After dining at both places, I can only come to one conclusion: people who dine in Vegas and then write restaurant reviews have no idea what they’re talking about. Sorry, but that’s what my research has shown. I realize that we’re biased, living here in the Bay Area, with our plethora of awesome dining choices, but seriously, how the heck did these restaurants earn the top two spots in the 2006 Zagat guide? They weren’t disgusting or intolerable by any means, but if these are the best, then that’s very sad for Las Vegas indeed.
We started out with dinner at Rosemary’s on Thursday. Like people who’d posted on Yelp had said, the inside of the restaurant was nice, contrary to its unattractive exterior and the fact that it was located in a strip mall and shared a parking lot with fast food joints. People had also raved about the amazing service. I have to agree that the service was attentive and that they went above and beyond. Some of the things we encountered included them changing our white napkins to black napkins, so that we would not get any unsightly lint on our dark pants, and wait staff placing dishes in front of us in choreographed unison, then explaining each dish in detail. However, what I found disconcerting was the fact that these things were completely out of sync with the restaurant’s vibe. Yes, it was moderately upscale on the interior, but these are things that I would expect from a five-star, tasting-menu-only type place, not a place akin to the formality of a P.F. Chang’s. The other thing was that when wait staff described the dish, their manner seemed completely unnatural and forced.
Here are the dishes we tried, based on recommendations from our waiter and Yelp:
Hugo’s Texas BBQ Shrimp, Maytag Blue Cheese Slaw
Crispy Skin Texas Striped Bass, Andouille, Rock Shrimp and Fingerling Potato Hash, Hushpuppies and Creole Meuniere Sauce
Seared Sea Scallops
Honestly, we were so underwhelmed that we couldn’t even be bothered to rate these dishes. The BBQ shrimp dish is the one everyone always mentions, and we didn’t care for it (way too cheesy – though, admittedly, we’re not the biggest fans of bleu cheese), and the striped bass had a lot of random things with it that did not complement the fish whatsoever. The scallops weren’t bad, but they also must not have been that great, because I can’t remember anything about them at all. Needless to say, we do not recommend this place because the food is just not worth it. Plus, it’s located quite far from the Strip.
Friday we had lunch at Lotus of Siam, which was a much less disappointing experience. They had a huge menu, and our food was quite tasty. But…Thai food is still just Thai food, you know what I mean? I suppose we would recommend this place if you have a really strong hankering for Thai food and are willing to drive off the Strip to this random Korean strip mall.
Panang Curry
Sea Bass with Spicy Red Chili Sauce
One of the better meals we had was at Mon Ami Gabi, a little café in our hotel, where we had breakfast on Saturday morning. I had the butterscotch waffle, and Shweetie had his standard two egg breakfast. They also had a bacon chocolate waffle that sounded interesting. This place had good, consistent food, pleasant décor, and a nice view of the Bellagio fountains. Ironically, we did not take any photos of our meal here, and this is the place I would recommend the most highly of all the places we ate during this trip, for its price, quality, and location.
Our last meal in Vegas was at the Wynn buffet on Easter Sunday. This buffet had a crazy amount of food, and their dessert selection was truly awesome. However, the Hawk and Shweetie were disappointed that they didn’t have any crab legs. As far as Vegas buffets go, though, we'd recommend the Wynn.
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