Below are my reviews for Border Grill, Noodle Exchange, Carson Kitchen, and Art of Flavors.
Border Grill (Mandalay Bay)
This review is of the Saturday/Sunday Brunch
A group of us had a tradition of having Sunday Brunch at Garduno's at the Palms. When Palms changed hands... so went Garduno's. Oh, I do miss those chocolate and caramel waffles!
Border Grill became a substitute. We ate for free, or steep discounted, the first couple of times. I didn't have an offer this last trip, but I gladly paid full price. And for us, it's worth it.
The brunch is all you can eat, but it's not served buffet style. You order small plates. We spend more than 2 hours doing this. We put out the extra money for the endless mimosas and plan to take it very easy for Sunday afternoon.
They rotate the menu a little all the time. Some times we lose favorites (the Passion fruit mimosa or the fritata), but we also get new things to try.
The first time we went (several years ago) there were some service issues (weren't prepared for how many people were dining). Problems have been resolved. Service has been excellent since that first trip. They get the next dishes to us quickly and keep the mimosas coming.
I won't recommend any dishes, because you can discover it all for yourself. Just save plenty of room, and have a place to relax in the afternoon.
I can understand not everyone will enjoy it as much as we have, but I love all the different small plates with the variety of flavors.
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Noodle Exchange (Gold Coast)
People love their "hot pots", but note: they're not available at all times. I prefer the noodle dishes. We've never had a bad meal here, and our group always plans to eat here once during every visit to Vegas. Good food, not terribly expensive (but not cheap either). You can pay with casino points (at certain times, that can be a huge discount).
I find the Noodle Exchange much better than Ping Pang Pong, the Chinese place in Gold Coast which some have said is a Vegas must-do.
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Carson Kitchen (Downtown, one block and around the corner from the ElCo)
Visiting Carson Kitchen was on my "must do" list for my next trip to Vegas. A group of four of us arrived a little after 11am so there was no waiting.
We had the empanadas which were a disappointment. The flavor was odd or off, unappetizing -- maybe it's the mushrooms. One of the empanadas was half filled with gristle & fat which the eater spit out onto her plate. We debated sending the dish back, hard to do when it comes with 4 bites and everyone took one.
We had the bacon jam which was good, make sure to get the extra toast.
Then we had devil eggs which were average, not notable in any way except for a little caviar. Beet salad which was fine. The tomatoes in the stacked salad were not ripe -- something you might buy at cheap grocery store. I know it's not quite tomato season, but the bland, hard meat of the tomato spoiled the dish. The short rib sliders which were superb with with sweetly root beer sauce (and tater tots on the side). I could probably eat these every day. This would be my go-to item. The mushroom flat bread was very good. The gyros soft tacos were over salted.
The service was wonderful.
The scores for the food were 2, 4, 3, 3, 2, 5, 4, 3, for an average a little over 3. Very uneven food. The rating should be 3.5. Somewhere between "A-Okay" and "I'm a fan". If we had had only the sliders, bacon jam, and flat bread we might have been looking a 5 star rating. The service makes we want to push the rating to 4, but the empandas and tomatoes make me want to keep it at three. The food will win. 3 stars.
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Art of Flavors (on Las Vegas Blvd, north of Stratosphere two blocks)
Great gelatos. Inventive flavors with standard flavors too for those with more traditional tastes (like me). I loved the cinnamon roll with a perfect balance of cinnamon. Friends loved the pistachio, pear & Gorgonzola, and others I can't remember. I also enjoyed the chocolate chip cookie -- which didn't taste like another version of cookie dough. One person got half white coffee bean and half chocolate and thought the combination perfect. The owner's, Desyree's, sense of taste is excellent. Everything was well balanced, and not excessively sweet (though I can enjoy excessively sweet). I love that she can go any direction. She'll do fig with balsamic vinegar, but then do Froot Loops.
A group of us were visiting Las Vegas. After finally stopping here (finding it from a Yelp search, thank you all!), we returned almost every day. And we made AoF the last stop before we went to the airport to fly home.
This is gelato. It's not custard (though it's a stone's throw from Luv It). If you want that rich, thick eggy emulsified texture, you might be a little disappointed. I make gelato at home without using eggs or custard, so this is perfect for me.
A warning about parking. There's not much of it, and it's very tight. I suspect this place is going to be booming by summer. It'll be tough to get into and out of.
If you're a tourist without a car, is it worth it to take the Deuce bus up and back? Oh, yeah! This is five stars for those that love gelato.
My only complaint: the flavors rotate. I never got to try chocolate mousse or nutella. And I did not jump on lemon pound cake when I had the opportunity! All the more reason to keep going back.
I've been to a number of artisan ice cream places in Northern California in the last couple of years and they've all fallen short. This did not. AoF has earned every 5 star review it's gotten.
I can't believe anyone couldn't come here and find a flavor to love.
****************
A few other things to mention:
We (as a group) ate at the Mirage buffet. It's not worth the full price and barely worth the 2 for 1. It's a weak play in my opinion with limited options and the only thing outstanding is they do have crab.
We also (as a group) ate at Red Rock buffet. It's okay. Not worth driving way out there for.
And, finally, a few of us stopped by Popcorn Girl. We love this place. My recommendation: get a mixture of pizza with Parmesan-garlic. I also love their s'mores and cookies and cream (both sweet). There are so many great choices.
