October 2012

These days my mouth tends to consume more than what my stomach can contain. I wanted to try out all these restaurants and lounges. The amazing thing is MGM Grand has 8 fine dining establishments that open late into the night. Along with these restaurants is a food court with Krispy Creme, McDonald’s, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, and Haagen Dazs!

Our first night there, I was starving! We got to our hotel room at 8:30PM, then had to wait for housekeeping to make sure the room was clean as expected. I told the maid that the room was clean but she took 10 minutes to double check everything. I think it’s because the previous occupants probably checked out early and housekeeping was just notified of the departure. I didn’t really put it together until I saw a voicemail light blinking on the phone. MGM Grand left a message saying that we can use express checkout when we depart tomorrow. We depart the day after so I knew the message was not for us.

Well at about 9PM we made our trek down to see what MGM has to offer. We decided to check out Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill. It’s been so long since we dined at a WP restaurant. We used to have a WP Cafe in Houston, TX but it seems to have closed down.

There was a 15 minute wait but we got a table early. We were told by the hostess that the couple ahead of us gave up their table because they saw I was pregnant! So nice of them! I wouldn’t have minded at all. Granted, I was still in Houston time so I was starving! I don’t even know who the couple was. There was a standing roomfull of people waiting for tables. I felt very grateful.

Thank goodness for this basket of sea salted bread. There were two types- loaf slices and onion rolls – both topped with sea salt and with butter on the side.

Peach and Passion Fruit Puree Drink – refreshing.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Hazelnut sauteed in Brown Butter: I just remembered that I wished it was a bit more warmer. The dish was a tad too cold. Still very good. I assumed the dish cools very quickly. I remember making ravioli in brown butter and I had the same issue.

My husband had a flat iron steak with french fries. I took a bite and it was really delicious. He likes his steaks medium while I like mine medium rare. The steak had the right amount of pink for medium and was not running at all. Just perfect. I didn’t take a picture of his because he dug in before my camera even powered on!

I also got a side of Creamed Spinach which was more of a dip than a side. It was a huge portion. Good but came out mildly cold. I’m easy to please so overall I thought the establishment has good food and a very lively atmosphere. I was just tired and hungry. The food came out quickly that I didn’t have to wait long and that’s all I cared at the moment.

I remember going back to our room and just crashing through the night. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to sleep in but woke up right at dawn! Damn the time zone!

We decided to head to the food court for a quick breakfast and of all places found McDonald’s to be open with a line. Afterwards we were off to the convention center for a long day of meetings with sales representatives. My back was achy and my feet was so sore – and I was wearing ballet flats.

We called it a day at 4PM and when we checked in with our kids, they requested some presents. Of course they missed us but they repeatedly asked us to bring them something Disney! So we decided to check out the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.

The last time we ate was during breakfast, so I was ready to chow down something amazing! We saw all these restaurants and they all looked good to me. My husband on the other hand has a plain palette. He was not into any french or mediterranean foods. So we settled on Cheesecake Factory of all places.

But surprise surprise. We passed by a restaurant named Max Brenner that I thought was a coffee shop. I was shocked to see a stocked menu of burgers, waffle sandwiches, chocolate fondue and an assortment of different chocolate drinks and candy!

Mediterranean Platter with Hummus, Eggplant dip and Babaganoush
So good! The pita chips were different, very flaky, almost like it’s from a pastry dough, but crispier/crunchier. The dips had great flavor that complemented with the pastry like pita chips.

The Brenner Burger
My husband’s meal that was stacked with two fried onion rings, tomatoes, cheese, a patty and with a side of waffle fries. He loved it.

Waffle Sandwich with Prosciutto and Apple slices
Loved the sandwich. It is so different than what I would normally eat for lunch. I have been craving for something to do with breakfast but for lunch. This sandwich was the perfect median. There’s a lemon aioli that brought tanginess to the taste buds but it was smoothed out by the saltiness of the prosciutto and the sweetness of the apples.

I’m already stuffed but we decided to try the Banana Tempura Fondue. It comes with a toffee sauce and chocolate sauce on the side. Small bite size pieces of fried banana – all we need is ice cream!

Not ice cream per se but close – Chocolate Milk Shake!
There’s a cafe in New Orleans by Lakeside Mall called Puccinos. I’m not sure if it’s still there, but it served these frozen mocha drinks that were so much better than a Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino. Well the Max Brenner milk shake reminded us of Puccinos and of home. It was a great flashback and a great end to our meal.

My phone camera’s not so great. Sorry for the blurriness. I’m getting a new phone upgrade for my belated birthday gift, so the pictures will get better!

I didn’t visit anywhere else. With such a short trip and all the meetings planned, we mostly ate on the run. But Wolfgang Puck and Max Brenner deserved a review. So if you’re in Las Vegas and want to try something different, I totally recommend these two places.

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