Dim Sum

So one of the perks of living in a predominately Asian community is that all of the foods that I grew up with and are used to and, dare I say, actually crave sometimes... is right around the corner. No, seriously. Right around the corner. Like yesterday - after the hubster's little incident on Wednesday morning, he decided to call in sick since he still wasn't feeling quite himself. He slept until about 11.

When he was up and ready, we decided to go out to eat. Driving down Bolsa Avenue, aka Little Saigon, the hubster suggested we go to the Asian Garden Mall and eat at the food court (tons of "authentic food" at better-than-restaurant prices). As I turn into the parking lot, I look to my left (to check for cars and pedestrians) and see Seafood Cove. Then I look at the clock. 12:30pm. Then I say, "I haven't had dim sum in a long time" and promptly make a u-turn and drive across the street.

It used to be Dragon Phoenix restaurant, sitting on the second story of the buildings facing the Asian Garden Mall, but recently (about a year ago or so) the owner decided to retire and sold the restaurant to the Seafood Cove people, who fixed up the place a little bit and who, I've noticed, also changed some of the dim sum dishes too.

Now, for those who know me, you probably wonder, what in the world would I be doing at a seafood restaurant? Well. First and foremost, it's a chinese restaurant. Granted most people come for the seafood, but I still like most everything else. And I definitely don't feel deprived. And something about dim sum makes me happy. Something about the food coming to you and seeing it before ordering it (and getting it on the spot), even though I usually end up getting pretty much the same items anyway.

Today we got five dishes, which, surprisingly we didn't finish and needed to package some to go.

From top center (aka 12 0'clock) clockwise: chicken feet (for the hubster only!), steamed rice rolls filled with BBQ pork (one of my staples at dim sum), pork dumplings (steamed in a little aluminum foil pan because it contains broth like the famed Din Tai Fung dumplings - these are kind of comparable, except the dough is thicker), a flakey pastry roll filled with BBQ pork, and steamed tripe. Total bill: about $15.

(if the dishes look half-eaten, it's because they are :) )

I am a happy camper.

A hankerin' for Meat.

The other night, the hubster came home and asked what I wanted for dinner. I was actually quite hungry and thought and thought and thought and suddenly I told him, I feel like having Korean food. Specifically, this lunch I used to get at the now-closed mom & pop type hole-in-the-wall Korean restaurant in Santa Ana called Seoul House.

Their lunch was great. I would always get the combo lunch, which would be fried rice (think Korean fried rice with the thicker, stickier rice mixed with carrots and peas), bbq beef (it was called BBQ beef, but to me it was a little bit bland shredded beef, but went well with the dish) and one slice of char-grilled short ribs. And then she'd throw in three small containers: one of kim chi, one of pickled cucumbers and one of pickled shredded daikon, and a can of Coke. All for $5. I never was able to finish the whole thing. Even at my hungriest.

But too bad they are no longer there, so we decided to go to BCD Tofu House which was just a flew blocks from us. I felt like having kim chi tofu soup. But once inside we sat there and looked at the prices and figured with what we were going to order, the dinner would have been about $30 for the both of us, not including tax and tip. So the hubster said, "For that price, I'd really prefer to go to Shik Do Rak, plus I like their food better."

So I said, Okay. I like going there too, but since I haven't been liking meat as much as I used to, I feel reluctant to go there. Like going to a buffet but not being that hungry - know what I mean? It almost feels like a waste. But by this time, I was feeling quite ravenous. And they were just across the street.

Welcome to Shik Do Rak! I never, ever, ever leave this place feeling hungry - in fact most of the time I am left sitting there thinking... OMG did I really eat that much? But I don't pain for too long.

So basically, this is the type of restaurant where you order the meat and it comes to your table raw so that you can grill it tabletop as you please. And it comes with a ton of little sides to make your meatfest as tasty as possible.

We ended up ordering the All-You-Can-Eat meats, which is $17/person, and chose the beef, the marinated beef and the pork belly. I completely passed on the chicken. Now if that seems excessive, it came out at the same price as ordering a plate of something specific, so why not get a little variety?

The sides that comes with everything include the little 2-part dipping tray of chili on one side, and salt with sesame oil on the other (I love dipping the meats in the sesame oil). To wrap your meats, there are small squares of rice paper sheets (not the kind for spring rolls, more like big rice noodles) and large round thin slices of pickled daikon (love this too). There is a bowl of shredded lettuce, a bowl of traditional napa cabbage kim chi, some fishy doughy thing, cooked bean sprouts, pickled cucumbers, shredded pickled daikon... oh man, what else? And the best thing is, if you run out, they come around with their cart and refill on everything you want.

