This, That, and The Other Thing

The week between Christmas and the New Year is chaotic in Las Vegas UNLESS you have a friend with a condo just 2 miles from the Strip. It is really quite nice, and I had a bedroom and bathroom all to myself. Just 2 blocks away is the South Point Hotel and Casino, and the food there is really good.

On our first night there we ate at Zenshin at South Point. How des this sound— Tuna Fever (spicy tuna with fried onions, spicy miso and sweet soy), Tuna Mango Passion (spicy tuna roll with sweet mango and avocado), Asian Pear with Goat Cheese Salad, Assorted Sushimi Bento Box with tuna, yellowtail, salmon, California rolls, with salad, miso soup and white rice. Top that with tempura style banana split and you have three very full and satisfied diners.

The next morning for breakfast I experienced what I feel was the ultimate flavor sensation. It is called “bacon jam” and I could eat that stuff with a spoon. At a neighborhood restaurant called Truffles n Bacon I went straight to the lunch menu and ordered what the waitress recommended as my first experience – Not Yo Mama’s Grilled Cheese”, a grilled cheese panino with brisket, sautéed kale with chipotle ranch AND bacon jam!! I would drive 5 hours any day of the week to eat that again. They sell bacon jam by the jar!!

Fremont Experience is not to be missed on your trip to Sin City. It is a different show every hour and lasts for 6 minutes. The 8 o’clock show the night we were there featured the music of The Who and was really quite spectacular. These photos don’t really do it justice.

To get to Fremont Experience you must drive all the way through the strip and beyond so we did get our Strip at night view. We ate dinner before the show at Magnolia’s in the Four Queens, and I had a pretty good medium-rare prime rib. Considering the very reasonable price, I wasn’t expecting much but was pleasantly surprised.

Our focus in Las Vegas was where our next meal would be. That works for me anytime. The Bellagio was beautifully decorated for the holidays and the menu in the Café looked very appealing. We opted for salads to make up for all the other “not salad” meals we had in the last few days. Even though the Asian and Greek salads looked good, I opted for the Truffle Pear Salad with Prosciutto and ate every last bite. No need to wash my plate (lol)!

Back at South Point, the final dinner of our visit was actually at a place called “Primarily Prime Rib”. You would think that this would be the place to order this cut of meat. No – I had the vegetable basket. A crispy potato chip basket was filled with fresh asparagus, carrots, mushrooms, green beans and grilled onions with light sauce that defied description. I didn’t miss prime rib at all!

The day we left for home we drove 11 miles from the Strip to Lake Las Vegas, a lovely resort community that hasn’t quite caught on. The shops looked pretty deserted but the Hilton was open and we had a buffet breakfast there. The real estate agent said that business is picking up and the market is active again. The condos we looked at are quite nice, all with a view of the lake.

They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I wish that were true of the pounds!