Vegas Food

Hello. My name is Kara, and I’m a foodie. I love to cook. I collect cookbooks, and I’m addicted to the Food Network. When we went to Las Vegas last month, I took pictures of lots of food. I know there are at least a couple of my friends that are anxiously awaiting the pictures of the food. So here you go! (If you’re not as interested in the food as we foodies are, scroll down, the trip log is posted below!)

Before I show you pictures of food, please keep a few things in mind. I’m not a great photographer. I had a brand new camera. I’m still trying to figure out the settings. Food photography is really hard! But, lousy pictures aside, I think you’ll get the idea. :)

Ghirardelli

I could have spent so much more money here. Wow. The smell alone put inches on my thighs… We had an ice cream sundae called the trolley car, I think. Oh so good. And just the trick to get you through a three and a half mile hike from the NYNY to Treasure Island.

Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House

We went here on our first night in Vegas. It’s located in the MGM Grand, not too far away from Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Craftsteak. Wolfgang Puck has a beautiful restaurant close by… Ok, so there were several NICE places to eat. We loved Emeril’s restaurant, NOLA, in New Orleans, so we made a reservation on our way through the hotel from the monorail station. When we arrived back at the restaurant about two hours later, we were not disappointed.

Waiters in fine restaurants always seem shocked when we place our drink order. We don’t drink. Nope. Not even in Sin City. Our waiter was surprised, but he also offered to make us a mocktail. Cranberry juice, pineapple juice and 7-up. So good. I’m feeling inspired to host a mocktail party of my own. How fun would that be?! :) Sorry, no picture of the fabulous drink.

After a bowl of Fall River Clam Chowder for me, and the gumbo of the day, shrimp and andouille sausage, for Doug, (sorry, soups are not photogenic) we enjoyed some amazing fish entrees. From the menu I ordered:

Emeril’s Sweet Barbecued Scottish Salmon
Andouille Sausage & Brabant Potatoes with Spicy Onion Crust and Emeril’s Homemade Worcestershire

I was a little disappointed in the presentation, since there wasn’t much variation in the colors, but the taste didn’t disappoint. I don’t think I’ve ever had homemade worcestershire sauce before. Oh, it was good! I wouldn’t normally think of fish and worcestershire as the ideal combination, but it was awesome!

Doug’s selection was:

Herb, Sea Salt & Pepper Crusted Ahi Tuna
Homemade Sopressata Sausage, Italian Cheese & Spinach Ravioli with Basil Pesto, Tomato Olive Stew and Balsamic Extraction

It was visually more appealing, and I loved the clean flavors of the pesto with the ravioli. I really need to recreate that tomato stew. It was so flavorful, but not overpowering. Even though both dishes were spectacular, Doug’s choice was a better dish. :) Oh, and don’t ya just love the shadow of Doug’s arm across the plate? I told you we’re not great at food photography. Sorry!

Bellagio Lunch Buffet

What’s a trip to Vegas without a trip to a buffet? :) This was the second day of our trip. You may be asking, where’s breakfast? Honestly, we had a Starbucks breakfast most days. I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on breakfast. I would rather spend my money on lunch and dinner… Ok. So, I’ve never seen a buffet like the one at the Bellagio, and it was a little crowded, so I didn’t take a ton of pictures of the food in the service line.

This display case was in the middle of the dessert section of the buffet, and my photography does not come close to how fabulous these cakes were. Yes, the stack of boxes on the right was a CAKE.

What were some of our choices, you ask? Leg of lamb, seared flank steak, duck confit with an apricot glaze, buffalo sliders, sushi, stirfry, shrimp cocktail, spring rolls, artisan breads, salads, sauteed baby patty pan squash, marinated mushrooms, bbq ribs, fresh fruits, pastas and homemade raviolis with different sauces…

Oh, and the desserts! Oh, well, see for yourself!

Let’s see from the top left, that’s a cream puff, lemon tart, and an apple something or other – I can’t remember, and cheesecake. This was Doug’s dessert plate. Here’s mine:

The top one is chocolate pie. The red thingy is colored white chocolate. The bottom one is a chocolate hazelnut torte. I also had a little taste of some raspberry sorbet.

Wow, was I stuffed!

Mon Ami Gabi

We didn’t eat again until almost 11pm. We were pretty stuffed from too much food at the Bellagio. We visited Freemont street and saw the sights there, then stopped at this French bistro. It sits right in front of the Paris Las Vegas with a delightful view of the Bellagio water show. We didn’t have patio seats, but we could still hear the music and see the water from our table. :)

I know it’s not the best picture, but the white stuff is the water show. :)

This restaurant was decidedly more casual than some of the other restaurants we visited, but the food was outstanding. I had the Lemon Chicken Paillard with green beans and lemon butter.

The picture doesn’t do justice to the flavor. It was divine. Doug ordered the Pork Tenderloin with date-glazed bacon, mashed potatoes, and a port-wine cherry sauce.

So good! The bacon was so flavorful from the glaze. A taste of that with the mashed potatoes… oh my goodness… The only negative: I wish the greens on the plate had been dressed with some kind of vinaigrette.

Mesa Grill

Thursday, we ate at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay’s restaurant. I’m glad that we went for lunch since we could actually afford the tasting menu for lunch. I’m sure we wouldn’t have done that for dinner. This was my favorite restaurant of the trip. Doug preferred Emeril’s so we’re calling it a tie. I took lots of pictures. :) Here we go!

This was my favorite selection from the bread basket. A cornbread muffin with blue and yellow cornmeals. A little spicy kick, but not too much.

Tomato Tortilla Soup. Nice and spicy, but not overwhelming. The heat was nicely balanced with some sweetness and some richness from the avocado. This was my appetizer on the tasting menu. Doug had something different:

A blue corn pancake with braised duck breast inside. The orange and green sauces on the plate were so flavorful and delicious.

The tasting menu offered two different entrees as well. Doug had the Buffalo burger, served with fries and jalapeno ketchup. Have you ever tried jalapeno ketchup? Oh, I need to figure out how to make some. It was really yummy.

And, my entree was this:

Oh. My. Goodness. Seared scallops with jalapeno pesto, guacamole and homemade tortilla chips. There are no words to describe how amazing this dish was. Wow. So. Good.

And dessert. Profiteroles. Banana ice cream inside. With crispy caramel-ly crunchies, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. What an awesome ending to an amazing meal!

It took almost two hours to eat lunch, so when we left we were definitely satisfied, but not feeling heavy at all. There was a nice 10 minutes or so between each course. It’s so nice to be able to slow down…

The Rest

Well, that’s the last of my food pictures. We also had some smoothies at Ben & Jerry’s. We had great fast food at In-N-Out Burger. We ate our last Vegas meal at the Hard Rock Cafe…

What a fun trip! We had a blast! :)