And the topper is... when you're done, you pick up a little cup of frozen yogurt on your way out. It "cleanses the palette" and you know what? I think it makes you feel less painfully full.

Yum!

Bay Area weekend

Over the weekend (well, from Thursday - Monday) I had the opportunity to head up north to Berkeley and spend some time with Linda who is in her last year of Law School up there. While there for my mini getaway, we definitely indulged. How so? Let me count the ways... (in a slightly blurry and dark way since these photos are from my phone...)

Thursday: I arrived at around 5:30pm to Linda's apt where I definitely smelled bacon. What a welcome! About an hour later, we sat down to "dinner":

Yes, exactly! Clockwise from top: fresh mashed potatoes (boiled potatoes mashed with butter and some sour cream - there was no milk - with salt and pepper) topped with sour cream, chives and crumpled bacon (kind of like a baked potato I suppose); next: frozen tater tots baked till crispy and golden in the oven and also topped with sour cream, chives and bacon; next: mac and cheese (classic Kraft from the blue box) made with just butter, no milk, so it was thick and then baked in the oven again with some extra shredded cheese and bread crumbs; next: bacon-wrapped asparagus, baked in the oven; next: some corn to round out the meal. Indulgent? Yes. Yummy? Definitely.

Friday: We had a slightly late start so had some yummy leftovers for breakfast/lunch, then headed into San Francisco for the day (of which I will discuss over here when I get to it probably tomorrow)... by the time we were on our way back home, we were starving. And what should we both see before crossing back across the Bay Bridge? A giant McDonald's billboard for a Big Mac combo. So that's all we could think about for the next 20 minutes. And then pulled into the drive-thru to pick up our dinner :)

Saturday: We had a slightly earlier start, so after heading back into SF, we had breakfast/lunch at Wipeout Bar & Grill at Pier 39. I really wanted fries. Again. Because I hadn't had enough of potato products yet? I guess not. I ended up ordering the breakfast sandwich (sorry I didn't get a photo, but it was two eggs - I asked for mine over well - with bacon, lettuce and tomato on white toast... kind of like a BLT with eggs... of which I ended up eating one egg before pulling the other out) with a side of breakfast potatoes. It was pretty good. Especially after I pulled out the egg. :) After that, Linda picked up a waffle ice cream cone from Dreyer's, but there was no way I was having dairy before hitting up Alcatraz despite how delicious the freshly made waffle cones smelled.

Later that evening, we headed over to Ghirardelli Square and ate at Lori's Diner where I ordered the popcorn chicken with a side of fries and a cup of coleslaw. Again, sorry for lack of a photo - it didn't look very appetizing at first, but the popcorn chicken was so insanely crispy and crunchy (I'm assuming from over-cooking and time under a lamp, but the extreme crunch was completely welcomed) and the fries were so-so. My surprise was how much I liked the coleslaw - there was definitely the taste (and feeling) of horseradish in there and I rather enjoyed it.

Before heading back to the car, I had to stop at the Ghirardelli store and pick something up, of course! Since I can pick up chocolate anywhere, including at Target, I opted to get a drink... but what. Oh. Oh my - of course. The "Decadent Drinking Chocolate with Biscotti". It was 4.95 but whatever, I wanted it. Even though I'm not a fan of chocolate. And especially dark chocolate (of which this drink is made from). But you know... it was definitely worth a try and definitely decadent and definitely on my list of 'things I wouldn't think I'd like but totally do'.

At this point, we were back at Linda's apt and I had already started drinking this decadent chocolate drink. What was it like? It was like drinking a cup of melted dark chocolate, with a slightly thicker consistency than a chocolate fountain. And I liked it. Of course it took me the rest of the night to finish half.

Sunday was a lazy day. It had rained in the morning and was drizzly for nearly the entire day. I finished the remaining half of that chocolate decadence (why do I want another one right now?) and then munched on Chips Ahoy cookies and Lay's potato chips for most of the day as we lounged around the apartment. Finally needing some air, we took off for dinner, walking several blocks to Jupiter's. Oh how I miss just heading out the door and walking places because it's that close and convenient! Jupiter's was a really cool looking/feeling place, kind of dark inside where everything was in a dark wood - the floor, the walls, the tables, the chairs, the wall-lined benches... kind of a beer place (but neither of us ordered beer) with specialty in individual pizzas.

