ShangHai Taste is a famous Shanghainese Dumpling Restaurant located in the Las Vegas Chinatown Shanghai Plaza. They are famous for a thicker fried soup dumpling called Shen Jian. They also offer appetizers like Shanghai duck, Shanghai Style Pork Ribs, and cold sliced tongue in Sichuan Sauce. They also offer steamed Bao and Dumplings, Soups, and Wontons, Fried Rice, Noodle Dishes, and more.

This restaurant has been featured in many publications and the chef has been a James Beard Semi-Finalist.

As you walk in you can see them at work in the exhibition kitchen.

You can sit at a counter in front of the kitchen or take a traditional seat in the dining room.

The tables are set with hot tea, plates, chopsticks, condiment bowls, a menu with a pen and checklist. You fill out the list of what you want to order and someone picks it up and you get plates ran out to you. They do have four condiments to embellish the dishes. Off to the side they have chili paste, chili oil, soy sauce, and vinegar.

We tried a variety of things –

Angus Beef Jian (pan fried beef dumplings)

They are constructed masterfully and they hold a good amount of soup in them.

For my taste today the soup is too salty and the beef just tastes like boiled beef. (I don’t know if this is typical)

Scallion Pancakes – Very greasy today and very light on the scallions

Scallion Chicken Salad – A generous amount of moist pulled chicken (I thought this was the best of the bunch)

Vegan Dumplings – light on the filling and not very flavorful

Fish Dumplings – Lots of mild white fish inside with a small amount of scallion but – Unseasoned

Their FAMOUS Shen Jian (pork) Pan Fried Dumplings – My husband said that these had even less flavor than the beef ones.

Maybe Shanghainese Food is suppose to taste unseasoned?

Shanghai Taste

4266 Spring Mountain Rd Las Vegas NV

702-570-6363

No Website

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Firefly Tapas Kitchen & Bar is a Spanish Tapas Restaurant and Bar with two locations in Vegas. They offer various hot and cold small tapas plates, paellas, sangria, and much more. The Hughes Center Drive location is quite large and also is located very close to the Las Vegas Strip. This location has an outside patio, a bar – (below is bar area)

And lots more beautiful and rich looking dining areas.

It’s hard to decide what to order and how many plates to order. Our server recommended 3 or 4 small plates a person. Maybe we ordered the hardier plates and found that a total of 4 plates was plenty for the two of us.

Whatever you order they start you off with complimentary bread that comes with delicious almond honey butter.

Our first tapas plate was the Tuna Tartare (marinated ahi tuna, sesame dressing, taro chips)

Gosh this was delicious! It’s also spicy that we weren’t expecting. It’s so flavorful that it turned out to be our favorite plate. (wasn’t expecting that)

The Spicy Beef Salad was also very good (filet mignon, orange soy dressing, pickled ginger, romaine, salsa verde, wontons)

The filet was tasty and tender like butter. The flavors were interesting. But the surprise was that it was less spicy than the Tuna Tartare.

Next was Chicken Skewers (mojo-mojo glazed chicken, roast garlic cream)

On this one I really liked the chicken because it was tasty and tender and developed with god flavors. The sauce to me tastes more similar to mayo than to roasted garlic…..

Last plate was the Manchego Mac-N-Cheese with Tomato Pepper Relish.

The Mac-N-Cheese came out with a crispy thin crust and a little bite of tomato/pepper embellishment.

In general all the food was very good so Firefly Tapas Kitchen & Bar is Worth a Fork!

Firefly Tapas Kitchen & Bar

335 Hughes Center Dr. Las Vegas NV

702-369-3971

www.FireflyLV.com

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Bite of Europe is a European Style Bar and Restaurant located in the North-West Part of Las Vegas Nevada. They offer things like Beef Stroganoff, Schnitzel, Pelmeni, Pierogi, and Specials.

The regular menu items we tried were all reasonably good.

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

Peach Dessert

Potato and Cheese Pierogi

Turkey Stuffed Cabbage

Then we tried specials on our second visit.

Khachapuri Adjaruli – Bread filled with cheeses and an egg yolk that you mix into the cheese. (bread was a bit raw and lacking salt and the cheese ran bitter)

Goulash Stew – Tasty but pork was dry and stringy.

Chicken Parikash with spetzel – This just didn’t taste good. My husband tasted it and said, “THAT’S WEIRD TASTING.”

Bite of Europe – Hit & Miss – Safer to go with the regular menu and to avoid the specials.

Bite of Europe 10040 W Cheyenne Ave Las Vegas NV

725-254-0095

www.BitesofEurope.net

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Good Pie is a multi award wining pizzeria with two locations. One is in Henderson and the one we tried is in Downtown in the Arts District of Las Vegas Nevada. Good Pie offers a variety of pizzas. They are known for their Grandma Pie (square crispy bottoms). They also offer Brooklyn Style Pizzas (thin crusts), Detroit (crispy squares), and Sicilian (thick and fluffy). It’s not on the menu but you can also get a variety of pizzas by the slice. You just have to walk up front and see what the offerings are.

On one side is a large bar and on the other side are booths and lots of photos of many grandmothers. In the back is the main kitchen.

We tried a few slices, a salad, and a fried pizza.

Grandma Slice – Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, Cheese

Grandma – Upside Down Grandma – Extra Cheese, Double Sauce, Oregano, Pecorino

Greek Salad

My favorite was the Fried Pizza with Burrata Cheese – It’s fried and baked. Topped with a rich tomato sauce, fresh basil, parmesan, and extra virgin olive oil. I liked the delicate what seemed like light and not a heavy crust, the richer tomato sauce, the tastier cheese, and the fresh basil. It’s very different from most pizzas that I’ve tried. I heard that some people don’t like this pizza because it does cool off faster from the cold burrata cheese that is applied at the end.

