. If you are baking a pizza type dough then you would need a higher temperature on what your pan or stone can handle between 450 and 500 degrees F.
Make topping- In a medium bowl combine butter, garlic, turmeric, cumin, cream cheese, cheddar, and feta cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set to the side.
Make pesto – In a small bowl combine zest, lemon supremes, any lemon juice that you can squeeze from the skins you removed from the supremes, za’atar, cup of leaves (parsley, cilantro, and or celery), garlic, pine nuts, olive oil. You will want to blend this slightly. It is easiest if you have a stick blender. Or you can muddle it with a mortar and pestle.
Preheat your oven to at least 350 degrees F.
Place a bread on an oiled pan.
Spread 1/2 of topping on bread. (other 1/2 goes on 2nd bread)
This goes in oven till hot. (about 10 minutes)
Next – take out of oven and add up to 1/2 of pesto. (Some goes on 2nd bread)
Finish with crisp onions and slice and serve!
Cheddar & Feta Flatbread with Za’atar Pesto & Fried Onions
A Special THANKS!!!!!!!!! to Ottolenghi Test Kitchen so I could come up with what I got here!
I haven’t had these Kettle Brand Truffle Oil & Sea Salt Chips in a while. I noticed that they were on sale and decided to pick up a bag since they were pretty good last time.
I didn’t notice that they changed the formula until I ate the first chip. They are noticeably MUCH CRUNCHIER….like shattering crisp……..almost too crisp…..
BUT THEY ALSO TASTE DIFFERENT!!!!!
The first few chips I tasted were like over seasoned granulated onion…..
Then the third chip was like LOTS of truffle essence and too much salt and other flavors for me.
I wonder if I got a defective bag of chips when the factory machine that squirts the flavoring went berserk?
Anyways-
I’m hoping that a supply of the original formula is around and shows up at the 99Cent or Dollar Store.
I’m not a fan of this new Bolder Crunchier Truffle Oil and Sea Salt Chips…BUT I MUST NOTE that YOUR FORKING Opinion may indeed differ.
SNS Diner & BBQ is located in North Las Vegas Nevada. This restaurant is also known as Southern Nevada Smokehouse. They offer breakfast, and a lunch/dinner menu of comfort foods, daily special and bbq. This unique restaurant offers traditional seating, bar seating, an outdoor patio, counter seating, and a drive thru. Maybe if they seem familiar you might have seen them on Food Network’s Diners-Drive-Inns and Dives.
We started off with corn bread and honey butter.
The cornbread is moist and not too sweet. It also has a nice corn flavor to it.
They had a smoked pastrami sandwich on the menu so I gave it a try.
The smoked pastrami has a nice texture. Not too much fat but just enough. It’s nicely seasoned on toasted marble rye. There is also a small amount of kraut and Swiss cheese on the sandwich and it came with this really great Carolina type mustard. One side comes with the sandwich and this macaroni and cheese is actually good!
Below is the three meat plate with rice and beans.
Today nothing was bad but some things were better than other things. I heard that the pulled pork and hot links were good. The rice and beans were very good. The brisket was very lean and wasn’t bad but was the least flavorful and on the dry side. It is important to know that all barbecue does vary by the hour. They have to prepare the meats in advance and the tricky part is timing it for you. Also with brisket the lean and fatty parts differ and also taste different so what you get can differ on every visit.
Chengdu Taste is very well received for Szechuan Food and by some this restaurant is considered to be one of the best Sichuan restaurants in America.
You see a wall of colorful swimming fish with rhinestone eyes on the entrance wall.
The Las Vegas location in China Town isn’t a fancy place and it’s very small. You also need a cellphone to see the QR menu.
We started out by sharing the cucumber salad.
It’s light and refreshing. It is also a very large portion.
We ordered two entrees not realizing each entree is more than one serving.
I got 4 meals out of the boiled fish with green pepper sauce.
The mild white fish seems very fresh and is prepared to perfection. The broth is very mild and is embellished with crispy cucumbers, Sichuan peppercorns, serrano peppers, and bean sprouts. This dish is spicy and mouth numbing. Most of the dishes on the menu were marked with one, two, or three Chile peppers to let you know the heat level. This dish was marked with one Chile pepper and it was very hot.
The boiled beef in hot sauce was made with expertly tender beef. It was marked two Chile peppers but was tame compared to the boiled fish in green pepper sauce. We also got a bowl of steamed rice.
Everything was good and service was efficient. It also was a very good value with all the extra meals I got out of it.
Basilico Ristorante Italiano is a modern high quality Italian Restaurant located in southwest Las Vegas Nevada.
They have an indoor-outdoor bar and a patio for when the weather is nice.
They also have traditional seating with classic Italian movies minus the sound playing.
