Category Archives: Forking Restaurant Reviews

Honest unbiased reviews based on actual experiences

Michoacan Gourmet Mexican Restaurant – Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

Michoacan Gourmet Mexican Restaurant has a location in the Centennial Part of Las Vegas. This location gets very busy and also has a bar.

They start you off with complimentary chips, spicy salsa, and refried beans.

Most of the entrees also include a cup of Fideo Soup (tomato/chicken broth with thin noodles).

For dinner I tried the Pollo Al Mojo De Ajo (chicken with wine, garlic, and guajillo pepper and house made flour tortillas). It normally comes with rice and beans but I special ordered mixed vegetables instead of beans. They also garnished the plates with some guacamole.

My husband tried the Steak Piccado (N.Y. Strip, Espanela (not sure but translates as cheese and also translates to Brazilian Tequila?), tomatillo, onions, tomatoes, jalapeƱos, and cilantro). This also was served with rice and beans and house made flour tortillas.

Both meals are reasonably good but entrees ran very mild with heat unlike the salsa……

Michoacan Gourmet Mexican Restaurant is Worth a Try!

Michoacan Gourmet Mexican Restaurant

7870 W Tropical Parkway Las Vegas NV

702-385-4636

www.MichoacanLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

The Bagel Cafe Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork!

The Bagel Cafe is a bakery, deli, restaurant, and bar. They do have a ghost kitchen location in downtown Las Vegas and a full service location about 15 minutes from the strip. Bagels and other baked goods are baked fresh every day. They also offer a variety of house roasted meats. They offer breakfast, salads, house made soups, Smoked fish plates, over stuffed sandwiches, pizza bagels, meat platters, dinners, a kids menu and They even squeeze their fresh orange juice. They also serve bar drinks.

Up in front is the deli and bakery.

Behind the deli and bakery are packed dining rooms.

Whatever you order they start you off with crispy bagel chips with house whipped cream cheese.

Here’s the house roasted and smoked pastrami sandwich with potato salad.

It taste the way it looks.

Here’s a side order of belly lox (smoked fish here is from Acme or Banner of New York)

The belly lox today taste very good. I’ve been told that certain times of year it runs more salty.

Above is the smoked fish combo platter for one with Nova Lox, Whitefish, and an Everything Bagel (for one person that can eat like two….or more)

The Nova is very good and better than from another well known deli that uses Acme brand lox but uses the pre-cut. – Pretty Good!

The Bagel Cafe is certainly Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

The Bagel Cafe

301 N Buffalo Dr Las Vegas NV

702-255-3444

www.TheBagelCafeLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Taste Budz Creole Kitchen North Las Vegas NV – Toughest Beef of the Year

I heard positive things about Taste Budz Creole Kitchen on Eater Las Vegas so I wanted to give this restaurant a try. It’s a casual mostly Cajun type restaurant with two locations in North Las Vegas Nevada.

I read on Eater Las Vegas that the Chef is someone known as Celebrity Chef Trish. (Her likeness is painted on the wall below.)

It is very casual. You order and pay at the counter.

Lots of bright paintings on the walls to look at while you are waiting for your order.

I tried to eat the Jerk Salmon Entree with Macaroni and Cheese and Sweet Potatoes.

There is gross black stuff on the fish that might be leftover crud from a flat top or pan. The fish has a weird texture and is almost impossible to cut with a fork. But the taste is worst. It is so hot that it is not edible. The macaroni and cheese was re-heated too many times so it’s not so good. The sweet potatoes are like canned and are turning to mush.

The Cajun steak is so tough that even an alligator would give up on trying to eat it…. The food served to us I would consider it to be below standard and I would not recommend.

The toughest beef of the year came from –

Taste Budz Creole Kitchen

1917 N Decatur Blvd North Las Vegas NV

702-245-3067

www.TasteBudzCreoleKitchen.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Most Over Priced Meal of The Year – The Veranda at The Four Seasons Las Vegas NV

The Veranda is an eloquent breakfast-brunch-lunch type of restaurant located in the Four Seasons Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip that is connected to Mandalay Bay Hotel/Casino. We all know that it isn’t going to be cheap to eat anywhere in the Four Seasons………….I didn’t plan to dine here but got kinda stuck….We were going to the aquarium so I planned to dine in Mandalay Bay at The Border Grill but it was closed for holiday vacation and there are very few choices in Mandalay Bay for lunch. I thought The Veranda offered a nice menu and was walking distance so I gave it a try.

Anyways-

It’s formal inside with a bar and sort of retro seats at the tables. There is a patio that looks nice for when the weather is right.

I ordered an iced tea……I said, “I’d like a plain iced tea.” The server looked at me like I was from Mars and said, “Don’t you want a flavored iced tea?” It took him maybe 15 minutes to bring my ($10.) ice tea.

The highlight of our lunch was the crispy lemongrass cauliflower with sweet chili sauce ($20.).

