Stopping by Las Vegas? Here are our ratings for several stops we made!
Breakfast
The morning of our first full day in Las Vegas, we dined at The Henry, located inside The Cosmopolitan. I ordered Henry’s Brioche French Toast and Shiina ordered The Henry Breakfast. My dish was amazing. It was perfectly balanced, so not too sweet. My favorite part of the dish was the fresh whipped cream! Shiina enjoyed The Henry Breakfast as well. He mentioned it later that night and craved the sausage it came with. We’d rate it a 7.5/10.
On our second day, we anticipated dining at Primrose. However, we wanted to stay at the hotel that morning and afternoon to enjoy what the Excalibur has to offer. We visited the food court and with no surprise, chose Einstein Bros. Bagels. Shiina ordered the Farmhouse Egg Sandwich, as I ordered the Tasty Turkey Sandwich. We’d rate it 7/10. We’ve ordered from Einstein Bros. Bagels before, so the franchise and sandwiches weren’t new to us.
Lunch
Since we had about a five hour layover in Orlando, Florida, on our way to Las Vegas, we stopped by The Florida Mall to kill time. The first activity we did was eat! Shiina ordered shoyu ramen from Zuru Ramen & Poke, while I ordered a caprese gnocchi pasta dish from Italio Pasta & Panini. Then, we ordered a lychee green tea boba drink from Magic Pearls. Shiina rates his dish as an 8/10. Not every ramen location offers shoyu and the pork belly that came with the dish was soft. I’d rate Italio an 8/10 as well. The overall meal was delicious, but it didn’t particularly stand out as unique. As for the boba, we’d rate it 7.5/10 as we considered it overpriced.
On our second full day in Las Vegas, we enjoyed two slices of pizza from Slice of Vegas, located in Mandalay Bay. I ordered a pizza with a ranch base, chicken, and veggies. I’d rate it 5/10. To me, it was just another pizza that did the job. I felt that it wasn’t freshly made. Shiina ordered a slice of sausage and pepperoni. He rates it as a 7.5/10. It tasted good, but it wasn’t wildly amazing.
Dinner
When we landed in Las Vegas, we looked around the airport for food vendors. However, there weren’t that many open. We decided to eat at the hotel. We ordered Johnny Rockets’ The Rocket Single, Tots, and a Chocolate Shake. It was the first eating location we saw, so we settled down quickly to eat. The burger was an average burger. However, I personally liked the sauce. It was one of the most expensive burgers I’ve paid for. Would I pay for it again? Probably not. The tots were great! I don’t typically order tots, but we ended our last night in Las Vegas with more tots! It has the perfect crisp. We’d rate it 7.5/10.
After spending our first full day on the strip, we made our way back towards the hotel. We stopped at Best Friend on the way. Dining at this specific restaurant was a must for me on this trip. I’m a huge fan of Chef Roy Choi and have always wanted to taste the famous Kogi tacos. We ordered Kimchi Fried Rice, Chego Pork Belly, and Kogi Short Rib Tacos. All three dishes were delicious and filling! Our favorite has to be the Chego Pork Belly. The taste and texture was spot on. There aren’t many dishes that can make me smile as quickly as this one did. I even asked to order just the pork belly, so I could eat it with my kimchi fried rice (laughs). Unfortunately, I couldn’t. But, stealing a bite or two from Shiina’s bowl did just the trick. We’d rate Best Friend as 8.5/10. The Best Friend team was very kind and we shared great conversations. The whole place was just a vibe! We’ll be back!
On our second day, we’d planned to dine at Eataly. Again, that didn’t happen. We were craving Asian food! We took a drive to Phở Số 1, where we ordered pho and vermicelli. Shiina enjoys trying pho from different locations. The best indicator to a great pho, according to Shiina, is whether or not you’ll need to add anything to the broth. Here, he didn’t have to! Not to mention, the restaurant gives guests the option to choose what they want to add into the broth. With the pho and vermicelli, we were given a generous portion of meat. The vermicelli was exactly as I expected. With that, our rating is 8.5/10.
Drinks
We’re big on football season, and we happened to be in Caesars Palace during the Sunday games. Let me just say, BetMGM was. a. vibe. We truly enjoyed watching the games with everyone else. Those screens did us justice too. As we watched, we sipped on some drinks. I ordered a custom beverage and asked for an aperol spritz, while Shiina ordered a Sun Cruiser Lemonade + Ice Tea Vodka. I felt that the ratio was a bit off on the spritz, but was still very good. The server was kind as well, constantly asking if we needed anything and making small conversation. We rate it 7.5/10.
If there’s anything I regret purchasing on this entire trip, it’s the margarita azul from Drenched Bar & Grill. We had just settled our items on chairs near the pool. I made my way to the restroom and had planned to order a drink afterwards. While standing off to the side, I texted Shiina a photo of the menu, asking which drink he wanted. I looked over to see if he was checking his phone. I could tell he was having a hard time seeing as it was so bright out. He texted back that he’ll stop by the store located inside to grab something for himself and I could continue to order for myself.
As I approached the counter, the male bartender rudely asked, “Are you ready yet?” That should’ve been the biggest red flag to walk away. There was no line and as I mentioned before, I wasn’t in the way of anything or anyone. I explained that I was waiting for a response from my husband and laughed that “he ended up not wanting anything anyway.” The bartender responds, again rudely, “What do you want?” I ordered a 12 oz. margarita azul and he had made it before I even finished paying. He didn’t say anything, just set my drink on the counter as I paid, and he walked away.
The drink itself was delicious, but it was not worth the $30 I paid for it. Not with this kind of service. I thought about it the entire time we were at the pool, expressing my disappointment and disbelief to Shiina. This place has no ratings. It’s a negative for me.
