Isla Mexican Kitchen, Treasure Island

And We're Walking; We're Walking; We're Still Walking ... Isla Mexican Kitchen, Treasure Island - Dinner (4/21/08)

I'm not entirely sure how we ended up choosing this particular restaurant for dinner, but odds are that it was a combination of my wanting to pick someplace that would satisfy Jay's spicy crave and offer me the promise of as yet untasted alcoholic delights. We scheduled dinner for 6PM, which is earlier than we usually like to dine while on vacation, but we were trying to buy some digestive time since we'd scheduled a dessert tasting at Payard's for later in the evening. **You can read all about the dessert decadence in my next post ... all good things to those who wait.**

I read some really interesting things about Isla, which was a 2005 and 2007 Epicurean Award winner for Best Mexican. The two items that really got my attention were the custom-designed roving guacamole cart and the Tequila Goddess. The guacamole carts provide a sampling of Chef Richard Sandoval's fresh-made guacamoles, including classic Mexico City style, citrus tamarind with habañero and mint, chipotle adobo with spiced pumpkin seeds and lobster with achiote passion fruit and Serrano chilies ... or at least that's what the literature said. The Tequila Goddess was said to welcome guests to the bar and restaurant by personally offering them a selection of cocktails including tequilas, as well as margaritas, sangrias and other Mexican cocktail favorites. If a patron really wanted to splurge, he or she could order The Goddess Elixir, prepared table side by the Goddess herself with Herradura Seleccion Suprema, Grand Marnier 100 Year Anniversary, Cointreau, and Fresh Citrus Syrup. Just for fun, I priced this drink once we finally made it to Isla ... for the bargain price of $100 you can order this beverage the next time you're in Vegas. If you do order this, be sure to let us know what you think - Jay and I would both like to know what a $100 drink tastes like!

Before leaving the hotel on our 75-minute odyssey to Treasure Island we snapped the requisite self-portrait.

Festive Print-Shirt Boy and his flabby sidekick: Timid Tastebud Girl


No, you didn't read that sentence incorrectly. I said that it took us 75 minutes to get to Treasure Island from our hotel. See, we had a plan ... a well thought-out plan that would give us plenty of time to reach Treasure Island from Mandalay Bay. It entailed hopping the Las Vegas Monorail from the MGM Grand to the Harrah's station, which was listed as a jumping off point for easy access to about eight other hotels along the Vegas strip, including our destination.

It would have worked, too, if it hadn't been for Harrah's ... our newest nemesis ... that pee-pee soaked heck-hole ... the darkest, dankest circle of hell equipped with a mouse-maze offering black-lung and never-ending country music caterwauling as its reward upon completion. There were no signs pointing us towards the exit that would spit us out onto the strip, so we took the first set of doors we could find in a frantic dash for freedom and fresh air only to find ourselves in a labyrinth of back streets and parking garages.

I suppose if we'd been thinking properly we would have gone back into the hotel and asked someone for directions. But Jay was stubborn and I was frustrated to the point of tears so we just kept walking along a street lined with garages. We had no idea where we were, but assumed that we were parallel to the strip. We must have walked about three blocks out of our way before coming to a cross-street where we could turn left and head back towards "civilization."

You wanna know where we ended up?

The Las Vegas Convention Center.

Son-of-a-bitch!

We finally made it to the restaurant at 6:50PM ... luckily the hostess was really nice and she seated us right away even though other people were waiting for tables and had obviously not walked through the city's seamy underbelly in order to show up late for their dinner reservation.

Shortly after we were seated our waitress delivered a big bowl of chips and three different salsas. We took two pictures to provide a better view because of the unique presentation method. If I remember correctly there was a traditional salsa, a tomatillo salsa, and a set-yer-tongue-aflame salsa.

Complementary chips and salsas


An aerial view of salsas


Isla's menu is fairly extensive and while we were taking our time deciding exactly what we should order, Jay requested a margarita. And not just any margarita, but Isla's Signature Margarita which was made with lots of premium tequila and tasted ever so good. So good in fact, that I had no choice but to order one of my own after taking a sip of Jay's.

Isla's signature margarita - yeah, baby!

