Bacchanal Buffet @ Caesar's Palace - Las Vegas

 

Mirage and Venetian Hotels

Inside Caesar's Palace

One of the best things to do in Vegas is eat at the buffets. I've heard so many good things about the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesar's Palace, so I was really excited to try it out on a Monday when there wasn't a whole lot of people or line ups.

It's still pretty pricey at $35.99 for lunch, but hopefully it'll be well worth it.

Round 1: Seafood

They seemed to have everything! Paella, crab legs, clam chowder, mussels, crayfish, oysters, fish of the day
Most of the food was flavourful, but maybe not the freshest since it was sitting out waiting for people to come and take it. I thought the oyster bar was really nice!

Round 2: Meats

Roast beef, ribs, sliders with wagyu beef, Tacos with pork carnitas or chicken or beef, chicken and waffles and Alaskan King Crab legs
Hmm...my photography skills are a little lacking in this photo - maybe it was my impatience to eat? LOL.
In any case, the Wagyu Beef sliders were really good as were the tacos with fresh guacamole, sour cream and cheese. The Alaskan King Crab legs were also really good especially with butter - very meaty. The chicken and waffles and ribs were a little dry.

Round 3:  Miscellaneous

Rack of lamb, bao, fusilli pasta with spinach in a cream sauce,  unagi sushi and salmon sushi and nachos
The lamb was okay - a little dry again from sitting and waiting under the heat lamp. The unagi sushi was okay since it was already cooked, but I probably should have left the salmon sushi there. I liked the carnitas nachos and the guacamole.

Round 4: Dessert!

Pistachio gelato on the left, assortment of cakes, tarts, mousse, whoopee pie, crème brulee, macarons, strawberry dipped in chocolate and vanilla cupcake
If you know me, then you know I have a huge sweet tooth. I had to save space especially since Caesar's Buffet is known for their desserts!
The pistachio gelato was probably better in concept than in execution - I got a hint of pistachio, but mostly cream.

I liked the fruit tarts the most! The chocolate mousse underneath the fruits was rich, creamy and so decadent. We all liked the pandan mouse cake square at the top - pandan is pretty light in itself, but they made it really well. The crème brulee fell a little flat, and they didn't torch it in front of us. The pistachio and vanilla macarons weren't that good either - they had crumbly feet and were really dense. I wasn't super impressed by the desserts, but there was a lot of choices.

Overall: Lots of variety at Caesar's Bacchanal Buffet and I like that the portion sizes were tiny and quickly replenished so that you could try more. Unfortunately, we went for a late lunch on a Monday which meant that while we could eat rather slowly without being rushed, the food was also sitting around longer since there was less people to constantly turnover the food.  We found the food was okay and there was definitely something for everyone, but it was pricey. I decided that buffets just aren't for me (unless they're AYCE sushi), but at least I tried a famous Vegas Buffet.

Website: http://www.caesars.com/caesars-palace/restaurants/bacchanal-buffet#.VKNB3xEg_IU

Denny's - Las Vegas

After a long exhausting day at the Grand Canyon,

We came back to the bright lights of Vegas and decided to grab a late night dinner on the Strip:

 We didn't know what else was still open, so we went to Denny's for some late night breakfast.

Everything's a little fuzzy at night in Vegas (LOL)


Zesty Nachos and Spaghetti and Meatballs
We were just thinking of splitting an appetizer and a main, but we forgot American portion sizes again.
For late night eats, it was edible...the chips were a little strange and the nachos were a little on the spicy side. The pasta was pretty straight forward. At least the service was okay - we were in and out in no time at all.

Peppermill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge - Las Vegas

 

Hoover Dam and the majestic Grand Canyon (view from the south rim)

Panorama from Mather Point

We had a long day ahead of us to get to the Grand Canyon (5 hours of driving), so we went to grab a big breakfast at the Peppermill Grill before hitting the road.

The inside was a very bright neon colour even for 9am and it definitely had that Vegas old school lounge feel which was interesting for a diner.

Top: Two freshly baked blueberry muffins, Joe's San Francisco Special and Mediterranean Omelet

We also got two cups of their endless coffee (I love diner coffee - it's just so fresh and they always give you so much).

