Holsteins (Another day,Another burger)

 Holsteins is an upscale burger joint in the very posh cosmopolitan hotel and casino.

It has that down home casual feel that puts its money where the food is, with an all burger menu with a little dot of variety offering hotdogs and things like chicken and waffles also.

now these aren't normal burgers they are upscale with one even being topped with foie gras.

I was no stranger to Holsteins.I in fact used to work in the hotel so I was one of the first to sample this tasty place, but as we all know, trial runs are nothing like when things are full swing. So I returned to Holsteins one fateful night to see how things were progressing and to chow down on some fancy burgers!

Me and My designated dining partner came to Holsteins on a hopping Saturday night so even with a reservation we were waiting for about 5-10 minutes, we were seated by some nameless faceless person(I get neglectful to details  in crowds and it was packed) and were met by our server immediately who welcomed us and briefly explained the menu and took our drink orders (sodas for the both of us) we didn't need long to decide since we had previewed this place before it had even opened thanks to my brief employment with the cosmopolitan.

The Gold Standard handcrafted by God himself

I ordered The Gold Standard burger which is a dry aged sirloin burger topped with baby arugula(my fave burger greenery) goat cheese, tomato confit and garlic chive aoili. seriously the burger is a tastes bud heaven that I didn't want to end.

I dont have an image for the Longhorn burger which is a burger atop of a slab of brisket drizzled with whiskey BBQ sauce and topped with coleslaw,we also got bacon added cause we're winners!

He had a delightful chicken sandwich that Holsteins also offers

Man sorry there's no picture ......enjoy this picture of a smiling cow instead

To cap off our lovely evening we had the desert sampler wich had deliful chocolate concotions, a tiny ice cream and other stuff I just shoved in my mouth without care. 

It was freaking delicious! Especially that weird freaky push pop thing, though I must admit that some things namely the chocolate drink was a bit too sweet or just missed  the mark somewhere.

All in all our meal was delicious Holsteins offers great service,great music,a classy yet cool hip atmosphere and most of all great food. I look forward to going back and having the more exotic and interesting burgers which I am certain I will love and become a fiend for like I have for everything else I've tasted

no food!

Been in a rut lately so no new culinary destinations to blog about and all my old ones i had notes and pics on were lost in the great may computer crash :( soon food kittens soon

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Count's Vamp'd, A.K.A. Feelgoods (looked so bad, but tasted soo good)

Feelgoods which is a rock bar and grill aka home to the bikers, was an honest mistake, the morning after a long night, me and the soon to be hubby were looking for some good pick me up food.
What started out as a journey to the always talked about Hash House A Go-go, turned into a "its full lets go to the empty place next door" crawl.

My first impression of Feel Good's was ..WTF ! This place looked like a Rocky Horror/ vampire den when first walking in, but my opinion was quickly changed by the friendly host/server who seated us quickly (it was early afternoon so we were the only ones there) with an eager smile and a willingness to meet whatever our wants or needs were.

kick ass drum lighting!

the atmosphere is very dim in hues of red and black with a stage and
seating being bar tables and chairs and very high booths scaled against the walls making the place seem strangely open, there's also an actual bar area which looked  well stocked, I hear this place is pretty hopping at night.

Well we chose to sit in a high booth and were given menus and were delightfully told all of our drink options as well as some of the favorite eats. The menu is huge with a slew of affordable combos starting at about $6.50 (drink or shakes included!) so of course we needed a considerable amount of time to decide.
During our ridiculous time consuming decision, the server was so nice! He talked with us about everything from other restaurants, to music, wrestling, even told us about some good vitamins to take for energy! He was very engaging and not at all overly social like some servers tend to get.


Finally we made a decision and gave our orders of  the
Hotel California

A 7oz burger topped with avocado,sprouts,bleu cheese, and chipotle sauce (i personally nixed the avocado and added some bacon:)

While the Mr ordered a bacon cheddar burger with chipotle sauce .