This next picture is something of a joke ... although I suppose you could say that about almost any picture that includes me (ha ha!). Many years ago when Jay and I were driving to Florida for a week-long vacation, we were blowing through Southern Georgia at about 80 miles-per-hour when a black and white billboard caught my eye. A furtive looking man was reading a magazine, his face visible from the nose up, and his shifty eyes were wide with something like shamed surprise. Underneath the man, in huge print, was the following:

ADDICTED TO PORNOGRAPHY??? CALL 1-800-GET-HELP

Considering that we were in the heart of the Bible Belt, Jay and I found this billboard absolutely hysterical, especially because the advertisement immediately following was a full-color, soft-porn add for the "gentleman's" club called We Bare All.

We've never forgotten either of those signs ... I guess advertising really does work!

Addicted to alcohol?


The answer must be yes ... we are addicted to alcohol. And to prove it we ordered a tequila tasting. We know nothing about tequila ... except that it tastes like burning. There were five different tequila flights to choose from and we picked a more affordable option called Isla's Finest Reposado ($33), which included Corralejo Triple Distilled, Casa Noble Reposado, and Penca Azul Reposado. There was a fourth little tasting sample that our waitress told us was spicy tomato juice - she advised that it would help bring out the different flavors in the tequilas when sipped immediately afterwards.

Did you say Tequila tasting?


How cool is that presentation?

Since we're tequila novices, I'm just going to list the menu descriptions of each sample here for your edification.

Corralejo Triple Distilled: Made with 100% Blue Weber Agave; soft yet rich agave taste with with a hint of pickling spice and a peppered finish; distilled three times for maximum smoothness.

Casa Noble Reposado: Made with 100% Blue Weber Agave; fresh and vibrant bouquet leads to rich flavors of ripe agave intertwined with a delicate white oak accent.

Penca Azul Reposado: Made with 100% Blue Weber Agave; a bit of smoke on the nose with a crisp lemon flavored palate and a smooth finish.

Jay and I actually enjoyed all of these - each one had a distinct aroma and flavor and tasted really good with food. I don't think either of us would go out of our way to drink tequila on a regular basis, but it was fun to try it as a tasting and these three selections were surprisingly good and only tasted a teeny bit like burning.

We officially kicked off the evening's feeding frenzy with an appetizer - Queso Fundido. I liked the word fundido ... it made me think that no matter what food the waitress smacked down before us we were going to have a good time. The appetizer was a mixture of Mexican cheeses and chorizo, served with a plate of warm tortillas in which to wrap it all up snug as a bug.

Looks can be deceiving...

Nekkid Tortillas!!!

The finished product ... yum yum yum!

This was very good - a blend of three different cheeses all melted and gooey with spicy chorizo sausage mixed in for good measure. This kind of selection is always a good compromise - the cheese is safe and bland enough to keep me and my tummy happy while the chorizo adds just enough spice to please Jay's palate.

For my entree I ordered the Cheese Enchiladas:

More cheesy goodness with extra stuff ...


There were two big honking enchiladas on the plate, covered in a mild tomato sauce and then sprinkled with more cheese - they were good and very filling. I could only finish one of them. My sides included rice and black beans; I especially liked the beans, which were very soft and smooth. Jay was the happy recipient of my sour cream and guacamole.

Speaking of Jay, he ordered fajitas for his dinner - he loves him some fajitas!

It looks like a mess but tastes like a dream!

Jason had to create his own fajitas from this bowl of stuff, but he likes doing that. And when I asked him to give his opinion of this dish he said the tastiness of the food made the overland hike to reach the restaurant more than worth the effort.

After all this delicious bounty there really wasn't room for dessert. And an initial review of the dessert menu didn't inspire us to great heights of gluttony, especially since we knew what was waiting for us at Payard's. But then Jay left me alone with the menu and I had a sudden, sweet-tooth change of heart. By the time he returned I'd ordered us some Crepes with Cinnamon Ice Cream and Dulce de Leche Sauce.

First Dessert ... a good ending and a good beginning!


Three warm crepes drizzled with sauce surrounding a blob of cinnamon ice cream ... once I disposed of those nasty pecans all was right with the dessert world. I highly recommend this as an end to your meal should you dine at Isla. It was light and refreshing with a nice balance of sweet and spice.

