TinaH had the goofy idea for a Vegas roadtrip. At least that was my original take on the roadtrip portion it and it turns out I was dead wrong, we had a blast.
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Driving:
Left Tucson around 9 AM Sunday, gassed up (let me now be the last person in America to mention that gas is stupidly expensive) and made good time until phoenix. Took the 303 cutoff rather than going through town which proved to be pretty quick. Picked up 60 near Surprise and headed for Wikkieup for some BBQ.
Eat at Joe's
http://www.eatatjoesbarbecue.com/
G$ haunts the bbq forums and 'knows' the Eat at Joe's guy. By knows of course I mean they mutually and anonymously discuss smoked meats. Anyway the website does the place justice. It looked a little ramshackle from the outside but the inside was clean and nice. I got the hungry guy combo plate and it was all pretty good. It should be noted that other than the wings which were outstanding I would rather have g$'s bbq but that isn't a criticism necessarily. None of the meat was particularly seasoned but the texture on all of it was very good and the sauce was tasty but missing any heat. The chicken wings were especially nice...some olive oil and herbs (thyme and or basil mabye?) made a nice bite through crust and the meat inside was tender and juicy. Really outstanding. The sides were all good but with like 2 lbs. of meat in front of me I frankly paid them little notice.
I don't mean to sound like it wasn't good, it was. In fact there is 0% chance you will find better food between Phx and Vegas so you absolutely should go. I'm just spoiled because I make decent bbq and g$ makes ridiculous. Anyway, Eat at Joe's.
Dam Road
Hit some traffic at the dam. Not too bad but it allowed me time to gawk at the stupid new bypass bridge they are building. Look at this thing (link) and know that driving under it was humbling or terrifying...something like that. I'm reasonably sure I will not drive across that ever. At least not sober.
Arrive at the Venetian and cleanup for dinner at Rosemary's. One planning element I neglected in all the run up was how we would get to/from the offsite dinner spots. I had the car which seats 6 BUT I sometimes have a drink with dinner and don't wish to drive back. After consulting with the doorman and the accordion player (he was there and proved helpful...never underestimate the accordion player) we got a limo. It should be noted that we got it for much less round trip than what I was originally quoted thanks to their combined efforts.
Rosemary's
Dinner was great. Let me get the one sour note out of the way first so we can get into the good stuff. Our waiter was a young guy who was thoroughly attentive, extremely friendly and totally took care of us. Nearly full marks except that he talked 50% too much and 50% of what he said caused me to desire to stab him in the eye with my salad fork. Repeatedly. Just a for instance "Are you enjoying the wine?...Yes, its great.....DIE-licious huh?". I'm not saying this ruined the meal or anything, just knocked off a couple of points. Back to what was a great meal.
It is in a strip mall and looks like crap from the outside but don't let that throw you. The decor inside ranges from tasteful and understated to stuff stolen from the Olive Garden down the road 10 years ago when they were repainting. Also don't let that dissuade you. All that matters at the end of the day is good food.
I went big and got the tasting menu. Not listed on the website but was a 5 course deal for about $80. (menu)
Amuse
crispy wanton topped with goat cheese watercress and citrus aioli
Great small bite to start. The citrus alioli on the plate was light and tasty. The bite itself was a nice mix of the crunch of the wonton, creamy tang of the goat cheese and pepper of the watercress. Gerhard complained he got too much watercress so we threw bread at him.
Salmon Tartar
Watercress, Saffron Sauce & Caraway Crackers
This was the one I was least excited about. On the paper it remdinded me of the skagen stuff I ate alot of in Sweden and didn't really care for. This however was quite good, the fish was super fresh and the watercress had a nice pepper and crunch to it. I didn't notice much of a saffron flavor but it was a nice dish.
Hugo’s Texas BBQ Shrimp
Maytag Blue Cheese Slaw
The shrimp were good and the combo of blue cheese and slaw was not one I'd had and I thought went great together. The sauce was kinda smoky and I thought it was kind of out place, sort of unrefined I guess. The plate didn't make alot of sense until Gilligan came over and told us the story of how Doyle Brunson and the chefs Dad snuck into a kitchen and made the dish up and they keep it on for him. Whatever.