They do give a generous amount of cauliflower that is breaded and fried to perfection. It lightly laced with lemongrass. It taste good without the sauce……The sauce cancels out the lemongrass taste and you get left with a sort of Chinese Take Out Duck Sauce Taste……This would taste much better with something that compliments like a citrus soy sort of sauce….

I try the Blue Fin Tuna NiƧoise salad (I didn’t notice that it is $37…..It’s written real tiny and light on the menu)

To tell The FORKING Truth it’s not awful but it isn’t so great either………Most of it is tasteless. They squirted some tomato vinaigrette on the top that is sort of sweet with very little flavor. The tuna is ok but also with little flavor……..Nothing flavors the vegetables or egg. I almost never add salt and pepper to plates out but had to here. Even the green beans are plain. I asked my husband to taste one……He said, it taste like a boiled green bean. It’s pretty darn disappointing for $37. The blue fin tuna nicoise I had from Matteo’s in the Venetian was only $20. and much better….

My husband tried a Diablo Flatbread ($25.).

He was disappointed because the crust was like a cross between a super thin pita bread and a cracker…..and he thought the surface would have tomato sauce. He said that only around the ends was the tomato sauce topped with cheese, sausage, and pepperoni. It’s also small in size and he left hungry.

I don’t mind paying more for food if it is exceptional but here that is not the case. The most over priced meal of the year was from The Veranda at The Four Seasons in Las Vegas NV.

3960 S Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-632-5000

www.FourSeasons.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Ferraro’s Ristorante 3 Course $28. Lunch is Worth a Fork! – Las Vegas NV

Ferraro’s Ristorante is a very nice Italian Restaurant and Bar Located not far from the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. It has a very rice formal looking atmosphere.

Patio dining is also available for when the weather is right.

We went with the three course lunch for $28. (subject to change).

They started us off with complimentary fresh baked rolls with oil that was embellished with balsamic vinegar and PISTACHIOS.

My husband ordered an extra appetizer and tried the Polpette (meatballs) e Polenta.

He said it was delicious and much better than what you get at a lot of OTHER Italian restaurants.

First courses for us were –

A Very Good and modern style Cesare Salad.

And a very tasty.

The Ferraro’s Salad – mixed greens, carrots, tomatoes, Parm cheese, cranberries, sunflower seeds, PISTACHIOS, and balsamic dressing.

Main course were –

Pillowy potato gnocchi in PISTACHIO pesto with tomato and crispy basil.

and-

Salmon Limone – salmon was fresh tasting and prepared with a moist center, yellow & green squash, and asparagus were nice fresh and tender crisp too.

The sweet endings were-

Cannoli

And-

The signature house dessert PISTACHIO Passion.

The Three Course Lunch from Ferraro’s Ristorante ($28. per person subject to change) is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Ferraro’s Ristorante

4480 Paradise Rd Las Vegas NV

702-364-5300

www.FerrarosLasVegas.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

NORMS – Las Vegas NV – Least Notable Meal of the Week

NORMS are famous 24/7 California Diner Restaurants and one opened fairly recently in Las Vegas Nevada not too far from the strip. I only heard good things about NORMS and saw them featured on several local TV Shows so I wanted to give them a try. It’s very busy and energetic inside.

It also looks like a diner inside with a mix of all kinds of different tables, bar seating and booths. There are several dining areas on different sides of the bar.

We went with entrees and they are reasonably priced and come with soup and salad. We started with soups…..(actually my husband eat them both because they are not for me)

Creamy chicken noodle soup – A bit too thick but OK.

Gumbo – Not great like Emeril’s but still tasty and ok according to my husband.

Salads were next.

I tried my salad with blue cheese dressing. Too bad …….it taste like they thinned down the dressing too much and it doesn’t taste like blue cheese anymore. My husband the Italian dressing doesn’t have much flavor either.

For my main I tried the grilled wild whitefish.

The grilled whitefish has a light unflavored breading on it. This would taste better if it came with a sauce. I use some hot sauce that is on the table and it helps. The potato is kinda hard and very difficult to mash the butter in with a fork.

But there is no help for the vegetables. They even look like they have expired.

Over cooked old squash….ick

My husband tried the Chicken Fried Steak.

It’s kinda bland. The carrot fingers are kind of wood-ee. Real fresh carrots would taste better. The tater tots have a very hard exteriors.

NORMS does give you a lot of food but you have to not care what it taste like.

NORMS was the least notable meal of the week.

NORMS

4605 W Charleston Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-475-9976

www.NORMS.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Distill A Local Bar – 24/7 – Restaurant, Bar & Gaming Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

Distill is a local bar, restaurant, and gaming type of place with close to a dozen locations around Las Vegas and Henderson Nevada. The Centennial Las Vegas location offers a separate dining room away from the bar and gaming. On the menu they offer all day breakfast and a wide assortment of food.

It’s a mix of traditional tables and booths.