Overall we really enjoyed our dinner at Isla, and while we never spotted a roving guacamole cart or a Tequila Goddess, we thought that the restaurant had good service and tasty food with a menu that featured nice variety. And they have an extensive tequila selection - some restaurants have a wine list, Isla has a tequila bible. If you like Mexican inspired cuisine and you're going to be visiting Vegas, consider stopping at Isla for a meal. It's affordably priced for Vegas and the food is filling and satisfying.

Quarks, The Star Trek Experience

Quarks Bar and Restaurant, Las Vegas Hilton - Lunch (4/21/08)

Dorks, dweebs, nerds, spazes, poindexters, eggheads, geeks ... all applicable synonyms for Jay and me, but we're comfortable with that. Our motto: embrace your inner dork and proudly fly your freak flag!!!

I must be honest ... I'm a latecomer to the whole Star Trek thing, having never even watched it before Jay and I started dating. There we'd be, sitting on the couch in either his or my parents' living room and suddenly the clock would strike 11PM, and all conversation would cease while the theme music to Deep Space Nine filled the room. At first when this happened I would find a book or magazine to read ... I was a history geek, not a sci-fi dork. But soon something insidious happened and I started watching, and then asking questions, and then seeking back-story ... Captain Cisco was cool, the whole Emissary storyline was just baffling enough to be interesting, little Eddie Munster had a starring role as the premier Vorta serving the Dominion, the Ferengi were simultaneously greedy and funny, and... well, you get the point.

There was no denying fact - I was hooked and it wasn't a big leap to suddenly find myself watching Next Generation (Captain Picard was sexy and that Q guy was an incredible bastard) and from there somehow we ended up watching Voyager ... eh, Voyager sucked - it was like watching Star Trek Stereotype. It was so bad that I started to make fun of the characters: Captain WrongWay; Commander Chicory; that spotted freaky chef / jack-of-all-trades Bootlick. Ugh ... the show went from bad to worse, but I digress.

I can't remember exactly how I found about the Star Trek Experience while researching for our Vegas trip ... did I stumble across it and then seek advice from my DISfriends or did my DISfriends set my feet on the path to dorkie good times? Either way, thank you Cass and Heather - I knew you wouldn't steer us wrong!!

So, let me share with those of you who want to know (and those of you don't) a few details about the Star Trek Experience. As I stated earlier, the attraction is located within the Las Vegas Hilton and it's an interactive experience. There are two rides: The Klingon Encounter and the Borg Invasion 4D. In the Klingon Encounter you try to evade the Klingons on a 24th century shuttlecraft with Enterprise crew members - the ride / show lasts 18 minutes. The Borg Invasion combines live actors and special effects to make the entire experience seem very realistic. You tour a futuristic research facility and then flee as the Borg attack and try to capture / assimilate you into their collective. This ride / show also lasts 18 minutes.

Both rides are a lot of fun but I think I liked the Klingon Encounter just a little better. I don't want to spoil the surprises for anyone so I'm not going to divulge any more information here, but if you're a Trek fan and haven't made it to this attraction in Vegas yet, get yourself over to the Hilton and revel in the geekfest!!

They also have a ton of memorabilia from all the different Star Trek shows and movies and the entire venue has been designed with a tremendous eye for detail. It's really quite an impressive and immersive experience.

Models of the Enterprise and Voyager


The Enterprise's sordid underbelly


There were also actors roaming around who portrayed various characters from the Star Trek series. We found this Klingon and Vulcan outside the front entrance as we were making our way inside to check out the Borg Invasion. They were both very convincing and never broke character; the Klingon was especially good - surly, confrontational, and downright insulting ... he cracked us up every time he opened his mouth.

I hope this Klingon isn't going to kill me...


Jay may be part Klingon ...


After completing our exciting Trekkie adventures we needed some food. There was no question as to where we were going: Quarks Restaurant and Bar. Quark is a Ferengi and he owns and operates a bar on Deep Space Nine's promenade. The Star Trek Experience has a small promenade area modeled after the one on Deep Space Nine with several stores where guests can purchase all kinds of Trekkie collectibles; at the entrance to the shopping area you will find Quarks. We were a little disappointed not to see Quark himself, but received prompt service despite the proprietor's absence.

