The best Thai restaurant in the U.S.??

"The single best Thai restaurant in North America"
- Jonathan Gold, Gourmet Magazine

We were in Las Vegas, looking for a place to have lunch, when I recalled reading about Lotus of Siam years ago. I had not visited because I didn't have a rental car at my disposal on my past few trips - but since we did have a vehicle this time, we decided to venture forth and try to locate this famous place.

If you think it looks pretty unprepossessing, you're completely right. It's located about a mile off the Strip, in a dingy strip mall with Korean restaurants and an Asian senior center. Everyone in the car was ragging on my restaurant choice when we parked, and I have to admit that I was having my doubts.

We walked in to a completely packed restaurant with a 30 minute wait for a table. This was at 11:55 am on a Wednesday in Vegas. With baby in tow, the wait was beyond us so we ordered a number of items to go. Clearly it was very popular and successful.

Now the specialty of the restaurant is northern Thai, or isaarn, cuisine. Unfortunately, we just ordered what Thais would consider regular lunch food - pad see eew, chicken panaang, fried rice and noodles. And it was all just ok - adequate but nothing to rave about. A touch sweet on some of the dishes (btw this is usually the biggest complaint that Thais have about Thai food in the U.S. - it's usually sweetened up for American palates).

We did try their mango and sticky rice, which was touted in all the reviews I had read. This is one of my favorite dishes and all I can say is, meh. It was gussied up with extra flavors that detracted from the authenticity. Although we still gobbled it all up...

I don't know if our reaction was due to the simple food we ordered or Jonathan Gold's lack of expertise on Thai food. I'm inclined to think it was the former and am hoping to give it another try the next time I'm back in Las Vegas.

Not many memorable meals

One of my travel companions in Las Vegas last week was my 13 month old niece. This greatly limits fine dining opportunities, especially when her usual bedtime is 7:30 pm. For the very first time ever, we would be done with a full meal (including dessert) by 7 pm. In Vegas!

We had a nice dinner at Noodles, the Asian place in Bellagio one night. I had a very good Hainanese Chicken Rice, one of my favorite dishes.



Another night we dined at Olives, also in the Bellagio. I had always envied those people who had one of the coveted outdoor tables on the patio. I now know the secret of scoring one of those few tables - show up at 5 pm when the restaurant opens. Yes, 5 pm. That's when we were seated! But the view was beautiful, the fountains were awesome and my niece happily sat through a 2 hour meal. And like I said before, we were done by 7 pm!

Jean-Phillipe's Patisserie

There was a lovely new patisserie near the Spa Tower lifts at the Bellagio that we patronized multiple times every day. We would start with breakfast drinks, as well as pastries. They made a fabulous nutella-stuffed brioche that was even better than a standard pain au chocolate. And a mean breakfast panini, filled with ham, cheese and egg.

Later in the day, there were crepes, more paninis and a beautiful dessert selection, although the key lime tart proved to be a bit of a disappointment.

The most impressive part of the shop was a huge waterfall of milk, white and dark chocolate that flowed on multiple levels and down to chocolate pools on the bottom. The accompanying certificate showed that it was certified as the world's largest chocolate fountain by Guinness World Records.

Alas, it was fully enclosed so you couldn't stick your fingers in for a taste. I don't know if the photo does it justice, but it was pretty cool. I stood there and watched it flow for quite a while.

Our penthouse suite

You might have gathered that I'm a big fan of nice hotels. And suite upgrades. The penthouse suite at the Bellagio was pretty good - about equivalent to the suite at the Wynn that we stayed at a few years ago, but not as good as the incomparably crazy suite at the Venetian in Macau last summer. Yes, the suites are most over-the-top in high-end gambling establishments.



Our suite at the Bellagio was about 2,500 square feet with a master bedroom with two complete bathrooms (so you never have to see each other) and two huge closets.




And a second bedroom that had a paltry single (albeit large) bathroom. We also had a wet bar, a dining area and a sitting area with one of the most comfortable hotel couches I've ever sat on.

The final touch for my happiness? An extensive collection of bathroom amenities both necessary (the usual stuff) and unnecessary (a new loofah every day?! bath salts?). Which were generously refilled. All this I happily contemplated as I slid into my hot bath filled with a whole bottle of bubble bath every night...aaah...

What Happens in Vegas...

I spent a few days in Las Vegas with my parents last week - I know I keep reading about how everyone is canceling their meetings and conferences, and how Vegas is suffering tremendously from the current economic climate. But hey, the place was crowded. Seriously packed for a midweek trip.






We stayed at the Bellagio, which I haven't stayed at for a few years. Here's a tip for those of you going to Vegas... book the cheapest room that you can at a very nice hotel. And then when you check in, make some vague indication of interest in an upgrade. You will get a really nice suite for WAY less than the rack rate. This is a strategy I've employed for my last few stays and I'm quite convinced of its effectiveness.

So we ended up in a penthouse suite in the new Spa Tower at the Bellagio. The best thing about the new building? You don't have to walk through the casino to get to the guest elevators. I used to hate that about their old tower. And the new building is right next to the Conservatory, which is my favorite part of the Bellagio.



Every time we left the room, instead of the classic Vegas mix of stale air and cigarettes, we smelled daffodils and hyacinths instead. Much more pleasant. The conservatory was decked out for spring, with gorgeous beds of tulips in bright colors, and a little greenhouse with live butterflies inside. And giant watering cans shooting arcs of water all over the place (hey, it's Vegas!)