The United States Of Eating - US (and Toronto) Aug/Sep 2016

[NoName]

Cheese plate served with the Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling. Really didn't need this last dish but who can say no to a plate of cheese? Served with a nice sweet dessert wine and really there was no choice but to make an already full stomach even more full.



Like a big fat guy I ended up falling asleep in the chair thoroughly satisfied and woke up about half an hour later to a cleared table. With that I decided to have a proper sleep and asked for the bed to be made up. While the bed itself was very comfortable and there was obviously plenty of room, I was only able to sleep for 3-4hrs. I found the cabin to be quite warm (even with the fans on me) and just couldn't get myself comfortable. Perhaps it was the anticipation of the trip?

Woke up and watched a couple of movies before deciding to make a play for the green and gold olympics PJs that were on offer upstairs. The FA was loverly enough to go and have a look to see whether there were any spare and to my joy she came back with the precious bounty a few minutes later. Score!

Another couple of TV shows and it was breakfast time. Menu was as follows:


I had the coconut & banana energiser, fruit salad, mulberry danish and scrambled eggs et al, all of which where very good. About as good an airline breakfast as I have had anyway. The breakfast service also saw me get reacquainted with the La Grande Dame as I polished off another couple of glasses for good measure.




Soon after we began the decent to LAX and the experience was over. I'm not as experienced as many here when it comes to F but I really had very few complaints. The temperature of the cabin and the lack of cutlery for the steak were the only criticisms I would have. Overall I was pleased with the service and the seat and bed were both very comfortable. I will definitely be back.

 

[chooms]

Are you planning to stay in Niagara? If so, didn't waste your time with cheap hotels and book a room with a view such as Marriott On The Falls. And it sound cheesy but we ate in the revolving restaurant and not only was it surprisingly good, it was not as expensive as we expected. Also visit the Niagara On The Lake wine region while you are on the way there. In downtown Toronto, there's a restaurant called Weslodge which does by far and away the best Mac n cheese I have ever eaten, and they do very good coughtails and whiskey as well (run by a Melbourne guy, should have known). Hubby's working in Toronto atm so I have visited recently.

ETA: I keep trying to upload a picture from Niagara but I've never successfully managed one pic on this forum. Anyone have any advice? I have a TR from my last trip I wish to post as well.

We stayed at Sheraton on the Falls and upgraded to falls view room. You are 100 per cent right, get a decent hotel with the view. Won't regret it. We ate at the Grand Buffet at the Fallsview Casino. Heaps of seafood and cheap if you sign up to the members program. There isn't much else except for the usual tourist eats, so we were happy with the seafood and view of the falls at night. Make sure you ask for at able near the windows with the views.

View from Sheraton on the Falls:



NYC: Eat at ABC Kitchen (lunchtime set menu is cheap but unbelievable) with the smattering of movie and tv stars... Balthazar is a must. Book a table for brunch. Another gem we were recommended and now can't recommend enough ourselves is Upland restaurant in East Village on Park Ave. Best food we ate in NYC there.

ABC Kitchen:



Balthazar brunch:



Upland:



You our could also venture to Brooklyn for some real local food... we got the subway and a short walk to a hidden local gem we would never have even thought to look for: L&B Spumoni Gardens is a real, authentic Brooklyn pizzeria. The food was AMAZING:

 

[paxman]

Home - La Chine

If you can La Chine is my new absolute favourite in nyc. There really is only two types of cuisine.

enjoy the trip

 

[Stewey]

I'll be reading your TR with interest as planing a similar trip for myself and Mrs Stewey

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 1 (or so I thought)


Doors opened at the gate and I was up and first out of the plane (as you would expect from 1A). Followed the excellent instructions given by Serfty on another thread and soon enough I was through immigration, had rechecked my back, gone through transit security and was on my way to the LAX F lounge for a refreshing shower and yet another breakfast. Straight into the shower without a wait and also without any sign of the infamous tipping scam that has been reported here.

I didn’t get a photo but the menu seemed pretty much the same as in MEL. I had been tossing up between the corn fritters and the waffles when in the MEL lounge so given I hadn’t tried them I thought I had better have the waffles this time. I wasn’t disappointed. They were light and fluffy with just enough syrup. Small enough that I could have easily had another serving under normal, non-14+ hrs of eating circumstances. Washed them down with a couple of glasses of the Rose`.





I liked the layout and fittings in the lounge. Plenty of space and had a really nice, aesthetically pleasing look to it. I understand that it can get quite crowded before the evening flights but was virtually empty when I was there.







