Las Vegas July 2011, Part 3 - Stripburger

We had a Stripburger $25 Gift Card that we bought from Restaurant.com for $6. This place is connected to the Fashion Show Mall across the street from the Wynn. This is our second time here. The food is good, and we all enjoyed it.

Mark's beer and Kiki's strawberry banana milkshake

 
Veggie burger

 
Old school beef burger, garlic herb fries

Shrimp with cocktail sauce

Green salad

Fried pickles

Las Vegas July 2011, Part 2 - Wicked Spoon at the Cosmopolitan Hotel

We ate at the new Wicked Spoon buffet at the Cosmo after we checked into the Mandarin Oriental. It was about 1pm, and we were starving after a morning of travel. Wicked Spoon at the Cosmo is about a 10-minute walk from the Mandarin Oriental. I thought this one was better than the Wynn buffet.

I'll let the pics do all the talking...

 
Salmon lox, cucumber and watermelon gazpacho

 
Green tomotoes, asparagas salad, humuus and pita bread, portuguese sausage, BBQ spareribs

 
Roast lamb, prime rib, spareribs, fried chicken

  
Breakfast sausages, bacon, eggs benedict

 
Little pots of different pastas, roast turkey, and Korean short ribs

 
Vietnamese pork buns, Chinese BBQ pork, beef and gailan stirfry, fried rice

 
Pork tacos, yam fries, miso cod
 
Omelette station, shrimp and cocktail sauce

 
Caesar salad, shrimp miso salad

 
Pizza station, paninis

 
Vermicelli noodles, cilantro, green onion, chilis, Dashi broth, Miso broth


Sushi station (California rolls, spicy tuna rolls, dynamite rolls)

 
Chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry mousse, cookies
 
Assemble your own strawberry shortcake, several varieties of gelato and sorbets

 
French pastries (lemon tarts, macaroons, fruit tarts, etc.

 
More tarts, different varieties of fudge

Las Vegas July 2011, Part 1 - Mandarin Oriental Hotel

This was probably the shortest, yet the best Vegas trip we've ever had, in terms of hotel, food, show, and shopping. We travelled as a family of 4. Point of the trip - a quick family getaway to spend good quality time together.

The flight from Bellingham to Las Vegas on Allegiant Air was non-eventful, thank goodness. The airline is a no-frills one, where the airfare is low but you pay for everything like assigned seating, check-in luggage, drinks, etc. I don't think I'd go on this airline again. We opted for the assigned seating but there was still the rush to get in to the airplane and find a spot in the overhead bin - quite stressful overall.

On to the good stuff...

Mandarin Oriental was FABULOUS. From the moment we checked in to our check-out, the hotel provided 5* service. Everyone was most helpful and friendly. We will be back at this hotel. It was an oasis to return to after a day in the Vegas madness.

When we arrived, the bellmen were flocked around us offering us cold bottled waters and help with our luggage. We went up to the 23rd floor, where the lobby is located. By the time we got there, they already knew we were the Heywood family, checking in. We were offered cold cloths from the spa to refresh ourselves as we checked in. No line-ups to check in. (This is something to comment on since every hotel we passed through in Vegas had line-ups that would take about an hour to get through.) We took another set of elevators that took us to our room on the 12th floor within 5 minutes of check-in.

The fitness center and pool area were amazing. We didn't eat in the hotel restaurants, which was too bad since I heard MOzen was really good.

Here are pics of our room...I really wanted to just move in and live there forever...


The entry way. The in-room safe, bathrobes, slippers and valet service closet is here.


The most comfy beds.


Flat screen TV, desk, and fridge. The TV lets you control the drapes/sheers, lights, etc.

The bathtub and double bath sinks. Beside the bathtub were bath salts!


Shower (left) and toilet (right).

The room included a hair straightener!

The girls settling in.

Trader Joe's Friend Recommendations

Donna's Recommendations
Donna recommends this TJ product - the Thai Red Curry Sauce - and was very kind to even give me a bottle to taste test it. I think I'll serve it with sliced beef and onion this week.

Roger's Recommendations
Roger recommends the following TJ products. Thanks for sharing!

American Style Kobe Beef Burgers. Roger says: "They are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G-!-!-! Honestly, probably the best burgers I’ve had in Canada (in the US and Mexico I’ve had Fuddruckers, and one burger stand in Mexico City which was also awesome, but in Canada…these are the best!).