The Mediterranean Omelet had seafood stuffed with Jack and Cheddar cheeses, crab and shrimp and smothered in Hollandaise sauce, while the Joe's San Fran special was scrambled eggs with spinach, sausage, ground beef, onion and served with hash browns and cheese sauce.
The muffins were amazing! So tasty and buttery even without adding butter and they were so warm with the perfect crunchy muffin top. Yum!

It wasn't the best diner food I've ever had, but the portions were certainly gigantic and it tasted okay. After eating Joe's special, I learned why Americans love ketchup so much - it adds a nice sweetness to the scrambled eggs that just makes it taste so much better.

Overall: Great value for money here! Most breakfast options were under $15 and they were pretty decent and super filling. The ambiance was...a little interesting, but the service was really quick. Definitely try the muffins here - they're fantastic!

Website: http://peppermilllasvegas.com/#home

Alizé - Las Vegas

Vegas Strip at night from the Rio Hotel

Before we left for Vegas, I checked out Groupon and Travelzoo to see if we could get some good deals. I found a Travelzoo deal for Alize at the top of the Palms (5 course meal for 2 for $135) and a deal for the Penn and Teller Show at the Rio for $49.50.  So, we made the reservations and booked the show for Saturday night.

Alizé is a Michelin Starred French restaurant with a fantastic view from the 56th floor of the Palms Hotel.

 

Our Menu (we paid 1/2 the price with the deal)

Before the tasting menu:

Bread rolls

Amuse Bouche

1st Course

Maine Lobster Ratatouille

Such vibrant colours! The lobster was really nice and meaty and the sauce was really lovely.

Hamachi Tartare

Delicious! Beautifully presented and very tasty.

2nd Course

The options for the second course were between fois gras or blue cheese (neither of which we were fans of).

Point Reyes Blue Cheese - Strawberry Croustillant

This dish was pretty interesting; I didn't really expect a phyllo pastry baked with cheese inside on top of a light salad. I think it turned out okay.

Sautéed Fois Gras

I'm usually not a fan of fois gras, but I really liked this! I find cooking fois gras took away some of the heavy richness and it made the texture more palatable for me. I also liked the combination of the sweet fruits and the fois gras.

3rd Course

Roasted Mushroom Toban-Yaki

 I thought the presentation in the bowl was really nice, but I thought the mushroom flavour was rather overpowering in the Toban-Yaki.

Irish Salmon

I thought they cooked this really well! I liked the crispy crust on the top and the artfully arranged potatoes on the bottom.

An in-between "shot" after the mushroom Toban-Yaki

4th Course

Duck Breast

Perfectly cooked duck without the gamey taste.

Beef Rib Eye

The portion size seemed a little small, but it was tasty. I was a little confused by the side since it didn't seem like it went well with the beef.

5th Course (Yay! Dessert!)

Chocolate Soufflé and Grand Marnier Soufflé

Perfectly done soufflés! C'est parfait! Light and fluffy with molten chocolate oozing out of the chocolate soufflé and a creamy orange Grand Marnier sauce in the other. Of the two, I would highly recommend the chocolate soufflé for the pure decadence of chocolate on chocolate.

Some petit fours (chocolates) to finish:

Delicious hand-made chocolates with all sorts of different flavours and mixed with different nuts and ingredients. Yum! A perfect note to end our 5 course tasting menu with!

Overall: Fantastic meal at Alizé! The ambiance was nice and cozy, the view amazing, service was good and the food was really yummy.  And on top of that, we saved some money by buying in advance and getting a deal on a Michelin star restaurant! I left pretty happy. :D

Website: http://www.palms.com/fine-dining/alize

World of Coca-Cola - Las Vegas

Panorama of the inside of the Venetian Hotel

View of New York New York Hotel

I didn't think The Coca Cola Store would be such a big attraction in Vegas until I got to the second floor and started noticing lots of people sitting at the tables with trays of multi-coloured soda beverages in front of them.

For $7, we got to sample 16 Coke brand flavours from around the world:

That's a pretty good deal considering most of the cups were pretty full. If you love carbonated soft drinks, this would be paradise for you!

Most were okay - I could see why the flavours probably weren't suited for North American tastes. However, I thought they should definitely bring over the Fanta Melon Frosty from Thailand. Others that stood out were Sprite Ice from Korea which tasted less like Sprite and more like carbonated water with a tiny hint of sprite and the Stoney Tangawizi from Tanzania which reminded me of Dukoral (that bicarbonated slimy feeling).