Recently it was restaurant week (extended to June 23 2023). So we got a nice sampling of things. We added on the bread basket olio d’oliva +balsamico with buffalo ricotta because it sounded really great and it was……
We got more goodies than we could eat here but it all was very good. My favorite bread were the herbed bread sticks. The cheese tasted like it was fresh made and was really different. It had shaved bitter chocolate on it that added a really different complexity to the bread. It was a great surprise I never had anything like that before. I bet your grandpa hasn’t had anything like this either.
My first course was the burrata.
It was an artsy rainbow carrot salad with sorrel pistachio pesto. It was tasty and not too heavy.
My husband went for the gnocco fritto.
It was a nice Italian Nosh plate. It had stracciatella cheese, adobbo di parma, red onion, arugula, hand made crackers, and Lambrusco jam.
Next were the pasta courses.
I had the spaghetti.
I do have to say that this is the most perfect spaghetti that I have ever had. It’s a little too much food for me so my husband steps in to finish this for me. After all I still have dinner and dessert.
My husband had the cavatelli norcina.
It’s a fennel seed sausage ragu with sottocenere cheese. I heard that it was very good. I never heard of sottocenere cheese before have you?
For my main I tried the branzino. It’s fancy and colorful. It’s embellished with micro greens.
The fish is surrounded by Meyer lemon nage sauce and a squash blossom and some unusual but delicious caponata complete the plate.
My husband had the short ribs.
This came with a really deluxe maitake mushroom and was also was made with impossible to find castelmagno cheese. My husband enjoyed this very much.
We also had parmigiano gelato for dessert. They serve the gelato table side here because your server preforms molecular gastronomy here.
They sure don’t do this at grandpa’s Italian restaurant.
Actually this is very complex and detailed and delicious.
The fresh made parmigiano gelato is served with lemon ginger pound cake, some poached sliced pear, and Saba. It’s all delicious together.
I have to say…….
Basilico Ristorante Italiano is Worth a Fork!
Worth a Fork!
Basilico Ristorante Italiano
6111 South Buffalo Drive Las Vegas NV – 702-534-7716
A corn muffin is very easy to prepare. I gave these corn muffins a southwest twist by using masa de harina, green chilies and cheese to basic corn muffins. This recipes makes 24 small muffins. Extras can be frozen for latter use. Latter I found out that they make a FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS filling for fresh fish. They actually sell fresh fish at supermarkets here….WOW if you can get some fresh mild white fish by where you live you can make something incredible.
Ingredients for 24 servings
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup masa de harina
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter room temperature (either salted or unsalted butter will work here. – I usually use unsalted but got salted by accident and I thought I had enough salt so I’m adding sea salt to taste to recipe)
sea salt – to taste
1 egg – lightly beaten
2/3 cup non fat dry milk (or just one cup milk and skip the water in this recipe)
1 cup water
1 cup scallions – sliced thin
4 roasted chili peppers – peeled, stem & seeds removed – well chopped (I used Anaheims but many different ones are delicious…You might need more or less chilies depending on what kind you use)
2 cups mostly cheddar cheese – cut in small pea sized cubes.
1/2 cup cilantro – well chopped (thin stems are good but thick stems should be thrown out)
Directions
Set oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl mix together the masa de harina, corn meal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, dry milk, (and salt if using). Next mix in the butter, egg, water, scallion, chili peppers, cheese and cilantro.
You use paper cupcake liners because the cheesy muffins might stick to the pan.
Fill the cupcake liners a little over 1/2 way.
In my oven on middle rack the muffins were done in 15 minutes. Timing may differ slightly.
Green Chili & Cheese Corn Muffins
They are tasty and moist. Everyone will enjoy!
But after I made them I discovered that they make a FORKING AMAZING STUFFING for mild white fish. I cut a muffin in half and rolled a sole filet around half a muffin.
I rolled sole filets around 1/2 muffins and added my home made salsa to the tops of them and popped them in a 350 degree F oven on an oiled baking sheet for 20 minutes. They came out FORKING AMAZING!
Van Leeuwen is a high or higher quality supermarket French Style Ice Cream. I found this brand ice cream for sale at Sprouts grocery and Walmart. Sprouts sells their regular flavors of ice cream and I noticed that Walmart sells Leeuwen limited edition flavors that happen to have more ingredients in them.
I saw Limited Edition Leeuwen Cherries Jubilee so I thought I’d give that a try.
I open it up and try some.
It’s really creamy with a great mouth feel but it isn’t sweet at all. It taste more like alcohol than cherry ice cream. The cherries taste like alcohol too. It also has a slight sourness to it. WTFork is in here?
It’s not bad…I don’t feel the need to throw it up but it’s not a flavor that I would go for again. To me it taste more like a rich creamy and chunky bar drink without the buzz.
Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Van Leeuwen Bourbon Cherries Jubilee. I do note that your forking thoughts may indeed differ.