Crispy Skin Striped Bass
Andouille, Rock Shrimp, Fingerling Potato Hash, Hushpuppies & Creole Meuniere Sauce
TinaB had this for her entree so we swtiched plates and I got the full portion and she had my half. Let me give you some advice, marry a small woman. You will eat well. I don't love fish, its just usually not that interesting and is behind just about everything else that comes out of the water. This kicked ass. The crust on the top side was perfectly crisped and the fish was moist and fantastic. The taters and andouille sausage in sauce under the fish was rich and tasty but didn't overwhelm the fish. Nice and blanced, this is a must have dish.
Roasted Rack of Lamb*
Kalamata Olive Mashed Potatoes, Fried Arugula & Rosemary Bordelaise Sauce
I'm already full but I love a nice rack. Take that as you wish. I don't even remember eating the arugla, I was kind of food drunk by then. The lamb was cooked perfectly, great crust and the sauce was subtly but noticeably infused with rosemary. Classic combo and a great flavor. I didn't love the potatos w/ olives. Felt like the olives lost some flavor in the mix and they didn't add anything except a weird texture. None of that matters, the rack of lamb should be listed as meat dessert item. I gnawed the bones.
Desert was a trio of small portions: vanilla creme brule, some kind of chocolate cake and a tall shot of chocolate into which they poured some berry flavored lambic. My wife claimed all dessert which was fine but somehow I ended up with a lemon cooler and a highly alcholic coffee anyway. The creme brule was good, vanilla flavor is the best and the shell was crunchy just like God intended. Didn't try the cake, the lambic shot called to mind a liquid center chocolate. The lemon cooler pie was a center cut of some rich, sweet, tangy pie. I missed having more of the graham cracker type crust to cut some of the richness. There were also some mint leaves that I sort of sliced up and had with each bite. Fantastic.
I leave it to Dan to talk about the wine. I have no memory except that it was great and I like the first few glasses of champagne.
Vinnie the limo driver was ready when we were and took us back to the hotel. From there over to Harrah's for some craps. We should have walked away when the weird busty drunk lady to our right started arguing about her $1 hard ways working or not. The boss was ready to return her $4 but she kept on arguing so she 86-ed herself. Nothing of interest beyond that except the cartel lost about $50 each. Next up was the Flamingo where we played and made it all back plus aobut $25. Interestingly there was a (possible) transvestite at the other end of the table who rubbed the dice on their cleavage before each roll. At this point in the evening this was unbearably funny.
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3 comments:
This was a remarkably fact based accounting of Day One, and I have no corrections really. A couple additions if you will:
To drive home a point that may be made clear later, I want to note that while at Harrahs, drink service was so slow that it did not actually exist. Dan and I had to spring for bottled beer at the bar. The flamingo service was better, but still average. It was saved by the dealer advising Dan to "order two next time". (This same dealer engaged Dan initially by asking where he was from, and upon hearing "Tucson" as response proceeded to inquire as to the current state of our Dog Track. "Errr, it is still on the way to eating burritos I guess" was Dan's appropriate reply.)
On the way to Rosemary's, in the Limo captained by Vinny, Dan looked around and said simply, "There needs to be rap music in here." He looked up at the radio, pressed exactly one random buttone, and presto: Rap Music.
Also, there does exist an In-n-Out in Kingman AZ, which is worth noting for those making the AZ to LV drive.
Great recap that was bolstered by G$'s astute observations.
Wine was NV Pierre Peters Blanc de Blanc, some Riesling from Alsace (which was good) and a 2005 Robert Foley Merlot (which was weird).
"Order 2 beers" is the kind of sage advice one would usually expect from an accordion player - that guy got it.
First of all, I would say that the road trip was a great idea. I enjoy traveling with Los Bakers for several hours way more then a bunch of whiny, crying, pukey kids. Not that I have ever had to do that.
Second, that picture does not do the bridge justice. Maybe we should return to take the underside picture. I also plan to never go on that bridge. NEVER.
Next, Rosemary's was good. Fish was great as mentioned. Sadly we di dnot hang out the moonroof/sunroof down the strip. There is always next time I guess :o)
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