Dona Marie Tamales is a well known Mexican Restaurant and bar with two locations in Las Vegas Nevada. The North Summerlin Location has a large bar area on one side of the restaurant and a very large dining area on the other side of the restaurant. Below is part of the dining area.

Whatever you order they start you off with warm chips and a spicy salsa.

The salsa is hot and vinegary tasting. It also is not the type that has vegetable chunks and herbs.

Someone has to try a tamale since this is a tamale restaurant.

When you open up the tamale it looks like this.

It’s very generous with shredded chicken.

I tried the Dona Maria Fajita Taco Salad (with cheese and sour cream on the side)

They gave a good amount of white meat chicken that is moist and seems marinated because it does have extra flavor to it. They also were generous with TONS of fried onions under the chicken. Also hiding in there is a loose wet guacamole. Today someone slipped with the oil because the salad has a lot oil in it from the onions.

My husband also tried the #27 green chili pork with rice and beans and house made tortillas.

He said the best of what he tried here were the house made tortillas that he said were delicious. The rest was just ok. The meat and beans were on the dry side today.

Today I thought was somewhere around average. Not the worst but also not the best. About average.

Dona Maria Tamales

3205 N Tenaya Way Las Vegas NV

702-656-1600

www.DonaMariaTamales.com

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Ferraro’s Ristorante is an Italian Restaurant and Bar located in Las Vegas Nevada not too far from the Las Vegas Strip. They happen to offer a three course lunch for only $28. If you make a reservation you get to sit on this side of the main dining area.

And if you don’t make a reservation then you get seated by the bar side.

They start you off with a roll and oil adorned with pistachios.

This time I started with the Bufala Caprese.

My husband started with the Cesare Salad.

For my main I had the Salmone Limone.

(It’s prepared a perfect medium with a nice moist fresh tasting center and the skin is masterfully crisp and tasty like a potato chip)

My husband enjoyed the Pollo Milanese.

We both enjoyed a sweet ending of Cannoli.

The 3 course $28. Love Your Lunch from Ferraro’s Ristorante is still Worth a Fork!

Ferraro’s Ristorante

4480 Paradise Rd Las Vegas NV

702-364-5300

www.FerrarosLasVegas.com

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Rutba Indian Kitchen is located in the Las Vegas Chinatown not too far from the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. Rutba Indian Kitchen is located in a small center of mostly restaurants on the second level so you have to walk up steps or use the elevator to enter. Once you get in it’s beautiful and modern inside.

It looks like they have a full bar inside and I also saw a built in buffet that is only for use on holidays.

We started with a Samosa Chaat (crispy samosas with spiced chickpeas and chuneys) and a Pani Puri (crispy shells with spicy and tangy fillings).

Samosa Chaat – Much different than any other samosa chaat I’ve tried. Never had one that was all chopped up before.

Pani Puri – The shells are made nicely (thin and crisp) Flavors are similar but more delicate than others I’ve tried.

and of course you have to get one of breads so we tried the Garlic Chili Naan Bread

The Naan was Very aggressive with strong garlic and chili –

We shared the Chicken Korma (onion based chicken gravy with blended nuts) that comes with rice.

In this dish the chicken was masterfully tender. I thought the sauce was good.

We also shared the Chana Masala (chickpea curry).

This also came with rice. A little different from others I’ve tried but tasty.

Portions were generous and we brought back leftovers.

Rutba Indian Kitchen

5115 Spring Mountain Rd Las Vegas NV

www.RutbaIndianKitchen.com

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ShangHai Taste is a famous Shanghainese Dumpling Restaurant located in the Las Vegas Chinatown Shanghai Plaza. They are famous for a thicker fried soup dumpling called Shen Jian. They also offer appetizers like Shanghai duck, Shanghai Style Pork Ribs, and cold sliced tongue in Sichuan Sauce. They also offer steamed Bao and Dumplings, Soups, and Wontons, Fried Rice, Noodle Dishes, and more.

This restaurant has been featured in many publications and the chef has been a James Beard Semi-Finalist.

