Food gluttony in Las Vegas - February 15-18, 2013

Note:  pictures in wide format are courtesy of my sister-in-law Angela, thanks!

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For Presidents' Weekend, we headed to Las Vegas along with my brother Ed and sister-in-law Angela.  I had traded the 1-bedroom side of my Marriott Shadow Ridge timeshare for a 2-bedroom villa at the Marriott Grand Chateau, located one block from the Las Vegas Strip, near CityCenter and across the street from Planet Hollywood.  We were occupying it for the long weekend, and my parents, aunt and uncle were going to stay there the rest of the week.

As it was a holiday weekend, airfare was much higher than usual.  We decided to try out Allegiant Airlines service out of Stockton Metropolitan Airport, a little over an hour's drive away, as the fares were half of what Southwest was charging.  In order to offer such low prices, Allegiant "nickel and dime"s the customer with fees.  To ensure that Kaleb and I had adjacent seats, I paid $12.50 per seat each way, else seats were to be assigned randomly with no guarantee to be together despite both of us on one reservation.  You either had to buy the tickets at the airport, or pay a $40 service charge to book on Allegiant's website.  I did save $16 by using a debit card, woohoo.  You were allowed one free carry-on the size of a small backpack, else it would cost $35 pre-paid, and even more at the airport.  Despite all the hassles, it was still a better price than Southwest, and we wanted to try the service out.

Kaleb and I managed to stuff everything we needed for the long weekend into backpacks to avoid paying the carry-on fee.  Driving to Stockton wasn't too bad on an early Friday afternoon.  There was one main parking lot in front of the terminal, which cost $7 a day.  The terminal was small, so security was a breeze.  For concessions, there were vending machines and a restaurant.

Our plane arrived at the gate and passengers exited from both the front door (via a rolling stairwell) or out the back stairwell of the plane.

pretty neat to leave from the tail of the plane

When the gate agent made the boarding announcement, she also added that passengers could only consume alcohol purchased on board; I suppose they get the occasional drunk?  Then it was a free-for-all at the gate; no one was boarding by zone number.  I noticed that passengers who paid the fee for their carry-ons had a special tag wrapped around the handle.  Not surprisingly, some carried over-sized backpacks, but they didn't get stopped.

Our seats were in the center of the plane, so we chose to use the tail stairs.  Snack and beverage service was brief as all items cost money and hardly anyone bought anything.

The plane landed 30 minutes after Ed and Angela, which worked out perfect as they got the rental car and picked us up from the passenger pick-up area (inside the parking garage) across the main road outside baggage claim.  We drove directly to Caesars Palace to hit the Bacchanal Buffet.  It opened last fall and was still the hottest buffet in town; it took about an hour and a half to get in, leaving us just 45 minutes to eat.  If you have a Total Rewards Card, you can save $1 per buffet, approximately a 2% savings, what a deal!  The buffet was advertised to have 500 items to choose from.  The layout wasn't too efficient; due to the way the stations were set up, if a long line formed for the carvery, it was hard to access any of the food adjacent to it.  There was also hot crab available but you had to know to ask behind the counter (but it was merely taking your plate of cold crab and dunking it in hot water for 10 seconds).  I couldn't really take pictures as there were so many people around, so I can only show you what I sampled.

limit eating to 2 hours? silicone gadget to pick up hot plates

black chicken soup, xiaolongbao, sushi, etc.

snow crab and fresh oysters

bucket o'clams, kobe slider, meatball, more chicken soup ;)

mochi ice cream, creme brulee, among other delectable desserts

After dinner, we checked into the Marriott Grand Chateau.  No self-parking offered, but valet parking was complimentary.  If you prefer to self-park, the Planet Hollywood garage is across the street, but it's really not worth the trouble.

I've taken pictures of the villa in an earlier blog entry, so nothing had changed since then, though there was construction happening on a third tower.  Our villa was right next door to the construction; a port-a-potty was sitting outside our window, up on the 12th floor!   Work was halted during the long weekend and unfortunately resumed the rest of the week during my parents' stay.

The next day, we slept in while Ed and Angela were dedicated to working out in the morning!  They used the exercise room at the Grand Chateau, though it had a funny smell (resulting in them driving out to 24-Hour Fitness for the remainder of the weekend).  We didn't meet together again until dinner; in the meantime, my friends Ching and Hung were also in Vegas, staying at the MGM Grand.  We made a lunch date and they picked us up from the Grand Chateau and headed to a Vietnamese noodle house called Pho Kinh Do (say that really fast) as it had decent reviews on Yelp.  The service was great and the food was tasty, though I didn't take any pictures.  After lunch, we went to the MGM and gambled for a few hours.  Unfortunately, none of us won any money.  Kaleb and I headed back to the Marriott.

