Tag Archives: #LasVegas

My Trip to Lotus Of Siam Red Rock Restaurant Las Vegas NV

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

620 East Flamingo Rd Las Vegas NV – 702-735-3033

www.LotusRedRock.com

www.RedRockResort.com

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SNS Diner & BBQ North Las Vegas NV – Worth a Try!

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.

SNS Diner & BBQ is Worth a Try!

3229 Losee Rd North Las Vegas NV – 702-269-9696

www.SNSDiner.com

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Chengdu Taste Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork! Spicy Szechuan Food

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.

Chengdu Taste is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Chengdu Taste

3950 Schiff Drive Las Vegas NV – 702-437-7888

www.ChengduTasteVegas.com

www.ChengduTasteLasVegas.com

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Basilico Ristorante Italiano Las Vegas NV – NOT Your Grandpa’s Italian Restaurant – Worth a Fork!

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

www.BasilicoLV.com

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My Trip to Naxos Taverna & Kallisto Oyster Bar at Red Rock Casino Las Vegas NV

Naxos Taverna is a contemporary Greek Style Seafood focused restaurant located in the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. It’s kinda swanky inside.

They also have an open kitchen.

Here’s what some of the dining area looks like.

Recently it was Las Vegas Restaurant Week (till June 16th 2023) and a special pix priced menu was offered. Our waiter told us that this same menu is available daily 4-6.

But if you prefer high end fresh whole fish dinners you can get that here too.

We started out with green chick pea falafels with tahini yogurt and red schug (a Yemenite hot chili garlic sauce).

It’s all reasonably good. Better falafels than what I got at any Greek Restaurant. We also started with the raw sea bream embellished with radish, kumquat, and blood orange.

It was fresh and very light.

Our mains were Faroe Island salmon with roasted pumpkin and chermonla.

and Lavraki/ Royal dorade with charred lemon and sea salt.

Both fish were prepared reasonably well.

We also got generous sides of spiced baby cauliflower with onion puree, raisins, and almonds.

and crispy fingerling potatoes with kefalotyi cheese and lemon.

By this time we were kinda full but dessert came and it was time for sokolatina (chocolate custard cake with strawberries) and homemade fro yo made with ricotta cheese, olive oil and pistachios.

Service was very above average. The waiter spent much time explaining the menu. Plates were cleared quickly by multiple staff. Management also checked on us often.

That was my trip to Naxos Taverna & Kallisto Oyster Bar.

Naxos Taverna & Kallisto Oyster Bar

11011 W Charleston Blvd Las Vegas NV 702-516-8888

wwwNaxosRedRock.com

www.RedRockResort.com

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Lunch at Mr BBQ – Premium Korean BBQ Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork!

Mr. BBQ is a premium All-You-Can-Eat Korean BBQ in Las Vegas Nevada’s Chinatown. It’s normally around $50. a person for the all you can eat dinner and normally close to $30. a person for the Monday-Friday all-you-eat-lunch. Recently it was restaurant week and they were offering a $20 (till June 16th 2023) lunch special so we decided to give it a try.

We pulled in.

As soon as you step in it looks like Las Vegas.

Then after that I’m not sure if it’s Las Vegas or Psychedelics?

I couldn’t believe the amount of banchan (side dishes) they served us to start with. I never received so many at any Korean Restaurant before.

We received 17 different mostly salad dishes, a BIG bowl of salad, rice papers, and three different sauces to start out with. Some of the salads were bean sprouts, cucumber, macaroni, potato, kimchi, radish, onions, corn, and celery. We also received fish cakes, edamame, and gosh a lot more.

Then we got steamed eggs, spicy tofu soup and rice.

Here come the meats.

16 oz. USDA Prime Brisket and 16 oz of spicy chicken thighs.

We cook ourselves. We do the brisket first.

Then we do the spicy chicken.

I am very surprised on how good they both are. Both are as tender as can be and also delicious!

After all this who on earth has room for more?

We were suppose topic up a donut next door. We didn’t have room for donuts so we skipped it.

But WOW! All this even at $10. more a person is sure was Worth a Fork!

Mr. BBQ is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Mr. BBQ 4240 Spring Mountain Road Las Vegas NV – 702-483-4240

www.MrBBQLasVegas.com

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My Trip to Ai Pono Pop Up at Red Rock Casino Las Vegas NV

Bravo’s Top Chef contestant Chef Gene Villatora has a well known popular Hawaiian Street Food Restaurant in California called Ai Pono. Late this year (2023) a Nevada opening is expected at the Durango Casino and Resort that is soon to open. I heard about the pop up and wanted to give this a try. There might be over a thousand people here.

It really is a big deal. Channel 3 was filming.

Saw Chef Villatora was actually working the line.

By the time we made it to order they ran out of the platter that I was the most excited to try.

So we tried a bunch of other things and even the secret menu item. We only tried Da Side Chick and the guava chili pepper fried chicken for lunch.

Da Side Chick—-Tasty and delicious and priced not much higher than fast food from a Bravo Top Chef ($10.)

Guava chili pepper fried chicken – large portion tasty and the rice and slaw is especially notable. Also priced like regular Hawaiian plate lunches but much better than most.

Later for dinner we got to try some more.

Ahi Katsu with miso hot mustard breading and sweet soy reduction……Not bad but not my favorite…maybe it’s just better when you get this one fresh and right away?

This is the crackhead chicken that was marinated for 24 hours with a secret batter and a garlic-coconut-miso glaze…….The chicken is very tender and developed with flavor. The glaze does sound amazing but maybe didn’t travel well?

