Food Travels Part 1: Vegas

Mary and I don't travel much, but when we do, we usually end up in some sort of food coma due to our sampling of the local fare.

After tax season, we needed a much deserved break from not only work, but from the rainy Northwest in general. We figured that our best option was the geographical opposite of Portland.... Las Vegas and all its majesty.

A few observations about Sin City:

• The laws of physics do not apply to the Vegas Strip. On many occasions, we could see the sign of the hotel/casino we wanted to go to, and after 30 minutes of walking, we still had apparently not gotten any closer.  
• You only make the mistake of buying a 18 inch frozen beverage for $14 once before realizing you can buy an Icee for $2 at the Walgreens and then enhance it with a half a water bottle full of key lime rum you had stowed away in your luggage.
• 90 degree weather in April is an awesome concept that I wouldn't mind having more of.

We somehow pulled ourselves away from the poolside bloody marys long enough to indulge in a serious medley of desserts, and visit the world's largest chocolate fountain, and test whether or not the some celebrity chef restaurants lived up to their hype (Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill was beyond epic, Mario Balati's Otto was nothing spectacular).

Our favorite was the dessert burger from the Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay:

Your eyes are not deceiving you, that is indeed a glazed doughnut for a the bun, a nutella-based "patty", a mango gel as the "cheese" and some kiwi and strawberries to get your fruit serving in for the day. I think one of these per years would be just about right.

We had heard from many seasoned pros of the Vegas scene that no trip was complete without a buffet experience. We took a run at a champagne brunch buffet, and immediately scouted out the dessert selection. Needless to say, "Let's try it all" won out that day:

 Top right going clockwise: Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Pecan Pie, Brownie.

Again, top right going clockwise: Carrot Cake, Chocolate Eclair, Chocolate filled bon-bon-esque thing with a cookie-type bottom (look, it was chocolate dusted with cocoa and a raspberry, so should it really matter what they called it?)

Mary and I agreed that the cheesecake was stupid delicious and the clear winner. I enjoyed the pecan pie (duh) and the chocolate truffle/bon-bon sphere, Mary liked the eclair. We agreed to disagree on the success brownie: Mary likes nuts, I do not like nuts (insert middle school style snickering here).  The carrot cake and tiramisu were food and eaten as such, moving on.

We were in Vegas for 4 days, which was just the right amount of time to construct a nice culinary prologue for all the further trips down the road.Plus I don't think our stomachs (or livers) could have lasted too much longer.

--Isaac.