Brioche Dorée @ Chicago Airport - Chicago

I was starving by the time I got to Chicago since I barely had anything to eat at the Las Vegas airport lounge. So when I got to Chicago, I quickly grabbed a sandwich at Brioche Dorée. 

I was a little anxious since I had an hour connection time and I spent 40 minutes checking out all my options in the terminal. Luckily, they made my sandwich in 5 minutes (and toasted it) and I made my gate just as they started boarding for my section. 

Chicken sandwich with cheese and roasted red peppers

Delicious! I devoured it in minutes - but it was a great sandwich (well worth the wait and way better than the Las Vegas lounge).  

Website: http://www.briochedoree.com

The Club at LAS @ Las Vegas Airport - Las Vegas

I recently got the Priority Pass and it gives me access to airport lounges around the world. So, when I was in Las Vegas, based on my other experiences with lounges, I was expecting that they would have a mini quick service buffet for lounge passengers to grab a quick bite before they catch their flights.  

Needless to say, I probably should've taken a full look at the lounge before committing to use my airport lounge pass here. It turns out the Club at LAS is super small - it's like a waiting area with snacks. They have more free options than the Billy Bishop Porter Airlines lounge, but it's very underwhelming. 

Chips, oreo, banana and an orange. It's unfortunate that I skipped the free hotel breakfast and came here for an early lunch because I was hugely disappointed. 

Oatmeal and Cup Noodles. No words necessary. 

Mixed jelly belly jellybeans

This was a nice surprise to a very depressing lounge stay. It's the airport to the city of buffets! How did this happen? Granted they can't do a lot with their tiny space, but the pictures were really deceiving and "refreshments" meant snacks not food. 

Studio B Buffet - Las Vegas

About half an hour south of the Las Vegas strip is Studio B, which has the best locals buffet in Vegas.

 

Definitely a cheaper option than one of the Vegas buffets on the Strip. However, we actually made it here for the most expensive time but also the best: Seafood buffet time!

They had quite a spread! Here's my round 1

Prime rib, Alaskan king crab legs, oysters, crayfish, quinoa salad, pastas with lots of cheese and sauce (my favourite way to have it), fried fish, cauliflower and more. 

Everything on the plate was delicious! I enjoyed everything and would've ate seconds of it all if I could have (alas, but stomach is not that big). 

Round 2

I had to go back for the King Crab legs - because look at the size of it! It's huge, sweet and so tasty. 

Mussels, oysters, mac and cheese, prime rib again, some veggies, steamed mussels, beef, crab sushi, crab salad, potatoes. Also, a green smoothie (because I was still had my Coachella cold). 

As yummy as everything was, I had to save space for my desserts! It's all about priorities. 

Dessert Round 1

Berry smoothie, pistachio ice cream and mango ice cream, pistachio and raspberry mousse, crepe, lemon tart, creme brulee, tiramisu, fruit and carrot cake - oh and some kalbi ribs, because why not?

The pistachio ice cream was pretty good, as was the mango. The mousse was great (I wanted seconds of it) and the tiramisu and creme brulee were okay. The kalbi ribs were Korean BBQ flavour and great! The one disappointing thing was the berry smoothie - it ended up being like a frozen yogurt. 

Dessert Round 2

Chocolate mousse, pistachio ice cream, pistachio and raspberry mousse (told you I'd go back for seconds), chocolate molten cake and chocolate cake. 

I love how everything was small - it made trying everything much easier. The chocolate cake, mousse and molten cake were good - but I really love their pistachio desserts. 

Overall: Great experience at Studio B Buffet! The atmosphere was a lot more relaxed and it didn't seem as crazy as the buffets on the Strip. I think I liked it more than Bacchanal Buffet even though Studio B might have had less variety of food - the quality and attention to detail for each item was better at Studio B. 

Website: http://www.themresort.com/dining/studio-b-buffet

Trattoria Reggiano @ The Venetian - Las Vegas

After we dropped off our luggage in our room at the Venetian, we went downstairs to explore the shops and to grab dinner.

 

When in Italy, go for Italian food right?

 
Simple menu with some classic items.


Italian garlic bread/buns for the table - these were really good! Fluffy and garlicky.

Eggplant Rollatini
The marinara sauce was savoury, and full of flavour (great sauce); the shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese added a nice saltiness and the eggplant rollatini was DELICIOUS! The oozy cheese in the slightly crispier fried eggplant was a fantastic combination.


Baked clams with breadcrumbs and olive oil
I didn't really like the breadcrumb layer unfortunately.


Steamed mussels in a white wine sauce
These were good, but not anything exceptional. The mussels were quite big though.


Lasagna
It looked a little sloppy. It had all the cheesy and sauce-filled layers, but they smooshed together.

Baked Ziti and meatballs
I liked to eat baked pasta since it's the perfect way to get the melted cheese with the slightly hardened texture. The cheese mix was delicious and the tomato sauce was amazing. The meatballs were also REALLY good - they're filet mignon and pork loin and really tender and delicious.

Overall: Great service and great Italian food at Trattoria Reggiano - I think it definitely suits the Venetian atmosphere. 

Website: http://www.trattoria-reggiano.com

Beaver Street Brewery & Whistle Stop Cafe - Flagstaff

After a busy afternoon exploring the Grand Canyon, we drove to Flagstaff where we had planned to stay the night. We stopped for some food along the way. 