I liked the Bibo Kiwi Mango from South Africa, but I hated the Beverly from Italy - it was so gross that I had to drink most of the Fanta Melon Frosty and Bibo Kiwi Mango to try to cover the bitter aftertaste (and it still didn't help that much). Ugh.

Overall: I thought this was a great experience! I loved trying all these samplers from around the world (even if some of them were hits and some of them were HUGE misses). It's always fascinating discovering all these similarities and differences in tastes around the world. 

Chef Jimmy's Bistro and Spirits - Denver Airport

Before I go into my blog entry for Chef Jimmy's Bistro and Spirits in Denver Airport, I just wanted to rant about Air Canada Rouge. 

I had the WORST experience flying Air Canada Rouge, which is Air Canada's low cost carrier. So since they're competing with other airlines to offer no-frills flights, they obviously take away certain things to make things cheaper. Here's the list:
1) The seats are incredibly cramped with a lot less leg room and a smaller seat space.
2) There's no TV screen on the back of the chair in front and instead you have the option to "rent" an Ipad for $10 for inflight entertainment.
3) The next cost cutting measure is no complimentary food.
I would say these are pretty important things to have for any reasonable person to enjoy their flight. I mean come on! Even Westjet and Porter (which are lower cost carriers in Canada) offer more leg space, seat space, inflight entertainment (even just music) and some kind of snack. I feel like they took all the joy out of flying to your destination because now not only are you uncomfortable sitting, but you also don't have anything to distract you from how miserable you feel on the flight (whether it's food or entertainment).

Going back to my story about my flight: halfway through the 8:50am EST direct flight to Las Vegas, the pilot comes on and informs us that one of the engines died and "although it's safe to keep flying, we have to make a detour to Denver". When the plane landed on the runway and stopped, a fire truck immediately came onto the scene on the tarmac and they lifted the bottom cover to the engine. That was when we could see the black smoke billowing out from the engine. So we taxied into the gate and waited for instructions on how to proceed to get to Vegas. It took them half an hour to decide how to proceed and the captain eventually tells us that Air Canada headquarters will be flying another plane from Toronto to pick up all the passengers in Denver and fly them to Vegas, but the plane won't arrive until 5pm MST. At this point, it was already 11:30am MST (around 10:30 PST which was my original arrival time in Vegas) and we finally disembarked into the Denver Airport. As an apologetic gesture, Air Canada gave out $20 meal tickets to all passengers waiting for the next flight, but we all had a lot of time to kill. I checked in with the service desk around 2pm MST and I was told that the plane was delayed and the earliest it would get to Denver was at 7pm MST. I was a little upset at this point since I wasted a day in Denver when I really could have been enjoying the Pool parties in Vegas, but there's nothing I can do.
Ultimately, we ended up flying out at 7pm MST and I arrived in Vegas at 8:30pm PST, but at that point, my early morning direct flight to Vegas turned into a 12-hour disastrous ordeal.

Anyways, onto the food!

Lunch time rush

 

  
 Chicken Enchilada Pasta
Grilled chicken with enchilada cream sauce, black beans, corn, tortilla chips, lime, cheese, tomato, fettuccine, cilantro and green onions
I was feeling a little adventurous and decided to choose the most unique item on the menu. You definitely don't see chicken enchilada pasta anywhere.
  
 I really liked it! The enchilada cream sauce was delicious and the dish was so tasty. I love the big portion of pasta too! The tortilla chips added a good crunchy texture and the tangy lime added some zest to the dish.

  
Salted Caramel Cheesecake
After the terrible day I had been having, I decided to treat myself to dessert. I was originally planning on going to the Cheesecake Factory in Vegas for lunch today, but since I got stuck in Denver, I got the next best thing - a slice of decadent, sweet and creamy cheesecake. So good!!! I love the graham cracker crust and the cheesecake was divine!

Overall: Great quick service restaurant in Denver Airport! The food was good, hearty and filling and the cheesecake was excellent! 

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chef-Jimmys-Bistro-Spirits/150244938327688

L'Opera French Desserts Cafe

If you've been following me for a while, you probably know about my huge sweet tooth.
Since I've walked by L'Opera a few times before, I decided to go in and grab a mid-afternoon snack.

Chocolate Roll
Of course the thing that sold me on this was all the pistachios! Unfortunately, they didn't have any pistachios inside the actual chocolate roll - it was just for decorative purposes. It tasted okay, but nothing spectacular.