Good Pie is Good and is Worth a Try!

1212 S. Main Street Las Vegas NV

702-844-2700

www.GoodPie.com

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Komex Fusion is a casual restaurant here in Vegas. They offer their spin on Mexican Foods with a Korean Touch. They’ve been featured in various publications and various television shows.

On this visit they offered various specials.

Whatever you order they start you off with a complimentary basket of chips and some tasty salsa.

Maybe you want to start out with an order of fried wontons.

You HAVE to get the bulgogi tostada because it’s FORKING delicious!

Here’s the Bulgogi tostada.

Or maybe try a few tacos –

Above is a chicken and fish taco.

Below is a pork belly taco.

My husband loves the bulgogi grilled cheese.

On anther visit he enjoyed the Bulstrami Burrito with fries inside.

This was FORKING enormous! But he enjoyed it.

Komex Fusion is Worth a Fork!

Komex Fusion

633 N Decatur Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-646-1612

www.KomexFusion.com

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The George Sportsman’s Lounge is a 24/7 Elevated American Restaurant, Bar, and Gaming Type of place located in the Durango Hotel/Casino. It’s very large with a very large patio. (Below is part of the patio)

Inside is a large bar, a smaller bar and lots of GIANT BIG screen TVs and a variety of other seating.

We started out by sharing the Brussels Sprouts (balsamic glaze, shaved parmesan, and pecans).

The sprouts look good but are a little under today so they are hard. The glaze taste a bit strong today and all the cheese today is hard and sticking together……..Oh well

But both our mains were very good.

Salmon Salad (Nicely grilled to medium salmon, romaine, arugula, radish, asparagus, cucumber, tomatoes, orange, citrus vinaigrette, and feta cheese.)

The Hot Honey Chicken Macaroni and Cheese was also very good. (3 cheese cavatappu, fried buttermilk chicken, hot honey, crispy onions, and chives).

The George Sportsman’s Lounge is Worth a Try!

The George Sportsman’s Lounge (at the Durango)

6903 S Durango Dr Las Vegas NV

702-567-7855

www.DurangoResort.com

www.TheGeorgeLV.com

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Lemongrass & Lime is an award wining Thai Restaurant with two locations in Las Vegas Nevada (Summerlin and the one I go to in Centennial Hills). They are a little different here and offer seasonal specials in addition to their regular menu.

We tried two of the specials.

Short Rib Dumpling are amazing and sit in a well made beef stock.

The Potato Scaled Cod in Green Curry Sauce is also wonderful. It’s all great and maybe the best green curry that you can find in Vegas.

My husband got his usual

Spicy Basil Combo

Lemongrass and Lime is Worth a Fork!

Lemongrass & Lime Thai Bistro

8431 Farm Rd Las Vegas NV

702-566-4727

www.LemongrassandLime.com

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Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano is an award wining Northern Style Italian Restaurant located in Restaurant Row in the Venetian Hotel/Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada.

The lunch and dinner menus are seasonal so they always change slightly.

Surprisingly we’ve tried the most impressive salmon dishes in Las Vegas here at Matteo’s.

It’s shaved and so fresh and served up with the just right embellishments.

Even more impressive are the salmon entrees.

This is what impressive salmon is – Cooked Medium -Medium-Rare with CRISPY and Seasoned skin. (above is a lunch salmon entree) (Below is a dinner entree Salmon) As of yet I have not found another restaurant that prepares salmon this masterful in Las Vegas.

Another impressive dish that is only occasionally on the dinner menu is the Ligurian Focaccia.

This was to die for –

The bread is really light as air and is a balloon sort of bread. It’s stuffed with creamy light Crescenza cheese and this one was topped with squash blossoms, asparagus, Italian parsley, and mushrooms.

And of course the hand made pastas and sausage are amazing.

Below is what we tried so –

Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano is Impressive and is Worth a Fork!

Matteo’s Ristorante Italiano – at The Venetian Hotel/Casino

3355 S Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-414-1222

www.VenetianLasVegas.com

www.MatteosVegas.com

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ai Pazzi Pizza by Chef Fabio Viviani recently opened in the food hall in Rampart Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. At the time of my visit last Friday I was told that this is just a take out restaurant without seating on the day we went. (That might be changing because I saw them adding tables the next day?) We sat at the bar seats by ai Pazzi Pizza and were told to leave because they were bar seats for the restaurant. (but the next day I saw they let ai Pazzi Pizza there so I don’t know if they changed things or maybe it depends on who is working? anyways They offer a limited menu of 6 twelve inch pizzas, two salads, soft beverages, and take out beer.

I noticed that chef Fabio was seated next door at the Pearls Oyster Bar.

We came at an off time and we sat ourselves at one of the few tables across from ai Pazzi Pizza but you can’t count (at this time) on getting a seat anywhere.

We tried a Pesto Pomodoro Pizza (mozzarella, pesto, tomatoes, raw onion, parmesan)

and a OG Salica (pomodoro, fontina, provolone, sausage, peppers, olives, red onions, roasted garlic, and oregano)

Of course both pizzas were delicious and both were thin and crisp.

At the time of my visit it wasn’t clear on the website that this was a take out only restaurant. Perhaps that will change in the near future?

ai Pazzi Pizza – Newly Opened

221 N. Rampart Blvd Las Vegas NV (at Rampart Hotel/Casino)

702-507-5900

www.TheResortatSummerlin.com

Every THING is subject to change.