After using the lightning fast internet to run a few hundred micro payments to a Telstra account (RIP BW QF Transaction Account) it was off to T4 to check out the AA Lounge offerings. There was really nothing to be said here as both the Flagship Lounge and the Admirals Club were several rungs below the QF F lounge IMO. No wonder the lady on the front desk told me that I also had access over in TBIT. Didn’t bother eating or drinking anything so no photos here. Just sat and relaxed for an hour before heading to T6 for my flight to LAS and the impending s#&t storm that was fast approaching.

The details of what occurred over at T6 have been discussed in another thread previously (see http://www.australianfrequentflyer....vantage/the-mother-of-all-debacles-77773.html) so I won’t go over it again. To summarise: 8hr delay which saw me reach my hotel at 10:30pm instead of the original estimate of probably 1:30-2pm.

Once the final insult of running from T4-T6 for a flight I hadn’t even been put on was over and I had found I had yet another 2.5hrs of nothing else to do I decided to wander back to the TBIT and the sanctuary of the QF F lounge and some mood calming (and food eating). Sat at the bar and immediately hooked into a well needed glass of Perrier Grand Brut. Had a quick look at the menu and decided on the Salt & Pepper Calamari (a forum favourite it seems) and the beef burger with fries. I forgot to take a photo of the calamari but it was everything that it had been built up to be. Nice and tender, crispy and the green chilli sauce and aioli just topped it right off. Again, I could have eaten more than one serving. The beef burger was also pretty good and I certainly didn’t have any complaints about it but in comparison to some of the other burgers I had during the trip it wasn’t at the top of the list.





With food and champagne in stomach and the temper somewhat soothed it was back to T4 and ready to board the flight to LAS (finally).

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 1 (or so I thought) continued……
LAX-LAS AA(who knows after all the stuff arounds) Seat: A middle seat somewhere up the back


Piled into the plane right down the back for our eventual departure at 7:34pm. Not impressed at all with the delay as you can imagine but thankful to seemingly being finally on my way to Vegas. Wedged inbetween a couple of people I had no intention of interacting with only to find out that one of them was a Kiwi with similar interests so managed to have a pretty good chat. This made the admittedly short flight feel even shorter. That’s where the shortness ended though. Jumped off the plane, high tailed it to the baggage claim only to have to wait 45min before a single bag came out onto the (wrong) carousel. Eventually got my bag after about an hour, walked out into the oppressive heat to find I was on the wrong side of the terminal. No problem, have had worse things happen today. Over to the other side, into a cab and we are off to The Venetian. Had a pleasant ride discussing the US Presidential Election with a migrant of 30 years from Nigeria. Before I knew it I was at the hotel!

You’d think that at 10pm on a Wednesday it would be a fairly quick process to get checked in and up to your room. Wrong. It seems the chaos of American Airlines wasn’t the only thing wreaking havoc on commuters from LA-LV. There had been wild fires between the two cities which had made the road commute significantly delayed. Check-in took Another half hour but eventually I made it upstairs to room 6325 which would be home for the next three nights. For those interested I had booked one of their standard rooms (name escapes me) with $150 resort credit, booked directly through the website for an average of US$189+tax+US$32/nt resort fee – total was approx. US$735 for the 3 nights (Wed, Thur, Fri).







The room was large (approx. 700sq feet) and was quite impressive with a definite luxury feel about it. I would definitely stay here again however I would probably put the room a small but clear rung below Encore (Wynn sister property) which I stayed at last visit. I do prefer the location of the Venetian to the Wynn though as its slightly closer to centre strip. I literally did not set foot on the lower lounge level of the room other than to look out the window when I first walked in. I shouldn’t have bothered, I was on the 6[SUP]th[/SUP] floor and the room overlooked the roof or carpark (who knows) of the rest of the complex. All good, it was just a place to sleep.





Being thoroughly exhausted after a much longer day of travel than I had counted on I had intended to go straight to bed. Who was I kidding, this is Vegas! A quick shower and a changed of clothes and I headed downstairs to have a look around the hotel and also to see if I could salvage something from what had been a disastrous day. Didn’t happen. Managed to tread water for a while playing pai gow before the hammer came down – smacked! Walked over to a coughs table and immediately got walloped again.

That was enough, time to put an end to the day. Had a very quick walk around to the Palazzo (connected sister property) for a look then off to bed around 2am.

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 2 - A Tale Of Two Burgers

Despite the long previous day and reasonably late finish I woke up bright and early about 7:30am the next morning and headed to the pool for a dip and some breakfast.

Venetian Pool – It’s a series of maybe 8 or 9 individual pools across the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] floor of Venetian & Palazzo of differing sizes surrounded by trees and an array of different Italian style architecture - quite impressive.






For breakfast I ate at one of the restaurants on the pool deck – Riva, which is one of what seems like hundreds of offerings by Wolfgang Puck. I haven’t dined at any of his other restaurants before and don’t have a definite opinion on the quality of food he offers but having seen his name on just about everything my first thought would be that outside of any flagship restaurants he has, he may be providing little more than the name and a bit of menu consultation. Speculation aside, I found the venue to have a relaxed atmosphere (which is what you want in a pool setting) and the food to be good but not spectacular. I had a breakfast burrito and strawberry fruit smoothie both of which hit the spot.





After breakfast it was up to the room for a quick change and then out the door and off to the strip…….

 

[cove]

We usually drive the 4 hour run to Vegas as the processing onto and off a flight generally wastes about the same amount of time from LAX. Our next conference is there in December so the weather will be much nicer than red hot.

 

[NoName]

We usually drive the 4 hour run to Vegas as the processing onto and off a flight generally wastes about the same amount of time from LAX. Our next conference is there in December so the weather will be much nicer than red hot.

I almost ended up giving AA the flick and driving but no one could tell me how long it would take to get my luggage bag so I stayed. Also the story I was being told about the fires was that they had closed down the main routes from LA-Vegas and the drive around was adding a few extra hours onto the trip. In future though I would drive for sure, particularly if there were a few people in the group.

 

[amaroo]

Anyone can drive! Not many can fly and enjoy the lovely LAX QF Flounge :mrgreen:

 

[cove]

On my last drive to Las Vegas I think we hit 90 in our Kia something or other . That was down hill. Best you check to see the hire car has a spare tyre as you can blow out a tyre in the summer heat.

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 2 – A Tale Of Two Burgers continued……

First order of business was to take care of a task I had wanted to do the previous day but due to the late arrival was unable to do and that was to get myself a US phone SIM. I had read a couple of threads on here regarding options for purchasing SIMs online prior to travel and while that seemed like a good option, in the end I decided to purchase something once I arrived and have the person in the store set it all up for me. One of the key criteria for me was to use a provider with the best coverage so that once I ventured into Yosemite National Park I would still have coverage. I had asked around another US-based forum and they were of the opinion that AT&T would be best for my purposes and following a little further research confirming that I would have at least some coverage in Yosemite Valley I decided to go with this option. AT&T have a stand at the Fashion Show Mall (opposite the Wynn) so this is where I was headed.

Across the overpass from the Venetian for a quick visit to Treasure Island. Joined their slot club in the hope of getting something for nothing – didn’t happen. A bit of a look around the place didn’t particularly impress me but I can certainly see that it has its market and would be a pleasant enough place for those it is targeting. Played some $5 Blackjack with absolutely no luck. Evidently the gambling gods still thought it was Wednesday.






Ducked out the side entrance on Spring Mountain Road and hopped across the overpass to the mall to grab my SIM. Found the AT&T stand easily enough and after a short wait in line I was being served. Pretty simple options for the traveller who only needs something short term and before too long I was away with something more than meeting my needs. I ended up with a SIM which would last for 30 days, not sure of call/text specifics but it was plenty for what I needed, 6gb high speed data with unlimited additional data at lower speeds with coverage in USA, Mexico & Canada. This final point was an unexpected bonus as I had been told by other people that when I crossed into Canada I would not be able to use the SIM. Bonus! Total cost was US$60+US$10 connection fee.


Next stop was the Wynn as it was directly across the road. Nothing has really changed since I stayed here 6 years ago. That’s not a bad thing though as it was a magnificent property then and it appears to have remained so in that time. Stopped and played pai gow for about an hour and finally had a change of luck. Left having regained the small loss earlier in the day plus a little bit more.

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 2 – A Tale Of Two Burgers continued……


I had planned to have lunch at a Gordon Ramsey gourmet burger restaurant called BurGR at Planet Hollywood so I decided to walk down that side of the strip and take a look at all of the properties along the way. In order from the Wynn they were Venetian (didn’t stop as staying here), Casino Royale, Harrah’s, Linq, O’Shea’s, Margaritaville, Flamingo, Cromwell, Bally’s, Paris & Planet Hollywood. Google maps puts the distance at 1.5miles directly down the strip but probably walked double that having gone inside each and looked around. Stopped and played pai gow at Harra’s & Paris and lost at both. Still marginally ahead for the day.


Harrah’s:


The High Roller ferris wheel:


Flamingo:



Flamingo garden @Flamingo:


Paris:

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 2 – A Tale Of Two Burgers continued……


Paris:






Planet Hollywood:

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 2 – A Tale Of Two Burgers continued……

Arrived at Planet Hollywood a touch after 3pm and went straight to BurGR. If you’re wondering about the name, it’s a meshing of Burger & Gordon Ramsey’s initials, hence BurGR. I had been recommended this place and had read that it was one of the best burger restaurants in the city. I would not be disappointed. The venue was quite crowded so I wasn’t able to get a table right away. I was able to go straight to the bar though which I was happy to do given I was by myself anyway. I had already looked at the menu so already knew what I wanted (no messing around here). A beer to start, the Blue Burger and a side of truffle parmesan fries. Apart from burgers they also offer a variety of different food from salads to hotdogs to fish and chips as well as pudding (this is an English restaurant after all), shakes and sides. There was also an extensive array of beers on tap as well as a well-stocked bar.

Menu can be found here:
https://www.caesars.com/content/dam/phv/Dining/Casual/burgr/grburgermenu_7.1.2016.pdf


Restaurant:





Arrogant cough Ale – This was a strong ale with a powerful flavour. Their website calls it an aggressive beer which “you probably won’t like”. I can see how this could easily be the case. I enjoyed the strong flavour but not being a huge fan of this type of beer is wasn’t my favourite. Probably more attracted to the name.




Blue Burger – Basically a beef burger with blue cheese. I find that its usually a good sign when a restaurant asks you how you would like your burger cooked. Most places seem to cook them one way – well done, so being given the option of having mine medium is a good thing. I wasn’t disappointed as the patty came out exactly as requested. I love the strong flavour of blue cheese and find that it goes very well when served with a burger. Overall a great burger and I would come back next time to try more of their options.



Truffle Parmesan Fries – These were fantastic. Beautifully cooked and crispy and layered in a blanket of parmesan. If you like the flavour of truffle and parmesan you will love these fries.



Overall I loved this restaurant. A bit overpriced but this is Gordon Ramsey and this is the modern Vegas where the bargains of old are almost extinct. However it provided great food and a great atmosphere and as mentioned above, I will be back here the next time I visit.

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 2 – A Tale Of Two Burgers continued……


With lunch done and dusted it was back to the Venetian for a brief rest before dinner. Well, it was back to the Venetian via Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Mirage anyway. Again, google maps gives a distance of 1.1 miles directly along the strip from Planet Hollywood to Venetian but I would have walked maybe 2.5 miles having gone into each and walked around throughout the properties as well as getting lost inside the Bellagio. Played pai gow at Bellagio (lost) & Caesars Palace (square), now even for the day.


Bellagio:






Caesars Palace:






Mirage:

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 2 – A Tale Of Two Burgers continued……


Arrived back at the Venetian around 8pm and went up to the room for a quick chat with MrsNoName and a short rest. Then it was out the door and onto the Deuce bus out the front of the hotel for the ride downtown. US$8 for a 24hr pass – nice. I loved downtown Vegas last time I visited and with my planned dinner venue being in the vicinity I was excited to check it out again. I find that it has a totally different feel to the largely high-end strip and the DYKWIA crown that is seen there. A more laid back, old Vegas feel. Being able to walk from casino to casino within 50 metres is also a great attraction as is the spectacular Freemont Street Experience light show on the canopy above the pedestrian mall. There was also plenty of street entertainers plying their trade which added to the atmosphere. But first came dinner….

I had first heard of The Heart Attack Grill on another forum several years ago and despite the negative review I had read there, the idea of a restaurant that celebrated obesity and over-eating appealed to me. Not because I like to eat gluttonous amounts of food (I don’t) or that I’m overweight (I’m not), or even that I thought that the food might be of a high quality (I didn’t), but simply for the novelty and entertainment aspect. When I saw the place again on the SBS series “Unplanned America” a couple of years ago it rekindled an interest and from then on I decided that if I visited Vegas again I would also visit The Heart Attack Grill. I had read many things about the restaurant and each one of them seemed to help cement the idea that the place was a circus first and a restaurant second with the performers being the staff dressed up as nurses (think stripper nurses not nurses nurses) and the largely obese patrons who had finally found a place where their size would be celebrated and where instead of being treated as outcasts they would be treated as kings.