Border Grill (Mandalay Bay)
This review is of the Saturday/Sunday Brunch
A group of us had a tradition of having Sunday Brunch at Garduno's at the Palms. When Palms changed hands... so went Garduno's. Oh, I do miss those chocolate and caramel waffles!
Border Grill became a substitute. We ate for free, or steep discounted, the first couple of times. I didn't have an offer this last trip, but I gladly paid full price. And for us, it's worth it.
The brunch is all you can eat, but it's not served buffet style. You order small plates. We spend more than 2 hours doing this. We put out the extra money for the endless mimosas and plan to take it very easy for Sunday afternoon.
They rotate the menu a little all the time. Some times we lose favorites (the Passion fruit mimosa or the fritata), but we also get new things to try.
The first time we went (several years ago) there were some service issues (weren't prepared for how many people were dining). Problems have been resolved. Service has been excellent since that first trip. They get the next dishes to us quickly and keep the mimosas coming.
I won't recommend any dishes, because you can discover it all for yourself. Just save plenty of room, and have a place to relax in the afternoon.
I can understand not everyone will enjoy it as much as we have, but I love all the different small plates with the variety of flavors.
********************
Noodle Exchange (Gold Coast)
People love their "hot pots", but note: they're not available at all times. I prefer the noodle dishes. We've never had a bad meal here, and our group always plans to eat here once during every visit to Vegas. Good food, not terribly expensive (but not cheap either). You can pay with casino points (at certain times, that can be a huge discount).
I find the Noodle Exchange much better than Ping Pang Pong, the Chinese place in Gold Coast which some have said is a Vegas must-do.
********************
Carson Kitchen (Downtown, one block and around the corner from the ElCo)
Visiting Carson Kitchen was on my "must do" list for my next trip to Vegas. A group of four of us arrived a little after 11am so there was no waiting.
We had the empanadas which were a disappointment. The flavor was odd or off, unappetizing -- maybe it's the mushrooms. One of the empanadas was half filled with gristle & fat which the eater spit out onto her plate. We debated sending the dish back, hard to do when it comes with 4 bites and everyone took one.
We had the bacon jam which was good, make sure to get the extra toast.
Then we had devil eggs which were average, not notable in any way except for a little caviar. Beet salad which was fine. The tomatoes in the stacked salad were not ripe -- something you might buy at cheap grocery store. I know it's not quite tomato season, but the bland, hard meat of the tomato spoiled the dish. The short rib sliders which were superb with with sweetly root beer sauce (and tater tots on the side). I could probably eat these every day. This would be my go-to item. The mushroom flat bread was very good. The gyros soft tacos were over salted.
The service was wonderful.
The scores for the food were 2, 4, 3, 3, 2, 5, 4, 3, for an average a little over 3. Very uneven food. The rating should be 3.5. Somewhere between "A-Okay" and "I'm a fan". If we had had only the sliders, bacon jam, and flat bread we might have been looking a 5 star rating. The service makes we want to push the rating to 4, but the empandas and tomatoes make me want to keep it at three. The food will win. 3 stars.
********************
Art of Flavors (on Las Vegas Blvd, north of Stratosphere two blocks)
Great gelatos. Inventive flavors with standard flavors too for those with more traditional tastes (like me). I loved the cinnamon roll with a perfect balance of cinnamon. Friends loved the pistachio, pear & Gorgonzola, and others I can't remember. I also enjoyed the chocolate chip cookie -- which didn't taste like another version of cookie dough. One person got half white coffee bean and half chocolate and thought the combination perfect. The owner's, Desyree's, sense of taste is excellent. Everything was well balanced, and not excessively sweet (though I can enjoy excessively sweet). I love that she can go any direction. She'll do fig with balsamic vinegar, but then do Froot Loops.
A group of us were visiting Las Vegas. After finally stopping here (finding it from a Yelp search, thank you all!), we returned almost every day. And we made AoF the last stop before we went to the airport to fly home.
This is gelato. It's not custard (though it's a stone's throw from Luv It). If you want that rich, thick eggy emulsified texture, you might be a little disappointed. I make gelato at home without using eggs or custard, so this is perfect for me.
A warning about parking. There's not much of it, and it's very tight. I suspect this place is going to be booming by summer. It'll be tough to get into and out of.
If you're a tourist without a car, is it worth it to take the Deuce bus up and back? Oh, yeah! This is five stars for those that love gelato.
My only complaint: the flavors rotate. I never got to try chocolate mousse or nutella. And I did not jump on lemon pound cake when I had the opportunity! All the more reason to keep going back.
I've been to a number of artisan ice cream places in Northern California in the last couple of years and they've all fallen short. This did not. AoF has earned every 5 star review it's gotten.
I can't believe anyone couldn't come here and find a flavor to love.
****************
A few other things to mention:
We (as a group) ate at the Mirage buffet. It's not worth the full price and barely worth the 2 for 1. It's a weak play in my opinion with limited options and the only thing outstanding is they do have crab.
We also (as a group) ate at Red Rock buffet. It's okay. Not worth driving way out there for.
And, finally, a few of us stopped by Popcorn Girl. We love this place. My recommendation: get a mixture of pizza with Parmesan-garlic. I also love their s'mores and cookies and cream (both sweet). There are so many great choices.
