CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Non-Audio Stuff => Food and Drink => Topic started by: Anaxilus on May 14, 2014, 04:42:09 PM
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Had a light dinner last evening at Pala Casino's Lobster Buffet. Surprising as good or better than most upper echelon Vegas spreads these days. Sadly I could not find the room for any Antipasto. :( ;)
Primo
4 half Canadian sweet lobster tails, Penne Alfredo, Lobster Fettuccini in Champagne butter sauce, Lobster ravioli in Lobster sauce with garlic and parsley, garlic mashed potatoes, and 2lbs of Spinalis (aka. Rib Cap)
(http://cdn.amazingribs.com/images/beef/prime_rib_wit_without_rib_cap.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/JmkYvShl.jpg)
Secondo
Spinalis continued, Brussel Sprouts, Sweet Potato mash, 1 whole Maine Lobster, 2 extra claws, 4 more half Canadian lobster tails.
(http://i.imgur.com/NOxpsR3l.jpg)
Dulce
Blueberry Panna Cotta (bit too firm and gelatinous), Tiramisu (flavors quite off, straight bitterness with no liquer or sweet), Canele (pretty good), Cannoli (one of the better ones I've had, usually a fail out here), 2 Crème Brulees (can never have enough), Almond Gelee with encased raspberry over Mascarpone (favorite of the lot, nice clean finish to the meal).
(http://i.imgur.com/SG9xaqtl.jpg)
Best $37 you could ever spend at a buffet. Missed the island with the chargrilling station. I'll put some Lobster and Oysters on that next time and maybe a Ribeye.
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Only $37? I was expecting something much more expensive considering you were saying it's the upper end of Las Vegas buffets! That looks damn good!
Then again, the most expensive buffet I've had was $28, and it was a sushi buffet, which was surprisingly pretty good. Or maybe that's just because I haven't been spoiled by proper sushi yet...
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A fresh nigiri with salmon belly is a real treat. It is called "sake toro". Sake toro and tamago stacked on each other are a strangely good combination.
I have not had sushi for a while. Fresh thinly sliced fish, "sashimi" is usually the highlight for me...
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Good god man, were you preparing for hibernation? :-00
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Good god man, were you preparing for hibernation? :-00
Dude. Did you not see the name? Lobster + Buffet = LOBSTER BUFFET!!
'Muurrrrica!! F**K yeah! :)p1
(http://c85c7a.medialib.glogster.com/media/ae/aef4c9ab269ac376b9ab3bf0122d40d3e2f2ee41c9a75f8f4045ee37d57c5b71/team-america-french-witnesses.jpg)
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I think I felt my cholesterol go up just looking at this food... :P
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I think I felt my cholesterol go up just looking at this food... :P
Shellfish = HDL, not LDL. ;P
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Pala Casino's Lobster Buffet
Not those rib caps though! I could just do those alone for dinner.
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Pala Casino's Lobster Buffet
Not those rib caps though! I could just do those alone for dinner.
I eat rib caps due to their incredibly high concentrations of iron to stave off potential onset of anemia. This is all health conscious dining at it's best if you look at my particular Food Pyramid which is prioritized based on environmental impact:
(http://cultivatingfoodcoops.net/wp2012/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Environmental-Pyramid.png)
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Oh goodness, too good for cheap, I swear buffets here are shitty in comparison in terms of value.
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Mmmmm rib caps. I could probably eat a few pounds of that alone...
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$37 is pretty awesome for what you are getting at the Pala's Casino. Just came back from Vegas and spent $32/person on the Red Rock Casino buffet ("The Feast" or whatever):
https://redrock.sclv.com/Dining/Feast-Buffet.aspx
Even my 3 year old daughter had to pay the full price. WTF!!! As far as the food is concerned, for $32 it was CRAP!!!.
From what I'm seeing:
Palas: Lobster with garlic sauce - Red Rock: Boiled shrimp and crab legs (ala bland).
Palas: Rib Cap - Red Rock: Pseudo cooked Prime Rib.
Palas: Whole Maine Lobster - Red Rock: Box Sushi (proly Costco).
Palas: Cannoli (personal fav), creme brulee... - Red Rock: Mashed apple pie, not-so-fresh gelato.
The highest disappointment was the sushi. There are good sushi places here at OC. There might be better, but I like Sake-2-Me @ Tustin. Red Rock sushi was just poo in it's purest and smelliest form.
The only redeeming quality was the service...
This was supposed to be one of "The Best of Las Vegas" according to "Las Vegas Review-Journal"... whatever. Huge disappointment!
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This was supposed to be one of "The Best of Las Vegas" according to "Las Vegas Review-Journal"... whatever. Huge disappointment!
Ah, you'll want to go to one of these two next time. That award was probably bought and paid for in 1985.
