We just completed a couple nights in Las Vegas, most unpleasant place on earth. I previously thought that title was held by Disney, I was wrong. I’m not a gambler, so I admit the prime draw holds little appeal for me, but supposedly in the new Vegas, gambling is ancillary.
That’s a bit of a stretch. I enjoy the idea of a little grown up rat pack inspired debauchery, they’ve managed to suck that out of the place and replace it with a testosterone Red Bull and Vodka fueled frat boy vibe.
The shopping is endless, the lineups endless, the traffic on The Strip never ceases, the walk into casinos eased by escalators, getting back out requires a familiarity with the works of Escher. It all gets frustrating very quickly.
Our first evening saw us wandering the strip, we thought we’d head to the highly regarded buffet at the Bellagio for an early meal, our plane down was four hours late (because our newbie pilot got it stuck in a snowbank, it’s a tragic tale.) We had skipped lunch and were famished, after wandering the hotel for what seemed time enough for single cell organisms to evolve eyes we located it. What the hell. The line looked like Space Mountain at Disney on the busiest day of the year. They had velvet ropes set out to wind the crowd through the casino to wait. I went to the front, found someone that looked less dopey than most of the employees and asked how long. THREE HOURS! Screw that, I don’t wait in line for food, and three hours is outside my patience unless Escoffier himself were to rise from the dead to cook personally table side. And I get handed a hundred dollar bill at the conclusion of the meal.
We wandered back into the street and ended up at the surprisingly good and quite reasonable Mon Ami Gabi in front of The Paris casino. Situated right on the strip (a rarity), it overlooked the fountains going off at The Bellagio at the top and bottom of every hour. The bill was $200 for four of us, the only dark note was the wine markup, which averaged five times retail. That seems a little excessive. Food was competent bistro classics, with the highlight being a superb confited duck leg on lentils to start, and an excellent house made terrine. I had the slow braised pork hock on mashed potatoes and parsnips.
Next up, I’ll detail a reason to be glad you are in Las Vegas, a meal at The Lotus of Siam, supposedly the best Thai restaurant in North America, at least according to Jonathan Gold.
~KT
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Mon Ami Gabi is the # 18 busiest indy in the USA and it is a pretty god bet (wine exempted). Looking forward to review of Lotus of Siam.
Las Vegas is full of sad buffet troughs. Good that you were able to find some gems.
Add me to the list of people who don’t do line-ups …. except MAYBE for Space Mountain (sorry KT, but you’re wrong about Disney. You’re just doing it wrong).
LV is a place I will visit ONLY for an industry trade show, and only then because i can write it off.
Sounds like you were angry from the start and looking for something to bitch about…Vegas is a great party place if you are looking to have a good time, however a four hour flight delay and no food will usually kill any chance of that though. I highly recommend Mon Ami Gabi to anyone looking for a good meal at the center of the action, it shouldn’t be surprising though as Chef/Owner Gabino Sotelino is an industry pioneer. If you are looking for French bistro this place nails it…the wine mark-up however is all over Vegas and pretty lame.
Just confirms what I’ve always thought of Vegas. The closest I’ve been to place like that is Macau, but it has over 500 years of multicultural history and fantastic food. Of all the times I went there, I only went into a casino once, but that was because of friends.