There was no way that we could avoid ordering a drink here ... how can a Star Trek dork who likes booze not order one of the many cleverly named beverages on the drink menu? Jay and I decided to go for broke with one of Quarks signature drinks:

Mini Warp Core Breach


The warp core breach has ten ounces of alcohol and it includes five different flavored Rums, Razzmatazz, and fruit juices. Quark's also offers a smaller version called the mini warp core breach which only contains five ounces of booze. We decided to play it safe by ordering the small version, but as you can see even the small version is pretty damn big!

I think I could dunk my entire head in this drink!


I'll share, but only because I have to.


Sometimes with gimmicky drinks it's all show and not much else; such was not the case with this drink. It was chock full of alcohol but tasted like raspberry punch - drinking it through a super long straw that I had to half-rise from my chair in order to use was fun but highly inadvisable. Life lesson # 17 - never drink alcoholic beverages through a straw.

This, I think, is where all of our budgetary vacation good intentions flew out the window. We almost never order an appetizer at lunch, but for some reason ... knowing full well that we had dinner reservations and then a dessert tasting scheduled for later in the evening, we went ahead and ordered an appetizer anyway. Bye-bye budget, hello food-related spending spree!!!

Famous Ferengi Flatbread


This was our appetizer choice: grilled foccacia bread topped with fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese. We were given the option of adding Mozzarella cheese as well for an extra $1.00, and who can say no to that? This was hot and tasty - like eating cheesy pizza bread - and it really hit the spot. It also helped soak up some of the alcohol from our drink.

While we were enjoying our appetizer the Klingon we'd had our pictures taken with out front wandered through the restaurant, stopping occasionally to insult or challenge various patrons. There was a couple sitting at a table near us who were also enjoying a "fishbowl" drink and the Klingon stopped and said, "Are you sharing that drink?"

The man of the table answered in the affirmative.

The Klingon rolled his eyes and said in a ringing voice, "Cowards!"

Jay and I laughed ourselves silly at this but sobered up quickly when we found the Klingon glaring down at us. He didn't comment on our drink but did ask if we had ever tried Klingon food. Jay told him in his opinion that it was tough to find high quality Klingon food and asked in turn if Quarks "qagh" (Klingon serpent worms) were worth ordering.

Klingon: Eh, it's a little lethargic.

Jay: There's nothing worse than half-dead qagh; I've always found it's best enjoyed when live and energetic.

Brenda: How's the blood wine here?

Klingon: It's a bit thick and coagulated, actually.

We cracked up again and he decided to move on in search of fresh patrons to terrorize. The timing couldn't have been better because our sandwiches arrived just after our Klingon acquaintance left us. Up first, Jay's lunch selection:

Photon Torpedo


This is a baked submarine sandwich with Italian meats and cheeses, topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion, roasted pepper relish, and red wine vinaigrette. When pressed for an opinion Jay said, "This eye-talian sub sandwedge is meaty and tasty."

I ordered a turkey wrap, a bit of a stretch for me because I am not a huge fan of turkey - it's usually dry and tasteless. I wonder how the turkey sandwich of the future will taste ...

Talaxian Turkey Wrap


My wrap came with sliced turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise in a cheddar cheese tortilla. It was surprisingly good and the turkey was moist - it's a miracle! The cheese tortilla used for the wrap was really tasty and flavorful - I think this was what really sold me on the entire sandwich.

By the end of lunch we were more than satisfied - Quarks provided good, comforting food in a playful, fun environment. There were plenty of dorks like us occupying other tables and drinking silly alcoholic beverages with goofy grins on their faces. Quarks is a safe haven for Trek geeks everywhere!

Wondering if we managed to drain our fishbowl?

How could you doubt us?


Silly readers, of course we finished our tasty drink! And later in a promenade store we saw this fishbowl and stand selling for $70. I can't believe they served us such a potent drink in such an expensive prop, but I guess the straws are designed to discourage people from picking the bowl up ... like we did.

One last picture on our way out ... Quarks bar with no patrons. They must all be on some exciting mission in the wormhole.

Quarks actual bar...where's Morn???