This one only my husband tried……..it was the surprise meal. We were told it was something fish.

We think it’s more guava chili chicken and it’s over some sort of meat chili with beans. The chicken is good. My husband said that the chili flavoring is very unusual.

The strong favorite was the da side chick sandwich.

You can visit Ai Pono in California or wait for the Durango Opening.

That was my trip to the Ai Pono Pop Up at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas NV.

For more information.

www.Durango Resort.com

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Las Pupusas Salvadorian Mexican Restaurant North Las Vegas NV – Worth A Try!

Las Pupusas is a casual Salvadorian Mexican Restaurant with around five locations around Las Vegas Nevada. They offer mostly Salvadorian foods but also offer some Mexican dishes and also offer some breakfast plates. They don’t have a bar but do offer some bottled beers. This isn’t a fancy place but they do offer some wait service.

Since we are here we have to try some Salvadorian Pupusas. (Salvadorian stuffed flat breads).

We tried a spinach and cheese and a cheese and herbs pupusa. They are both really tasty. You eat then with a pile of spicy slaw on them. I like the spinach one better because it’s like they almost forgot the herbs in the herbs one all I tasted was a tiny part of a mint leaf in that one but both still are very tasty.

For my main I tried the fried tilapia.

The fish is shattering crisp with mild white flesh. You can embellish it with some lime and hot sauce. It also comes with a family sized pile of rice, refried beans, salad and two hand made tortillas.

The salpicon (picadillo) is a cold Salvadorian ground rib eye salad.

It also comes with rice, refried beans, salad, and two hand made tortillas. The beef is aromatic, sort of refreshing and full of flavors. We can taste fresh mint in it.

Las Pupusas serves large portions and prices are low.

Las Pupusas is Worth a Try!

945 West Craig Road North Las Vegas NV – 702-648-6200

Thier website doesn’t function correctly.

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My Trip to M.Y. Asia Las Vegas NV****UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS

******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS*******M.Y. Asia is an Asian restaurant by James Beard Award Wining Celebrity Chef Martin Yan. This restaurant is located in the recently rebranded Bally’s Casino now known as the Horseshoe Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. According to the M.Y. Asia website Martin Yan offers you a taste of authentic dishes from South East Asia, China, Japan, and Korea. As of this writing the website only list one menu and specials of the week. They also mention live noodle pulling. On the day of my visit I found out that the menu and specials are not offered at lunch and a much smaller abbreviated menu is offered and there wasn’t any live noodle pulling.

We start out by sharing the cucumber salad.

It has a nice refreshing vinaigrette on it with LOTS of sesame seeds. Besides cucumber there are thin slices of hot pepper and according to the menu wood ear mushrooms…. The menu description also reads that gogi berries are suppose to be in there but I didn’t find any. It’s still all tasty.

I tried the chow fun with chicken.

This dish has a base of rice noodles and has onions, scallions, bean sprouts, expertly moist tender chicken in a stir fry sauce topped with pepper threads.

I tried one bite of the Mongolian beef.

This dish is made of expertly tender tenderloin, onions, bell peppers, and dried chili peppers embellished with some crunchy rice and pepper threads.

It was all very good but much higher priced than from any similar spot in China Town.

That was my trip to M.Y. Asia******UPDATE NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS *******

3645 S. Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas NV – 725-205-0539

www.MyAsiaLV.com

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6 Course $62. Menu at Monzu Italian Oven & Bar Might be the FORKING BEST Deal in Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork!

OH MY GOSH I made a Great Discovery! I decided to try Monzu Italian Oven & Bar in Las Vegas Nevada not too far from the Strip. They happen to offer a Chef’s Table Menu. with a few different choices. We picked the $62. menu that offers a meat and cheese board, salad, pizza, pastas, meats, vegetables, and desserts. We got high quality delicious foods and got way more than we could eat too!

Whatever you pick they start you off with very special house made Italian Country Sour Dough Bread and house made creamy ricotta cheese drizzled with quality olive oil and some herbs.

Next is a snacking plate of all kinds of things.

On the left are eggplant salad and olives. Up top is mortadella, lemon beef. prosciutto. In the middle are fried breads, down below are a variety of cheeses. On the left side are bacon wrapped dates and fried anchovies with sage.

Next is salad.

It’s mostly arugula, heirloom tomatoes onions, and the crispest sweetest fennel that I have ever tasted anywhere.

We got to try this really unusually AMAZING pizza.

Instead of sauce this pizza is spread with date cream. It’s topped with arugula, scamorra cheese, ricotta, and heirloom tomatoes with prosciutto.

After that are two bowls of pasta.

We tried the light pillow-like gnocchi with walnuts and a creamy gorgonzola type sauce.

We also tried pasta with a red eggplant Norma sauce.

Then we tried this really great fish house quality Seabream with delicious potatoes and a specialty vegetable called sea asparagus.

The skin was perfectly crisp too! and the fish just melted in your mouth.

We also received petite lamb shanks with potatoes and vegetables.

They even gave us a generous plate of dessert too!

Biscotti, cannoli, and an Italian doughnut drizzled with honey and sour orange rind.

Now that is a deal!

The $62. Chef’s Table Menu at Monzu Italian Oven & Bar in Las Vegas NV sure is-

Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Monzu Italian Oven & Bar

6020 W Flamingo Rd Las Vegas NV

702-749-5959

www.MonzuLV.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth