But more importantly, here's where we ate:
Monday night: Cabo Wabo Cantina at Planet Holleywood --I think this might be new, as Ash and I don't recall seeing it during our last trip in July. We just wanted a place for a late-night snack, so nachos totally hit the spot. It was pretty good, and if you sit outside, you can actually see bits of the Bellagio fountain show.
Tuesday morning: Bellagio Buffet--since we book through AmEx, we get free breakfast coupons, and always use them at the buffet. It's fantastic. (I think it's $16/person or so otherwise.) Fresh fruit, made-to-order eggs, any breakfast meat you can think of, muffins, pancakes, waffles, croissants, bagels with every topping possible... We always went around 10:30--perfect as the turn for lunch happens around 11. The food is fantastic.
Tuesday night: Roy's Las Vegas-- we took a cab to Roy's, as it's off the strip, and were as thrilled as we were in Arizona. They have amazing seafood (which Ash enjoys), and the Vegas happy hour special is $5 cocktails and rolls. So, we went half an hour before our reservation, ordered appetizers and drinks at the bar, and then ate when our table was ready. A wonderful meal, and about a $10 cab ride from the Bellagio.
Note: We asked our cab driver for the most popular restaurant, and he said it's called "Firefly." It's tapas, and it's about a $15 cab ride off the strip. We didn't head there this time, but perhaps next time.
Tuesday late-night: Jean Philippe Patisserie (Hands down, our favorite dessert place in Vegas. Probably our favorite dessert place anywhere. It is half the reason we stay in the Bellagio--he's also opened up a second location in the new Aria hotel next door. The coolest part? He actually bakes stuff there. I've seen him come out of the kitchen in his chef outfit--I was totally starstruck.)
Wednesday morning: Bellagio Buffet
Wednesday night: We had tickets to the Lion King, so we just grabbed food from a food court. Not exciting, I know.
Wednesday late-night: Jean Philippe Patisserie (notice a pattern?)
Thursday morning: Bellagio Buffet
Thursday night: Wynn Buffet--we'd heard a great deal about the Wynn dinner buffet, so we finally decided to venture out. It's the same price you'd pay for a meal at a nice restaurant (we paid $80 for both of us), so we were skeptical. However, it was fantastic. They keep very small amounts out, and constantly have cooks working in front of you so the food is always fresh. From what I can remember--sushi station, pasta station, salad station, ceviche station (yes, they had 6 kinds), malaysian station, indian station, mediterranean station, etc. When I say "station," I don't mean a typical buffet station of sorts. There were small plates that probably only held enough food for four or five people, and they were constantly being replenished. For the pasta station, they had a bolognese, pumpkin ravioli with brown butter sage sauce, an alfredo with chicken, tortellini, two other dishes with seafood, and then a chef to customize or make you whatever you'd like if you were a vegetarian or wanted something different. The indian station had tandoor ahi, chana masala and fresh baked naan. (Ash said the ahi was very good.) The penang curry in the malaysian station was fantastic. The huge draw seemed to be the Alaskan King Crab legs. Finally, they had a dessert ROOM. It had a full case of gelato (probably about 14 flavors), a crepe station, and about 15 different kinds of dessert. It. was. amazing. (Though pass on the crepes--Jean Philippe puts them to shame.) I would definitely go back--I'll just be hungrier next time.
Friday morning: Jean Philippe Patisserie
Friday evening: La Salsa Cantina at Planet Hollywood--we wanted something fast and not too expensive before our flight, it's your typical mexican restaurant, not pricey and worth the money.
Friday before our red-eye flight: Jean Philippe Patisserie
So, we really only ventured about for dinner, but that's what we intended. We tend to stay at the Bellagio because the breakfast/ lunch buffet is fantastic, and Jean Philippe is at our constant disposal. We don't go to Vegas to gamble--we go to eat. :-)
If you do go to Jean Philippe--I dream about the coconut gelato. I don't even like coconut, but it's fantastic. Ash got me hooked. The new green tea ice cream is also quite amazing. As for chocolate--the chocolate crepe can't be beat, and both the chocolate mousse and chocolate muffin (it should be called chocolate cake in the shape of a muffin) are fantastic. They have a dark chocolate mousse called "Intense" that is probably the best I've ever had. It comes with a salted biscuit and sits on top of a thin butter cookie wafer. Yum.
We both came back heavier than we left. But it was soooo worth it. :-)
