Visiting Family in Vegas

OK, there were the holidays, we went away, and Father of Food is in the hospital. The family apologizes for not posting. I know you just can't wait to hear what we may be eating these days. Both Daughter of Food and Son of Food spent some time in Vegas this past week visiting Father. We tried some new things. Here's the quick report....

Buffet at Asia is a busy Mixed Asian food buffet at the corner of Flamingo and Eastern. The selection includes Sushi, Dim Sum dishes, Crabs Legs, Shrimp, Mongolian Barbecue, Thai, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese fare. The food was decent, if you picked from the trays that were fresh. I liked the Crab Won Tons and the Shrimp tempura, but the Pad Thai was barely unrecognisable as Pad Thai. The meal cost $12.00 for dinner and the kids ate for free. I didn't flip over this place, but I would go back.
4090 S Eastern Ave, Las Vegas, NV‎ - (702) 650-0290‎

Another Buffet we had (it is Vegas after all), was the breakfast buffet at Boulder Station. Breakfast is breakfast, an amazing brunch this is not, however, and if you're hungry and your funds are limited, you should go. We took our family of four on Friday morning and ate all we could eat for under $12 including tip (3 and under eat free). It was a heck of a lot more satisfying than the Burger King meal we had the next day for $20. As far as breakfast buffets go, this one was fine, but I did not like the omelet I got, mainly due to low quality, stale cheese. The chunky applesauce was very tasty on my so-so potato pancake. The bacon was greasy. Did I mention the cost was less than $3.00 a person? In these economic times, it was fine, really.

The last place I'll mention was featured in a post last year and it's called Metro Pizza. We went to the Boulder Station location. The pepperoni didn't impress, but I would recommend the white pizza. We were not able to get the legendary salad Melissa mentioned in the comments of the earlier post. If you go on Friday night, you can "enjoy" the Kareoke at the bar across the way.

Boulder Station Buffet and
Metro Pizza at Boulder Station
4111 Boulder Hwy
Las Vegas, NV 89121

Wait, you've got your Italian in my Thai!

This past weekend my husband and I wanted to grab some lunch out. Husband of Food loves Thai. Daughter of Food loves Italian. How could we possibly choose a lunch spot based on our favorite foods? It looked like the perfect time to try Thaitalian “Cooking Duet”.



We had never been to this restaurant before so we sought to maximize our fusion experience by ordering things that were a true combination of Thai and Italian cuisine. For an appetizer we had the Mozzarella Rolls. These were a spring roll wrap filled with Mozzarella cheese and dip of a spicy tomato sauce. Other than being incredibly hot (the mozzarella could be described as molten) coming out of the kitchen, they were quite tasty. We were also given an olive tapenade on toast as a starter. For our entrées we had the Pad Thai Pizza and the Thai Pesto Spaghetti. The Pizza had broccoli, green onions and pad Thai sauce, but the mozzarella cheese on the pizza was not melted enough. I still liked it quite a bit, it just could have been better. The spaghetti was really flavorful blending a pesto sauce with a bit of Thai chili and garlic. The bell peppers really hit the right note for me. The heat of the spice kept me from eating the whole plate, but someone with a heartier palette would have surely eaten it all. We had enough left over to make a nice meal for lunch the next day. Fusion restaurants are often a gimmick that while interesting, do not end up a go-to spot for regular meals. Thaitalian was pleasant enough that it just may make it into Family of Food’s rotation.


49 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 585-8808

Hidden Treasure

There are excellent restaurants in Las Vegas one would never know about unless someone told you.


LOTUS OF SIAM is one of these. Johnathon Gold food critic for Gourmet magazine called it the best Thai restaurant in North America. That got my attention! This little gem of a restaurant is located in the Commercial Center about a mile East of the strip. I have never seen an ad for the restaurant and I am not sure if they are even listed in the phone book, but the word of mouth goodwill and advertising couldn't be any louder or stronger.

LOTUS OF SIAM is open for lunch and dinner. At lunch they have a small buffet but I would definitely recommend ordering a la carte from the menu to really enjoy the variety of dishes offered. At dinner ask about specials, the dishes are well described and the servers are very knowledgeable.

Some of my favorite dishes are the Mee Krob, Prawns in a blanket. fresh ginger dishes and a shrimp dish I had the last time I was there where the shrimp are served with the shells on the side deep fried. This was recommended by a couple from Los Angeles, there for the first time and couldn't stop raving about the food. For dessert fried banana , coconut ice cream and mango sticky rice. Yummmmy!

For dinner call to make a reservation.


953 E. Sahara Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89104 (3/4 East of Sahara Hotel) Tel. (702)735-3033