For dinner, we hit my favorite Vegas restaurant, Raku.  I never get tired of eating here (so many blog entries about it).  This visit, I decided to try a few new things:  bluefin tuna sashimi (a chalkboard special), juicy chicken appetizer, ground chicken skewer, and the creme brulee.  The appetizer was definitely juicy, and most yummy!  The tuna melted in my mouth. The ground chicken was raved about in Yelp reviews, but I thought it was just okay.  The creme brulee was the best dessert I've had there so far.

homemade tofu

sashimi salad, so fresh

bluefin tuna, da bomb

raw kobe beef liver

kobe skirt steak, lamb chops, ground chicken

juicy chicken

my favorite: foie gras

creme brulee with green tea ice cream

satisfied couple #1

satisfied couple #2

On Sunday morning, we went to the airport to swap our rental car for a minivan so that we would have enough space when the rest of the party arrived on Monday.  The van was brand new; we had to tear off the plastic wrap covering the hubcaps and remove pieces of tape from the interior.

the minivan only had 2 miles on it!

Then we headed to brunch at Mozen Bistro, located on the third floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at CityCenter.  I read Yelp reviews ahead of time and was looking forward to trying it out.  We parked at Aria and followed the signs out to the Mandarin Oriental, arriving in time for our 12:15pm OpenTable reservation.  It wasn't specifically listed on the restaurant's website, but brunch was from 12-2:30pm on Sundays.  There was a live jazz band playing.  It was a combination of a-la-carte dining plus buffet with no lines.  There were also passed appetizers, but I forgot to take pictures of the little morsels we received before we ordered our main entree and hit the buffet.

brunch menu

seafood bar with sushi chefs behind the counter

charcuterie

tofu flower, sushi, raw oyster, crab claw

almost too pretty to eat

made-to-order noodle soup, dim sum, carvery items

colorful dragonfruit

freshly sliced sashimi (ask for it at the counter)

The service was very attentive; we were warmly welcomed when we entered and our water glasses were never empty.  The waiter came by every so often to ask if we were ready for our main entree.  Eventually we were...though we were close to full from all the buffet items, including sashimi, sushi, cold seafood, salad bar, charcuterie, made-to-order noodle soup, steamed dim-sum, and a carving station.  I didn't even eat anything from the salad bar nor the carvery; there was that much food.

Kaleb and Angela both ordered the scallops

steamed grouper

paneer curry, lentils, basmati rice, and fresh naan

Our stomachs were about to explode, but we had to make room for dessert.

We didn't leave the restaurant until close to 2:30...over 2 hours of pure eating enjoyment.  I would suggest arriving when Mozen opens for brunch, as items weren't replenished later in the day.

happy!

so full!

During our meal, I had noticed a table to my right (an empty table was in between us) with two men who looked like hotel security wearing dark suits, sitting with two other men.  Every time I got up to get food, the security guys would pause and throw a glance in my direction.  It turned out Louie Anderson was at that table, and the bodyguards were probably worried that I was going to approach him.  There was also another actor in the house, who we think was John Amos, who also happened to star with Louie in the movie "Coming to America".  When John left the restaurant, he stopped by Louie's table to say hello.

After brunch, we headed up to the hotel's Sky Lobby on the 23rd floor to check it out.  Hotel registration was located here as well as a couple of restaurants.  The area was especially decorated for Chinese New Year, which occurred less than a month ago.

seating in the elevator!

year of the snake

neat wall

We walked around CityCenter and the Cosmopolitan Hotel to burn off the calories.

CityCenter

agate staircase in Crystals mall

more Chinese New Year decorations at Aria

crystal chandeliers at the Cosmopolitan Hotel

the Cosmopolitan check-in lobby was interesting

At the Cosmopolitan Hotel, we sat at the bar at Holstein's to enjoy full-fat milkshakes.  Let's just say that after a humongous meal, washing it down with such richness is not recommended!  We later headed to Bellagio to check out the conservatory.

decorated for Chinese New Year

beautiful flower decor

even a tangerine tree

kumquats too

The epic feasting was taking a toll on our bodies, so we stopped by Whole Foods to pick up some dinner.

On Monday, my parents, aunt and uncle arrived into Las Vegas after noon.  We picked them up from the airport and headed to Pho Kinh Do for another round of Vietnamese noodles.  Afterwards, Kaleb and I were dropped off at the airport for our flight home.  Bye bye Vegas...we'll be back soon...

When we arrived in Stockton, there was a long line of people waiting to pay their parking fees with cash at the kiosk in the terminal, as the automated machines out in the parking lot took only credit or debit cards.  Would I fly Allegiant again?  Yes, if the cost differential between Southwest and Allegiant was huge, the flight time convenient, and I had time to drive to Stockton.  The plane wasn't too uncomfortable but then again, I don't normally recline my seat (Allegiant's seats don't move).  I may consider taking Allegiant to Honolulu as $199 roundtrip deals come up from time to time.  I'm willing to try it once.

I just organized all of my pictures to date and turns out I have 9 trips to blog, so behind.  Next stop, Israel...stay tuned!

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