One of the “perks” of the job is being in Vegas for a week and getting to try all the delicious food around.

As a tradition when we arrive on Friday we eat Sushi at SushiSamba in the Venetian/Palazzo Hotel.  The good thing is to get a group of people together and to a sushi tasting, can you say YUM? There really is no wrong picking here.  Get a great waiter tell them what you like most, your price point per person and let them work the magic. The result you will be so delighted.

They make extremely good mojitos here too btw! you know because you have to wash sushi down with a good drink!

Next day lunch was at Aria hotel.

Being that I am Spanish I was dying to try Julian Serrano’s Tapas, and I have to say it was pretty darn good, authentic with a modern flare I could have eaten more and more… Below is a recollection of the dishes we tried. I definitely want to come back to try more!

 

A little gazpacho to start off with, cools you down. Gazpacho is traditionally a summer starter from the region of Andalucia. It’s almost like a salad but in soup form. The base is tomato with cucumber, green pepper, onions, garlic, oil and vinegar – hence the description of a salad.

Chef here gave me no ordinary Gazpacho Andaluz! It had a piece of lobster, that just made it that much more delicious.

Padron Peppers – the saying in Spain “Pimientos del Padron, unos pican y otros no!” which is really is saying that some of these peppers are spicy and some aren’t – You are lucky if you get a spicy one! delicious!

 

 

Patatas Bravas – This is a classic tapa dish. It’s a spicy tomato based sauce, that sometimes is also served with Ai-oli which is pretty much like a garlic mayonnaise with Parsley as a garnish.

What a great Brava sauce kudos chef!

 

 

Gambas al ajillo – one of my favorite all time tapas.

However the format of this one wasn’t as traditional. I started eating this one before pic – oops!  The shrimp was cooked in a traditional romanesco sauce with the hint of chile de arbol which was to die for!

 

Croquetas –  This is a tapa that a lot of bars would serve you along with your beer. Because you can’t go into a bar in Spain and just get a drink, it will always be served with a little something to nibble on! They were delicious, my grandmother would have been proud of these!! and we ended with the solomillo iberico sliders, mmmmm! We engulfed those down before I could even take the pic!

Have to wash all that down, with yes you guess a big pitcher of Sangria, which was very tasty and refreshing. Thumbs up to the Chef, lunch made me nostalgic and I have never been impressed with Spanish food here in the US.  So hats off I totally approve! (I want to go back EVERY DAY!)

After a scrumptious lunch I was invited to dinner at Aquaknox with my lovely business partners, try to get your game on for the week while indulging on seafood and wine. It’s a tough job!

For years I’ve gone to the Aquaknox, it’s really the crab cakes that I adore here, and the service which is beyond outstanding.  They always start you out with a little bite of something while you think about your order, today we got Ahi Tuna and some cocktails.

To start out we got the Aquaknox platter, which if you like seafood, this is the only way to get a little bit of everything. You get lobster, crab, oysters, mussels, shrimp ceviche, Oyster shooters. It’s for 2, but if you are in a large group you can request it be done for more people. I seriously always debater if I just want to get that platter as my dinner – because I’d be happy with it!

Whatever variety of fish or seafood you order here, I promise you will not be disappointed, it’s all so fresh and delightful, you really can’t go wrong!

Monday I participated in an event with customers at lunch time which was held at DelMonico’s Steak house. Of course after a long day I am excited about biting down on a nice juicy steak. Was supposed to be petite, but they gave me what in Texas they would have called the Cowgirl Ribeye – which was at least 12oz. Cooked to medium-rare perfection!  Since I’ve lived in Texas for so long, I’m not that impressed by Steak, although it has elevated my expectations quite a bit… what really got me here was the Banana pie. Best Banana Pie I’ve ever had, big slices of bananas – mmmm! I couldn’t even finish it! I could have used a nap after this delightful feast, instead of heading to more meetings.

Venturing back to the Aria for a customer dinner and show, we went to American Fish. They should consider changing the name of the place, as it’s not very appetizing, however was a great choice for a large group of people that are then going to go to see Zarkana.

Here is the menu that they put together for our large dinner. Was pretty good really, although I have to say I didn’t enjoy it 1/2 as much considering that I had the steak and banana pie for lunch!

They started us out with appetizers, which the one that stood out the most was the lobster rolls, which were delicious and not to heavy.
It was hard to choose between the crab cakes and the salad, I figured no crab cake would be better than the ones at Aquaknox, so I went for the greens! Lettuce, avocado and bacon yum! The bacon was carmelized and thick cut, with the crunchiness of the lettuce and paired with the avocado, awesome choice for salad!

The main courses all sounded yummy, Cod, Steak and chicken. I have to say my usual self would have picked Cod or Steak, but the steak for lunch and all the seafood lately the chicken was calling me.  It was good, not to die for… but I’ll tell you what on my plate I could have had a ton more of… the Mac and Cheese! not your regular boxed stuff that they give kids…. noooo this was a blend of cheeses with truffle oil! I want more!

And if all that yummy food wasn’t enough, they bring us Chocolate custard in a huge bowl, considering it was dessert. I was too full so made it through 3/4 of my bowl… the other gals almost licked the bowl, that’s how good indeed it was!

A few pounds heavier I think… my dining experiences are not over!

I have a breakfast meeting and of course we choose to find a nice place to indulge my palette a little further… Casanova it is! Sweet crepes filled with chocolate and topped with fresh strawberries and drizzled chocolate and whip cream. Say no more! there was none left!

Well after all those dinners and breakast, you’d wonder what could lunch possibly live up to right?

Well sorry to disappoint, boxed lunch it is. Mediterranean sandwich which was turkey with hummus and roasted peppers was pretty darn good for a boxed lunch. The best part here was NOT the food, it’s that I held my coworker hostage, we went to the cabanas to eat lunch and have a drink. Bloody Mary deliciousness with my sandwich, followed by a mojito, because lets face it when you are eating lunch at 2pm, well it’s just really close to Happy hr!

 

I didn’t take any pics at the Imagine Dragons concerts although alcohol infused cupcakes seemed to be a hit! – Pass on the calories, plus how can that compare to what I’ve been eating already!  One last dinner that was worth mentioning was Wednesday night’s customer dinner at the Wynn.

We went to Lakeside, where they hosted us as a large group again in a private room that oversees the crazy lake show with the Low Rider frog who has been the subject of numerous posts of mine throughout the years…

It was hard to choose between the Caesar salad (with the real anchovies!!!) and the shrimp cocktail, I go for the Salad being all goodie two-shoes and the waiter brings me shrimp cocktail too! I’m amused, delighted and got my arm twisted in eating it all up since it was indeed brought to me as a treat! The entrees all very good too, but I had my eye on the sea scallops, which were delicious, so delicious my whole table ordered them, with the exception of the hard core carnivore who wanted steak… The Strawberry shortcake was a delicate note to end this wonderful dinner.

Because I can never seem to get enough Sushi… We went back to SushiSamba for lunch, at this point I think I’m doing good by cutting out the carbs and I order Sashimi with a much needed drink – HA!  This pretty much ends the delicious Vegas meals for this year…