Safta 1964 By James Beard Award Wining Chef Alon Shaya recently opened in the Encore part of the Wynn in the Jardin on the strip in Las Vegas Nevada. This restaurant offers Mediterranean Style Cusine. Some of the dishes offered are new versions of the Michelin – Denver Safta Restaurant. A few of the Las Vegas offerings are – small plates like falafels, sablefish paprikash, duck matzah ball soup. They also offer a chef’s tasting salatim platter (dips, spreads, vegetables, pita). A few of the entries are harissa roasted chicken, Dover sole schnitzel, and a New York Steak with hazelnut muhammara and za’atar chimichurri.

You enter here….For breakfast and lunch this restaurant is Jardin, For dinner it becomes Safta 1964 By Alon Shaya.

As you enter you pass wall of flowers.

You pass the outdoor garden patio.

There is an interesting small bar area with bottles that stay on top of the ceiling.

And of course the main dining area with comfortable chairs that is bright, airy, and accented with foliage.

We started out by sharing the Salatim Platter (a bunch of detailed dips, spreads, vegetables, and fluffy pitas).

WOW! There’s a lot here and it’s all DELICIOUS!!!! In the middle is a variety of pickled vegetables……Around 1:00 is Labneh (sort of like yogurt dip), next are Moroccan carrots, babaganous (eggplant), harissa olives, trout roe with cream cheese, za’atar oil, and our favorite the lutenitsa (eggplant, pepper, tomatoes) Everything was delicious!

We had to try the classic hummus.

It has a creaminess that is very rare to come by……….I’ve only had this kind of hummus once before at Zahav in Philadelphia. The flavors do differ some but both are amazing hummus. My husband normally hates hummus but only will eat this hummus and the one from Zahav. We were blown away with this hummus.

We also had to try falafels.

The falafels are also amazing. These come surrounded with mango sauce, herby zhoung sauce and tahini. The falafels have shattering crisp exteriors and fluffy herby interiors.

We do pack up some pitas and dip to bring home so we can try some more.

For dinner we shared the Dover Sole Schnitzel.

It sits on top of creamy tzatziki and is garnished with a few dots of tzatziki with fresh dill and pickled onion petals. The fish is mild and seems fresh and was fried to perfection….It is good but not exciting with exotic flavors like everything else……

I was full but tried a dessert anyway….and I’m glad I did because it was EXTRAORDINARY. It was called Safta’s Delights.

We got three each of FIVE teeny tiny mini desserts. We got pistachio baklava, marble halavah, something with a little coffee coated in chocolate, a blueberry rugula, and our favorite the mini lemon tart.

Service was amazing. Even the chef thanked us for coming and even asked for our feedback.

Safta 1964 By Alon Shaya is Worth a Fork!

Wynn Encore Las Vegas 3131 Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-770-5310

www.WynnLasVegas.com

Every THING is subject to change.

Zen Curry Dining is a full service Japanese Curry and Ramen Restaurant with a location in NORTH LAS VEGAS Nevada. The Specialty of the house is the Curry that is made of vegetables and lots of spices called Garam Masala. You have the options to add many toppings to the curry dish. The also offer appetizers like fried octopus balls, ramen dishes, Japanese Beer and Saki.

It’s not a fancy place but seems clean.

All the tables are set with spoons.

I tried a medium sized curry with chicken katsu (breaded chicken), rice, vegetables, and a potato croquette. I ordered #7 heat out of ten….I was surprised that they charge extra for each heat level….#7 is 30 cents extra. The #7 heat is pretty darn hot but not scorching hot.

The curry is aromatic, flavorful, and rich. The rice is fresh and perfect. The chicken is kinda plain and a little dry today. Maybe on another day it’s better? The vegetables are a mix of broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes. The potatoes and mushrooms seem from fresh. The rest might be from frozen. I like that the potato croquette is fried to perfection. It’s light and crispy with a fluffy lightly scented interior.

My husband tries a medium sized curry but with Spam, sausage, and a fried egg. Heat level #8 out of ten 35 cents extra.

He was surprised that the Spam was fried…..He thought that the sausage taste like spicy hot dogs. The egg came out unseasoned so he helped himself to salt and pepper that sat on the counter. He liked heat level 8.

Zen Curry Dining – Worth a Try!

225 W. Centennial Pkwy North Las Vegas NV

702-202-4420

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Pollo Camero is a small casual restaurant that specializes in serving marinated, bold flavorful chicken since 1971. This restaurant started out from Guatemala. Pollo Campero is now in over 15 countries and has around 400 locations with around 70 of them in the United States. Two locations are in Las Vegas. They offer bowls, a salad, chicken sandwiches, 2, 3, 4, piece platters, empanadas, nuggets, family meals, side orders, desserts, and soft beverages.

The North Las Vegas location of Pollo Campero looks sort of like most fast food restaurants. you order and pay at the counter.

