Union, Las Vegas, NV

Water Show outside the Aria

This was from my birthday weekend that I spent in Las Vegas. Joe asked me where I wanted to eat, and after reading several menus and restaurant offerings, I decided to pick the Union Restaurant at the beautiful Aria Hotel that was constructed between the Bellagio and the Monte Carlo. It just so happened that same day, there was a huge industry convention going on in the same hotel and there were reps from Adobe there. They had a dinner party of 38 going into the restaurant before my group so the service was a little slow.

After talking it over, we discovered that if I wanted to do the Chef's tasting menu, EVERYBODY at the table has to take part in the tasting menu as well, so that's where we began.

First Course: Beef Carpaccio "Flat Bread"



Beef Carpaccio with Red Onions, Micro Basil, Boursin Cheese on flat bread

Judgment: The beef was exquisite and the micro basil definitely adds character and taste to the dish. The subtle hints of cheese expand the flavors even more and all in all, I kind of wished I had more of this to enjoy but it was just the beginning of the meal.

Second Course: Roasted Tomato Soup



Tomato Soup with Roasted Peppers, Bacon-Tomato Grilled Cheese

Judgment: I wish my photo came out better, I also probably should have taken the time to properly adjust my camera settings but aside from that, this soup was excellent. I'm not a big fan of tomato soups, but this was definitely one that I finished to the last drop. The Bacon Tomato Grilled Cheese has a savory flavor to it, mostly thanks to the bacon. The soup itself you can taste the roasted tomatoes, and the addition of balsamic vinegar brings out the richness of the flavors and adds to the acidity of everything.

Main Course: Stuffed Lobster Tails and Porterhouse Steak



Grilled Lobster tails sitting on a bed of stuffing, Grilled Porterhouse Steak with dipping sauces

Judgment: WOW, where to begin. It was interesting because one of my friends was allergic to shellfish, so he stuck to the steak in the back where it only had lobster one side to avoid contamination. The Lobster was poached to perfection and they included 2 types of butter for dipping. Regular and Vanilla/Coconut butter. The Vanilla definitely takes it as it adds another dimension of sweetness to the lobster meat. The steak was grilled to a beautiful Medium Rare and the filet mignon portion of the porterhouse was quite tender. They included a Bernaise sauce and teriyaki sauce, but I felt that wasn't needed, the steak alone was mouthwatering and delicious. The platter also included a Macaroni and Cheese, as well as a Potato Puree. The entree alone was enough to feed all of us have leftovers for us to take home.

Dessert Course: Dessert Platter



Chef's assortment of Desserts: Apple Pie with Pecan Ice Cream, Churros, Rum Raisin Ice Cream and Ice Cream Pop

Judgment: Surprisingly, after eating the massive amount of food before this plate, none of us really cared for the dessert. Although I will say that the churro was well dusted with cinnamon and sugar, the apple pie should've been served warm, but I guess with the prep time to prepare this platter for individually for everyone at your table, it would've gone cold anyways. The ice cream pop was basically a miniature klondike bar on a stick, I think I would've liked it more if it had been covered in almond pieces. The Rum Raisin Ice Cream was probably the most interesting. The flavor was not what you would expect in something like that, and first impressions were that it didn't taste good -- but after eating a bit, I started to enjoy it a little bit.

Conclusion: This restaurant can get packed with large corporate events. There were other parties going on in the restaurant as well. Also, a reminder, that sodas are not refillable. As it is a bar, they'll charge you for each one.

Judgment: This restaurant gets an S-Rank

Rio World Buffet, Las Vegas, NV

So the weekend started with going to Las Vegas for AniMaid Café's special performance for Haruko Momo-i at The Farm. The event itself was fun, although to an extent, I felt it was pretty fail because there was almost no audience at the concert. That in itself is another story, we're here to talk about food after a long hiatus. We went to the Rio Casino's World Buffet.

Buffet!



Sesame Ball, Pork Pastry, Steak, Asian Style BBQ Pork, Corn



Prime Rib and Yukon Gold Cheese Potatoes with Gravy

Judgment: The food was atrocious. Most food was over seasoned to where it is like eating piles of salt. The steak was probably the worst steak I've had in a while. Despite some people telling me the mashed potatoes were delicious, I found it bland and boring. It was supposed to be cheese potatoes, but it tasted like the potatoes had been sitting in water too long and lost all the flavor. The Sesame Ball was probably the only enjoyable food at the entire buffet. Although the saying goes "Variety is the spice of life". I disagree with that statement when it comes to the food here. 3 / 10

Conclusion: This buffet was hardly worth the time we spent in there. They prepared seafood poorly, where it wasn't a crab leg split in half but it was more like cut like you would cut a hot dog. The variety is definitely there, food ranging from American, Mexican, Asian, everywhere. Although it does follow the idiom: Jack of all Trades, master of none. Nothing particularly stood out to be very memorable other than how unsatisfying the meal was to me.

This Buffet gets a C-Rank.