All burgers are 7oz  100% black Angus beef and cooked to your liking.


The MR. OOOed and AWWWed  over his burger exclaiming about the juiciness and the flavors of the burger and enjoying the well cooked fries which were all in all standard but cooked so perfectly it made them just a notch above the rest.



From my perspective my burger was Phenomenal! just so juicy and flavorful, cooked to a perfect medium with quality bleu cheese,crispy bacon with just the right thickness. , soft crunch of  sprouts, with the slight tang of the chipotle sauce.


The fries (mine being the same as my significant others) were nice and crisp and provided themselves as a great vessel to scoop up stray bleu cheese crumbles. Man I dream about that burger, juicy with a nice char on the outside.





Feelgood's was a pleasant surprise, simplicity done right, bar food at its best with bar help that turned out to be much more than what was on the surface.
I look forward to coming back to this place,hopefully during the night time when things are known to liven up.
Went into a bar expecting mediocrity and left with an energy prescription, a smile on my face, and a very satisfied appetite and all without a single drink from the well!  


In the words of our server

"It's easy to do bar food, but it's hard to do bar food right" 

And man do they do bar food right

Herbs & Rye

 In an attempt to find some place new for me and my fiance to go for a late night dinner I took to scouring Open-table reviews and came across this little gem by the name of Herbs & Rye.  I saw nothing but good things said about this place so I made a reservation and put the address into the GPS and found....a total hole in the wall, It  looked like a place where seedy things went on and I was very surprised it even took reservations, but in my everlasting mission to not be a snob I and my fiance went ahead inside. To our surprise it was a dark,sophisticated, yet hip looking place that was small yet had just enough room for an active night life crowd to congregate in. The hostess was very friendly and seated us near the bar, the waiter came not long after and kindly pointed out that we were just in time for happy hour which was 50% off drinks and select menu items (like the freaking filet mignon!) which were already sorta low priced for the sophistication of some of these dishes. we quickly ordered knowing exactly what we wanted (except for drinks which i had a problem deciding on but the waiter gladly helped with my decision)
below are some pictures of our dishes in no particular order and I will recap each as shown.

calamari

 By now I think we all see there is a pattern in all my postings and that pattern is sweet sweet calamari. Do I have an addiction? Maybe but I just cant quit nor am I willing to really try, and I must say this little variation has made my obsession all the worse. This calamari would be like  Zeus to all the other lesser fried squid gods. Fried to a crisp and out this world seasoning, along with banana peppers,crispy pancetta,parsley, and heavily drizzled with a yummy house sauce. There really isn't anything to say but OMG YUM!!!!! 

sweet potato tots

Ah! yes the sweet potato tots, god of all things sweet potato only to be rivaled by some fries I had at Logan's roadhouse in TN. (but that's another blog) They were better than any regular tater tots I've ever had and were the perfect blend of sweet and savory,crunchy and creamy and downright delicious! I think they mix butter in before they fry them because when you bite in a nice buttery flavor bursts into your mouth and just takes this tot to a whole new playing field.
Oh sweet tot how I loved thee.

truffle mac n cheese

Now I am not a big mac n cheese fan but this stuff has truffle oil and I have never been one to resist truffle of any kind, and while I will say that it was maybe the truffle speaking for the majority of the dish, I cant deny that I would have still ate every last bite of this truffle mac n cheese if it were just mac n cheese. This dish was the model of what all mac n cheese should be; creamy and cheesy with a crunch from the slightly breaded and browned top!
made with all white cheese including Gruyere!
If someone asked me to choose between an hour massage from the best masseuse in the world or this mac n cheese......I'd ask them to bring me a spoon

tomato caprese

Tomato Caprese, we all know what it is, a light dish  know as a salad in its loosest term composed of nothing but slices of tomato and mozzarella with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzle. a simple dish that is always a hit or miss. luckily this was a hit; if the waiter had told me they milked cows and grew tomatoes out back I would have believed him  It was so fresh and light ! and I reveled in every bite making sure i had equal parts tomato and mozzarella harmonizing as I chewed in delight such a wonderfully non-complex "salad"

crispy fries

The crispy fries were my fiances side dish but after seeing his eyes bulge in the cartoonish way that indicates something is fantastic I had to try. These fries were hands down the best fries I have ever had ! they were well seasoned crispy but not hard like some fries and actually reminded us of Popeye's fries if they had some class and quality. These fries were not merely on the menu to pacify the picky or unrefined palette these fries were prepared with the skill and thoughtfulness I would expect  one to prepare a rack of lamb with.

flat iron steak

The Flat iron steak was my fiance's as well and though I didnt have any myself , I was told It was well seasoned and juicy but lacked the oomph that a better cut of steak would have ...I would chock it up to the mentality that once you go to a higher priced cut of steak its hard to appreciate a good piece of meat when your always comparing.  plus at 11 bucks during happy hour does he really have room to complain? good and cheap is the recipe for happiness

filet mignon

Of course I ordered the Filet mignon, and while I have had many of fine cuts of steak with WAY more bells and whistles, this is the first and only to hold it own on its own. Lightly seasoned with as best I can tell the bare minimum of spices, and cooked to an outstandingly perfect medium rare this little darling here took me over the moon!  At an astonishing $14.00 for 9oz after taking 50% off at happy hour. My tummy and my wallet thanked me:)

the aviator

I cap this baby off with the perfect cocktail.
The aviator, A gin and citrus concoction that is dated back to the early 1900's. If you don't care for gin try this drink on for size, I guarantee it will change your mind. You can also get it in many variations by just telling your waiter or bartender things like you like your drinks sweeter or like I said "something different"

Herbs & Rye is a place for the young and hip as well as the well seasoned diner. With them priding themselves on having a well stocked bar and knowledge of drinks,they give any Las Vegas mixologist a run for their money if not outright shaming them. perfect for any occasion and very flexible with times as they are open from 5pm to 5 am, with happy hour going from opening to 8pm and then again from 12 am to 3am. Not to mention on Saturdays they have a live DJ spinning great music and showing off some of the most skilled mixing I've ever witnessed.
What I'm trying to convey is Herbs & Rye is the place to be for any occasion, I would go there for an early dinner, a late meal, drinks with the girls, a romantic dinner, for my bachelorette party, for my grandmas 63rd birthday...on a plane, on a train, I do not lie
I would go to Herbs & Rye

A nice lunch at Swish Shabu-shabu

Waking up early to enjoy a Pre-Valentine's day lunch at Swish Shabu-shabu and sukiyaki, a little place in china town that features hot pot style cooking (think Asian Melting Pot), I must say it was a great place that provided constant attentive service
 the menu provides appetizers and bento boxes alongside the traditional shabu-shabu(cuts of meat and veggies cooked in a mild seaweed broth) and sukiyaki (meat and veggies cooked in a flavorful sauce similar to stir-fry style cooking).

The awesome server helped us choose from the pretty vast menu and we started off our lunch with  calamari which was tossed in a sweet chili sauce that was fant-abulous!(yes it deserved a combination of words)

It was a mesh of crunchy sweet-savory goodness that made me rethink how i eat my calamari, and no dipping sauce required. Infact leave the sauce at home kiddies,you'll only ruin perfection


During our saucy snack we went ahead and ordered the main dishes with me ordering a 6 oz portion of Kobe Rib-Eye to cook shabu-shabu style (seriously i think i'm going to run around yelling that from now on)
and my lovely fiance ordering Kobe chuck beef to cook sukiyaki  style.