Red Square, Mandalay Bay (Dinner)

We're Loaded ... with Calories!!! Dinner at Red Square (4/20/08)

There's a story to be told here ... isn't there always? It goes something like this:

Girl and boy go to different colleges ... and don't know why the hell they're there or what the hell they're supposed to do with the rest of their lives. Girl and boy leave their respective colleges and do other things for a few years before deciding to go back and complete their edumacation because that expensive piece of paper seems really important to other people and they know without it their lives will be a swirling torrent of pain and misery. Somehow girl and boy end up pursuing liberal arts degrees that have a foreign language requirement for graduation.

** Keeping score? Girl majors in History with a double minor in English and Creative Writing while boy has a double major in History and Philosophy with a minor in Political Science. Ah yes, it's a veritable think-tank at our house when we're not watching cartoons.**

Girl decides to take Russian for her foreign language requirement ... it fits into her crammed schedule which only allows for morning classes while she works for the soulless dominions of finance in the afternoons and on the weekends. Girl also thinks that taking Russian fits in nicely with the study of History ... she is an avid reader of European and Russian history, feels that the recent "fall" of the Soviet Union ensures that the FBI won't add her name to some "suspicious persons" list, and just wants to do something different from everyone else. Boy also decides to take Russian to meet his foreign language requirement - he thinks it's cool and likes the idea of doing something different. His decision is in no way influenced by his eerie and oft commented upon resemblance to Leon Trotsky.

X Marxist the spot!!!


Girl sees boy on the first day of class and is immediately smitten. Boy is oblivious. Girl thinks she is sending out obvious signals to boy ... only to learn eight months later that Boy's signal receptors don't work. With a little help from friends in the class, girl works up the courage to ask boy out on a date ... much to girl's surprise (and probably to boy's secret regret) he agrees. Five years later she puts on a fancy dress, he dons a spiffy tuxedo, and with a scribble here and a scrawl there the merger is complete.

What's the point of all this and what in gawd's name does it have to do with Red Square????

...

...

...

That's not a rhetorical question. I really can't remember where I was going with this ...

...

Oh, wait; I got it!! The first time Jay and I traveled to Vegas was early in 2000 - we went with my parents and stayed with Jay's aunt and uncle and had a fine old time checking out the strip and the totally unreal spectacle that is Las Vegas. And one of the places we eyeballed but never would have dared to dine at because Brenda was a culinary baby who didn't venture much past tuna fish and mac'n'cheese was Red Square. How could two dorks who took 13 hours of Russian classes over 18 months not eat at this restaurant? It was only a matter of time.

Lots of time ...

Like eight years worth of time.

Fast forward to almost now which was just last week ... after months of ogling their drink and dinner menus and reading up on their vodka vault, Jay and I were ready to do gastronomic battle with Red Square. And we were bringing Jay's aunt and uncle along for the ride!

One of the things that we liked best about Mandalay Bay was that all of their restaurants (with the exception of House of Blues) were located outside of the casino area. This really minimized the amount of noise and smoke we had to wade through in order to arrive at our dining destination. And speaking of destinations ... take a look at these pictures of the entrance to Red Square:

A very big facade ... the better to impress you, Comrades.


It's hard to tell, but at the very top of the facade the spotlights are shining on some Cyrillic letters ... Красная площадь ... which read like this when converted to English characters: Krasnaya ploshchad. You wanna know how that translates to English?

Brace yourselves ...

Red Square.

Brilliant and devious in its simplicity, isn't it?

Marxists to the left, please ... Stalinists up against the wall.


These doors were very heavy and had individual copper squares with various scenes in bas-relief. The detail was amazing and it looked to me as though many of those scenes were stylized representations of life in rural Russia.

The outside of the vodka vault ...


This is not a great picture, but it does show the outside of the glass enclosure that encases the restaurant's fabulous, exclusive, and ridiculously overpriced vodka vault. For the minimum purchase price of $200 for a bottle of vodka (and rising exponentially from there) guests may shrug themselves into cast-off Russian army coats or fur wraps and venture into the vault to partake of their alkie-hol. Jay and I were all over this idea until we saw the $300 pricetag for a bottle of Cirroc vodka. We can purchase Cirroc here in Stinktown for $28 per bottle ... and it makes a fine, fine martini ... but there's no way in hell that we're paying that kind of markup to drink booze in a vault. I worked in retail banking for five years ... I've been in a vault ... they're really not all that impressive.