Yum! I ordered the 9" Xanthia Pizza (9.50), which starts with the olive oil handmade crust topped with thinly sliced Yukon gold potatoes, bacon, garlic, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, crushed red peppers and fresh herbs (like rosemary). The white dots are dollops of ricotta cheese... but the white in the very center was the bite I took before taking the photo. I just had to. It was so good. I had two slices and then just ate the topping off the remainder of the pizza :)

And then later that night we had mint-and-chip ice cream sandwiches.

Monday we got up early and packed the car. I was taking Linda back down to OC with me since she had a week-long "Fall Break" from school. On the way home down the long, long I-5 drive, we stopped for gas and breakfast/lunch at Andersen's Pea Soup (or is it Pea Soup Andersen's?) where I ordered, naturally, a bowl of their famous Pea Soup. And, why not - a side of hash browns.

The soup was good, not too salty, but I have to say... the hash browns were great! It was a bit on the not-so-hot side, but the taste more than made up the lack of temp. It tasted like butter. Really. I could go for another order right about now as well.

Frittata here, Frittata there

No, Frittata, No.

The other day, I was invited by a friend (and her baby boy) to have brunch with them at Pelican Hill Resort's Coliseum Pool & Grill (restaurant), located in Newport Beach. I know - fancy! She lives right across Newport Coast so...

What she was looking forward to was the breakfast buffet but unfortunately, they only offered that during the weekend (and we came on a Thursday). So we went with their regular breakfast menu. She ordered the eggs with potatoes, bacon and toast, as well as a muffin basket, and I ordered the Italian Frittata. I don't know why I did since it's, well, basically a giant omelette. And I'm not so fond of eggs these days. I think my brain overlooked the word "frittata" and focused more on the "with potatoes, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach". Focus, brain! I guess this is what happens to the brain after having been hibernating for the past 2 months.

But anyway! When it came out, it looked delicious:

And so did the entire table:

(see baby Matteo watching his mama eating?)

It was such a nice day. We were seated outside on the deck above the pool and the right-next-to-the-Pacific-Ocean weather was just gorgeous!

But ugh... frittata. Why oh why???

Anyhow, would I recommend this place? Sure. Would I return? I don't know. It's not exactly economically friendly, although I suppose the words "resort" and "Newport Beach" could have suggested that. The frittata dish alone was $16, but I think the weekend breakfast buffet is $20? But don't quote me on that.

Potato indulgence

Those who know me know I'm a sucker for all things potatoes. In fact, I've had "potatofests" with more than one set of friends. These fests often include fries of varying types (shoestring, curly, seasoned, crinkle-cut, steak, sweet potato, crisscut... you get my drift), sometimes mashed potatoes, sometimes potato pancakes, sometimes tater skins, and oh, my absolute favorite potato item: hash browns. And I don't mean the shredded breakfast potatoes (although I do love those too), but I mean like the tater tot variety. Ooh yeah...

Back to my post.

There's this place inside Crystal Court (or as it's now referred to as, just South Coast Plaza, but the west side) called Pacific Whey Cafe and it's a nice little spot that's very casual but cozy with a decent menu. Sometimes we used to come here for lunch (while I was still working) even though it was a bit more of a drive than other usual spots, but it was worth it. Recently I went back to have my favorite dish of theirs: the Potato Mess.

Yes, it's called Potato Mess.

Let me explain.

It's a layer of fried potatoes (like country breakfast potatoes), topped with shredded cheese and salsa with a drizzle of sour cream over the entire dish, and then topped additionally with a giant dollop of avocado (not quite guacamole). Indulgence? Yes.

Did I finish it? No. Could I have? No! Don't be fooled by the deceptively small-looking portion, it was super heavy and super filling.

Would I recommend this place and this dish? Yes. Would I return and order the same thing? Obviously. Was it the best "potato mess" I've ever had? I wouldn't say that. I think I'd have to say that my absolute favorite is the Super Fries from Alertos (specifically the one in Fountain Valley on Brookhurst just south of McFadden). Their super fries is pretty much what you'd guess it'd be. A bed of french fries topped with nacho stuff: cheese, sour cream, salsa, guacamole... I can't remember if there is chili or if it is topped with your choice of meat.

