My first stop was Hattie B’s for Hot Chicken in the Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip.

Hattie B’s is located in the new food court…….

It’s tasty but it’s not the same as what I tried from the Nashville location………..It doesn’t sting you when you bite it……..It’s like they cooled it down and sweetened it up for the masses. Or maybe it’s just an off batch? I don’t know?

Our next stop was Eataly.

It’s an Italian Food Court with wine and more food to purchase.

We tried fish.

We tried pasta.

We came back another day and tried more pasta.

Finished up with gelato.

Some things were better than other things and we purchased some things to try latter.

The next day we went to China Town and tried Mian Sichuan Noodle.

This is suppose to be a very authentic Sichuan Noodle Restaurant. It’s not a fancy place.

But where else have you been that offers placemats with instructions on how to eat the food?

Before we order they start us off with sweetened Mung Bean Soup. It is used to cool you down from fiery mouth numbing food.

Here we started with Spicy Radishes and a sweet and sour cabbage is served as a palette cleanser. The Spicy Radishes were indeed spicy but not like water boiled spicy……That means you didn’t need a fire hydrant. They were unlike anything I ever tasted before…….with an unusual crunchy texture. I might not have known that they were radishes because I could no longer taste radish in them.

We had-

Sichuan cold spicy noodles

and

Spicy Sichuan Pork Noodles called Za Jiang. Tune in and you can read that story soon.

Our next destination was Chica in the Venetian.

It’s a Latin Restaurant of chef Lorena Garcia’s takes of Latin cuisine.

We tried spicy Peruvian ceviche.

and dinners of pacific striped sea bass

and porchetta.

We stopped by Gordon Ramsay Burger. I asked about the beef the last time I was here and they told me that they ground the beef in a main kitchen that is in the Paris Hotel/Casino.

They changed the menu since my last visit and that amazing Tandoori Chicken sandwich is no longer available……so I ordered something else. I thought an interesting choice might be the Fish and Crisps Burger because This is the fourth Gordon Ramsay Fried Fish option that I know of in Las Vegas. They all differ slightly and they all are priced differently.

The a crisp beer batter lightly coated a thick big piece of cod and it was drowning in about a 1/4 cup of yuzu-dill mayo that got topped with salt and vinegar potato crisps on a big fluffy toasted seeded bun…….

We shared plain fries called “Just Fries.”

My husband tried the Hog Burger that’s Mangalitsa Pork, Bacon, BBQ Pork, white cheddar, pickle, crisp onion and slaw burger. (he requested the slaw on the side)

Oddly this burger was dry? All the food we tried last time was amazing……Well the truth is that most busy restaurants run hot and cold……but I prefer hitting them on hot days.

Another day we went to Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in the Caesar’s Palace. It’s a full service South West Style restaurant that’s very bright and lively inside with lots of bottles of tequila on the wall.

They started us off with a really delicious basket of assorted breads. (save room and eat the bread……the bread is worth eating)

For my main I had the Ancho Honey Glazed Salmon with black bean sauce, tomatillo and jalapeño crema over spinach (lunch $25.00 subject to change).

Gosh! It was delicious and flavorful. The salmon too! Not too spicy and not too sweet….just really good flavors!

My husband got the Grilled Mahi Mahi with green chile rice, yellow pepper mole and pineapple salsa (lunch $25.00 subject to change)

This one is delicious too! The flavors are different and stronger…..still south west. We both like the actual salmon more. I like the taste of both but my husband prefers the stronger flavors in this dish.

We go on to try the Deep Dish Banana Cream Pie.

It’s a thin praline hazelnut brittle with cream and fresh sliced bananas……..It’s ok to me. I really enjoyed the bread more and would have eaten more bread and skipped dessert…..We both really enjoyed the entrees and the bread basket at the Mesa Grill.

Then we got to try multi award winning and James Beard award winning chef Micheal Symon’s new bbq restaurant called Mabel’s in the Palm’s Hotel/Casino near the Las Vegas Strip.

We shared a big pan of Texas Style Brisket, Memphis dry rubbed Turkey breast, horseradish beets and macaroni and cheese.

Some things were great and some things weren’t as great………The pickles were DYN-NO-MITE! Like a crazy stinking great bread and butter pickle but better…..actually everything pickled was super crazy great! The turkey today had really terrific flavor but was served to us on the dry side today. The Texas style brisket might have been better at lunch time…..but when I got it the brisket was sort of dry and lacked much flavor but benefited from the house made sauces. The horseradish beets were pretty darn good! Macaroni and cheese didn’t have much flavor on my visit. I think they thinned down the sauce because our cup had lots of a milky liquid in the bottom.

The Splurge Night

L’ATELIER by Joel Robuchon

L’ATELIER by Joel Robuchon is located in the MGM Casino/Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. This is a high end exhibition tapas restaurant by the late most stared chef in the world, also called chef of the century Joel Robuchon.

They made some menu changes since my last visit and the three course special ($85.00 subject to change) is only offered as an early bird now from 5pm-6pm.

You get a bread basket of the most delicious baked breads and French Butter.

You get an Amuse Bouche…that for the past several years has been a foie gras shooter with parmesan foam. If you ask you will get some sort of vegetarian Amuse Bouche.

My first course was an Eggplant – Avocado Fondant with pixie sized turmeric croutons.

My husband got polenta with egg and ham….(well not just any ham…..it was that ham that was kissed by Jesus…..has black feet ……eats nothing but acorns…….and cost like $25 or $30 a Forking ounce)

For my main I had Halibut Flakes in Lemongrass foam with Robuchon Potatoes.

My husband said he had the best short rib that he has ever tasted.

We both had the tarts – Les Tartes for dessert because there is a strong possibility that this dessert plate might be the very best most detailed dessert plate in the WHOLE FORKING COUNTRY.

It’s beyond knocking it out of the park……It’s more like knocking it out of the galaxy!

They surprised us with these FORKING INSANELY Crazy Great Amazing praline madeleines.

The master is gone but the magic remains.

That was a little taste of where the Fork I’ve been…….Las Vegas

Everything is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.