Friends, Russians, Countrymen ... lend me your heads.


Your eyes do not deceive you ... that's a pigeon-poop spattered headless statue of Vlad Lenin welcoming patrons to the restaurant. Wondering where the hell his head has disappeared to? It's spending eternity encased in ice in the vodka vault.

That might have been worth the price of admission if we had been less hungry on this trip.

After checking in at the podium located just inside the giant doors, we were seated right away and given the dinner and specialty drink menus. And of course, when dining at Red Square one must try one of the tasty martinis for which they are famous. The martini list and vodka selections were lengthy, impressive, and pricey. Since Jay wasn't overly interested in a vodka sampler I decided to order a Red Dawn Martini which I believe was made with Cranberry Vodka, Cointreau, Grenadine, lime juice, and pineapple juice. It bore a strong resemblance to a Cosmo but wasn't nearly as sweet; this was a well-mixed, tasty drink that had been poured with a liberal hand.

Red Dawn: it's not just a cheesy 1980s propaganda film any more!


In keeping with the color scheme of the restaurant Jay ordered a glass of red wine which we decided not to photograph - when you've seen one glass of red wine you've pretty much seen 'em all. And then it was time to order ... and order ... and order.

Jay's uncle ordered a salad and was very kind about sharing it with the rest of us .. or I should say the rest of them because I wasn't about to tempt the intestinal gods on this trip by ingesting leafy, green vegetables. His choice was the Roasted Beet and Tomato Salad which included baby greens, crumbled feta, macerated onions, and red wine vinaigrette.

Roasted Beet and Tomato Salad


My three fabulous dining companions all agreed that this was an excellent salad - the greens were fresh and crisp and the red wine vinaigrette provided a light, tangy finish.

I was torn between two appetizers: the Smothered Blini which was described on the menu as a large Russian blini, creme fraiche, American sturgeon caviar or smoked salmon, and herbed beurre blanc; and the Seared Foie Gras, Baked Apples, and French Toast which was a baked granny smith apple, cinnamon french toast, apple butter, smoked bacon, and balsamic syrup.

In the end I opted for the smothered blini, feeling that when in pseudo-Russia one should go as far along with the charade as one can before the credit card spontaneously combusts. But that menu description still makes me wish I'd chosen the foie gras ... it sounds like it would have been unbelievably delicious and decadent.

Smothered Blini - X Marxist the spot, again!


Jay and I discovered on this trip just how sheltered a culinary life we really lead out here in the armpit of the Midwest. We were constantly being surprised by the inventiveness and imagination used in the preparation and presentation of many of the dishes we ordered ... the smothered blini being a case in point. Our waitress asked me if I wanted salmon or caviar with my blini and I chose caviar, expecting a small side dish of it so that I could build my own "smothered" blini. Imagine my surprise when the above dish was placed before me.

It's impossible to see, but there is one large, perfectly cooked buckwheat blini (pancake) buried under all of that caviar and it's resting in a creamy pool of beurre blanc. What the heck is that, you ask? It's a rich, hot butter sauce and it was so, so good. Notice that there was creme fraiche along the outer edges of the blini acting like a retaining wall to keep the caviar from fleeing, but there were also generous dollops of creme fraiche along the outer edges of the plate and these were crowned with salmon roe (I think that's what it's called). I like this type of caviar much better - it explodes in the mouth with a sudden, salty burst and then it's gone ... no gacky aftertaste or fish egg paste that coats your tongue for hours afterwards.

I shared this with Jay and his uncle and we all agreed that it was excellent. I thought the best taste experience was a combination of everything in one fork full ... not an easy feat but worth the effort because of the wonderful mix of textures and flavors that melded together all at once.

As for Jay, his choice for an appetizer was not the foie gras as I had secretly hoped, but the Siberian Nachos, which were wonton chips, smoked salmon, wasabi cream, chives, wasabi tobiko, and citron caviar.

Siberian Nachos


Crunchy wontons, tasty salmon, spicy cream, and salty caviar all together in one delicious bite-sized morsel. Yum-yum salmon bits! Jason really liked this appetizer selection and even I thought it was pretty good, although the Wasabi was a wee bit too spicy for my delicate tastebuds.

Fresh breads...