Grab your beverage and a number and seat yourself.

This is more than fast food.

Your meal comes to you on real plates with real silverware and they give you plenty of napkins.

We both tried a 4 piece platter.

I tried 1/2 grilled 1/2 fried dark meat chicken with macaroni and cheese, plantains, and tortillas.

I dig into the grilled thigh first. WOW! It’s juicy, tender, flavorful, and delicious. This is much better than most chicken you get at not all but many restaurants. I try some macaroni and cheese……This is reasonably good. It’s made with real cheeses and has a good flavor but is the mushy style…still pretty good. I try a plantain. The plantain is really GREAT! It’s wonderfully caramelized and is sweet and not too starchy or oily. It might be the best plantain that I’ve ever tried anywhere. The fried chicken thigh is amazing with a delicious shattering crisp skin and exterior. Inside is dripping juicy tender delicious chicken. The white corn tortillas was heated nicely. For me this is more than I can eat but my husband was able to eat his whole plate. He got the same chicken but tried the beans, rice, and roll.

He loved the chicken as much as I did. The roll was average. He didn’t hate the beans but they weren’t his favorite but he really enjoyed the rice and of course the chicken, Mac-n-cheese, plantains, and tortillas.

Pollo Campero was VERY GOOD and sure doesn’t seem like fast food.

Pollo Campero is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

Pollo Campero

1025 W Craig Rd North Las Vegas NV

833-226-7276

US.Campero.com

Order.Campero.com

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Petite Kitchen is a TINY French Bistro located in NORTH LAS VEGAS Nevada. This place is tiny and only has two small tables and a tiny window counter for indoor dining. I noticed that most customers do take out.

They offer fresh in-house baked goods and most of the food is made fresh to order. A few of the offerings are……. croissant specialties, real French Fries, quiche Lorraine, Croque Monieur, baguette sandwiches, salads, burgers, burrito style crepes, pastries, sweet crepes, and milkshakes.

Here are REAL French Fries with truffle oil and parmesan cheese.

WOW! They were HOT and seemed freshly made. They are seasoned nicely.

Below is the tuna baguette.

The baked in-house fresh baguette bread has airiness and crunch like no other. The tuna salad is tasty. It also was made with some fresh crunchy vegetables. I like that the size of the roll was just right and not too big.

On another visit my husband tried the Ham & Gruyere Baguette with added Brie Cheese.

He said that the ham and the mustard in the sandwich was unusually very good!

On another visit my husband went with the Croque Madame (béchamel, ham, egg, cheese).

Everything was delicious and everything was perfect.

I tried the rice salad with tuna (because I planned to try a dessert crepe next).

it’s enough and not too heavy….you get this when you plan for dessert!

UMMMMmmmm! The pear, chocolate, and cream crepe is very good!

We got to try some beignets (a chocolate filled one and a raspberry filled one…

GOSH they are delicious! You can sure taste the quality!

Took home a croissant to try for the next day.

It was crisp and airy with lots of layers. Need to go back to try more!

Petite Kitchen is a Gem of North Las Vegas and is Worth a Fork!

Petite Kitchen – 702-954-6242

955 W. Craig Rd North Las Vegas NV

www.PetiteKitchenLV.com

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Eight Turn Crepe recently opened in North Las Vegas Nevada. They are a small casual restaurant that offers Japanese style rice crepes stuffed sweet or savory. They also offer Gelato, coffees, bubble tea, and smoothies.

You order and pay at the counter.

Someone calls your name when your order is ready.

I tried a Chicken Thai Crepe (grilled chicken, greens, cucumbers, carrots, peanuts, sesame seeds and Spicy Cilantro Thai Sauce. My husband tried the Philly Cheesesteak Crepe (Philly Steak, roasted peppers & onions, cheddar cheese, and chipotle aioli sauce (left off by request)).

I try my Chicken Thai Crepe.

The rice crepe is very good but this is FORKING HARD to eat without a fork and knife and plate. I’m dropping stuff all over the place. The chicken is moist but also is kinda spongy……It’s tasty but doesn’t remind me of Thai food…..I’ll go with something different next time.

The Philly Steak Crepe is closer to what it is suppose to be.

Steak, cheese, peppers, and onions…….It’s good but is a lot lighter than a real cheese steak with a lot less filling…..

For us this is our closest gelato shop so we stopped here already three times for gelato.

So far we tried single scoops.

Strawberry

Good …………..but not comparable to the AMAZING strawberry gelato from Fabio On Fire from Peoria AZ. But The FORKING Truth is that NOBODY’s anywhere can compare to Fabio’s.

Pistachio

Creamy and rich like ice cream. Maybe the freshest plumpest pistachios I ever had anywhere in a dessert but the ice cream taste more like almond than pistachio.

chocolate

A nice deep chocolate flavor

banana

Rich and creamy with a natural banana flavor

Eight Turn Crepe

Worth a Try!

