[Las Vegas] Ichiza

May 5, 2010
Ichiza
4355 Spring Mountain Road
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 367-3151
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ichiza-las-vegas

Ichiza was one of the places that constantly popped up when I searched for authentic Japanese food in Las Vegas. Hence, we went and took the bus to the Las Vegas chinatown to try this place. It was different from any other Japanese restaurant as it was an izakayas-style restaurant (tapas-like) which was good because then we got to try more things :D.

Basically on top of the normal menu that you get when you sit down, they also have many special items that are posted all around in the restaurants. The papers posted filled each wall from top to bottom and it drove us nuts because we didn't want to miss out on ordering anything cool.

Aburi Namagaki
This was basically fresh oyster in ponzu sauce and they were definitely very fresh and the ponzu sauce was nice and simple so it was not too overwhelming.

Fried Shishamo
I am not a big fan of these fried tiny smelt fishes but these were acceptable.

Sushi Chazuke
The Japanese waitress told us this was sushi with a little tea taste and since we both wanted to try something different we ordered it. In the end, we just found it tasting weird.

Ikayaki
This was the grilled squid and it was good because they didn't overdo it with the grill taste.

Fried Sanma
According to Sam the fish was good and it was gone pretty fast.

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
Simple enough these were fried spring rolls with mozzarella cheese inside along with a side of ketchup.

Saba Sashimi
These were mackeral sashimi and they were very fresh and thick...just look at the glossiness/shininess of the skin :)

Unimochi
We also tried the uni (sea urchin) on top of a lightly pan fried piece of mochi that was placed on top of a seaweed strip. It was an interesting combo and the uni was very fresh and the chewiness of the mochi added a different texture to this combination.

Chicken meatball skewer
These were very juicy and delicious.

Soymilk Pudding

We thought the top layer of vanilla extract was too sweet and so strong that it covered the taste of the soymilk pudding underneath. So we ended up pouring all the vanilla extract out and enjoyed the soymilk pudding by itself. The pudding was smooth and had a very slight soy taste to it.

Honey Toast
When we were researching on this place, many people recommended the honey toast. It was definitely delicious as it was a nice thick buttered slice of toast (almost a quarter of a loaf of bread) with the insides emptied and filled with vanilla ice cream that was drenched with honey. However we were both really full by this time and just ended up eating the outside crispy part of the toast along with the vanilla ice cream and honey.

[Las Vegas] The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

May 4, 2010
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
3355 Las Vegas Blvd
South Las Vegas NV, 89109
http://www.coffeebean.com

Black Forest Coffee Ice Blended® Drinks cherries/chocolate covered espresso beans
This drink really did taste like the cake and was similar to the godiva chocolixir-indulgent but not too sweet. Overall delish.

[Las Vegas] Godiva Chocolate

May 3, 2010
Godiva Chocolate (at the Las Vegas Premium Outlet)
875 South Grand Central Parkway
Las Vegas, NV 89106
(702) 474-7500
http://www.godiva.com

Godiva Chocolixir Dark Chocolate Raspberry
The drink really allowed me to taste both the chocolate and raspberry. It wasn't too sweet but it was still indulgent. But of course if you want to indulge in this, you will need to ignore the calories COMPLETELY haha.

[Las Vegas] McDonald's

May 2-6, 2010
McDonald's (on the Las Vegas Strip)
http://www.mcdonalds.com

Angus Mushroom and Swiss

A thick and juicy third-pounder with a 100% Angus beef patty. It also came with two slices of Swiss cheese and savory sautéed mushrooms. It was pretty good-not bad for McD's.

Hot n Spicy McChicken
It was the McChicken ecxept the batter on the outside of the chicken was orange and slightly spicy. It was different and of course the excessive amount of mayo made the whole sandwich good ;)

Iced Coffee from McCafe

It was actually quite bitter but really creamy. I think they just added ice and cream to their regular coffee.

McNuggets
Yes...we got the 50 mcnuggets for 10$ deal..so basically 20 cent/nugget..I mean...why not?

[Las Vegas] Jollibee

May 5, 2010
Jollibee
3890 South Maryland Parkway
Las Vegas (702) 893-3005
http://www.jollibeeusa.com/

Chicken Joy Combo Crispy, tender pieces of juicy fried chicken with gravy and rice
The chicken was good but I don't know about giving up KFC for this...I'd say its a tie. But I do gotta give them credit as the chicken was not dry or as greasy as KFC. Even though it's deep fried, it was still flavorful.

Jollibee Spaghetti

Premium spaghetti noodle smothered in sweet tomato meat sauce, topped with grated cheese
The spaghetti was good but I personally found the sauce to be much too sweet for me.