While we were enjoying our appetizers the serving team gave everyone at the table two bread selections. One was the standard sourdough roll and it was quite good - crisp on the outside and light and airy on the inside. The other bread selection was similar to a miniature flatbread and had a big honking olive and some feta cheese chunks embedded in it. Since BriarRosie was stuffing her face in Disneyland I had to give the evil olive to Jason, but the rest of this roll was really tasty .. warm, soft bread with gooey feta cheese is always a winner in my book!

Strozapretti Stroganoff


Jay's aunt and uncle both ordered the Strozapretti Stroganoff, which the menu described as filet mignon strips with strozapretti pasta, ragout of mushrooms & peas, shoestring potatoes, and creme fraiche. Jason told me that he considered ordering this himself when he first looked at the menu but he didn't want to order the same thing as everyone else. However, he did taste this and commented that it was very good - a generous portion with tender chunks of meat. Fabulous aunt and uncle both really enjoyed this selection and raved about how good it was.

Jumbo crabmeat and arugula angel hair pasta


I opted for the jumbo crabmeat and arugula angel hair pasta, which included sauteed roma tomatoes, basil, garlic, and white wine. Mmmmmm, spaghetti with mega crab chunks ... it's not a Russian dish but who cares when it tastes this good? This was another huge portion; I kept eating and I swear the bowl magically refilled every time I looked away. I ended up sending it home with the aunt and uncle so that they could enjoy it the next day for their lunch. The crabmeat was sweet and tender and the sauce tasted like creamy tomato soup with just a hint of garlic.

Adzhika-spiced pork tenderloin


Jason ordered the Adzhika-spiced pork tenderloin with a Georgian pomegranate wine reduction, chrov basmati rice pilaf with apricots, pine nuts, & bing cherries, crispy leeks, radicchio & chervil salad. Look at that plate ... there was enough tenderloin there to feed the entire restaurant! This mighty pile of loin was juicy and tender with a wonderful flavor due to the pomegranate wine reduction sauce. The entire table munched on this plate of meaty goodness and we all agreed that it was outstanding!

This entree also came with a choice of side dishes and Jason chose steamed asparagus; look at the portion size they gave him:

Enough asparagus to feed a small village


By this point in the evening we were four very happy diners; Red Square had more than lived up to the hype with excellent food and service. There was only one thing left to do:

Order dessert!

There were many delicious and tempting dessert items to choose from, but the Liquid Dessert option seemed like the appropriate road for Jay and me to take. This was a selection of four dessert martini shooters served on ice...

Liquid Dessert!


Is that the coolest dessert shooter selection you've ever seen, or what? From the top right hand corner of the ice block, moving clockwise, there was a chocolate-raspberry-hazelnut shooter, a key lime pie shooter, an espresso shooter, and a chocolate shooter. The espresso and chocolate martini shooters were each covered with a white chocolate red square ... isn't that cute? We also thought the red square ice block was a really inspired and imaginative presentation method.

All four of these dessert drinks were good, but I thought that the hazelnut liqueur in the choco-rasp-nut drink overpowered everything else. As a result, Jay was allowed to keep that drink all to himself. The espresso and chocolate martinis were excellent but the surprise winner of the evening was the key lime pie martini. Notice the pie crust crumbs around the edge of the glass and sprinkled over the top of the drink? They were lightly sugared ... yum! And the drink itself was creamy and smooth with just a bit of tartness. I didn't expect to like this one very much but it was actually my favorite drink of the four.

So there we were, sipping our dessert shooters and enjoying some good conversation when the restaurant manager suddenly appeared at the table. He inquired about the meal and the service and then told us that he wanted to buy us dessert.

We must have looked confused because we were already enjoying dessert, but he went on to explain that he had a very large party coming in for dinner and he needed our table to complete their seating arrangements. He was going to move us to a "reserved" area and told us to choose another dessert from the menu and it would be "on the house."

Woohoo!! Free dessert vibes kick in again and this time I know there was no cleavage involved. Jay's aunt and uncle chose strawberries romanoff for the freebie and it was an excellent choice.