                                             look at that marbling up there ...yum:)

                                                 The just as yummy chuck beef

                                               the shabu-shabu pot warming up

                                                  the wok contain the flavorful sukiyaki

The food came with accompaniments of noodles and a side seafood plate and two sauces, the first Ponzu sauce which was the color of soy sauce but light and citrus like was delicious and kind of the base of a yummy dipping sauce i created by adding things like green onion,garlic,and chili oil. The other sauce called Coma  was a yellowish sesame sauce that tasted like an ultra light peanut butter. both served as perfect dipping for our meats and veggies, I actually poured my Ponzu over my rice which was crazy good.

                                                    you have no idea how happy this food made me

                                             scallops and octopus i believe sprinkled with some chili powder and
                                               Coma sauce 

                                           beef cooked sukiyaki style and in the midst of being ravaged

                                              veggies and meat boiling in sukiyaki goodness

To sum up our whole meal, I'd have to say it came as close to authentic as I've ever come to finding, everything was light and held its own unique flavor it wasn't an overload of  heavy too salty or sweet sauces it was just simple components that melded together well no matter how one chooses to combine them.
I hope to make this place a frequented spot especially during lunch hour where the specials are well worth advertising
my Kobe Rib-Eye  which is usually about $40.00 for a small but filling portion is about $30.00 or less between 12-5 pm. We truly enjoyed our meal and from the time we walked in to the time we stepped out it was a truly enjoyable experience.

Firefly Tapas kitchen & Bar (my first entry:)

Ok so this is my first entry to my food blog repping Vegas' many good food spots and so i figured I should start it out with a place I've been to a few times (3 of the 4 times at a different location in Vegas).

So welcome to Firefly !

  Firefly is a Las Vegas born and bred Tapas restaurant Focusing on making fairly simple dishes unique and able to be paired deliciously with whatever your drinking! especially their house made sangria.

Now Like I've said, when it comes to this little gem I'm no stranger, so instead of blogging about all of my trips I will just write about the last visit, which was yesterday afternoon with the Mr.

On any given night (especially weekends) this place is pretty full so coming here for a nice lunch is a good idea but late night is pretty awesome if you want to be in a lively environment you can really take your pick since the place is open 11am to about 3am. But this time i chose to do an early-ish lunch with my fiance' and as always was greeted by a friendly  face and seated promptly (this could be due to it being fairly empty and i had reservations) our server showed up about 40 seconds after we were seated and was friendly and engaging giving us time to order without hurrying us or disappearing.

Were no strangers so we knew fairly quickly and ordered as follows

for drinks i ordered the sparkiling sangria (pictured below) and the Mr. ordered a sprite(seriously)

and then we got down to it and ordered,

the calamari which is always seasoned well and delicious (definitely in my top 3 places to go for some good calamari)

 the Firefly fries ( say that 4 times fast after 2 glasses of wine)fried crisp and topped with Parmesan cheese and chives i believe,served with an aioli that tastes sour creamish to me, the fries are definitely  good on taste but eh on texture 

                                          It's like jenga but with fries

one of my favorites the petite filet,which is the tiniest filet mignon medallion with mushrooms,spinach and baby potatoes in a red wine reduction and topped with herb cheese and  lightly fried onions, seriously can we say delicious! its always perfectly cooked (I usually go with medium rare) and juicy and the veggies in the reduction are so tender and wonderfully good!

We also had the crispy duck rolls which are one thing you can safely skip when visiting and weren't worth a picture (actually I forgot to take one, but seriously they aren't the best)

and to cap the meal off we ended it with their baby back ribs which are steamed and then covered in a mango bbq sauce, these i must say are pretty yummy but honestly after eating ribs the old fashioned way for so long I would have preferred if they were grilled or smoked....that really would have knocked the flavor up a few notches but all in all they were great!

All in all our meal was fantastic, beautiful place, pretty good food and with everything being no more than 10 bucks (seriously most of our stuff was in the 4-6 dollar range) this will be a regular spot for me.

look he loves it 

 go ahead take a ride to one of their 3 locations ...(well two since the one downtown is closed due to renovations at the plaza) you will love it at first bite!

Oh yeah this is also a great place for groups as most of the stuff can safely give 4 people per dish a generous portion