A Wren Says

While I could have very easily come to Vegas to gamble away my savings, instead I took a chance on the restaurant scene. Here are two of the restaurants I visited while in town.  

With Love Always

With Love Always is an assuming burger joint. That’s a lie. You certainly know something is up when you arrive 5 minutes before opening and there is already a line. This counterservice burger restaurant specializes in smashburgers..

I ordered the classic.

Truth be told, a smashed burger patty is my favorite type. I was not surprised at all to enjoy this treat. You ever heard of the Maillard reaction? Yeah, that all over the burger, with yeah that is all over the burger, with the thinnest pieces of the patty turning into crispy delicious meat candythinnest pieces of meats turning into crispy delicious meat candy. I ordered fries, which I imagine are delicious when hot, but I delayed eating my meal. There isn’t much space inside, so we took it all to go. Cold fries are never good, so I won’t fault them for that. I will say that they are thin and seasoned. At the optimal temperature, I would have really liked them. And the soft serve? Well, it’s soft serve. But because it is December I had it dipped in the seasonal mint chocolate. I enjoyed it. I wish they could drip the coating into the cone so I could enjoy it the whole time I’m eating the treat.

Would I go again? Yes, absolutely. Mind you, the burger itself costs $11, so at least it lived up to the price. At this price, it’s best to keep this is a special treat. Your arteries will thank you, but maybe not your taste buds.

Best Friend

Inside the Park MGM is Roy Choi’s restaurant. Walking up to the location, we were greeted with bright glowing yellow décor. Inside the waiting area, it felt youthful, fun, and bright. But as we were taken to our seats, we entered a dimly lit dining room with hip hop music in the air.

The meals are served family style, so we ordered multiple plates for table. (Be mindful of this if you are the type who is unwilling to share.) I ordered a Pink Fizz to start, a watermelon based mocktail that gave me more hope in the concept. Too often, mocktails taste like just sickly sweet fruit juice poured into a glass. And often, that’s been with a citrusy kick. This was balanced with a true watermelon flavor that surprised you. It tasted ripened instead of artificially made, and was rounded by the fizz of sparkling water, and served in a rimmed glass. It was delicious, but let’s get in to the dishes we ordered.

Here all of the dishes we ordered

• Sticky ribs- These were fall of the bone tender. The sauce was good, but the flesh itself lacked flavor. This dish came out last, and it comes last in my rankings as well.
• Street corn- Not bad, just not my taste. It was heavy on the mayo and crema. Maybe if I were having a barbecue or picnic, this would be a good alternative for coleslaw, but on the plate that day, wasn’t my favorite.

• Slippery shrimp- I think the theme here is that I just wasn’t feeling creamy dishes that day. I could have done with less sauce and more crunch on this fried shrimp dish. However, the shrimp was perfectly cooked. But if they were to serve this as a sandwich with a side of fries, I would eat it up (literally).
• Bread- This was complimentary. But it was a yeast roll with salt on top. My dinner mates used it to make sandwiches with their rib meat. It was bread. In hindsight I could have made a shrimp sandwich
• Kimchi fried rice. If you like fried rice with a little spice, you will like this. It was not overly salty like a soy sauce heavy variety could be. Perhaps because I recently tried to make my own kimchi fried rice and failed, I enjoyed this even more and will bow down to the mastery of Mr Choi.
• Chicken wings- There was a dry seasoning on this that was delicious and coated my fingers. The chicken itself, under the seasoned crispy skin was flavorful, too. This gets the number 2 spot for me.
• Eggplant schnitzel- By far my favorite. Eggplant can be weird. The skin can throw off the texture of the whole dish and other times the flesh can get so mushy it elicits a gag response. And yet, this was so good. So so good. I would go back to the restaurant just for this dish.

I would love to go back to Best Friend and try more of the menu. And overall, I know Vegas is fully of amazing restaurants, I hope to return with more time and a much more extensive dining itinerary.

What Vegas restaurants would you recommend I try next time I’m in town?