The Cafe, Las Vegas

So over the weekend, I got the chance to spend Hoe-lloween in Vegas, as one of my friends was getting hitched on the strip! It was my first Vegas wedding, and I wasn't sure what to expect, but in the end, it ended up being a fun time, and we all had a blast, dancing, drinking and of course, EATING.

The majority of the food I had in Vegas, however, was a travesty. We went to "Red White and Blue" on Friday night (first night there). Red White and Blue is an All American eatery in the Mandalay Bay, and I had the Chicken Pot Pie which was sorely disappointing. We then proceeded to go to Blush @ the Wynn, thanks to my buddy Chris who helped us get in and hooked us up with free drinks! We then visited Tryst, mostly because we could, but our feet hurt so badly that we had to call it a night. Before doing so, however, we stopped at some bad Vietnamese restaurant at the Wynn (I think), for overpriced yet under-flavored pho.

The next day, I woke up craving some carbs and for some reason, had fond memories of spaghetti and meatballs at the coffeeshop at the Bellagio. The last time I had their spaghetti was at Binder's bachelorette party in 2005, and in some odd sentimental moment, that's ALL I was craving. I dragged the Onoda sisters over, and triumphantly ordered their pasketti. It was not what I remembered at all. At first glance it appeared to be good, slightly al dente, topped with a big dallop of marscapone.

The garlic bread and the marscapone were the best part of the meal. The sauce was WATERY, and when I got to the bottom of my bowl, I was faced with a giant puddle of water. The sauce was flavorless, in spite of me dousing it with salt and crushed red peppers. And perhaps the saddest part about it was that it was supposed to be a "hearty," bolognese, but it had maybe 5 pieces of ground beef in the sauce, but there were lots of carrots. Blech.

Needless to say, I was quite disappointed and realized that I actually had the delicious spaghetti at the cafe at Caesar's Palace, not the cafe Bellagio. This is what 3 years and alcohol will do to your memory: erosion at its worst.

Since I had horrible spaghetti, I was quite happy to have lunch part two at The Cafe with Jessica. Located in The Hotel, this place is definitely my speed. Very dim lighting, very quiet and relaxed, and the pricing was not bad. They had a lot of delicious looking options, such as the black cod and lamb. However, because I had JUST had lunch, I had to have something much lighter, which is why I opted for the "stack of tomatoes and mozzerella" (I was assuming it would be like a caprese salad. It actually blew me away, because it was ten times better than a caprese salad. It was a milieu of tomatos, fresh mozzarella, pickled red peppers and olives, all served with a well seasoned vinagarette. It was a phenomenal and light lunch fare.

Even better was Jessie's "moco loco," a chef special that day. Moco Locos are one of my favorite guilty pleasures when I go have Hawaiian food. Usually, it is rice, covered with a hamburger patty, topped with a sunny side up egg, then covered in gravy. I know, it sounds horrible, but it is actually delicious. Jessica's Moco Loco was SO GOOD. They put the local twist on it by serving it with shrimp fried rice, and a sirloin burger patty. It was perfectly cooked, and the rice was the perfect texture to complement the patty and egg. YUM.

The last meal I had in Vegas was the dinner at the Paris Buffet, which was okay. They had a random dish that I pigged out on, which consisted of Saurkraut and German Sausages. Next time I'm in Vegas, I will opt for Michael Mina! (yeah right =P)