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Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill – Las Vegas, Nevada

We were in Las Vegas celebrating our wedding anniversary, and wanted something nice, but still quite reasonable in price. We heard lots about Mesa Grill from Bobby Flay’s show on Food Network (Throwdown with Bobby Flay) as they use this kitchen as a test kitchen sometimes (their test kitchen is the one in New York though). Regardless, we made reservations to be a guest a Mesa Grill.

We were a tad early, and was seated by the bar as we waited for our table. It wasn’t a long wait at all, before we got seated at our table. The atmosphere in Mesa grill was really quite cozy, yet it was high end, and a tad dark!

As we first got seated, the waiter immediately asked us for our drink orders and brought us a basket of bread, with wonderfully tasting bread – which I believe were: corn bread muffin, jalapeno bread, and a nut bread! I had a piece of each of the breads and my favorite would be the jalapeno bread!

For main, I tried the Ancho Chile-Honey Glazed Salmon which was a perfectly pan seared piece of salmon, topped with spicy black bean sauce & roasted Jalapeno Crema. The crust on the salmon was so good, even until the last bit, it was still a nice crisp! The ancho chile was full of flavor but was not over powering, it was a great balance of textures and flavors.

We also ordered Pan Roasted Venison which is served with Sweet Potato Tamale. The venison was really quite special and it is something most people don’t order by looking around! We really enjoyed both main entrees and have nothing but good to rave about.

For dessert, we enjoyed ourselves so much we thought we would stuff ourselves extra for this special occasion. We ordered both Churros which was deep fried long dough, dusted with Cinnamon Sugar & Star Anise with a Dark Chocolate Dipping Sauce. We also had Pineapple Upside-down Cake with a rum caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream on the top. Both desserts were really good, but I must admit, the Churros was much more memorable as it’s not as common of a dessert.

The price of the dinner is higher than your typical dinner, but was reasonable for where you are, and what you’re eating! Bobby Flay is after all a celebrity chef, which a Michelin Star earned in 2008!

Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill

Caesars Palace
3570 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV
(877) 346-4642

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Mirage Volcano Las Vegas

We walked the strip, and the funny thing is.. we finally set a tripod up at 11PM at the rail of Las Vegas’s Mirage to “hopefully” take a nice video shot of the Volcano eruption.

We waited for about 35 minutes, and couldn’t understand why no one else was getting ready to watch the next Mirage Volcano eruption show, until we finally decided to walk away as well. Just as we walked about 20 steps over, we saw a nice sign that read “last eruption at 11PM” Oh well.

After dinner the following evening, we decided to go find ourselves a nice spot to definitely catch the Volcano eruption and I’m sure glad I did. It is quite different from when I was young — and that eruption show. I’m not too sure which one I like more, but here’s the one we took. Who knows, maybe 10 years from now, this will be the old eruption video! 🙂

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The standard rooms at the Mirage is very nice, newly renovated and spacious!

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Aria Resort & Casino – City Center, Las Vegas

Since ARIA was being built, I’ve always stared at it from the platform outside Planet Hollywood near P.F. Changs just wondering what kind of a resort it would be. A few years later, it was complete, and all I wanted to do then was to experience this resort.

In April 2011, I finally found the perfect excuse to visit the resort — and found a great rate!! I quickly booked it room in January, and never stopped thinking about it. Now that I’ve left, I still haven’t stopped thinking about ARIA.

This resort truly was a dream come true! The smell of floral and green tea as you enter the resort was always refreshing. The layout of the Casino was optimal, and there were a lot of dining options as well. Even the path going to the pool area looked top notch!

Our room, we did receive a complimentary upgrade to a city view in a Deluxe Room City View with a King bed. The one thing that made me nervous was the stocked mini bar in the suite. Apparently, you’d get charged if you picked anything up — or even place anything near it to trigger it’s sensors. It was too advanced, and that frightened me a little.

The description states that there is a laptop sized in-room safe. I still don’t know where that is, but it wasn’t important, as the laptop I brought with me was old and slow… really not something anyone wants! 🙂

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Serendipity 3 – Las Vegas, Nevada

The Serendipity 3 is located outside of the Caesars Palace, and it’s a wonderful place for lunch, or a snack… even a dinner! We went there for a late breakfast, early lunch – and it’s really a neat location.

You have the option to sit inside or outside, but unfortunately, when we asked for an outside table, they just ran out. Serendipity 3 becomes packed with hungry guests really quickly.

They serve everything from frozen hot chocolates, to sandwiches, and even hearty meat dishes – which allows them to serve all sorts of appetites and all different times of day!

I ordered the “High Heel Pump” with sweet potato fries and it was really tasty of a Sandwich. It tasted really light, and the portion size was enormous! I think it could have had more Prosciutto as I barely tasted it. It felt like it was overwhelmed with extra virgin olive oil and the tomatoes and cheese.

We also had the Skirt Steak with Steak Fries, and that was cooked to perfection! It was one of our more memorable dishes we had during our trip for lunch.

We realize that Serendipity 3 is known for it’s frozen hot chocolates, however, we weren’t in the mood for one that afternoon. We’ll be sure to try it out next time!

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Jean Philippe Patisserie – Las Vegas, Nevada

Walking through ARIA Resort, we were greeted by Jean Philippe Patisserie each time we went to and from the casino to the elevators to get to our suite. Seeing the delicate cakes, chocolates, gelato, mini wedding cakes and much much more, I knew I would have to stop by and enjoy some of his treats.

We tried a Vanilla Flan as well as Tiramisu, with iced coffee and we fell in love with the desserts from Jean Philippe. We couldn’t stop thinking about the desserts we have purchased, and we decided to get more the following evening.

The next round, we had a strawberry tart as well as a carrot cake, with chai tea latte. Again, it was really tasty. The strawberries here at home are far from sweet, red and ripe but the strawberries on the strawberry tart was sweet and tasty! The pastry from the tart was really flaky, and it had a hint of almond and pistachios taste to it. It was really delicate, and flavorful, yet not overwhelmed by sweetness.

The carrot cake was one of my favorites. The carrot cake itself was embedded in cheesecake, which was light, soft, creamy and smooth. The carrot cake was excellent as well. The delicate decorations on top of the cake really topped it off. These were one of the best desserts we have had in awhile! I have nothing but great things to say about it.

The neatest part, all the little fine details on the cakes and pastries itself… they’re actually edible! I thought the bottom of the carrot cake was a wrap or something, but it was a really delicate piece of chocolate!

Sure, upfront, $6.00 for a pastry/cake could seem like a lot, but to taste such impressive french pastries and mini cakes really made it worth while!!