Las Vegas- The Food Capital Of The World

Youstolemyname

Youstolemyname

Youstolemyname

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A bold titled thread; Vegas, the food capital of the world? Surely not I hear you say, it's all burgers and steaks. Stick with me and I will explain why I think it is.....

We spent two weeks in Vegas (7-14 July) flying with Thomas Cook out of Manchester. Thomas Cook were awful, as expected, but got us there and back safely. We stayed in The Cosmopolitan for 4 nights, M-Resort for 3, 4 Seasons for 4 Nights and The Mandarin Oriental for 3.

We started the trip by grabbing a quick In and Out Burger. For the uninitiated, In and Out Burger is a cook-to-order fast food joint with a secret menu. Double double animal style is the way to go. After being awake for almost 24 hours we forgot to take pics!!! Google is your friend though ;)

After a good sleep, this was our view



The Cosmopolitan has some great restaurants in it and our one bedroomed terrace suite was huge and perfect. Holsteins and Blue Ribbon Sushi being amongst the best restaurants they have, we decided to pay them a visit.

Holsteins is a burger bar with some great choices. The Gold Standard (a burger made from steak and topped with cheddar and bacon) was ours, we thought we would share one for lunch with a 'side' of onion rings and a 'starter portion' of chicken tenders.


Needless to say we didn't eat again that day! I think you will do well to find a better burger on this planet though.

Blue Ribbon Sushi was on the list not just for its sashimi and sushi but for its famous fried chicken with honey/wasabi dip and wagyu beef sliders




The chicken was crisp and dry on the outside with a moist inside and the dip was unreal! The wagyu sliders melted in your mouth and the sashimi was just to die for, so so fresh. Their fish is flown in every day!

Hash House A Go Go got a visit from us while we were at the M Resort. Hash House do 'home style cooking with a twist' Their twist? Stupid portion sizes!




We had a pork loin in breadcrumbs and a chicken and bacon waffle thing due to a BOGOF offer. While the dishes were nice, the sheer size of them puts you off and nobody ever finishes them as can be seen from our leftover pic!

The next day we also tried Hash House for breakfast as the Mrs wanted to try a snickers pancake. I made do with a S'mores coffee....




The pancake was delicious but again, too big. I ate her leftovers to be gentlemanly :)

The M Resort is a great hotel if you want to chill out. About 20 mins from Vegas and a lot more laid back than the party atmosphere of the Strip. We had a lovely three nights there including a day renting a poolside day bed. This meant we had our own private waitress but had to spend $150 on food and drink all day. Challenge accepted! I made a good dent in it by taking a tour of their beer selection!

We then transferred to the Four Seasons, supposedly one of if not the best hotel in Vegas. While it was nice, the decor is very old fashioned and not to my taste. But again, it's much more chilled out than the rest of the strip hotels.

A trip to The Orleans' Prime Rib loft was in order for some meat:



Prime Rib Loft 1 Toby Carvery 0. This was melt in your mouth off the scale good roast beef as it should be, putting our efforts in the UK to shame. Not super cheap but not expensive either.
 
BBQ is something that the Americans just do better too. Memphis Championship BBQ do it one of the best.

Our appetiser plate of Fried Pickles, Loaded Potato Skins, Burnt Ends and Smoked Chicken Wings was followed by a sharing plate of ribs, brisket and pulled pork:




The fried pickles were off the scale good, as were the ribs....so we thought until we got to Rollin' Smoke BBQ a few days later.

Rollin' Smoke's Ribs and Pork are simply the best I have ever had. A crisp bark and moist meat on the ribs with melt in your mouth chopped brisket:


No trip to Vegas is complete without a trip to Hot n Juicy Crawfish. This place is well known but basically you get a bag full of steamed seafood of your choice in the sauce of your choice. I couldn't wait to take pics an was so messy after I couldn't touch my camera!