And then my simple selection would be Del Taco's Deluxe Chili Cheddar Fries. I don't know what it is about it - is it the crinkle-cut fries? Is it their weirdly translucent thin-shredded "cheese"? Is it the sour cream with onion and tomato bits? Whatever it is, it be good. And cheap.

Okay, that's my potato post for the day.

Build-A-Burger

The other week, we went to visit a friend who works at a... I don't know what to call it. A rocket/aeronautics place? Here, you tell me: Spacex... oh I see, the sub-heading says "Space Exploration Technology". Anyhow, yeah, that place.

So anyway, for lunch he took us out to The Counter in El Segundo. We've circled the one located at the Woodbury Town Center in Irvine where another friend lives, but we've always felt we weren't hungry enough to dine there.

So anyway (again), you get a checklist to build your burger. What did I have?

Step #1: Choose a Burger - Beef, 1/3 lb (that was the smallest!), on a bun

Step #2: Choose a cheese - Jalapeno Jack

Step #3: Choose up to 4 toppings - Dill pickle chips, grilled onions, organic mixed greens (I couldn't decide on a 4th so didn't choose one)

Step #4: Choose a sauce - Roast Garlic Aioli

Step #5: Choose a bun - Onion bun

The result:

I barely managed to finish half of this burger. Yup. After realigning all the burger pieces together and spreading the sauce all over the top and bottom bun, I sliced the burger in half and... forced myself to finish that half. I was hurting afterwards. It was more meat than I should have consumed. But it was tasty. Except I didn't taste any Jalapeno Jack cheese. And the grilled onions were a little weak. But man, it sure was a burger all right. Would I recommend it? Probably. Would I go again? Probably not. Although I might... and get the veggie patty next time. And get the burger with no bun and in a bowl instead.

World Famous Dumplings

Or at least that's what people say regarding Din Tai Fung Dumpling House, with the only North American location (or, the only non-Asia location) located in Arcadia. We headed out there, which we found was only about 5 minutes from my sister's house, in part of a birthday celebration for a friend.

There are actually two locations back-to-back: one is the older, smaller original restaurant, and the second is a newer and larger addition. We went to the original one, and would have gotten seated pretty quickly since we were pretty early, but with 1 member of our 5-person party missing, they wouldn't seat us. Really!

Preparing the dumplings...

So when we finally got seated, it was kind of cramped, but it was okay. And one of their dishes was already out (as in, no more)... so we ended up getting... 6 orders of the pork dumplings, 1 order of the fish dumplings, 1 order of the pork and crab dumplings, 1 order of sauteed spinach, 1 order of sauteed baby bok choy, 1 order of spicy beef noodle soup, 1 order of chicken noodle soup (rice noodle), 1 order of fried pork chop... is there anything else I'm forgetting?

Anyway, the big deal about their dumplings is that within the steamed little pouches sits a pork (or whichever meat you chose) meatball swimming in a pool of soup broth. Yes, soup broth. So if you're not careful, the juices could be flying everywhere! In fact, on the back of their chopstick wrapper are directions of how to properly eat their famous dumplings!

In case it's illegible, the directions say: 1) Pour vinegar into the small saucer with the ginger; 2) Gently lift one dumpling and dip it into the ginger vinegar; 3) Place it on your spoon; 4) Take a nibble on the dumpling skin and sip the juice; 5) Drizzle some vinegar and ginger slices on top of the dumpling; 6) Now Enjoy!

Verdict: it was a good meal alright! I know I'm Asian and I'm supposed to like dumplings and stuff... but seriously, those little suckers were addicting! Would we recommend this place? Yes. Would we come back? Yes! Except next time, we'll go to the newer location.

Fair Food

Summertime means OC Fair time again! Sometimes I forget about it and sometimes I'm excited for it... this year I was excited for it because we had gotten tickets to see Adam Lambert!!! *squeal* Since it's part of the whole summer series, your concert ticket gains you admittance into the fair as well. Since the concert fell on a non fair-operating day, we returned later to indulge... Here we go...

Oh gosh, was indulgence on the table! However, our entire afternoon/evening at the fair, Corina and I managed to eat only two things:

Zucchini Nachos

Stringed zucchinis, battered and deep fried, topped with nacho cheese, bacon bits and jalapeno slices...

The result? GOOD. Although I think I would have preferred the typical breaded zucchini over this universal batter that seemed to be shared throughout the fair (did you see the signs for deep fried butter and Klondike bars??? A friend of mine actually tried the deep fried butter *clutches heart* and she said it was kind of good, tasted like a super greasy churro...).