Strawberries Romanoff


It was almost too pretty to eat - fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and Grand Marnier sabayon served in a martini glass with a milk chocolate garnish and a swirlie cookie. This was a wonderful dessert - light and refreshing. The strawberries were tucked inside the sabayon, which we thought was a terrific twist on the traditional method of soaking the berries in Grand Marnier and serving them in their alcoholic juices over ice cream. We like this version much better than the "old" version we've made.

Before I wrap this up I'd like to share some pictures of Red Square's interior. It's a mix of Imperial Russia and Communist Russia - there are ornate light fixtures and photographs of Russian Tsars on the walls (we spotted Peter the Great and Nicholas II) mixed in with massive Communist party propaganda posters. Red Square's most interesting and just downright awesome feature is their bar, which has a sheet of ice running through its center so that patrons can keep their drinks icy cold while pondering their next drink selection. The overall atmosphere was relaxed, elegant, and comfortable and the bar did a brisk business all evening. We were absolutely pleased with our whole experience and would definitely return for dinner on a future visit.

Blown glass onion dome chandellier above our table

A portion of the bar area

Rear section of the restaurant ... so opulent!

One side of the bar...see the soviet poster on the wall?

The wall nearest our table ,,,

J&B at the end of the evening ... barely buzzed!

House of Blues, Mandalay Bay (Lunch)

House of Blues (4/20/08)

Our first choice for lunch after finally arriving in Vegas and checking in at Mandalay Bay was the Burger Bar, but the wait for a table was nearly an hour. After being on an airplane for five hours with nothing more than a crappy little oatmeal-apple-raisin bar to hold the rumbly-tummies at bay, neither of us were in the mood to wait longer for food than absolutely necessary. And so we found ourselves at the House of Blues, which is located on the outer edge of Mandalay Bay's casino. Regardless of the city it's located in, Jay and I have always had good meals at House of Blues and this was no exception.

We don't usually order appetizers at lunch, but we were both in "feed me" mode. Our choice was something that we've had before and which we knew would be a tasty, satisfying start to the meal:

Pan Seared Voodoo Shrimp with Rosemary Cornbread and Dixie Beer Reduction


This was a very generous portion with six peppery shrimpies swimming in a spicy beer bath. The good thing about this dish, in my humble opinion, is that the spiciness wasn't overdone - it was just enough to set my taste buds a tinglin' without scorching my tongue. The cornbread was great for sopping up the excess sauce and it was just a little sweet, which I actually prefer in cornbread. The only thing we noticed was that it was a tad on the dry side - thank goodness for extra sauce!

Jay's lunch:

Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich with Jim Beam Barbecue Sauce, Cole Slaw, and French Fries


HoB sure doesn't skimp on the portions, do they? According to Jay this was a tasty selection with plenty of tender pork and well-seasoned fries. His only negative comment was that the BBQ sauce was too sweet and I have to agree with his assessment - I had a taste of saucy pork and it was too sugary. Jay is something of a sauce connoisseur; around here we like to call him Marinade Man because he can whip up a delicious marinade off the top of his head in no time at all, and they're never too sweet.

My lunch:

All Beef "Blues Burger" with American Cheese, served on a Toasted Sesame Seed Bun with French Fries


Boring and predictable this may be, but it sure hit the spot! I requested that they cook the burger medium and it was just right, with a nice pink tinge through the middle. The fries were delicious and salty and tasted even better when dipped in cheap yellow mustard.

Aside from several glasses of water, we washed down our lunch with a shared alcoholic beverage: A Category 5, which must be HoB's version of a hurricane. This drink was made with a couple of different rums, cointreau, and fruit juices and it was very, very good. It could only have been better if it had been served in the appropriate goofy souvenir mug as pictured on the drink menu. First the Adventurer's Club stops offering the Yakoose Moose and Monkey's Head mugs and now House of Blues sells out of molded plastic funny-face mugs on a Sunday ... what do two silly DINKs have to do to get their hands on an over-priced drink in a novelty cup???

First drink of the trip, but certainly not the last!


The wacky novelty cup that our drink wasn't served in thanks to a bunch of corporate schmoes who bought them all during Gospel Brunch earlier in the day.


Well, despite the lack of a squashed blue-man mug for our drink, the meal was excellent and we left House of Blues pleased with our choices. The restaurant has been a reliable choice for good food and service over the last several years and we will continue to visit them when we can. You should too!