Crazy for Caprese!

I thought that L has stayed at the top of the blog long enough while acting out how I felt that day. So now onto what is the last Vegas post.  There were a lot more little mentions along the way, but we’d never get to all of the other great places that we’ve been to since our return!

So after I made it up and out on our last full night of our stay, we headed to Trevi-Italian, which is in the Forum Shops area at Caesars.  “Fresh” from our greasy afternoon fare, we were ready for something that didn’t need to compensate for the night before anymore.

Headed to the bar as we mostly do, it was surprisingly a more relaxing atmosphere there, as the tables in the “patio” dining area were close together, and just gated off from the mall near the large roaring “Fountain of the Gods”.  There were tables in the back beyond the bar though if you didn’t want to be at the bar, and didn’t want the noise and activity.

Service was prompt! We had some red wine since I was totally ready to get back on the vino horse again as it were… and ordered their Caprese Alla Trevi salad and an impossibly delicious sounding signature dish: Lasagna Pizza! Always pleased when reality even surpasses expectations.  The caprese was flavourful, and actually had more on the plate than most places we’ve ordered it, so happy with the portion size as well as the taste.  And the pizza? Dense, satisfying crust, excellent sauce, and lots sausage and cheese.  I see a homemade version in the superfoodies future.  We did not finish the pizza, but took a couple of slices back to the room, anticipating a quick morning bite before we had to check out (any kind of pizza for breakfast is a great start to the day in my book!)

We were a bit disappointed to have missed some of the food trucks that we had planned to visit, but overall, a really great food/drink adventure! Wish we could say the same about the casinos! But that’s another kind of blog.  Next up: from the food network, our first “You Gotta Eat Here” restaurant experience!

K&L 😀

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights

It wouldn’t be a Vegas trip I suppose without one day lost to the night before.  The night before being a wild time at Bill’s Saloon… where there was karaoke, wine, gambling, and lots of entertaining people to talk to.  So, not sure when we got back to the room, but it was early, or was it late? Anyway, the result of that was a day that I did not see vertical until about 6 PM , and since it was our last full night, I was determined to get up and go out.  What we ate that day would ordinarily be a punishment of sorts, but when you’re feeling the pain, you get the food that’s needed: greasy, delicious, fried love from the food court downstairs, which consisted of a Chicago dog, some giant, overcooked, doughnut sized onion rings, crinkle cut fries that must have come straight from the bag, and the shiniest, fat laden cheeseburger, complete with a cooked egg on top.  L was nice enough to model with the food as I was definitely not camera ready! And like Popeye and his spinach, after I ate as much as I could, I was up! Next stop: Trevi.

K&L 😀

Bobby Flay Slays at MESA Grill

As more current posts pile up, we are back to Vegas as promised… to relive our visits to MESA Grill at Caesar’s. It was always in our plan to visit there and as it turns out, we had such a good time that we went twice, one of only two that made it into the rotation more than once. As is our tradition, we often sit at the bar when we are out and about and enjoy the fast, interesting service at the hands and wits of the bartenders.

This time was no different and we had a lot of fun being served by Nick!  We decided to have some light snacks to share on the first round, enjoying Blue Corn Lobster Tacos and the Tiger Shrimp Roasted Garlic Corn Tamales. Taste? Great! Portions? Smallish… but hey, that’s Vegas. And I guess you’re supposed to eat an entree after, so we can’t criticize not being stuffed!  We had not had a tamale before so it was a tasty introduction. The atmosphere at the bar was also busy, interesting, and entertaining thanks to Nick.

We had to make a return visit on the evening that we were flying home very late.  This time it was for entrees. No disappointment this time at all! The bread basket to start was delicious, but of note: the soft, chewy, salty bread sticks… just indescribable, and we ate as many of those as offered.  Grilled Lamb Porterhouse Chops and Grilled (16 spice) Chicken? Most delicious selections!  We are not usually fans of chicken breast, eat mostly thighs, but these were really how chicken should be done. And the lamb! Just juicy and grilly and lots of it! We were definitely satiated after this round. And again, the atmosphere and service around the bar was what we were looking for.

Overall, it has a somewhat chainy feel, but we found it fun and tasty with all of the food well prepared.  The prices were of course reflective of a restaurant of a known chef… in Caesar’s Palace…in Vegas… and I think that gives people a more critical opinion, but we feel you shouldn’t “missa” the MESA Grill… ugh, can’t believe I wrote that! It’s a little late for me to be writing this post… I promise to try to come up with better lines next time 😀

K&L 😀

We couldn’t bypass the Heart Attack Grill!

Finally, here is our post about the heavily anticipated visit to the Heart Attack Grill. We wanted to get there fairly early into the trip so that we wouldn’t run out of time and miss it, so we set out by cab to Fremont Street, located in the older area of Vegas (cab cost close to $30, would have been smarter to have figured out public transit!)

There it was in front of us! The huge entrance, the massive scale out front, broadcasting your weight to everyone if you dared to step up! (of course L did… and he wants it noted that he had heavy things in his pockets).  It would also verify the weight of anyone claiming to be over 350 lbs, who then gets to eat for free.