Having had enough calories to perhaps last us another couple of days, we ventured through the fairgrounds people watching and taking photos. But we knew we had to return for this, which we did as our last meal of the day (right before watching the hypnotist show, which I am hoping we burned the right amount of calories from laughter that we had consumed).

Mexican Funnel Cake

What's that, you ask? Why, it's a super long wrap-around of a churro, drizzled with some chocolate, dusted with powdered sugar, and topped with strawberries (we omitted the whipped cream for Corina's sake - girl doesn't dig that stuff).

The verdict? So good. And so greasy. We couldn't even finish it. And keep in mind that we shared the one order of the Zucchini Nachos and this one order of Mexican Funnel Cake. I guess we'll just have to wait for next year to try another heart-stopper (or not)!

Baby Blues BBQ

So it's been nearly 3 months since my last post - woops, sorry! A lot has been going on and while I continue to cook at home and occasionally head out to dine somewhere, I've stopped photographing, particularly at home. I'll try to pick it up again, I promise! Meanwhile, let's see what I've got stored in my photo library...

In early July, a few of us headed up to Malibu visit the Getty Villa... unfortunately, we were a couple of days late for the exhibit we had wanted to check out, but still had a nice time anyway. On the way back home, we decided to swing by Baby Blues BBQ in Venice, as featured on Guy's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

It's a fun, not-quite-a-bar, not-quite-the-back-of-someone's-house feel where they specialize in, you guessed it: BBQ. According to Yelp!, the must try was the pulled pork, the mac n' cheese and the cornbread. And they make their own BBQ sauce in 4 different flavors: Sweet, BBQ, (something I can't remember the name of but it happened to be my sauce of choice), and XXX (the hot one).

So... the hubster and I ordered some chicken wings and the "Big Blue" platter (24.95) with 3 choices of meat (we went with the pulled pork, Memphis-style ribs and baby back ribs), 2 choices of sides (mac n' cheese and collard greens), and it came with cornbread. YUM!

Between the two of us, we didn't finish. It was good though, real good. The ribs were tender and yummy and the mac n cheese was pretty darn good... it was kind of thick, so any more than the serving they gave might have gotten me sick, but splitting it, it was the perfect amount. I wasn't fond of the collard greens, but the hubster was all right with that - more for him!

Would I recommend this place? If you're in the area, sure, why not? But if it's going to be a trek, I think your local BBQ place might be okay. Like Lucille's or something. Yeah.

Middle of the night drunken cravings.

The hubster was craving beer last night. He hadn't had a drink in... 3 months? I'm not sure, something like that. And he loves his beer. After a night of hanging out with friends and drinking beer (for him, I was driving), he wanted tacos. Real tacos. At 1am.  

Where does one go for real tacos at 1am? Simple. 

El Gallo Giro. 

We went to the one on Bristol and Edinger in Santa Ana, caddy-corner (kitty corner?) to Mater Dei High School. They are open 24 hours. 

We have typically gone here not just to get tacos and tortas but we'll also pick up the meats and tortillas to make tacos at home. Not only do they have a big ol' meat counter but there's a drink counter (horchata, jimica, etc), and half of El Gallo Giro is actually a bakery.

Totally hit the spot.

Celebratory dinner

In honor of Corina becoming an associate at work, SHE treated us out to dinner (on the company) at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants: Honda-ya in Tustin.

We went all out. Got the 4-item yakatori plate of chicken leg meat, chicken...liver, um, something and something. In addition we picked up two items each of the bacon-wrapped asparagus and the bacon-wrapped tomatoes and the meatball yakatoris. Was that it? Oh yeah and between Corina and Olivia, an order of the crunchy roll. This was our appetizer.

For the entree, we each got a 2-item dinner combo, which includes a bowl of miso soup, a side salad, a bowl of rice, a side of (Japanese) potato salad and your two items. I got the Sesame-fried chicken with vegetable tempura. Corina got the tonkatsu with vegetable tempura and Olivia got the mixed (or was it vegetable as well?) tempura with teriyaki salmon.

At this point, we had finished off most of the yakitori. And yes, there were only three of us girls. Well, plus 2-year old Sid, but he didn't eat much. He spent most of the time on his iPhone.

Thank you, Corina! And congrats!!!