Shanghai Rolls
Actually better than the typical Chinese spring rolls where they stuff a bunch of random veggies into it. It was more like..in between a Vietnamese one and a Chinese one.

Jollibee Pies Banana Langka and Peach Mango
The banana langka (as I was told it was also known as jackfruit) was OK but the peach mango pie was just way too sweet and too thick for us. The fillings were overflowing and I just couldn't eat it anymore.

[Las Vegas] Wolfgang Puck

May 4, 2010
Wolfgang Puck (at the MGM Grand Hotel)
3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
(702) 891-3000

http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/wolfgang-grill-bar-restaurant.aspx

Raspberry Lemon Drop

Truffled Blue Cheese Potato Chips

maytag blue cheese, truffle oil, parsley
This was one of their signature dishes and it was delicious. However, for those of you who are not a big fan of blue cheese, you can still order this but just make sure you only grab the chips without the cheese...although that is also where all the truffle sauce is.

Wood Oven Pizza

wood oven roasted mushrooms, asparagus, leeks, thyme and taleggio

The wood oven pizza was delicious as the crust was very thin and for the first time, this pizza was completely covered with thick cheese :D.

[Las Vegas] Carl's Jr

May 4, 2010
Carl's Jr (at the Las Vegas Fashion Outlet)
32100 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Primm, NV 89019
(702)874-1400
http://www.carlsjr.com/

Big Country Breakfast Burrito

Warm sausage gravy, smothered over scrambled eggs, sausage, ham, bacon bits, hash brown nuggets and shredded jack and cheddar cheeses, all wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. (we had it without the gravy)
I got hungry at the outlet mall and only Carl's Jr. was next to it. I found it weird that they served the breakfast wrap with gravy...i mean REALLY??? craziness...so we just decided to do without. It was OK, tasted exactly what they listed was in there.

[Las Vegas] Serendipity 3

May 3, 2010
Serendipity 3 (in Caesar's Palace)
3570 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(866)227-5938
http://www.serendipity3.com/food.htm

On the front of the menu, there was a long story on the history of serendipity dessert. You can find the history here.

Foot Long Hot Dog
It was definitely longgggggg but other than the length, taste-wise there was nothing spectacular about it.

Waffle Fries

included with the hot dog
They were very crispy but not much different than other waffle fries elsewhere.

Serendipitous Hot Chocolate

topped with whipped cream, grated valley orange, cinnamon, shaved French chocolate
It was good but not something that I was super crazy over. It wasn't chocolate-y enough and I think places like Starbucks could do better.

Strawberry Fields Sundae

cheesecake, strawberry ice cream, strawberry topping with whipped cream
It was HUGEEEE and we were both trying to get to the ice cream and cheesecake that was covered by the whip cream mountain.

Our mess at the end...

[Las Vegas] Japan Cafe Grill

May 3, 2010
Japan Cafe Grill
875 South Grand Central Parkway
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 474-7500
http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=58

Since we were at the food court of an outlet mall, there was only fast food available. We were both hungry so we decided to try the noodles from the Japan Cafe Grill.

Typical fast food exterior and of course it was basically westernized Japanese/Chinese food.

Chicken Ramen
I appreciated that they put the chicken on a separate plate instead of leaving it in the soup to be soaked. The noodles were not very ramen at all and were a bit soggy. However, we both agreed that the picture looks better than it tasted.

[Las Vegas] Junk Food

May 2-6, 2010
Junk Food
ABC store-http://www.abcstores.com
Target-http://www.target.com

The cheesecake on the lower right corner is the raspberry cheesecake from the cheesecake factory. It was absolutely delicious and we consumed it after shower in our comfy king size bed.

Doritos Late night Cheeseburger
These were so cool because they actually tasted like cheeseburger; specifically the McDonald's Big Mac.

Doritos Late Night Tacos at Midnight
These were alright but definitely not as good as the hamburger doritos

Chester Fries Flaming Hot
These were pretty spicy but they were an excellent combination with the hamburger doritos.

Zappo's Potato Chips Spicy Creole Tomato spiked with Tobasco
These chips were not as spicy as the spicy fries as they only had a hint of spiciness to it. The tobasco sauce taste was not very obvious and tasted like any other slightly spicy chips.

M&M's Coconut Flavor
These were different as they had a slight coconut taste in the chocolate but it was nothing I was super crazy over.

Orbit Mist Mango Surf
These were basically the same as the Excel gums we have in Canada except the little micro-bursts were kind of fun.

Stride

Mega Mystery Flavour

This tasted like...any regular gum.

Starbucks Ice Cream at Target
I did not get a chance to try this but I would love to try the mocha frappachino or the java chip frappachino ice cream next time I visit a Target.