|
|
Beijing Noodle Cafe
4130 S Sandhill Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89121
Neighborhood: Eastside
(702) 641-0666
I’ve been chewing on this post for a bit. We went here just around Christmas time of last year, and I wasn’t sure what my opinion was on it. Usually, I’m all over fresh noodles and potstickers because it is my favorite breakfast food of all time. Beijing Noodle Cafe gave me a mixed bag of feelings, and I’ve concluded that it comes down these these reasons:
1. I am Cantonese…. I’m used to more robustly flavored dishes and northern Chinese cuisine usually does not deliver on that. Beijing Noode Cafe was not robust in the dishes that we ordered (jia jiang mian, lan zhou noodles)
2. I love Fresh noodles! Hand cut or hand pulled.
Conclusion: Simply for the love of fresh noodles, I will go back and try again. =)
   
East Ocean Dim Sum & Seafood Restaurant
9570 S Eastern Ave
Henderson, NV 89123
(702) 567-4800
Happy Chinese New Year! Here’s to a year of delicious food.
Here’s our newest dim sum find in Vegas and they were suprisingly delicious! Our go to used to be Ping Pang Pong in the Gold Coast because it was the best among mediocre Vegas dim sum. Now East Ocean Dim Sum, a gem over in Henderson, is the much better option. Textures were chewy when it was supposed to be chewy, crunchy when supposed to be crunchy and mmmmmmm flaky and buttery when supposed to be flaky…… mmmmmmm
It offers the surprisingly tasty dim sum, helpful staff in a large and seemingly clean restaurant, AND the bonus is that it is smoke free. =)
Conclusion: It is a 30 minute drive across town for me, but I will travel to eat.
     
Trattoria Nakamura-Ya
5040 W Spring Mountain Ste 5
Las Vegas, NV 89146
(702) 251-0022
5 pm – 1 am Tuesday Thru Sunday
I’ve been waiting for the day this type of cuisine to come to Las Vegas. Ever since the day my tongue tasted the wonderful uni spagetti at famous Cafe Hiro in Cerritos, CA, I’ve dreamt about my favorite fatty subtrates – UNI & carbalicious-al-dente pasta.
Trattoria Nakamura-Ya just opened a couple weeks ago. So fresh and new that they didn’t even have their liquor license when we went. Hopefully, the license has been approved by now. Like popular Raku in town, Trattoria Nakamura-ya has a chalkboard of their daily specials. In this case, it was specials of their pastas and other dishes. A sucker for advertisement, we went for mostly specials.
On to the food:
Fresh warm rolls – Fluffy, soft, warm. Slather on a pat of butter…Need I say more?
Hirame Watercress Salad – This was fantastic. The texture whore in me was jumping for joy. The crunchy watercress paired with the crunchy deep fried cracker (?) and the tangy sweet dressing was perfect. After breaking up everything and tossing well as recommended by our server, every bite was a texture sensation
Madai (Red Snapper) Carpaccio – Fresh snapper, crunchy sprouts and a touch of fish sauce. Unique and delicious.
Uni & Tomato Cream Pasta – Al dente, al dente, perfectly al dente + buttery uni =)
Manila Clam & Torako Pasta – This dish was a touch salty but still enjoyable
Scallops Sauteed in Marinara Sauce – Scallops are not my favorite seafood, but I could appreciate the tender meat and flavorful sauce.
Tiramisu & Creme Brulee- I love Japanese versions of non-Japanese desserts. Somehow they make the level of sweetness perfectly to my liking (not too sweet).
Conclusion: Fusion Japanese & I get along just fine.
            
Baan Rim Pa
223 Prabaramee Rd.
Pathong, Kathu
Phuket, 83120, Thailand
076-340789
Baan Rim Pa seems to be a popular tourist destination for the Pathong Beach area in Phuket. Everyone we asked from our real estate agent here in the states to our concierge in Pathong recommended Baan Rim Pa for dinner. We hopped in our tricked out tuk-tuk with uber bass bumpin’ and headed out to see what the hype was all about!
Wow. That’s what we said when we saw the view. It was overlooking the beach and very romantic indeed. The food however was not along the same caliber. It was not horrible by any means, but I can’t say that I was blown away by the dishes.
1. Chicken, Pork and Beef Satay – Tender is the word here. Flavors were enjoyable
2. Garlic and pepper fish – Maybe I’m not much of a fish person unless it is steamed, so this wasn’t so impressive
3. Baked Pineapple and chicken rice – Perhaps, I had way high expectations for an explosion of flavor, so this lacked that “pow” factor. Tasty but no “pow”
Conclusion: I’ll come back, Baan Rim Pa. Only because you are so beautiful. ^_^*
    