Beaver Street Burger with Havarti cheese, pesto mayo and a cup of soup.
The soup was really thick and goopy. However, the burger was really delicious! The meat was perfectly seasoned and grilled and the pesto sauce with Havarti cheese was really good.

Chili with cornbread muffin
Pretty hearty!

Chicken Pot Pie
That was a lot of puff pastry! It was pretty, but I think the filling in the pot pie was a little hidden away.

Overall: Service was a little slow, but we arrived at the restaurant pretty late (it was one of the only places open late at night). The food was okay - it really seemed like a roadside stop/diner from the outside, but they have their own brewery inside which was pretty neat. Also, it's next door to the historic train station (also very cool). 

Website: http://www.beaverstreetbrewery.com/food.html

Etch Kitchen & Bar @ L'Auberge de Sedona - Sedona

Our USA roadtrip begins from Coachella to Joshua Tree National Park and then we got to Arizona, the Grand Canyon state, and passed by Phoenix and drove through Red Rock State park to get to our lunch spot - L'Auberge de Sedona's Etch Kitchen & Bar.

Steak with a mixed green salad, potatoes and the blue cheese dressing on the side. $26
The steak was a nice medium rare, but it felt like I was eating a lump of meat rather than a cut of beef. I wasn't sure about the blue cheese dressing, so I opted for it on the side. I really don't like the smell of blue cheese and I didn't really get nauseous from it. It's bad enough I was already sick with my Coachella cold.


"Shaken" Cobb Salad
Romaine leaves and radicchio, chicken, tomatoes, cheese, boiled egg pieces and dressing on the side.


Chocolate brownie with some kind of sugary crust and a mousse.
(I have to admit I didn't really pay attention to the waiter when he was describing this).

Overall: The view is really nice from L'Auberge de Sedona with the creek right next to the luxury hotel. It's very tranquil and peaceful eating at Etch Kitchen & Bar. And when we left, we realized the scenery at Etch is even more amazing since Sedona is surrounded by desert and towering red rocks. 

Website: https://www.lauberge.com/dining/

Le Basil - Indio

Last meal in Indio/Palm Springs before our US Roadtrip! 

It was pretty bittersweet to say goodbye to all our friends since we were heading out in different directions. 

Lunch Pad Thai

The pad thai was pretty good - it was interesting that there was rice on the plate too. So I grabbed some of my friends' curries and other Thai dishes to eat with the white rice. 

Website: http://www.lebasilrestaurant.com

Food at Coachella 2017 - Indio

April 21, 2017 - First day of Coachella Weekend 2  

It's my second year in a row.

New art installations and food stalls!


Juice Served Here's Tropic Thunder Green Juice $11
 There's pineapple, orange, spinach, romaine, kale, passionfruit and mint in this green juice. It's supposed to boost immunity and has tons of vitamin C (which I was hoping would help prevent me from getting sick this year at Coachella). The prices were a little ridiculous here considering you can buy this juice outside for $8. Sigh - markups.


Lobster Mac and Cheese
There was a lot of lobster in this mac and cheese. This might have actually been worth the money at Coachella.


Pulled Pork sandwich 

More overpriced food at Coachella.

April 22, 2017 - Coachella Day 2

It felt like the dust storms were worse this year than last year. It also didn't help that there were a LOT more people. It felt as claustrophobic as Walmart Boxing Day shopping with all the people moving around. It was especially bad near the Sahara tent since it was in a very narrow area (by day it wasn't too bad, but at night - it was a nightmare trying to get through the crowds). We had to make more "commitments" to stages since we couldn't move between stages as easily as before (the seas of people were impossible to part).

  Seasoned pineapple $5
They forgot the seasoning part and the pineapples weren't really sweet. It was highway robbery that we paid $5 for this quarter of a pineapple. Ah Coachella prices. 

April 23, 2017 - Coachella Day 3

 Twilight set with the crazy crowds


A Chicken Taco $8
I'm actually not even sure if I got a taco - it was some kinda bizarre cheese thing with chicken underneath. I think they ran out of everything except cheese, small bits of chicken and a little bit of salsa.

The crowds were crazy this year which made the lineups insane no matter where you went - so all the Instagram worthy places had insane lines. So unless you wanted to miss entire sets, you were stuck with the not-as-appetizing options. Sacrifices were made for good music this year 😧

Pho Vu Vietnamese Restaurant - Palm Desert

Phở Tái, Gân, Sách (regular)

Beef, Tripe and Tendon with noodles

The broth was okay, there was a lot of tripe and not a lot of beef. We were a big party, but I still found the service to be really slow here. 

Website: http://www.phovurestaurant.com/index.html

Keedy's Fountain & Grill - Palm Desert

Day 2's Pre-Coachella meal was at Keedy's, an old-school diner in Palm Desert, California. 

 

These are old diner prices too! 

Fresh fruit bowl

Lots of delicious seasonal fruits like strawberries, watermelon and bananas. 

Taco Salad with Beef

I loved the taco shell! It was so crispy and crunchy and they packed the salad with so many fresh ingredients. There was guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes and onions and it was all topped with nicely seasoned ground beef. It was really good and so much food that I felt like I didn't have to eat lunch or dinner at Coachella. 

Website: http://keedysfountaingrill.com