House of Blues (Mandalay Bay)

House of Blues, Mandalay Bay, Breakfast (4/24/08)

House of Blues just never disappoints ... well, I guess there are some people out there who could be disappointed by it, but they are obviously difficult to please and may even secretly be harboring an inner Grimace. Jay and I felt it was our solemn duty to have breakfast at HoB since most of their locations don't offer a morning meal aside from Gospel Brunch on Sundays.

So, around 8:30AM we staggered downstairs to the casino still nursing the richest food hangover ever from the prior evening's dining adventure at L'Atelier. Were we dyspeptic? Probably not, but I've been waiting for a chance to use that word and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

We didn't have to wait for a table at all, which always makes us happy especially when we are in dire need of caffeinated stimuli to stifle our own inner Grimaces. And in the mode of culinary daring that had taken hold of me since our arrival in Sin City, I suggested to my darling Jay that we order a breakfast appetizer.

Whaaaaaaat? Where do you think we are ... New Orleans?

No, if I thought we were in New Orleans we'd be ordering a pitcher of Brandy Milk Punch and breakfast dessert with a side order of flambe.

Since items like shrimp remoulade or fresh fruit with creole cream cheese were not on the menu - because we really weren't in the Crescent City - we opted for this to start the morning:

Sweet Banana Corn Fritters served with warm Maple Syrup

Fritters served in last night's Chinese Take-Out container!

Mmmmmm, time for the fritters to bathe in warm, sugary, tree sap.



Wow! These were yummy indeed - piping hot, deep fried little dough balls with just a hint of banana and liberally dusted with powdered sugar. They tasted even better drizzled with or drowned in the maple syrup. My surprised enjoyment of this breakfast treat led to an interesting discussion of exactly what constitutes the difference between a fritter and a doughnut.

To start, a doughnut has a hole in its center while a fritter may very well be the missing hole.

Doughnuts are usually covered with gleaming, sugary frosting while fritters are typically stuffed with glistening, fruity fillings.

This is getting us nowhere; what does our good friend Webster have to say on the subject?

A doughnut is defined as a sweet, deep-fried piece of dough or batter. It's also a spare tire used on cars!

A fritter is defined as a small mass of fried or sauteed batter, usually containing fruit or meat. Fritter also happens to be one of my favorite verbs and means to spend or waste bit by bit on trifles or without commensurate return ... kind of like this review.

I understand where the dough portion of the word doughnut is derived from, but whence comes the nut? And if a fritter is made from the punched out center of a doughnut it's not really a fritter, is it? It's more like an anti-fritter because it isn't being wasted.

Unlike your time right now.

You know what washes residual fritter dough from the sides of your teeth?

A bottomless cup of coffee.

The morning cuppa was strong and flavorful and our waitress kept the little cream pitcher filled to the brim once she noticed that we were half-coffee, half-milk, half-sugar people.

There's no room in my coffee cup for milk or sugar!!!


For my breakfast I played it boring and dull with traditional French Toast and a side order of Snausages.

My favorite breakfast choice, after the giant Mickey-head waffle.


This was very tasty and really hit the spot. The bread was dipped in a cinnamon flavored custard and cooked to perfection. And as for the tubular pork product ... oink oink! Salty and meaty and oh-so-good dipped in maple syrup (apologies to my British friends, but I love salt and sweet mixed together at breakfast).

Jay, of course, ordered something utterly daring and weird for his first meal of the day: Smoked Brisket Hash - Smoked Brisket, Red Potatoes, Red and Green Peppers, and Onions cooked with Spices and topped with two Poached Eggs; served with choice of Toast.

It's like Grandma's Country Kitchen all on one plate!


Jay enjoyed every bite of his mish-mash hash topped with eggy goodness. I suppose if one wanted to be clever one could call this a deconstructed omelet, but cleverness is over-rated. This reminds me of something that should be on the menu at the Cracker Barrel. I don't mean that in a bad way because I actually enjoy breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, but I don't like all of my breakfast foods muddled together in a cast-iron skillet or any other cooking or serving device and this just seems like something they'd offer on their menu.

Jay likes breakfast muddle, though, and highly recommends this to those of you out there who like morning mish-mash. And both of us strongly recommend trying House of Blues for breakfast some time if the opportunity presents itself. The food was terrific and we can now say we've tried all four meals that HoB offers and we've enjoyed them all tremendously.