In early October we ate at the Wynn Buffet. I started this posting but never finished it. Here it is anyway, just basically a list of what we had:

Crab Legs and Clarified Butter, Heirloom Tomato Salad, Shrimp Cocktail, Tofu & Veggie Salad, Tofu and Spinach, Tuna Ceviche, Smoked Whitefish, Cheeses, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Aloo Gobi, Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Seafood, Pizza

Sushi, Hawaiian Seafood Medley

Desserts: Pecan Pie (sugar-free), Carrot Cake, Cookies,

Lemon Bars, Eclair, Creme Brulee, Strawberry Tart

$31.95 + Tax

October 5th, 2005

We went to Locanda Veneta for Michele’s birthday.

The restaurant was small and dimly lit, which made it romantic, but the tables were a little too close together for my liking.

The wine list had a half decent number of wines on it, but was on the pricey side. We had a bottle of the Concannon Petite Syrah for $52.

Appetizer was Melanzana alla Parmiggiana (grilled eggplant stuffed with mozzarella in a tomato basil sauce, baked “au gratin”) and Burrata Caprese (Burrata Cheese and tomatoes, served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar). The eggplant was good, but was overshadowed by the excellent Burrata. We will definitely be ordering that one again when we go back.

For main course I had a special: gnocchi with black cabbage and ricotta in a white bean sauce. The original white bean sauce had bacon in it, so I had them substitute it for another white bean sauce that they had. The gnocchi was good, but not great; I think I am still spoiled by the Gnocchi we had in Venice last year.

Michele was tempted by a special that night, a crab risotto with pomegranate seeds, but went with a regular menu item, the homemade black ravioli filled with fresh lobster served in a creamy saffron sauce. It was very good and Michele was very happy she ordered it.

Dessert was the Il “ Trio” Locanda: vanilla crème custard with caramel sauce, chocolate custard with fresh raspberry, and Panna Cotta with a fresh raspberry sauce. All three were very good and it was a great desert to split.

The service was good. The waiters and bus boys came with everything fairly quickly and cleared things well, but they never we needed to refill our wine glasses ourselves.

Rating
Food: 8/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Service: 7/10

Locanda Veneta
8638 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 274-1893

Michele and I ate at Nobu in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on September 5th.

I went there with high hopes that it would be a great sushi experience similar to Uchi in Austin or Roku in West Hollywood.

After starting with some Edamame and Vodka Tonics, we decided to have the Omakase - Chef’s Choice for $100 each. This came with 7 dishes.

Yellowtail with Salsa. This was OK. Yellowtail has recently become one of my favorite sushi’s, but this one was a little disappointing.

Seared Tuna. The seared Tuna was a typical seared tuna you would find at any good restaurant.

Black Cod with Miso. This was a fairly good black cod. Some black cod I’ve tried has been a little fishy, but this one was fairly tasty.

Fish with Enoki Mushrooms and Asparagus. We could not remember what type of fish this was. Again it was a pretty good dish. The enoki mushrooms were a nice change, but not as tasty as the ones I had at Uchi last time.

Assorted Sushi. This included Yellowtail, Tuna, Salmon, Fluke and Shrimp. This was OK, but not anywhere close to some of the sushi I’ve had in other places.

Dessert. The desert was a chocolate lava cake, ice cream and some berries. Chocolate lava cake is one of my favorites, but this was nothing special. The ice cream and berries were OK.

Overall, I was pretty underwhelmed. Considering the cost of the meal and the reputation of the restaurant I was very disappointed. I was expecting to be blown away by many of the dishes, but none of them really lived up to my expectations.

The decor of the restaurant was nice. One large wall was made out of small smooth rocks, and I really liked the looks of it. One complaint I had was that you needed to go out of the restaurant and into the casino to go to the restroom. I know it’s like this at every hotel, but when you’re at a nice restaurant like this, it really takes you out of the mood.

Service was good. The food came out at a good pace, and empty dishes were cleared quickly. The servers and bus boys were very polite and we we never felt like we were rushed or waiting for anything. They even folded our napkins for us when we went to the restroom.

Food: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Service: 5/5

When Michele and I were in Toronto last week, Krissy and Paul took us to Kubo Radio. Kubo is an Asian restaurant on Queen Street in Leslieville.

The decor was Asian-influenced but still modern. It looked nice, but not so fancy that you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable in shorts and t-shirt. The prices of entrees range from about $9 to $15, with a typical noodle dish being around $12. It had enough vegetarian entrees to provide all of us with a selection.

They had a good selection of different beers including some local brews from the Mill Street Brewery, but I went for the Asahi Black.

Paul and Krissy had been there before and recommended the Sweet Potato Dumplings for appetizers. These were really good, nice and crispy and sweet; you could taste the maple syrup in them. Yummy!

For an entree I had the Panang Curry. It was a good flavourful Thai curry with enough spice to make it interesting. The portions were on the large side, and there was plenty of liquid in the bowl to sop up with the rice. Paul had ordered this last time he was there and found it a little spicy, so be warned. I would definitely consider getting this again if we ever come back.

The rest of the table had the Kubo Noodles (without the chicken), Funga Noodles and Tofu You. I tried a bit of Michele’s Tofu You and it was good. It reminded me a little of Pad Thai. Since Pad Thai is my favorite dish of all time, I’d have to say that I would prefer a good Pad Thai over the Tofu You. Everyone was very happy with their meals. Krissy and Paul even took home the leftovers for the next day.

Unfortunately, we were all too full for dessert.

The service was pretty good too. The busboy (who’s first day of work was that night) forgot to bring us the condiments plate, but the manager came by and noticed this and brought us some. The waiter was prompt with everything he did.

Ratings:
Atmosphere: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Food: 9/10

Kubo Radio
894 Queen Street
Toronto, On