Eight Turn Crepe

6520 N Losee Rd North Las Vegas NV

702-780-5720

www.eightturncrepe.com

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Leticia’s Cocina & Cantina is a Mexican Restaurant and Bar located in the Santa Fe Station Casino/Hotel in North/West Las Vegas Nevada.

Here’s the cantina.

And here’s the main dining room.

Whatever you order they start you off with complimentary chips, salsa, and chorizo bean dip.

For dinner I tried the Pescado Al Mojo De Ajo. This came with poblano rice casserole and a mixed green salad.

I’ll be honest I mean tell The FORKING Truth. This fish is just ok……tonight……Only one piece tasted fishy…..maybe I just got some of the bloodline?……..But the sauce is FORKING AMAZING! OMG it’s FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS! It’s garlic-ee…It’s citrus-ee…it’s also spicy…It’s so YUM I could drink it…..That poblano white rice casserole in the upper right corner is also super yummy delicious! Then there also is a generously sized salad on the side and also tortillas (corn or flour) This seemed like a very large platter too. I couldn’t eat it all. Next time I’ll make sure to split it in half.

My husband got the Steak Ranchero.

It tastes a whole lot better than it looks. It’s a bowl of carne asada, caramelized onions, poblano strips, jalapeños, corn wheels, ranchero sauce and tortillas on the side…..I do have to say that the carne asada wasn’t as tender as I like it to be but was flavored far better than from most places that I have been to……It’s flavored really very well.

Leticia’s Cocina & Cantina at Santa Fe Station Casino/Hotel is –

Worth a Try!

4949 N Rancho Dr Las Vegas NV – 702-515-4318

www.LeticiasCocina.com

www.StationCasinos.com

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I Thai Kitchen is a casual Thai and Asian Restaurant located in North/West Las Vegas Nevada.

We started out by sharing the pot stickers.

Here the dumplings seem house made and are fried crispy. They are stuffed with moist nicely seasoned white meat chicken. On the side is a spicy soy based sauce that is tasty.

I tried the green curry salmon with heat level 6 out of ten.

I received an ENORMOUS Bowl of green curry sauce embellished with eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, bamboo shouts and fried salmon cubes with white rice on the side. This is enough for THREE people………….. The flavors are delicious. The heat level is off…..This is spicier than a number 6….This is as spicy or maybe spicier than my husband’s #8. The salmon is different….fried in cubes…..It’s not bad but what you’d expect from a Thai Restaurant. I’d go with chicken next time.

My husband ordered the Chicken Pad Kapow (Spicy Basil) #8 out of ten for heat.

It’s good but different. The flavors are great. It’s also nicely infused with basil. As far as I can remember I never had this dish made with ground chicken before…..I have had the hand chopped versions but never ground before.

Portions run LARGE. Prices are reasonable. Sometimes the food runs spicier.

I Thai Kitchen is Worth a Try!

5840 W Craig Rd Las Vegas NV

702-515-0378

www.IThaiKitchenLasVegas.com

Every THING is subject to change.

Saginaw’s Deli is a Michigan-Jewish-Style Deli with a location in the Circa Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. It’s very casual here. You order and pay at the counter. You grab a number and seat yourself.

Someone runs out your order when it is ready. The Las Vegas location is open 24 hours a day seven days a week and also serves breakfast at any hour.

Several Saginaw family photos decorate a wall.

Paul Saginaw. also is the co-founder of Zingerman’s Deli. Deli meats come from Greenberg’s in Detroit.

You use the nearby casino restrooms here.

Take a selfie if you like.

We gave Paul’s Onion Tower a try.

The onion rings are breaded nicely and don’t seem oily at all.

The ranch dressing and the Russian dressing are pretty bland. The onion ring doesn’t fit in the dip cups so you have to break your onion ring to get dip on it.

We shared the smoked salmon platter.

This came with an enormous amount of capers. It doesn’t taste bad but the fish is sort of dried out. The bagel is very heavy and dense. They garnished the plate with cucumbers, red onion, and tomato slices.

We also shared the #4 Ben Sherman’s corned beef and pastrami sandwich that came with house made chips and a pickle.

The house made chips are very good……..Good pickle………The sandwich is different than what I’m used to………It’s made with grilled and toasted Pullman bread. The corned beef inside is very good….I think it’s the Russian Dressing that is weird here today because the Russian Dressing here doesn’t taste like Russian Dressing because it’s white and only a little something more than mayonnaise.

The corned beef was good today but I didn’t care for their pastrami. The pastrami was tough today and had flavors that I didn’t care for…But the corned beef was very good.

That was my trip to Saginaw’s Deli at Circa Hotel/Casino – To me it was Hits & Misses your experience may indeed differ.

8 Fremont St Las Vegas NV – 702-247-2258

www.CircaLasVegad.com

Every THING is subject to change.