It's the best tasting sauce with lovely well cooked huge prawns that gets me going back time and time again.

Good seafood in Vegas? In a desert? Yes, it's flown in daily. Like the lobster meat for this lobster roll I scoffed at Lobster ME in Miracle Mile Shops

Or this crispy Chilean Seabass at Fleur

Or this little feast at American Fish, Scallops, Squid stuffed with Chorizo, Lobster 'Rolls' and Truffled Mac n Cheese





All amongst the finest seafood I have ever eaten bar none

Our two standout meals were at Cafe Society and Botero, both in Encore.

Cafe Society was where we had our wedding meal so I had to go back. I had a corn chowder, mac n cheese bites, bone in ribeye and the Mrs had a fillet steak on a bed of mash followed by ice cream sandwiches.







All out of this world good.

Botero was something else though. Starter of tempura soft shell crab followed by a dry aged bone in sirloin topped with foie gras. Mrs had a fillet with the biggest scallops you have ever seen and a peanut butter 'sandwich' dessert







Places we also visited but didn't snap included Cosmopolitan and Bacchanal Buffets (Bacchanal was awesome!) M Resort breakfast buffet, various breakfast diner style places.

Now back to my statement, Vegas being the food capital of the world. Where else in the world can you in a 3 mile long street get pretty much any type of food you want, from budget to Michelin starred, all served by staff who 99% of the time are amazing at their job. I've travelled a fair bit and the closest is Manhattan but it's so big that I think Vegas edges it for the proximity and choice of restaurants.

Vegas, I'll be back
 
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Flights are the most expensive part at around £700 per person. Hotel rooms, well anything from £20 per night to £20,000 per night depending on your taste and budget. £60 a night gets you a decent room and upwards of that gets you a luxury room. Most we spent per night was at the Mandarin Oriental which was £120ish a night for the room from memory, hotels are more expensive at the weekend. M Resort was £60 a night and put to shame most hotels in the UK

Spending money, depends on what you intend to do when there. Alcohol can be expensive to buy in bars but it's about UK price in the supermarkets.

Restaurants, breakfasts can be had for under a fiver. Lunches, same again but it just depends if you want to go upscale or cheap and cheerful. Two of you can easily eat a solid dinner without alcohol for under £30 at somewhere like Outback. That said, eating at Botero cost us a pretty penny but it's a memorable experience. You would never look back and say 'Oh do you remember that time we went to the Harvester' but it cost you £20.....

Two weeks in Vegas isn't like your two weeks all inclusive or two weeks in Europe trips. Theres so much to do and so much choice you can spend as much or as little as you like.
 
First time in Vegas you can totally do without a car. We like having a car as it means you can get to the good off strip places easily. You can cab it to off strip places or get the tourist bus but that all adds up.

It's also handy to have a car for scooting up and down the strip. It's 3 miles+ end to end so if you are in a hotel at one end and want to go up to Encore and back it's a fair old trek. Especially in July heat!

It can be done without a car but we just like having one, used it every day apart from one or two.
 
oli collett said:
It certainly doesn't thrash NYC, or London, Tokyo, San Sebastián. There's lots of pretty good restaurants, but low and high end it's got nothing compared to some other cities in the US.
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NYC and London are so much bigger it's like comparing the Isle of Wight to England. Per square mile there is no better place on the planet to eat than Las Vegas. Or if there is, I have yet to find it.
 
Craig1981 said:
I see you went to Hash House a Go Go? How far off the strip is that located? Walking distance?

I remember it from Man V Food. Their portion sizes looked crazy big. Did the quality match the quantity? :)
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I went to the one in the M Resort. There are three in Vegas and one is on the strip in The Quad hotel. The food was good just the insane portion size overwhelms you. Since you eat with your eyes too you already feel full when it arrives. Its a novelty really but nothing special.
 
Craig1981 said:
Forgive me for being nosy, but how much did you end up spending on food? I've been looking at various buffet and resteraunt websites for Vegas and it looks like between breakfast, lunch and dinner you could easily spend over $100 a day for one person, without even going that upmarket.

Or are there any ways of making it cheaper? Any ways of getting a free/discount meal without being a big gambler? :)
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Denny's breakfast comes in at about 8-10 dollars for scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, coffee and juice. It's huge and keeps you full for ages.

Lunches, we drove to places like in and out burger or Memphis championship BBQ where you can eat lunch for under ten dollars.

Dinner, well, it's as cheap or expensive as you want. Outback is a reasonably priced, above UK quality steak place. Here's a menu for the one by the south outlets.

http://www.outback.com/menu/pdf/C135.pdf

Vegas is as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be for food. In terms of how much we spent a day I can't remember,but certainly not lots in contrast to last year's trip to Nice and Monaco :eek:
 
Fried pickles are AMAZING. Most uk places do them as long spears, quartered pickles really, but they did them sliced like crisps in a tempura batter. So very addictive dipped in ranch dressing! Kind of tangy crunchy sweet sour yummyness!

The s'mores coffee was pretty big :) Put my teeth on edge for ages though with all the sugar in it! S'mores cocktail I had served at Press in the Four Seasons was a nicer experience!

Botero is up there with the best dining experience I have ever had. Perfectly cooked beef in perfect surroundings and perfect staff. Quality Meats. In NYC remains the best steak I have ever had though. Botero was just perfect in every aspect though...
 
hilly said:
vegas is amazing for food. There's everything you could want in such a shrot space.

Surprised OP didn't go to Nobu, that was one of our highlights in the Hard Rock hotel, really top food that. Expensive and small portions, but rich enough to fill you up and the tastes are amazing. Wagu beef, mmmmmmmm.
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There is a Nobu hotel and restaurant in Caesars Palace now. The menu didn't float our boat to be honest. Maybe next time though.

Craig1981 said:
I would love to go even just to try various American fast food chains, like Dennys, Arbys, Taco Bell. Plus I'd love to try some American style BBQ! Pulled pork especially! Mmmmmmmmmm!!
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The chains are just OK, don't get excited about them! Outback is about the best of the bunch with Chillis being half decent too. Applebees and IHOP are pretty vile! The BBQ though, now that's another story and I could heartily recommend both Memphis Championship BBQ and Rollin' Smoke in Vegas. Blue Smoke BBQ in NYC is on another level to both of those though!

Craig1981 said:
Anyone know if Ceasers Palace is a good hotel to stay at? It seems to have a good location on the strip and has a lot of good attractions all around it, from what I've seen by looking at street level on Google Maps.

Also, bit of a random question this. What would happen if I ran low on money while I was over there, due to spending more than I realised? Would I have any way of lifting money from my bank account in America? I'm assuming I could use my mastercard to buy stuff, but obviously not all stores and resteraunts accept cards.
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I wouldn't thank you for a room in Caesars; the hotel itself is HUGE. If you copped for a bad room the walk from room to strip could take an age. If your budget can stretch the hotels I recommend are:

Encore- a bit out of the way but just on another level to most on the strip
Cosmopolitan- New, modern, great food, good party crowd, a bit hectic on Weekend though
Mandarin Oriental- No casino but smoke free and the most peaceful relaxing hotel ever and on another level to anything else in Vegas

Thing is, your first visit to Vegas you are barely in the room and it's only as we have been a few times now that we make use of the room and hotel facilities. You'd be better off going somewhere like Planet Hollywood, the rooms are cheap and ok and it's a good central location. Only thing is, you don't get the wow factor of the above hotels.

In terms of money, ATMs in Casinos charge a bucket to withdraw. Use the ones in the malls/Wallgreens. If you ran out of money you could use your UK bank debit card to withdraw money from an ATM, normally at a fee. 99% of the stores accept cards for most/all purchases though.
 
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