Picture Parad of our Vegas Vacation Part 3: Bette, Amazing Jonathan, and the Cutest Matzo Ball Soup Ever!

And another of my favorite shots of the hotel taken as we waited for the airport shuttle. These were the best pics I took all week!

How about some food pics? This is supposed to be, after all, a food blog but I'll be honest. We didn't eat that many upscale meals.  We had the lunch at RM Seafood and the caviar at the Bellagio but other than that we really stuck with basic food.  I allowed myself a few comfort foods I rarely allow myself to eat like a Reuben & fries, chicken pot pie, that room service bleu cheese & avocado burger, etc.  At Caesar's before Bette's show we ate at the "food court" and that was actually fun.  Gene had carved turkey and dressing and I had a side of mac & cheese. The "food court" at Caesar's ranges from a Starbucks to the carved meat place to upscale chinese to upscale subs.  The tables are nicely done and the condiment bar includes real flatware and real plates you can transfer your "fast food" meal over to.  It was very well done and exactly what I would expect from Caesar's.

After the show we stopped by the basic 24 hour cafe. I had the coolest matzo ball soup I've ever had and Gene chose a quesadilla that was very good, one of the best we've ever had. Sure, it was just a quesadill and soup but the mark of a great kitchen is to do even the basic foods very well.

Isn't the presentation fantastic?  The bowl contained the matzo ball, about 3 oz of chicken, a chunked baby carrot with the greens still attached, and the sprig of dill.  I loved the chicken broth on the side. It was a nice touch especially since I really don't like a lot of broth on my dumpling but like to spoon it separately. It's like they read my mind. LOL! Plus, it was adorable!

The quesadilla was just a basic chicken quesadilla but the remoulade on top was perfect and it had tons of flavor.  That's the kind of food that can be made very well or very badly.

Let's see....other pics of food. Oh, here's one of the morning room service carts from the Luxor. I just love room service carts. I almost judge the quality of a hotel by them. Again, something simple that can be done very poorly or very well.  The Luxor did well. Everything was presented beautifully even though it was only a caraffe of coffee and a basket of pastries most days and a choice of USA Today or the local Review Journal accompanied each tray. That's a nice touch.

About the shows.  I've already blathered on about Bette and also confessed that I have no pics to show for the experience other than the shot of the tickets, but believe me, it will never be forgotten. That was the best show EVER. Seriously.  So fun.  I can't get the sound of her voice out of my mind.  There's a reason she's had a career for almost her whole life!

The last night in Vegas we went to see The Amazing Johnathan. There's a bit of a story behind these tickets.  We had first seen Johnathan on Comedy Central several years ago and laughed our asses off.  I mean, there is no one like him, no one doing exactly what he's doing.  I think he bills himself as the "Freddy Krueger of magic" or something.  He's twisted, which is the highest compliment I can give anyone.  The magic is mostly comedy with a vocabulary that could paint a room blue, not to be confused with how Psychic Tanya managed to get those front row seats from the Blue Man Group.

We used to go to Vegas quite a bit, once or twice a year, so when we found out Johnathan had booked at the Nugget we were thrilled.  Yep, and every single damned time we went to Vegas his show was dark. I'm not kidding. It got to be a joke with us that no matter when we planned vacation, Johnathan was also on vacation--somewhere else.  It was like he was avoiding us or something.  :-)

So this time, while in Vegas, we poked around to see where he was playing and it was like a gift. He opened his new show the last night we were in Vegas this time so Gene got "VIP" tickets.  We had no idea what it would mean but we liked the sound of it.  VIP turned out to be front row at a cocktail table.  Very comfy and right where I wanted to be. 

Now, the theater he's playing is a bit seedy, as in sure it's AT Planet Hollywood but not IN Planet Hollywood. You have to go outside the Miracle Mile shops (formerly Desert Passage) and walk a block on the sidewalk to a pair of theaters owned by the same people. Amazing J is in one and a drag cabaret in the other. But you know what?  I sort of like it.  it worked for me.  And I loved being on the front row! A lot of the bits were not new to us but, like with Bette, it's okay because live is totally different.

