Other great eats in Vegas

Our Vegas trip was truly a gift for food lovers of all kinds.  We devoured some of the most fabulous foods down our bellies and we want to share them all with you.  Firefly and Monta Ramen were two of our highest rated picks but we also had some pretty amazing delicacies in Vegas and to be honest, it would be hard to choose one or two, so we have compounded them all in one post for you all to enjoy.  Unfortunately, I am unable to to post some of the pictures I took from there, something went wrong with my phone and it will not allow me to extract my pictures. So here is the best of what we got.

1st pick...
Raku
We will have to say, Raku is a must try!  Everything we had that night was absolutely fantastic.  Raku is not on The Strip, it is actually right next to Monta Ramen, about 10 min away from The Strip in Chinatown.  Raku is well worth the trip and you will not be sorry.  Tip:  Make your reservations well ahead of time, this restaurant is very small but always packed.  We did not get reservation in until 11:30 pm that night, but waiting for this meal was worth every second!  I also saw they have a tasting menu but you need to reserve 1-2 days ahead of time.  I am still fantasizing about our meal while writing about this.  The best thing we had that night was definitely the yakitori beef tendons.  The tendon was grilled and had a very aromatic charred flavor on the outside, but the inside was soft and luscious, and we are still drooling over it.  The flavor was very memorable and we are sad that we cannot share all of the Raku photo moments, but we still have some pictures to share with you all.

Homemade Tofu is one of their specialties.  The tofu had a strong soy bean flavor, but of course if you are not a big tofu fan, I would not recommend this.  The flavor was nothing too amazing, but it is an expected flavor for tofu lovers.

Live Uni Udon was what we truly came for.  We were so ecstatic to find out we had snatched up the last order of the night!  Cheers to that!  This was a cold real Japanese udon, with an abundance of live uni and salmon roe garnished with scallions and seaweed.  This was refreshing and a delightful  beginning to our meal.

Poached Egg with Salmon Roe and Uni was creamy and fresh to the palate.  The sauce did not over power the flavor of the egg or the freshness of the uni or salmon roe.  The combination was perfect and heavenly to our mouths, we wanted to pick up the bowl and just drink it down.

Raku
5030 Spring Mountain Rd
Las Vegas, NV 89146

Bouchon 
A restaurant of one of our beloved celebrity chefs, Thomas Keller.  This place did not disappointed us.  No matter if you are going there for a seafood feast or just grabbing some macaroons on the go at Bouchon Bakery, the Bouchon brand has it all and does it well.

Our salmon mousse and foie gras paste was food porn 101.  The texture was delicate, velvety, and rich.  The foie gras and salmon flavor was intense and really came through.  You can tell these two things were made with love and care.

The seafood tower was absolutely stunning!  Everything on the tower was succulent and fresh.  This was the ocean brought to our table.  Simplicity is the key with seafood this fresh.

Bouchon
3355 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Wicked Spoon Buffet
We caught a deal on our first day in Vegas.  We were starving when we got off the plane so we decided to go for one buffet.  Normally the price ranges from $40 plus per person at Wicked Spoon for lunch, but because we went on a weekday lunch, the buffet was only $20 per person.  SCORE!  We had unlimited roasted bone marrow, grilled baby pig, pork belly buns, smoked salmon, unlimited gelato, and lots more!  The quality was above average for a buffet and the ingredients were excellent.  We also got free mimosas with our meal, bonus!

The dessert bar was beautiful.  The Thai Tea gelato is a must try!

Wicked Spoon Buffet

3708 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Mesa Grill
We came here just for their appetizer Tiger Prawn Tamale and tea sweeten with their famous cactus pear syrup.    The tamales was very soft and moist, the sauce was creamy with a little bit of spicy on the end note, and the shrimps were cooked to perfection.  A dish done well, but we noticed the size shrunk compared to the last time we had it here. The chili oil is a nice traditional Bobby Flay sauce and garnish.  Their sweet tea was all "smiles and rainbows".  This is a very refreshing and satisfying ice tea. But make sure to sweeten it with the agave syrup from the bar.

Mesa Grill
3570 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Sage
This is one of the premiere restaurants in the hotel that we were staying at, the Aria.  We did not plan on dining here but we were in such a hurry to catch our show and this was the closest and most convenient choice at the time with a menu we found interesting.  We sat at the bar.  I must give big kudos to the bar tender for being so attentive to our needs when he had the rest of bar to take care of.  He knew we were in a hurry, so he kept an eye on every dish for us, but still made it so we were not just bombarded with a handful of dishes at once.  This was a fantastic choice, everything we had was superb!

If you do not try anything else here at the restaurant, you must try the Wagyu Tartare.  This was awesome!  The most interesting touch was the savory chocolate crisp they garnished with.  The chef really allowed the Wagyu to shine.  Everything was a perfect compliment to the delicate Wagyu.  The tied the whole dish together bringing rich and creaminess.

Grilled Octopus with White Asparagus was tasty.  The octopus were soft and tender and the white asparagus was very juicy.  The ingredients were excellent.

The Fried Sweet Breads with Pork Belly was fantastic.  This was one of the best prepared sweet breads we have had.  This is a change from the normal grilled preparations in most restaurants.  This dish was also accompanied with wild Japanese mushrooms and kale which added earthiness and toned down the richness of the dish.

Sage
3732 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109


We certainly experienced a lot on this trip.  Hopefully we will get to go back in the near future to explore some more!