Wendy’s Noodle Cafe
3401 S Jones Blvd
Chinatown
Las Vegas, NV 89146
702.889.3288
I usually go to Wendy’s for good ol’ Hong Kongnese comfort food, so it was quite a surprise when the xiao long bao came with the appropriate meat juices 
Wa-lah. Xiao Long Bao! (just don’t expect perfect din tai Fung skin)
Din Tai Fung
1108 S. Baldwin Ave
Arcadia CA 91007
626.574.7068
It’s been about a year since my last Din Tai Fung (DTF) visit, and to our delight, there are new dessert options!
On top of the usual red bean dumplings, there are now a plethora of other red bean dessert options along with black sesame desserts.
This is the sesame bun. I have a preference when it comes to pretty much any food, so when it comes to black sesame desserts, I want to see my sesame bits.
DTF delivered and I ate.
Great Bao
4965 W Tropicana Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89103
(702) 900-2168
www.greatbao.com/
I’m back from my unintentional hiatus (getting married and still in the process of opening a business)! Here’s a scrumptious morsel.
Great Bao is a hole in the wall extraordinaire. It’s located in the most unique location of all – in a small corner of a beauty salon. In my opinion, Chef Sheridan takes the approach much like IN-N-OUT, taking a few items and doing it right. Of course the restaurant names says it all on his most popular items, but he also serves other delicious sides.
On his bao’s:
Have you ever been to a family dinner where you had the peking duck served with only 8 fluffy baos to 10 people, so you really couldn’t indulge in the juicy meat with the light and sweet bao? Here at Great Bao, you can definitely get as many bao’s as you want and NOT have to share. Hubster and I tried the duck, beef and pork belly. The pork belly bao was my favorite – it was juicy and warm. The duck bao was my next favorite. Chef makes it so that there is a little bit of crispy skin to tease you to want more. I also overheard that he gets his bao’s baked fresh from a local bakery, so no, no, they are NOT pre-packaged or frozen.
The other goods:
His sesame noodles are a light and tangy. His chicken and rice give me the comfort food fuzzies.
Conclusion: Great Bao – you’ve got it right.
       
Wildflower
7037 N Oracle Rd
Tucson, AZ 85704
P: 520.219.4230
F: 520.219.4232
Going into Tuscon, I did not have an expectation of having good food at all. Boy was I ignorant! Apparently, there is a restaurant group called Fox Restaurant Concepts with a number of restaurants across the western part of the country. I had the opportunity of partaking in Wildflower. The decor was eclectic, crisp and relaxing. Servers were all on point and all amazingly good looking! Food was a direct reflection of the atmosphere – fresh, relaxing, delicious and light.
We started with the Crisp Calamari with mizuna, Yuzu soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds. Never have I described calamari as light, but this dish was just that. Light, crispy, airy and tasty. The light drizzle of yuzu and sprinkle of sesame seeds rounded out the unique take on a common appetizer.
We shared a few entrees:
Mu Shu Duck Tacos with maitake mushrooms, avocado and green cabbage. An Asian twist on tacos had been spreading like wildfire across the country, and Wildflower’s take on Asian tacos rocked. The sweetness of the duck meat melded well with buttery flavor of avocado and the crunch from the green cabbage. My only complaint that the duck meat just a touch too mushy.
Shrimp Tagliatelle with broccoli, tomato, roasted garlic and crushed chili. Fresh made pasta cooked al dente always floats my boat. Shrimp was delightfully garlicky (yes, I’m making up words!).
Sweet PotatoTortelli and Savoy cabbage, crisp bacon and sage. Sometimes tortelli dishes can be a bit overwhelming with the fillings, but the sweet potato puree stuffed inside balanced out the heavier cream sauce and the crispy bacon.
    
Conclusion: I wish that I lived in the area to eat at Wildflower daily.
El Guero Canelo
2480 N. Oracle Rd
Tucson, AZ 85705
www.elguerocanelo.com/
Behold, the Sonoran Dog! Nom-a-licious. Bacon wrapped with mayo, ketchup, mustard and onions.
|
|