The premise of the restaurant is that it is a hospital with patrons (or patients as they are known) coming in for various treatments. When entering you are required to put on a hospital gown before being led to your table. Items on the menu are typically named after some kind of medical procedure or health ailment – burgers are called Single Bypass Burger (one half pound patty) all the way up to the Octuple Bypass Burger (eight half pound patties), Flatliner fries, wine served in a bag attached to an intravenous drip. In keeping with the theme of unhealthy eating food and drink is prepared in the unhealthiest way possible – fries are cooked in pure lard, the shakes are made with what is claimed to be the world’s highest fat content and come complete with a slab of pure butter on top as well as only selling unfiltered cigarettes. Don’t want to walk around the restaurant? No problem, you can hire a mobility scooter. But perhaps the biggest form of celebration of an unhealthy lifestyle comes in the form of a giant set of scales in the centre of the restaurant (as well as outside the front door) with a sign attached proudly proclaiming that if you weight more than 350 pounds then you eat for free!

The full menu can be found here: Menu





As mentioned I’m not one to engage in ridiculous excessive eating so I simply ordered the single bypass burger with fries and a strawberry milkshake. You’d think that a single beef patty would be relatively easy to get through. Wrong. Even this burger had some serious size to it and it was actually quite a struggle to get through it all as well as the fries and shake. Normally I would have stopped eating once I started feeling this full but as I don’t particularly enjoy the attention of a large crowd I pushed on and finished the meal. The punishment for not eating all your food was enough to convince me that potentially vomiting all over the counter was the better option.



[video=youtube_share;Tgqp4cl2pzQ]https://youtu.be/Tgqp4cl2pzQ[/video]


The burger itself was average. Just your run of the mill mass produced burger with patty, tomato and onion with some sauce. Fries were also not bad without being anything special. The standout was definitely the strawberry milkshake which tasted very good. Given the massive fat content you would hope so though. If I was with a friend looking for a bit of a laugh then I would consider coming here again. It was certainly an entertaining experience and I got plenty of laughs at the goings-on in the hour I was there. If taste was the main consideration (as it would be 99% of the time) though then The Heart Attack Grill would not be top of the list.






Amusing urinals in the men’s bathroom. From talking to various people over the last few weeks it seems that both are to be held in fairly low regard.

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 2 – A Tale Of Two Burgers continued……


With the eye opening dining experience out of the way I decided to take a look up and down Freemont St and the activities occuring there. Its an exciting area of town with plenty happening in a relatively small space. I wandered from casino to casino having a look at the sites and sounds. Signed up for a couple of slot clubs and was again unsuccessful in receiving anything other than a plastic slot card.










The Freemont Street Experience light show is a definite must see. A really fantastic piece of free entertainment where the whole street seems to stop to watch.





Hopped back on the Deuce back to home base where I decided to hit the tables again. Success at last! Seemed to do no wrong for the next 3hrs winning back everything from the previous night twice over. A timely change of fortune! Back up to the room and in to bed around 3am for some rest in preparation for another long day of walking the strip ahead.

 

[NoName]

Las Vegas Day 3


I had intended to go down to the pool and repeat the routine of the previous morning but unfortunately when I woke up and looked at my watch it was just before 11am. I didn’t feel that I could spare the time so it it was a quick shower, change and out the door. The intended initial destination was the Las Vegas sign at the south end of the strip past Mandalay Bay with the plan being to get the Deuce to the point I made it to yestderday (Bellagio) and walk from there. Didn’t happen. I missed the bus by about 15 seconds. Oh well, I’ll just walk the whole way instead. Google maps puts the distance directly along the strip from Venetian to the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign at 3.1 miles. Having walked through Cosmipolitan, Aria, Monte Carlo, New York New York, Excalibur, Luxur & Mandalay Bay along the way I would estimate the distance to be at least 4 miles. Played at Aria (won) and Monte Carlo (lost) – ahead for the day.

Cosmopolitan:


Aria:


Aria lobby:


Monte Carlo:


New York New York:

 

[NoName]

New York New York - Statue Of Liberty:


Excalibur:


Inside the Luxor:


Mandalay Bay:


Welcome To Las Vegas sign - overexcitement was par for the course: