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…….
We do come across lots of Asian Fusion Restaurants everywhere. But here in Las Vegas I noticed at least two Bagel Fusion Restaurant Choices.
One is called New York Bagel N Bakery. Sounds like the right name for a bagel place. This one was different from any other bagel place I ever was in. Inside was a picture of The Pope. I also saw a picture of the Sopranos. I saw a couple of Italian Deli Clocks.
I also saw this …………….(I think it’s the move Casino?)
One of two Italian Deli Clocks
New York Bakery Sign with a MonteSantos Sign.
Cherubs and something that looks like a priest on the wall.
They offered PIZZA Bagels (pictured above), Biscotti, Cannoli, Rainbow Cookies, and those Lobster Rolls.
But they do also offer normal bagels with the normal fillings……
Pastrami on Salt Bagel with Potato SaladWhitefish Salad on an Everything Bagel with Cole Slaw
They also do an Italian Fusion Sandwich of a Bagel stuffed with Capiccola, Mortadella, Genoa Salami, Provolone, Lettuce, Tomato, Oil, Vinegar. (called the Italian Piled High).
Bagel N Bakery
840 S Rancho Dr Las Vegas NV
702-258-7400
No Website
The other Bagel Fusion is in the Food Court in the Fontainebleau Hotel/Casiono called El Bagel.
I saw Chef Aaron May there eating Matzah Ball Soup there. He got up when I got close enough to photo. (that IS HIM from behind)
El Bagel
They have some unusual bagel fusion here.
They offer a EB Original Bagel Sandwich stuffed with Scallion Cream Cheese, Roasted Jalapeños, and Thick Bacon. They also offer maybe THE MOST UNUSUAL bagel sandwich called King Guava that is filled with a fried egg, cream cheese, GUAVA marmalade, and potato sticks.
They also serve traditional bagel sandwiches.
Pastrami Lox and Cream Cheese
El Bagel at Fontainebleau
2777 Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas NV
702-678-7272
www.FontainebleauLasVegas.com
That was Food News – There is Bagel Fusion in Las Vegas
I found two different Holiday Edition M&M’s at my local Target so I had to give them a try. I found Toasty Holiday Peanut with artificial flavor and Holiday Mint. The Toasty Holiday Peanut does have peanuts inside that seem larger than regular peanut M&M’s. The peanuts inside have little flavor and seem softer…..But the WEIRD thing is as soon as I put one in my mouth they also almost taste like GROSS ARTIFICIAL COFFEE……..and they leave a weird almost GROSS COFFEE aftertaste……I won’t be getting fat eating Toasty Holiday Peanut M&M’s.
The mint ones aren’t bad. They taste just like an Oreo Type Cookie that is laced with some mint.
Those were my FORKING Thoughts on Holiday M&M’s Toasty Holiday Peanut & Holiday Mint.
This is a look back on the restaurants I’ve been to in 2024.
Pastrami sandwich from Uncle Paulie’s
The Pastrami Sandwich from Uncle Paulie’s was possibly the worst pastrami sandwich I ever tried. It didn’t taste like pastrami and had hard crunchy ends and it was on undesirable bread.
All the slices of pizza we tried from Prince Pizza had this sickening sweet tomato sauce on them that grossed us out.
My first visit to Leticia’s I had this fish dish with the most amazing delicious Mojo sauce on it. The second time I had it the sauce was missing that essential citrus taste. I complained and they brought me some lime wedges and then it tasted almost like what I remembered.
This pastrami sandwich from the little Wexler’s in the Aria Food Court does their own cureing and smoking for their own pastrami and lox. Their pastrami & lox makes angels sing. This tiny little food court stand even whips their own cream cheese and makes their own bagels.
The best tuna baguette sandwich came from a tiny French Cafe called Petite Kitchen. They also served delicious crepes. It’s sad that they have closed for business.
Wexler’s Pastrami Sandwich
Wexler’s house made and hand sliced lox and house whipped cream cheese and house made bagel
This doughnut doesn’t look special but it was prepared fresh to order….It was hot and cinnamon-ee and just was delicious as a cinnamon doughnut can be. It came from Federal Doughnuts.
From Amora Latin American Cocina was the most incredibly delicious and unusual salad ever. Nixamized or something like that tomatoes here.
Also from Amora Latin American Cocina –
Their beef sandwich is one of the best beef sandwiches that I ever had in my life…..
The other best beef sandwich in my life was the ribeye minute steak pita from Miznon.
It’s just amazing!……Speachless….
The best chicken sandwich came from Capon’s in the Fountainbleu food court also The gelato from Capons was the best I’ve tasted so far….
One of the best Chinese Dishes was the fish in ginger garlic sauce by China Mama
From Cipriani’s we tried two terrible dishes from our 3 course lunch. Below is a pasta dish with with fishy fish that includes the even fishier bloodline as it’s only flavoring.
Below that is the unseasoned, unflavored lentil soup that tastes like dirt.
Lentil Soup
The next plate isn’t pretty but those beef balls are amazing. (called beef kebob)
They came from Shawarma Vegas. All the food is pretty good here. They even make turkey shawarma that is very good and moist. Even their white meat chicken dishes is moist and delicious.
The worst salmon ever came from MRKT Land and Sea in the Aliante Hotel/Casino it’s so dry it’s awful.
Salmon from MRKT
I complained and about 30 minutes latter they bring me out this……
Dry and crumbly on the ends and raw in the center……Don’t even bother getting salmon from MRKT.
One of the very best dinner plates of the year was this amazing tuna in puttanesca sauce from Mother Wolf in the Fountainbleu
The Bulgogi Tostada from Komex was FORKING TASTY! Just POPPING with flavors
Bulgogi Tostada from Komex
The salmon dinner from 1228 Main was amazing so was a previous chicken dish I tried there. They also make very good baked goods.
Another outstanding pastrami sandwich….not made in-house but the bread was from La Cantine. They also make delicious macarons. Read on Yelp that this place changed their name to 702 Sandwich Shop?
The ground in house prime rib burger from Carve Prime Rib in the Cannery Hotel/Casino is always juicy and tasty.
A Special Pasta Dish I tried from Basilico was exceptional.
The food is always delicious and perfect from Rang’s Cocina Moderne. Below is Chilean Sea bass. The chef there won Rising Chef of the Year from the Nevada Restaurant Association and also was featured in the Las Vegas Weekly.
Another favorite is the Cod Florentine.
The slow roasted Beef Cheek is also very recommended but honestly everything on Rang’s Menu is delicious and perfect every time you order it.
The Chicken Tikka Masala from Able Baker is better than from some Indian Restaurants.
My plate from The Harvest Cafe was hard to stomach.
ICK!
Most of the foods we tried from Flecha Cantina was delicious.
But this goat cheese ball with pistachios, tamarind, and fried pitas is super yummy!
On the other hand this Korean Beef BBQ Rice bowl was very disappointing from Fat Choy. It was like dry and like chewy jerky and no flavor.
Crispy Korean Beef BBQ Rice Bowl
The Banana Cream Pie from any Emeril Restaurant is always amazing. (below was from Delmonico Steak House)
All the food from Jose Andres’s Bazar Mar was incredible.
The very best few bites was the mini Lox and Bagel from Bazar Mar. It had so many layers and textures. It was an amazing few bites.
A certain restaurant that went from favorite to down the tubes…..was The Pepper Club by Tom English.
The Japanese Chicken sandwich used to be delicious, moist and flavorful but this one was none of that.
Same with the burger.
No more medium-rare…….I know they changed chefs….Hopefully they will change again.
The Broccolini from Bramare is amazing.
But the Broccolini from Balla Italian Soul was the worst.
It was soggy and over seasoned.
The below picture was awful.
I could only eat the avocado and some of the rice. This was Ser-veh-sah’s signature protein bowl. The chicken was cold and awful tasting…..I couldn’t stomach it.
Below might be the best chicken dish I had this year.
A Chicken dish from 1228 Main.
The bread and house made ricotta are amazing from Monzu Italian Oven. Also the pizzas from Monzu are the very best I’ve tasted in Las Vegas..The chef’s more casual restaurant Old School Pizzeria also offers those pizzas.
The Chicken Tinga from Lucy’s was very good.
The Peanut Pho from Pho Amie was very good.
The Ceasar Salad from Ferrano’s was very well made and it a non traditional style. It’s rare that you get such a well made Caesar.
Possibly the worst Caesar Salad came from Balla Italian Soul.
Instead of Caesar…It taste like RANCH! ICK!
Fron NORMS (below)
ICK!
From Asian Wok – Best Take Out Szechuan Chicken
Toughest beef of the year came from Tastebusz Creole Kitchen.
So tough even a crocodile would have to give up.
Maybe the most unappetizing plate also came from Tastebudz Creole Kitchen.
The sweet potatoes are like those canned type and are breaking down to mush. The macaroni and cheese is also breaking down like it was re-heated too many times. The black crud on the fish might before a pan or flat top that wasn’t cleaned. The fish had a hard texture and was difficult to break peices off but when you got to try some it was so painfully hot that it really wasn’t edible and didn’t taste good at all.