Following the show, Amazing J and Psychic Tanya gamely signed t-shirts and dvd's and I bought both. 

Sigh. Two more shows down now that I've always wanted to see. What a great vacation!

And finally, one more food thing.  I hate buffets.  Everyone who knows me knows I hate buffets. I don't mind the concept but the food always sucks. To me, on buffets, even when the food looks good it never tastes good. Well, I have to eat my words.  Haha. Bad pun.

Before Johnathan's show we were going to run into P.F. Chang's in Planet Hollywood but there was over an hour wait so that was out. Gene suggested the Spice Market Buffet there and I went along with it only because I was really hungry and we had no other options. 

It was wonderful.

I'm not kidding.  We both had chosen the peach sauced duck.  We tasted it and both of our eyes opened wide. That, alone, was worth the price of the buffet.  Gene also had ribs that were tender and juicy and a bunch of other meat. I didn't pay attention. 

I cruised for just a bite or two of several different things I'd never had before like polenta with lobster risotto.  Oh yeah. Wonderful. Then I hit up the Mid Eastern section of the buffet for marianted olives & feta, stuffed grape leaves, falafel, and lamb kabobs.  Loved everything but the stuffed grape leaves. The grape leaves were fine but the inside had too much mint for me.  I'm just not a big mint person and this tasted like grape leave stuffed with mostly mint and a tiny bit of rice.  It may have been great to someone else.

Overall the buffet was excellent. I didn't have one bad dish, in that even the dish I didn't like, I felt was prepared well, I just didn't like it.

For dessert, Gene had soemthing flambe'd that I don't remember what it was and a very nice flan.  I had, don't laugh, wedding cake. Okay, laugh.  They had a wedding cake there and the sign said "Weekend wedding cake". I loved it.  I hesitantly asked for a slice even though I'm such a stickler for NON overbaked white cake but I had a craving. Sometimes I really enjoy a good moist white cake with ice cream and they had a soft serve machine.  It was delcious!  Turns out, it was filled with lemon mousee and had a light nice buttercream frosting.  It totally hit the spot.

Don't be grossed out but here's my half eaten piece of cake. I took a picture to show you that it really is WHITE cake, not white dry middle cake with dark brown edges.  Delicious.

Wedding cake...Anniversary Cake...it's all the same, right? That's it. I'll think of it as our Anniversary cake!

Hey, quick last minute add. Just talked to Lynn tonight and she said she found a web site Sunday night called www.flightaware.com where she tracked our flight all the way across the country Sunday night (all the big storms across the Midwest) in live time. She said all you need is the flight number. Thought you guys might have fun playing with that. I just went to the web site and you don't even have to have the flight number going in.  You can look up flights by airport and then track them, like she said, in real time and with the weather radar overlaid on it. Very cool!  Let me know if you go check it out.

Comments

[Brave Sir Robin]

sigh,

I gotta go back.

[sher]

Argh! You saw Bette--and ate that food. I'm getting depressed.

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Absolutely! Simple foods can be totally ruined. That is a neat trick with the soup.

[Glenna]

Thanks, Tanna!

[katie]

We haven't been to Vegas since it got trendy and expensive. I've been wantint to go back and see what it's like - and I just did...vicariously! Sounds like you had a fabulous time. I would have love to see that concert....
And the food~

[Glenna]

Katie--it's changed a lot. We've been going for 20+ years. It's busier, which sucks, but there are many many more things to do besides gambling and the restaurants are incredible--that's nice!

[Deborah Dowd]

Any food that you don't have to cook or clean up after is great by me! And when you are on vacation- everything tastes better! I have never been to Vegas, but your posts make it sound like a really fun place.