Cosmopolitan Wicked Spoon:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=wicked+spoon&qpvt=wicked+spoon&FORM=IGRE
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w9gf3GNC47A/UF5a2X7rqBI/AAAAAAAADXs/BS1qX1B2T3U/s1600/DSC_0706.JPG)
Caesar's Bacchanal:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=bacchanal+buffet&FORM=HDRSC2
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Wicked Spoon looks interesting.
We looked at Bacchanal, but it was north of $50 (though at least kids 4-10 seem get a discount)... I think Palas kills these based on what you got.
There was a surprise on our way to Vegas though. We stopped at a place on the 15 for gas and food: "Peggy Sue's" (http://www.peggysuesdiner.com/). It's an old looking place. Ordered their New York steak and I was pleasantly surprised. Really nice.
Also, "Tacos El Gordo" next to the Wynn is pretty good. Their tacos al pastor are really close to the real deal.
"Tasty Crepes" (http://www.tasty-crepes.com/) was REALLY good too (fvck the buffets, we went there twice!)
Those are not buffets, but Vegas buffets have been underwhelming in terms of what you get for what you pay for so far.
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Damn that lobster buffet looks great.
I've hit a lot of them in Vegas, I definitely want to try the Wicked Spoon next time, but we've done most along the Strip including Caesar's (it stays the same so going multiple times is not very interesting after a while), but a good one is at the M which is about 20 minutes from the strip. When the SLS opened up the buffet there was really really good actually, and competitively priced.
But my favorite is the Main St in downtown, it's around $12 and they have collard greens often!
There are a lot big name steak houses I am dying to try though.
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Damn zombie thread! I don't think I've had meal at the buffet worth remembering. Most buffets were complete garbage and that's a lot of "highly rated" Vegas buffets. I had M which was garbage too.
Wicked Spoon does look good. Pala would interest me with rib cap (I'd want to shove down 2lbs of that).
I can vouch for Tacos El Gordo as I've been to the Chula Vista one many many times. Best tacos I've had and the one in Vegas supposed to taste the same.
When I Vegas, I go straight for a nice restaurant than go to a buffet of equal cost. I also try to avoid paying for steak as I could do just as good, if not better. Wait, I'm being too humble - I can do better.
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The M on the weekend when they have the seafood buffet is pretty good, it's around $30 so the price reflects it's quality compared to the strip.
Any Koreans here, this is the best soup I've ever had, if anyone knows how to duplicate this in another city please let me know:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/e-jo-korean-restaurant-las-vegas-2 (http://www.yelp.com/biz/e-jo-korean-restaurant-las-vegas-2)
(http://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/M3CQ8lFMKUuy4HHcqB_90A/l.jpg)
Ohhg, what restaurants you recco?
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I've had more bad meals than good ones at Vegas because of all these bad recommendations and paid awards. The best meal I've had there (priciest too) was Gordon Ramsay Steak in Paris where I ordered the dry-aged prime ribeye and marrow on the side yummm. The Ramsay Burger place in PH was very good too. For ~$30, I thought Lupo in Mandalay Bay was good - had the liver steak which was tasty to me but could be a turn off for others. There's another Wolfgang Puck place in the between Caesars and the Forum shops that was pretty good. The rest of the meals I had were either meh or straight out bad. Don't bother with the French place right in front of Paris or the one underground in the Venetian. Avoid the Chinese places on Spring Mountain at all cost where food is made by a bunch of C-grade chefs.
I still end up going to the steak houses just because it's a "safe" choice for me, but I'm reluctant to go because I know I can make it at home. Thinking about trying that Jose Andres place the next time I go.
Are you located in LA? There's a bunch of restaurants in Ktown which could probably do better than that soup you had.
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I've had more bad meals than good ones at Vegas because of all these bad recommendations and paid awards. The best meal I've had there (priciest too) was Gordon Ramsay Steak in Paris where I ordered the dry-aged prime ribeye and marrow on the side yummm. The Ramsay Burger place in PH was very good too. For ~$30, I thought Lupo in Mandalay Bay was good - had the liver steak which was tasty to me but could be a turn off for others. There's another Wolfgang Puck place in the between Caesars and the Forum shops that was pretty good. The rest of the meals I had were either meh or straight out bad. Don't bother with the French place right in front of Paris or the one underground in the Venetian. Avoid the Chinese places on Spring Mountain at all cost where food is made by a bunch of C-grade chefs.
I still end up going to the steak houses just because it's a "safe" choice for me, but I'm reluctant to go because I know I can make it at home. Thinking about trying that Jose Andres place the next time I go.
Are you located in LA? There's a bunch of restaurants in Ktown which could probably do better than that soup you had.
No, Bay Area, I have yet to find a bone soup place.
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You could probably make the bone soup yourself - a fuck ton of pork bone and MSG. I know there are a few other things in there too but that's where most of the taste will come from. From the looks of it, it has a very clean porky taste without being porky and gamey. You have to quickly boil the bones initially and poor out all the "blood" water.
I visited SF during Thanksgiving and had some very good meals there. You guys are lucky to have so many great mid-priced restaurants that use local farm fresh ingredients.