On to the inside, where we were immediately given our hospital gowns before entering.  Comfortable and lets be honest, keeps your clothes food free! I have no idea why anyone would put up a fuss about putting one on, if you are going to a theme restaurant, be willing to play along! We were seated, and noted that it was quite spacious, with lots of TVs playing great music and music videos (if you like music from the 70s, 80s, etc… which we do!), and very bright and basic. Brianna, our nurse for the visit, came to take our order: had to have a vanilla butterfat vodka milkshake and a glass of wine for backup, as well as 2 single bypass burgers and one order of fries cooked in lard of course.  She was engaging, informative, and accommodating of our requests for pictures etc., oh and a great server too!

Our drinks arrived, the shake was fantastic! Very rich and lots of flavour including being able to taste the vodka through all that frozen goodness. Love the old style metal blender shake container that it was served in as well. Might I add that the glass of wine was large, no skimping on the portions! The food followed very quickly after.  The burgers were some of the most slippery, greasy, delicious burgers we have had outside of what we make at home (not many restaurant burgers win against ours).  The bun was wide, the picture on the menu doesn’t do it justice and the patty was a good size and it included 5 pieces of bacon.  Standard toppings round it out. We were incredibly pleased with the taste.  The fries I found, as I have read in other reviews, to be a bit limp, but L was still loving them, much more than I was.  I’ll call the fries a draw. Also during our visit, we got to see how the nurses treat birthday boys, which was to put them over a chair and hit them with a very large wooden paddle, as hard as they could, about 3 times.  You could hear the bat crack throughout the restaurant with every smack, this is definitely not just for show, these girls mean business!

We left about 1/3 of the shake, it was more than enough for us to share, the wine of course was completely consumed. Also left unfinished was half a burger for each of us.  We had to make the call: go all the way and stuff ourselves silly, or quit while we still felt good and have the rest to enjoy later… we took option 2. So off we went with our future snack in hand. L weighed himself on the way out… a 2 pound increase, seems like we had enough to eat! It was a fun time, with basic, but tasty food and some interesting things to see and hear.  I would recommend a visit there, but only if you have a sense of humour and you aren’t expecting the place to be something it doesn’t claim to be.  And grab a 5XL souvenir shirt before you go as well, it costs the same as the other sizes available, but will be more comfortable to wear in case you decide to tackle bigger portions than we did!

K&L 😀

Tartare-iffic!

This post finds the superfoodies just beyond midnight on the first day in Vegas, after consuming delicious beverages (usually some combo of vodka and soda or wine), and roaming about, looking for a “snack”.  Oh and also not looking to wander too far from the hotel, which was Caesar’s. We had passed the Old Homestead Steakhouse a few times in our explorations, and the bar area sort of sits just off the walkways. L and I have discovered that we like to eat at the bar, chat with the bartender, get good, fast service etc. So in we went and sat down.  Vodka and wine ordered, we had a look at the menu and decided on Steak Tartare and Applewood Smoked Bacon. OH what a delicious combo to share! Just love the raw steak, the crisp little cracker/bread sticks and a little bite of delicious thick bacon. The perfect snack, and great, fun service. So enjoyable, in fact, that we went back another night for the same order.  No new choices, we just really loved this combination of flavours and the satisfied, yet not stuffed feeling that it provided.  After looking at the menu, there were probably alot of other fantastic things we would have tried. Yes, the prices are high, but I’m sure they count on people just saying “that’s Vegas” and that was absolutely our opinion too, so score one for Vegas I guess. But score again for us on the restraint on portions etc. but still loving what we had! Nothing wrong with staying lean and feeling great on the honeymoon!

K&L 😀

Wastin’ Away

in Margaritaville! Our first Vegas post since it was the first place we ate… mostly because it was across the street, we were tired, and figured why not??? So it was time to put our new ideas about how to eat on vacation to the test. Our strategy was to split dishes/drinks, leave things that weren’t delicious, or should be delicious, and were sub par, and generally not eat if we weren’t hungry. That being said, we ordered one Havanas and Bananas frozen drink (banana, baileys, rum, coconut etc.), one crab corn chowder and one cuban sandwich with fries.  Oh and a glass of wine of course.  The drink, was divine, partly because we don’t usually indulge in those types of sugary concoctions and partly because it was just damn delicious.  We finished that no problem, it wasn’t terribly large.  Then onto the soup, also quite good, not 5 star quality, but tasty none the less, it didn’t stand much of a chance. Finally the cuban sandwich. Quite standard and did the job, but not one we would rave over.  The fries, well, they were underdone, not hot enough, and a little limp.  We managed to do the right thing and eat a few and then wait (as patiently as possible) for the rest to be removed from the table before old habits kicked in and they started to disappear one by one.

I would call our first exercise in restrained eating a success.  We had enough, we had things we wanted and we did not eat what wasn’t worth the calories.  I would recommend Margaritaville mostly for the name, but the food, and I say this of course with limited knowledge, I would only rate as passable.  I will add that the service was good.  All in all a happy start to the trip. Stay tuned for the rest of the Vegas posts, they are on their way as soon as I can write them!

K&L 😀