El Chulo - college student's best friend

I'm talking about El Chulo Restaurant, located in Los Angeles. Specifically, on Western Avenue near Olympic. And when I say "college student", I mean a USC college student (although I don't know if this applies to other nearby academic facilities). 

Once upon a time, I was a college student in the big city of Los Angeles living at the small brick campus of the University of Southern California (I say "small" because it occupied one city block, as opposed to other campuses that sprawl and sprawl and is the town). There were tons and tons of eateries all around campus of course, but one day, we discovered this wonderful happy place that took about 15 minutes to get to by car. A bit further than walking out onto Figueroa, but not far at all. 

What makes this place so heavenly? Why not? I think for me, it's the ambiance. It's quaint and feels like you're dining at someone's hacienda (okay maybe not a whole hacienda, but how about a nice I've-got-history welcoming home). You really do feel like you're dining in a cozy parlor or a charming Spanish courtyard. Waiting doesn't feel that long (when there is a wait time) as the "living room" is right next to the bar. 

The margaritas here are supposedly really good. I say supposedly because I haven't had one in a long time (DD) but if I recall, the last time I had one here, two of us had to be helped across the street to the car, at which point I was speaking in Spanish... which I don't know.

Anyhow, I think the food is pretty good. I would say 75% of the time I order the chimichangas. I love those here. But this past weekend, I decided to go wild! I ordered the Chile Colorado (10.75).

I don't think I've ever had Chile Colorado before, so I really had nothing to compare it to. The meat was tender and the sauce was not too salty - I liked it. Combined with Spanish rice, some beans with cheese, fresh guacamole (in a tiny tortilla shell) and a side of tortillas, it was very filling. This phone photo might not look it, but it was quite tasty.

Anna opted for the tried and true Combo #1 (an El Chulo favorite!) consisting of a cheese enchilada and a beef taco and accompanied by rice, beans and some veggies (10.75). The plate looks humongous, no? That's because it is. And the taco? FRIED! I will have to try that next :)

So back to college. The entree portions were so filling, one rarely ever finished everything. So most of the time, one of my roommates and I would end up splitting a plate. So a 10.75 plate became 5.38 for each of us. But wait - there's more! Because they knew we were starving students and broke from attempting higher education, Mondays thru Thursdays, if you showed your student ID (I know specifically it worked with a valid USC student ID), your entree would be 50% off. Yes, really. So, that 10.75 plate I split with a friend to be 5.38 per person? Yes, it would then become 2.69 per person. For a yummy just-the-right-amount-of-full Mexican dinner. With the complimentary unlimited chips and salsa for the table and the little pecan sugar cluster things they give you at the end, you can't go wrong. You can't go wrong.

Too bad the Irvine one doesn't give me the same feeling.

And now I'm hungry again.

Hash House a Go-Go!

What would you have as a follow-up to the Wynn buffet while in Vegas? Well, since we didn't get hungry until 20 hours later, why not Hash House A G0-Go, located inside Imperial Palace, as featured on Man v Food???

Yes, why not?

It was delicious.

I think their idea is to provide farm-fresh food... but on steroids. The wait was about half an hour to get seated, and maybe another half an hour after that until we got our food, but it was worth it. Anna's order came out first.

Perhaps their most popular: the Sage Chicken and Waffles (14.95).

Four fresh waffles with hardwood smoked bacon, topped with two sage-fried chicken breasts and with a hot maple "reduction" and fried leeks. It needed a skewer to stand up!

When I said "waffles with hardwood smoked bacon", I mean, the bacon is cooked INSIDE the waffle. Do you see that? The bacon sticking out of the corner of the waffle? Genius!

And then my order came out: one of their One-Pound Burgers. There are a variety of their burgers, but I went with the Apple Smoked Bacon and Mashed Potatoes one (12.95).

Doesn't that look super yummy?! That is a thick sprig of rosemary and a giant steak knife stuck in the middle of the burger to hold it together. And the contents, from bottom to top:

Bottom bun - leaf of lettuce, slices of red onion, slices of tomato, slices of pickles, a juicy beef patty, a layer of tasty mashed potatoes, several slices of thick crispy bacon, another layer of juicy beef patty, and the bun top. As if that entire combination wasn't jaw-dropping enough, I had a piece of the top bun by itself. It tasted like a doughnut. No joke!

We finished almost half of our meal for lunch. We attempted to finish the remainder for dinner. That means we officially had 2 meals the entire weekend. I [heart] Vegas - see you again real soon!