The best restaurant of the year where I tasted the most FORKING FANTABULOUS DISHES was from Safta 1964 by Alon Shaya in the Encore part of the Wynn Hotel/Casino. They banged and banged out so many great dishes.
The hummus is very high quality and the best I’ve tasted in Nevada and pitas that come it are fresh and hot and fluffy.
The Falafels have shattering crisp exteriors and moist herby centers and come well embellished with tahini, amba, and shrug.
The Salatim (dips and spreads) platter did differ slightly on each visit but always contained the most tasty spreads and dips that I haven’t found anywhere else.
Some of the very best vegetable dishes that you could find in Nevada came from here. Loved the crispy eggplant. Up above is the charred cabbage with dukkah, hazelnuts, tahini, and muhamara.
My favorite entree was the branzino in paprika sauce with polenta and the sweetest fresh tomatoes ever.
More desserts can be better than one.
Not one, not two, not three or four but FIVE bite sized desserts. This just has to be the most bountiful and best dessert platter on the strip. (pistachio baklava, chocolate chunk halva, blueberry rugelach, Turkish coffee truffle, mini lemon tart. and not one of each not two but THREE of each. Safta 1964 was a pop up temporary restaurant in the Encore part of the Wynn Hotel/Casino. If you would like to give them a try you’d have to go to The Michelin Award Wining Denver Location.
Hope you’ve enjoyed Most of the best and worst dishes at Las Vegas Restaurants 2024.
Showing Off is just to show you that I am still cooking and baking. I’m not doing as many new recipes but all the cooked or baked foods that you see are a recipe on this site.
Up above are Sesame, Date, and Banana Cupcakes. Boy did these go fast at a gathering I went to.
Fried potato pierogi and chocolate Bouchons with chocolate frosting and drizzled with ganache ….These went really quick too.
I made butternut squash cinnamon buns and with the leftover dough I stuffed, rolled, and filled it with cinnamon and brown sugar and drizzled it with chocolate sauce. These all went.
Chipotle Rice Corn Cheddar stuffed Peppers. Lots of compliments and these went fast.
Baked Salmon Mousse Balls with Orange Ginger Sauce that sit in little cracker cups also got gobbled up.
Pizza Rolls (no exact recipe…just make pizza or focaccia dough, fill with desired pizza toppings (these were lasagna cheese filling and pizza sauce) and roll like cinnamon buns. Finish with pizza seasoning and a little shredded parmesan)
I bet these will go fast too! and I added some extra cookies I had in my freezer.
I got the idea for pizza rolls after I made butternut squash cinnamon rolls. I just winged a focaccia type dough, rolled it thin, topped it with leftover lasagna cheese filling and some sauce and rolled it just like cinnamon buns. Then I sliced a little off and put each sliced in a non stick sprayed cupcake pan and topped the tops with a little bit of pizza seasoning and a little bit of shredded parmesan. In about 30 minutes at 350F give or take they were done. You can get my ideas for pizza, focaccia, and butternut squash cinnamon rolls here. I got lots of compliments on them and everyone loved them and gobbled them down. My husband said that he could eat them all day long.
Pizza Rolls
Everyone will love them and they make a great appetizers for entertaining.
It’s very rare that I will pick one of my husband’s favorite dishes but I am picking this dish for good reason. He said that this sandwich was amazing! He said that the pork belly was incredible. Even the roll was amazing with the right crunch and just right fluffy interior. He said that this sandwich was so out of the ordinary very good that it might be impossible to order anything else from this restaurant. (it is a baguette sandwich. Normally comes with a spread of mayo (but left off at my husband’s request. It also contains cucumber, scallions, cilantro, pickled carrot, daikon, jalapeño, and that spectacular pork belly .) So……That is good reason to make the Pork Belly Nom Pang from Nom Pang the notable dish of the week!
Nom Pang
4275 N Rancho Dr Las Vegas NV
702-268-8288
I have not found a website for Nom Pang. At the moment (subject to change so give them a call) they are open 8am-6pm 7 days a week.
The ABSOLUTE FORKING WORST POTATO CHIPS that I ever tried were Christie’s Sweet & Spicy Habanero super natural potato chips.
YUK!
They taste burnt and are too FORKING HOT and burn and are painful to eat.
The bag I got was not edible to me. I honestly don’t think anyone would ever manufacture something so horrible. Maybe that is why Sprouts Grocery was selling them for .99cents a bag?
Those were my FORKING THOUGHTS I doubt anyone’s Forking Thoughts will differ.