As you walk in you can see them at work in the exhibition kitchen.

You can sit at a counter in front of the kitchen or take a traditional seat in the dining room.

The tables are set with hot tea, plates, chopsticks, condiment bowls, a menu with a pen and checklist. You fill out the list of what you want to order and someone picks it up and you get plates ran out to you. They do have four condiments to embellish the dishes. Off to the side they have chili paste, chili oil, soy sauce, and vinegar.

We tried a variety of things –

Angus Beef Jian (pan fried beef dumplings)

They are constructed masterfully and they hold a good amount of soup in them.

For my taste today the soup is too salty and the beef just tastes like boiled beef. (I don’t know if this is typical)

Scallion Pancakes – Very greasy today and very light on the scallions

Scallion Chicken Salad – A generous amount of moist pulled chicken (I thought this was the best of the bunch)

Vegan Dumplings – light on the filling and not very flavorful

Fish Dumplings – Lots of mild white fish inside with a small amount of scallion but – Unseasoned

Their FAMOUS Shen Jian (pork) Pan Fried Dumplings – My husband said that these had even less flavor than the beef ones.

Maybe Shanghainese Food is suppose to taste unseasoned?

Shanghai Taste

4266 Spring Mountain Rd Las Vegas NV

702-570-6363

No Website

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Firefly Tapas Kitchen & Bar is a Spanish Tapas Restaurant and Bar with two locations in Vegas. They offer various hot and cold small tapas plates, paellas, sangria, and much more. The Hughes Center Drive location is quite large and also is located very close to the Las Vegas Strip. This location has an outside patio, a bar – (below is bar area)

And lots more beautiful and rich looking dining areas.

It’s hard to decide what to order and how many plates to order. Our server recommended 3 or 4 small plates a person. Maybe we ordered the hardier plates and found that a total of 4 plates was plenty for the two of us.

Whatever you order they start you off with complimentary bread that comes with delicious almond honey butter.

Our first tapas plate was the Tuna Tartare (marinated ahi tuna, sesame dressing, taro chips)

Gosh this was delicious! It’s also spicy that we weren’t expecting. It’s so flavorful that it turned out to be our favorite plate. (wasn’t expecting that)

The Spicy Beef Salad was also very good (filet mignon, orange soy dressing, pickled ginger, romaine, salsa verde, wontons)

The filet was tasty and tender like butter. The flavors were interesting. But the surprise was that it was less spicy than the Tuna Tartare.

Next was Chicken Skewers (mojo-mojo glazed chicken, roast garlic cream)

On this one I really liked the chicken because it was tasty and tender and developed with god flavors. The sauce to me tastes more similar to mayo than to roasted garlic…..

Last plate was the Manchego Mac-N-Cheese with Tomato Pepper Relish.

The Mac-N-Cheese came out with a crispy thin crust and a little bite of tomato/pepper embellishment.

In general all the food was very good so Firefly Tapas Kitchen & Bar is Worth a Fork!

Firefly Tapas Kitchen & Bar

335 Hughes Center Dr. Las Vegas NV

702-369-3971

www.FireflyLV.com

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Bite of Europe is a European Style Bar and Restaurant located in the North-West Part of Las Vegas Nevada. They offer things like Beef Stroganoff, Schnitzel, Pelmeni, Pierogi, and Specials.

The regular menu items we tried were all reasonably good.

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

Peach Dessert

Potato and Cheese Pierogi

Turkey Stuffed Cabbage

Then we tried specials on our second visit.

Khachapuri Adjaruli – Bread filled with cheeses and an egg yolk that you mix into the cheese. (bread was a bit raw and lacking salt and the cheese ran bitter)

Goulash Stew – Tasty but pork was dry and stringy.

Chicken Parikash with spetzel – This just didn’t taste good. My husband tasted it and said, “THAT’S WEIRD TASTING.”

Bite of Europe – Hit & Miss – Safer to go with the regular menu and to avoid the specials.

Bite of Europe 10040 W Cheyenne Ave Las Vegas NV

725-254-0095

www.BitesofEurope.net

Every THING is subject to change.