We decided to share the buffalo cauliflower with blue cheese dressing.

It has a crispy tempura coating and is fried to perfection. The hot sauce does run spicy and most people out there will enjoy it. I must confess that I am unusually sensitive to certain ingredients. The hot sauce used either contains too much acidic acid or too much condensed vinegar so the sauce is too painful for my palate but won’t hurt most people. Must people will enjoy this buffalo cauliflower.

For my main I enjoyed the Chili Lime Salad with added Salmon. The Salmon came split open with nice grill marks. It’s easy to see that they prepared the salmon sort of medium-ish as they should. The salad is tasty and different with some pico, corn, and avocado with a mild chili-lime creamy dressing.

The build your own burger came out medium-rare as requested with carefully prepared bacon that still had some wiggle and wasn’t dried out crisp like what most places serve.

Distill offers casual food at reasonable prices.

Distill is Worth a Try!

Distill

6430 N Durango Drive Las Vegas NV

702-722-2999

www.DistillBar.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Pho Aimie North Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork!

Pho Aimie is a full service Vietnamese Restaurant located in North Las Vegas Nevada. They offer around 20 varieties of Pho, Vermicelli Plates, Rice Dishes, Crispy Noodle & Rice Noodle Dishes, Soft Beverages, Vietnamese Iced Coffee, and Beer.

They offer appetizers like crispy chicken potstickers

You might like to try one of the Pho.

Above is the #17 Pho that is beef broth and rare steak with added meatballs and brisket (contains rice noodles)

This is the #27 Pho. Called Pho Sate. It’s a Spicy Peanut Soup w Rare Steak and Sate noodles.

Below is lemongrass chicken with rice noodles

Below is Shakin Beef

Pho Aimie is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Pho Aimie

2696 W Ann Rd North Las Vegas NV

702-522-8988

www.PhoAimieLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Little Dumpling Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

Little Dumpling is a casual American/Chinese Restaurant located in the North/West part of Las Vegas Nevada. In addition to the usual American/Chinese foods they also offer two pages of Thai Style Dishes.

It’s small and cozy inside. They offer booth seating and half booths.

We started out by sharing the potstickers. (they are chicken here)

They are actually quite good here. These are one of the only places that prepares them as they should with a crispy bottom. Most places in the area just fry them crispy all over.

Little Dumpling offers different spicy heat levels on the dishes. 1-10 and number 20. The server said that number 7 is too hot for her so I ordered number 5 and it was pretty hot. My husband ordered number 7 and it was even hotter.

I tried the spicy garlic chicken (it came with white rice).

It is a very generous serving. It also is packed with a good amount of vegetables (bell pepper, onions, carrots, celery, zucchini, baby corn, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots) and tender white meat chicken. The sauce does run sweet. If I was home I would add a little hoisin sauce to this and maybe a splash of sherry.

My husband tried the Kung Pao with beef.

This dish is also very generous in size. It comes with a nice amount of vegetables and peanuts. The sauce is unlike any I ever tried at any Chinese/American Restaurant. The sauce here is a spicy black bean sauce made with Szechwan Peppercorns.

Little Dumpling is Worth a Try!

6430 Sky Point Drive Las Vegas NV

702-251-9828

www.LasVegasLittleDumpling.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Nom Pang – Las Vegas NV – GREAT Cambodian Foods – Worth a Fork!

Nom Pang recently opened in the North-West Part of Las Vegas Nevada. This is a casual restaurant that offers Cambodian Dishes. Maybe you are not familiar with Cambodian Foods…No worries because if you eat sandwiches you will find something you like. This Cambodian cuisine is very similar to Vietnamese Cuisine. They offer their version of Banh Mi Baguette Sandwiches but here they are called Nom Pang. Also similar to Vietnamese dishes like rice plates, noodle salad bowls, curry and more is offered here. Soft beverages, smoothies, milk teas, slush drinks, iced coffee and boba is offered here.

It’s casual. You order and pay at the counter.

Then you seat yourself.

The tables are topped with napkins, chopsticks, sriracha, and other hot condiments.

I tried a Spicy Lemongrass Chicken Vermicelli Bowl (lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, cilantro, cabbage, pickled carrots, dressing, peanuts, crispy shallots)

It’s generous in size and the dark meat chicken is tender and delicious…….It’s actually more flavorful and more spicy than the Vietnamese Versions I’ve tried.

My husband said that the Pork Belly Nom Pang was so amazing he doesn’t know if he can order anything else here (possibly a rice flour baguette or it seemed like, mayo (left off at my husband’s request), cucumber, scallion, pickled carrot, daikon, cilantro, jalapeƱo, pork belly).

Can’t wait to try more!

Nom Pang is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Nom Pang

4275 N Rancho Drive Las Vegas NV

702-268-8288

I have not found a website for Nom Pang. At this time they are open 8am-6pm Seven Days a Week.

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth