Las Vegas Food, Part 2

Each time we go to Las Vegas, we like to go out for one big meal, where we dress up and have a fine dining experience. I'd like to do it more, but there are budgetary considerations to, well, consider.

Since the last time we were there we were not able to get a reservation at Circo in the Bellagio, we made reservations somewhat earlier this time. Not only was it one of the best meals I've ever had, the service was stellar, and it was the kind of place that while they do have a dress code, I didn't feel at all out of place taking pictures of my food.
My husband started with the starter portion of the spinach and chicken cannelloni with tomato and parmesan on top and basil oil underneath. It was good and quite rich.


My starter - cream of cauliflower soup with scallop ragu. I don't know that it was a ragu, but there were lots of sweet pieces of scallop in the soup. That's white truffle oil on top for proper gilding of the lily. This was a special of the evening.


My dinner, another off the daily specials menu: bone in rib eye with roasted cipollini onions and a truffle risotto cake stuffed with fontina cheese (in the back, can't see it so well). It was all fantastic. In the foreground you can see a bit of the bread basket. Those who know me know I love Il Fornaio's ciabatta. Circo's ciabatta blows that out of the water. Yes, it's that good, and the grissini are even better.


My husband's entree: venison chops on butternut squash puree and...um...we can't remember what the white slices were. Hey, it WAS two weeks ago.



My dessert: chocolate with gelato and a banana "beignet" in the background (banana battered and deep fried). I'll edit when I go look up the proper name.

My husband had the cheese plate that came with walnut cranberry bread and two housemade "jams" which we can't remember what they were. There's a nice chunk of gorgonzola there, but again, can't remember the cheeses.

Las Vegas Food Pictures, Part 1

So, we're back from Las Vegas and I'm finally getting around to uploading some pictures. It's only been two weeks since we got back. That's pretty good for me.


Lunch at Dragon Noodle Co. in the Monte Carlo. Kung Pao chicken on the right, Mongolian Beef on the left. I just really like the food at this place. It's California style Chinese rather than whatever it is we have here, and I miss it sometimes.


Pastrami at the Stage Door Deli in the MGM Grand. You can see that it's got a proper amount of fat. If you want lean, get the turkey.

Then it was on to dinner at the Wynn Buffet. It's definitely up there, but I think I still like the Bellagio's better for both depth and overall quality. Not that this sucked. No, far from it. Here are the three plates I had, and please note that I did not clear them. I still adhere to the laws of the buffet. And a lot of these dishes were shared with my husband - not shown are his plates.


Clockwise, from top: pepperoni pizza (average), smoked trout (yum), lamb tbone (awful, rubber), mushroom in butter, some kind of chicken I can't remember, smoked trout salad (eh), cooked white fish (a little overdone, but tasty), and in the center, broccoli rabe.



Crab legs (oversalted, but very nice when dipped in drawn butter), smoked salmon, some kind of hand roll (salmon?), currant tomato caprese salad in the little glass, cucumber and seaweed salad (one of the huge hits of the night, it was fantastic), another salad next to it, a glass of cocktail sauce, and entirely too many shrimps for shrimp cocktail. That's the problem with shrimp cocktail on a buffet - how much shrimp cocktail can I eat? How much you got?


Housemade soft pretzel, an herb/cheese bread/muffin, more crab legs, more California rolls, another handroll, Gorgonzola cheese (very, very good) and some...um...havarti cheese? More of the cucumber/seaweed salad underneath. I did mention it was good.

Of course, I completely forgot to take pictures of dessert. Suffice it to say they were great. One of the highlights was a no sugar added pecan pie that was just fantastic.