Tag Archives: #Vegas

Brera Osteria Las Vegas NV – Ask for the $28.00 3 Course Chefs Tasting Lunch GREAT FIND! Worth a Fork!

Brera Osteria is a multi-regional Italian restaurant that is an inspiration of the artsy-cool Brera neighborhood in Milan Italy. This restaurant is located in St Mark’s Square in the Grand Canal Shoppes in The Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. Besides many Italian favorites they also offer authentic Neapolitan pizza. All the seating is on the indoor patio.

They don’t post this menu so it is a secret. You have to ask for the 3 course chef’s tasting lunch menu. There is an additional charge for four of the items on the menu.

We both went for the 3 course lunch menu and everything we tried was at least good.

They start you off with complimentary bread with a little oil and balsamic.

First course was the salad called insalata (wild arugula, fennel, orange, olives, grana, chili vinaigrette).

The other first course was meatballs (beef & pork, San Marzano, mozzarella, and grilled bread).

For my main I got the salmon (Umbrian lentils, fennel puree, leeks, beet aioli). and this alone was worth the $28.00 to me. It was prepared just so and also cooked to my request.

My husband got the beef tenderloin ($18. extra charge) (with grilled romaine hearts, roasted potatoes, chimichurri).

My husband asked me to taste the beef but I was busy with my plate and declined…..Then he said that I must try the potatoes so I tried one. It was sort of garlic-ee but tasted like a special potato. Not a regular potato that you get at the supermarket…A special variety.

For dessert we both went with the bread pudding imbedded with fruit, nuts, chocolate, and was enhanced with gelato, caramel, whipped cream, and berries.

If you want this then you have to ASK for the three course chef’s tasting menu from Brera Osteria at the Venetian at St Mark’s Square. I think that it is a great find! Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

3355 S Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas NV

702-414-1227

www.BreraOsteria.com

www.VenetianLasVegas.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Miznon – Seasonal Israeli Street Food Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork! RUN!!! DON’T WALK

Miznon is a seasonal high quality chain of Israeli Street Food Restaurants by chef Eyal Shani. According to www.Miznon.com they have locations in Israel, United States, France, Austria, Australia, Singapore, Canada, and United Kingdom. We went to the newly opened Las Vegas location. (***I’ve also read that a location just opened recently in Canada) The Las Vegas location is located near the Palazzo casino floor that is in the Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada.

This is a very casual food market stall with bar seating. You order and pay at the counter and seat yourself. They call your name as things from your order are ready. At the current time a few tables are scattered across from the stall. This is the spot where Fine Dining Israeli Hasalon Restaurant will be also by chef Eyal Shani.

The signature dish is The Original World Famous Baby Cauliflower. (you can see the Atlantic flake Sea Salt on it)

The cauliflower comes out like this with tahini sauce and a green chili sauce that is called shrug or zhug sauce (many different spellings).

It’s very surprising how great that this very simple cauliflower can taste…..It really is very good and special! It so special that the recipe of this cauliflower is posted at the restaurant.

I couldn’t try everything………so I snapped this picture of the bag of green beans when I saw them come up at the counter (with olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt).

I had to try the plate called “The Best Hummus Plate That You Will Ever Eat with Melting Chickpeas.”

I can sure tell you that it was a very great plate of hummus and also was the most detailed plate of hummus that I have ever tried anywhere. It’s enhanced with melting chickpeas, slices of hard egg, green chili sauce, olive oil, tomato seeds that are like caviar, and tahini. The pita is very fluffy and it’s all really great together.

We were both blown away with both the next two meat dishes. One was the sal de coq (rotisserie chicken, fresh herbs, radish, cucumber, pickles)

The flavors and moisture in the chicken is OFF THE CHARTS GREAT! It must be tasted to be believed. This really blew us away. You can’t really see it in my photo (because I wanted you to see the chicken) but they also gave us this incredibly delicious roasted pepper with it. (lower left corner)

LIGHTNING STRIKES AGAIN!

bag of golden meat

The pita-less entree called “Bag of Golden Meat” is far more incredible than I can ever describe. The depth of flavors and tenderness was so shocking in a great way.

This is some sort of overnight brisket, grilled onions, and a garlic-ee aioli. Honestly this didn’t even seem like brisket because it was so amazing. I really thought it tasted more like the finest shaved prime rib from a very upscale steakhouse.

Oh and I forgot to mention that the meat portions were extra large so it also is a really great value dining here.

RUN !!!!!! Don’t walk. GO to Miznon as soon as you can because it really was that good and Worth a Fork! (and a Great value too!)

Worth a Fork!

Miznon

3355 S. Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas NV (Venetian located near to the Palazzo Casino Floor)

www.VenetianLasVegas.com

www.Miznon.com (at the time of my visit the Las Vegas location was not yet listed on this site but is listed on the Venetian site)

But every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

My Trip to Cafe Hollywood at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas NV

Cafe Hollywood is a casual full service restaurant located in Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada. They feature all day breakfast but also offer lunch and dinner. Inside you can sit at the counter or a table and marvel at all the Hollywood stars that grace the walls.

inside
inside

I tried the smoked salmon and avocado toast.

It’s a slice of wheat toast topped with smoked salmon, mashed avocado, poached egg, sour cream, pickled red onions and capers. It was mostly good but I asked for a medium poached egg and they just poached it soft and it was a little underdone. The waiter did offer to get me another egg but I declined.

My husband tried the breakfast burrito.

The burrito is stuffed with scrambled eggs, pepper jack cheese, green bell peppers, refried beans, bacon, sausage, and ranchero sauce. The burrito comes with breakfast potatoes. This platter was A-OK.

An overall A-OK so …….Worth a Try!

That was my trip to Cafe Hollywood at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino

3667 Las Vegas BLVD S Las Vegas NV

702-732-1222

www.TheCafeHollywood.com

Every THING is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

A Little Taste of Dominique Ansel Patisserie – Las Vegas NV

Dominique Ansel is a multi award wining pastry chef. He also is the inventor of the Cronut that is a cross between a croissant and a doughnut.

Up above to the left is the famous cronut and to the right are pain au chocolat.

Cookies shaped like cups filled with vanilla milk.

Spinach and cheese quiche, croque monsieur sandwich, and fluffy egg sandwiches are available.

Assorted cakes

pumpkin pie

bourbon pecan pie

novelty desserts

novelty desserts

desserts

Three days in a row we tried something.

My first try was this amazing looking fortune cookie.

The limited seating is all filled up so I take our dessert to a slot machine with a tray to enjoy. It’s softer than it looks. My husband takes a bite and says, “YUK.”……… Well it’s not a yuk ……but it is different from what I was expecting. The thin tender fortune cookie is filled with slightly lemon laced cream. It’s richer than frosting but taste exactly like a lemon laced frosting from a bakery. The baked goodie on the bottom taste buttery and the Lucky Me fortune is white chocolate.

The next day we tried a pain au chocolat.

They look amazing but maybe I was unlucky and the one we got had very little chocolate in it. My half didn’t have any. My husband dug out a small piece for me to try. It was very good. Obviously high quality chocolate but ours had very little in it. The croissant also doesn’t have many layers in it. The croissant part looks amazing but wasn’t nearly as many layers or that from French butter taste as the croissant from L’ATELIER de Joel Robuchon.

I had to try a cronut. I didn’t know that it was filled with mocha cream. Mocha is my least favorite flavor so it wasn’t for me.

Dominique Ansel Las Vegas

3570 Las Vegas BLVD S Las Vegas NV

www.Caesars.com

Everything is subject to change.

The Forking Truth

Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork

The Las Vegas Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House is located in the MGM on the Las Vegas Strip. This restaurant is owned by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. This is a full service seafood restaurant that offers a few New Orleans specialties.

bar area
part of dining room

They started us off with four pieces of warm sweetened corn bread and butter. (we each ate a piece before I snapped picture)

My husband started with the gumbo because that is a must have if you can do it ($13.)

I had the fresh catch. It was grilled salmon today with mixed vegetables ($27.).

My husband went with the shrimp po boy that came with pickled cauliflower salad ($16.).

Everything was prepared reasonably well and everything was good!

Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.EmerilsRestaurants.com

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

The Forking Truth

Twist By Pierre Gagnaire at Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas NV – WORTH A FORK! The most FORKING Amazing Food EVER! – *****UPDATE NOW CLOSED

*******UPDATE NOW CLOSED*******Twist By Pierre Gagnaire is a fine dining French Restaurant located on the 23rd floor of The Waldorf Astoria in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip. They offer a variety of menus. We went with the four course vegetarian tasting menu and it was like OUT OF THIS WORLD FORKING AMAZING….Like from another planet. It was one of the very best meals I ever had.

The dining room is sort of like dining under the stars with all those hanging lights..The tables are covered in linen and silverware actually looks like silver and not stainless steal.

My table has a view of the Las Vegas Strip.

They started us off with a whole bunch of amuse bouche.

They were all so thrilling and delicious and then it gets even better.

We get a baguette and this incredibly delicious bread that’s made from charcoal and apricots…..The butters that go with them are extra delicious too. The butters are hand churned French Butter and one butter is slightly spicy from Piment d’ Espelette.

First course for me is called Quinoa.

It taste as amazing as it looks. It’s made of red quinoa salad, avocado, pineapple mousse, coconut and marigolds. All the flavors are MIND-BLOWING!

My husband isn’t a big fan of quinoa and asked to exchange his starter for different one and got the Zezette Bouillon.

It’s also pretty as a picture…..I can see this on my wall somewhere. It’s made of pumpkin gnocchi, oyster mushroom, and a ricotta croquette.

Next for me was the Bell Pepper.

It’s crispy sun chokes, leeks bell peppers, mascarpone and sauce pitchi. So many flavors that it is impossible to describe…..

We added on the risotto special with white alba truffles and it was served with our main entree the Autumn Vol-au-vant.

We started with the risotto.

OMG it’s Forking amazing! These truffles are super flavorful. It’s bursting with so much flavor and then when you hit the parmesan tuile…it just pops a little more. This is the FORKING BEST Truffle dish I ever tasted!

The Autumn Vol-Au-Vant is also amazing. It’s made with onion cream, celeriac, turmeric cauliflower, Swiss chard, soy beans and quince puree. I don’t know how they made this but it taste so FORKING wonderful.

Then we get a palate cleanser.

OMG even the palate cleanser is FORKING delicious……..It has so many flavors…..raspberry sorbet, fennel, another MIND BLOWING PLATE!…..I could be done now.

Then we get three desserts each.

These are all CRAZY crazy CRAZZZZZZZZZY good….The little one on the bottom is some sort of lemon curd marshmallow and topped with a really delicious cream and topped thin milk crisps. To the right is a layered chocolate cake with a fig and really great chocolate on top of it with little gel fruit cubes…..But the thing in the glass was SUPER AWESOME FORKING MIND BLOWING….You crack the edible cube open and all kinds of flavors make your brain go bonkers…..There was pomegranate, grapefruit, I think Thai basil, Lemongrass and others I can’t remember….

Then we got surprised with another plate of very detailed amuse bouche…..all desserts.

The layer cakes are thimble sized painstakingly made opera cakes, the ones that look like pears on crackers are passionfruit cakes, little cubes are fruit gels and the chocolate is very intense with a nut….

Twist by Pierre Gagnaire in Las Vegas was astonishing as astonishing gets.

UPDATE*******NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS**************

Worth a Fork! Worth flying in to Vegas for!!!

www.WaldorfAstoriaLasVegas.com

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

The Forking Truth

My Trip to The Crack Shack Las Vegas Nevada – Worth a Fork for casual tasty food

The Crack Shack is a casual order at the counter Chicken theme restaurant with California locations and one location on the Las Vegas Strip in Park MGM. The chicken is of a higher quality than the usual and is made of Jidori Chicken.

The restaurant is co-founded by celebrity Top Chef Richard Blais. The Crack Shack offers a variety of chicken sandwiches, fried chicken, a variety of bowls, deviled eggs, biscuits, children’s meals, sweets, a bar and more.

You order at the counter, pay, grab a pager, seat yourself and pick up at the window when the pager goes off. They also offer a variety of sauces to jazz things up.

Don’t recall exactly but from left, sweet, house ketchup, bbq, enchilada and sriracha mayo

In reasonable time the pager goes off.

Here’s Matzo Ball Pazole ($10.)

The Matzo Ball is light and fluffy and sits in a Mexican Seasoned broth with pieces of tender braised chicken. We add seasoned lime, tortilla strips, cabbage and avocado and it becomes a hearty feast.

Then we shared a Firebird Crispy Chicken Thigh Sandwich ($12) with Schmaltz fries ($3.).

The sandwich is made with juicy tender flavorful chicken. It has a very thin crisp exterior. It’s seasoned well and is tasty. It’s a little smoky and a little spicy sort of like a hot smoked paprika kind of taste with a thin shattering crisp coating. The sandwich also contains a good amount of pickle slices that seem like they could be house made. There are also very crisp pieces of fried onions. We had it with the ranch dressing on the side because both of us aren’t big fans of ranch dressing. The fries appear to be hand cut. They are moist inside and tasty. The exterior isn’t particularly crisp and is dusted in a salty slightly spicy seasoning.

The Crack Shack is Worth a Fork for a semi quick casual meal out.

Worth a Fork!

www.CrackShack.com

Every THING is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth

Buddy V’s Ristorante Las Vegas NV – Worth a Fork!

Buddy V’s Ristorante in Las Vegas Nevada is located in the Venetian Hotel/Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Incase you don’t know Buddy Valastro is the owner of Carlo’s Bakery that has been in his family for many decades in Hoboken New Jersey. He had much success being known as The Cake Boss on a reality TV show called Cake Boss. Buddy now has several locations of his bakery and restaurants and sells packaged products and more too.

We have a reservation and get seated quickly in the restaurant.

They start us off with complimentary focaccia and olive oil dotted with balsamic.

This focaccia is very above average and is very good. It’s fresh made with herbs and cheese but most importantly I can taste the olive oil in it. I’ve read that in the best focaccia you are suppose to taste the olive oil in it.

For my main I went with the Grilled Salmon ($25.).

It’s presented nice and encircled with balsamic and flavored oils. The fish is resting on a bed of vegetable salad and the fish has nice tasty grill marks on it. (It taste like sustainable salmon to me.) It’s prepared next to perfect. Everything is seasoned nice. Only note is that the salad is named Mediterranean chickpea artichoke salad when there actually is far more green beans than artichokes…but who cares…It’s good so we are happy!

My husband had the orecchiette and Italian Sausage ($24.)

It was made with broccoli rabe, blistered tomatoes, basil and pecorino. My husband said the sausage was particularly good. He said his whole plate was VERY GOOD! He kept saying on our whole trip here that Buddy’s was his favorite. He loved the reasonable pricing and the delicious food.

Tried a cannoli for dessert….($9.)…after all he is The Cake Boss!

Oh they gave use two not one cannoli. With thick rich really great chocolate sauce. WOW! This is the best cannoli I ever had out. I KNOW because I make my own cannoli. It’s a little different flavor-wise than mine but the filling is the same texture and richness as mine. It’s excellent like home made cheese. The shell is not bubbled (like from wine or vinegar…like mine) but has a really great light but very crisp texture……The end with chocolate chips is really good but the end with the pistachios KNOCKS IT OUT OF THE PARK!!!!! WOW it’s a very special moment when you taste pistachios that are this great!!!!

WOW VERY GOOD!

Buddy V’s in Las Vegas is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

WWW.BuddyVsRestaurants.com

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

The Forking Truth

L’ATELIER de Joel Robuchon Las Vegas NV – 2019 …Some of the magic is still there but I think it’s fading…….

L’ATELIER de Joel Robuchon is a high end exhibition French Tapas Restaurant with several locations in the world. The location that I go to is located in Las Vegas at the MGM Hotel/Casino on the Las Vegas strip. This restaurant is multi award winning.

The late chef was Joel Robuchon who was the most awarded chef in history and was known as chef of the century.

This is an exhibition restaurant. You get seated at a bar that views the kitchen.

Usually we drink wine…but the wine prices went up and the least expensive bottle is over a hundred……….Tonight we are having cocktails.

This restaurant offers many menu options but we usually go for the three course menu that includes an amuse bouche (for $85. at this time) (also this is now as of this year only an early evening option only offered 5-6pm)

Everyone that dines here gets a basket of amazing breads and French Butter.

Our alternate amuse bouche was the airy beets over a green apple gelee and topped with apple. We went with the alternative because I don’t eat the foie gras shooter and my husband is tired of this one that they’ve been serving for around ten years now.

It’s unusually light and earthy. The apple cuts the earthiness.

For our appetizer we both went with the Le Piquillo (pepper stuffed with smoked eggplant with tuna belly and romesco sauce.

The plate is interesting visually, and in textures. All the flavors go together very well.

We shared a special offering of the evening.

Spaghetti parmigiana foam, soft egg and fresh shaved Italian alba white truffles. WOW this was the plate of the evening. It is very rare that you taste a plate like this. I’ve tasted many different truffles over the years but this is the first time I ever tasted fresh White Alba Truffles. They certainly are something very VERY FORKING special. You don’t need to eat as many Alba white truffles to get truffle flavor like many of the other truffles. The truffles go expertly well with the foamy creamy parmesan foam, egg and spaghetti. I haven’t had any truffle dishes before anywhere near this level since my last meal at Binkley’s that used to be in Cave Creek Arizona. Now this dish was very masterful and exceptional.

My dinner was the salmon…..called Le Saumon…I get that on most visits and every time it’s a different presentation but it does come with those glorious Robuchon potatoes.

This evenings’ presentation is delicious but less detailed than previous salmon dinners I’ve had here.

Tonight the salmon is embedded with bitter olive tapenade and there are thin drizzles of bitter yuzu on the plate. Fresh tomatoes and basil brighten the fish some. the salmon is almost like custard and is cooked to perfection. It’s very good …..but not exceptional like it usually is…..

Below are a couple of the salmon plates I had from previous visits…can’t find them all..believe me I’ve had many. These plates below were exceptional!

Anywho-

My husband said his dinner was also very good but he also felt that his dinner was less detailed than from previous dinners….???? Maybe it’s just tonight?

Tonight he had the quail filled with foie gras with pureed potatoes.

For dessert we both had the Les Tarts…….(once known as little slices of heaven to me.)

There are two new ones tonight….the pumpkin and the apple.

My favorites are the cinnamon on the left and the passionfruit on the right…..These are magical…especially the passionfruit.

My husband has different taste than me and his favorites are the cinnamon and the chocolate caramel peanut.

Both of our least favorites are the pumpkin and both of us don’t like the apple. (first time I didn’t enjoy a les tart)

After dessert they presented us with some chocolates.

That was my trip to L’ATELIER de Joel Robuchon. Most of the magic is still there but I think it’s fading.

www.MGMResortsInternational.com

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

The Forking Truth

Bouchon Las Vegas Nevada – Worth a Fork!

Bouchon in Las Vegas is located on the tenth floor in the Venezia Tower next to the theater in the Venetian Hotel/Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The Parisian Style food served is of Muti award winning Chef Thomas Keller. Time Magazine named Thomas Keller to be “America’s Best Chef.”

The restaurant has a nice classic old fashioned look to it. Waitstaff is formally dressed.

Fresh shellfish is available.

The tables are close but not too close together and are covered with white linen and heavy silverware.

We started with escargots ala bourguignon (burgundy snails, parsley, garlic, Bouchon pastry).

Salad Di Endives Et Poire – (endive, red wine pears, candied walnuts, goat cheese, red wine vinaigrette.)

Dinner for the both oof us was two very generous plates of Diestel Farms Turkey (sliced breast and shredded dark meat), Bouchon bakery stuffing, pumpkin croquettes, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, soft rolls and creamy butter.

OMG YUM! The rolls and butter are Forking incredible…had to stop eating them after a taste. The turkey is moist, very tender, very flavorful,,,,,but also salty…in a good way…It’s salty but it taste good. I don’t usually like salty ever but this is good. Croquettes seem free of oil and have a nice super thin crisp crust. like a really good mozzarella stick. The stuffing has good solid flavors. The cranberry sauce taste more like bitter orange marmalade to me……Turkey gravy is thin but has a rich bold turkey flavor. Sadly I had to leave a lot of my plate behind because dessert was next and I was seeing a show and didn’t have a refrigerator in my hotel room. This was the best food I left behind at a restaurant.

For dessert we shared the trio of tarts (apple, pumpkin and pecan and the Bouchon au chocolat.

Dessert is such a delight when it comes in multiple flavors in doll house portions. The winning dessert for us was the Chocolate Bouchon…..We are very familiar with them and the recipe is published on line and on The Forking Truth. They are the best chocolate cake that you can try anywhere. Bouchon are always moist and contain the perfect amount of chocolate and are not too sweet. Out of the pies we liked the pumpkin the best because it tasted like a traditional pumpkin pie. For our taste the apple had too much lemon flavor and the pecan was sweeter than we like…..(still good…)

Past plates from Bouchon (Napa CA location)

Bread and butter

salmon rillettes

Chick Pea soup

boudin blac

Salmon Special

Lemon tart

I’d say Bouchon Las Vegas or Napa CA is Worth a Fork!

Worth a Fork!

www.ThomasKeller.com

Every Thing is subject to change and your experience may or may NOT differ.

The Forking Truth