Another new year has come and gone and so has another trip to Vegas!  Vegas is and always will be, one of my all time favorite getaways.  The attraction of a 24/7 lifestyle, unlimited black jack tables, Wheel of Fortune, and the food seem like a great way to spend three days of my life!

This year, we seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time eating, snapping photos of our food, and talking about flavors, ingredients, wine pairings, etc.  We ate non-stop and ordered as many things as we could everywhere we went.  We had some successful meals and some not so successful ones.  Here is an overview of our best Vegas bites from 2017!

searsucker at Caesar's Palace

searsucker is a Brian Malarkey restaurant located in Caesear's Palace.  We stopped here for a late night snack after seeing Elton John's Million Dollar Piano.  Here are the plates we shared (left to right):  house made biscuits with whipped butter and infused honey, sliders with bacon, cheddar, chipotle, and crispy onions, and mac & cheese with Vermont cheddar, wagon wheels, and apple wood smoked bacon.

The best bite of the evening was the biscuits! They were a little dense but super buttery and just yummy!  The whipped butter was salty and the honey added an interesting bite.  I ate my share of the biscuits and part of my husband's as well.  I just can't pass up a biscuit, no matter how hard I try!

The worst bite was probably the sliders.  The meat itself was a bit over cooked and needed some salt, but all of the rest of the components were delicious.  The bacon was cooked perfectly and tasted amazing with the chipotle cream.  

For me, the mac & cheese fell right in the middle, but I think this was my husband's favorite dish.  The wagon wheels were fun to eat and the cheese and bacon together were delicious.  I loved the crispy top, but the dish had an uncooked white wine flavor that had an odd after taste.

Would I return to searsucker?  The answer is definitely yes!  searsucker is known for their short rib, so I definitely would like to give that a try, and of course, order another round of those biscuits!

MESA Grill at Caesar's Palace

If you have had a chance to read some of my other posts, you know that Mesa Grill is pretty much my all time favorite restaurant.  I can't even describe the food without my mouth watering!  It is just something you have to try.  The restaurant may not look like much from the outside, but walk in, order some tequilla and sit down and order the Tiger Shrimp and Roasted Corn Tamale (not shown above), New Mexican Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin, and Grilled Lamb Porterhouse Chops.  

My tequilla drink of choice was a smoked peach margarita.  Fresh peach and lime juice made this one of the best margaritas I have had.  My husband ordered the pork and said that my version is getting very close to the Bobby Flay original.  This pork is so tender and the combination of sweet and spicy just makes your mouth feel good!  My lamb was served with a serrano chimichurri and a chorizo goat cheese tamale (special request).  This is the best lamb I have had.  It tasted like a steak from Maestros - tender, buttery, melt in your mouth!  

Dessert was good, but not super memorable compared to the rest of the meal.  I cannot remember all of the components (I recall rasberry gelato) so I'm not even going to try and describe it.

I will go back to Mesa every chance I get!  If you are in Vegas and you don't go, you are a fool.  THAT Is how good this food is!

LAGO by Julian Serrano at Bellagio

Lago is Julian Serrano's first Italian restaurant.  The restaurant is beautiful with amazing glass and art work throughout.  It overlooks Bellagio's fountains and there is an outside eating area which would definitely be fun in the warmer weather!  The menu is mostly small plates, but they also offer a handful of entrees.  The restaurant is loud and a little difficult to carry on a conversation.  Luckily, I spent so much time eating that conversation wasn't really necessary!

As you can see from the pictures above, I somehow only took pictures of our drinks.   Once I started eating, I just could not bring myself to put the fork down and grab the camera.  Seriously, that is how much I enjoyed the food!

Since the drinks are so proudly displayed, I'll give you a quick summary.  I started with the Cucumber Mist - Grey Goose La Poire Vodka, Pallini Limoncello, Blood Orange Syrup, Fresh Lime Juice, Cucumber Sparkling Soda, Fresh Cucumber and Blueberries. My husband had the Sicilian Gin and Tonic (not featured above).  His drink came with a dried orange peel that tasted exactly like a shortbread cookie.  OMG was it delicious!  

The wine was a recommendation from a waiter - Damilano Barolo, 2011.  The wine was perfect with every plate we shared and it went down so quickly, we ended up ordering two bottles.  

Now, I'm sure you are asking WHY I have a picture of a cup of coffee.  Was the coffee good, sure, but the cup was so cute I just had to take a picture.  And if you life up the cup, there is a cute blue circle underneath!  LOVE!

The meal - UNBELIEVABLE!  I loved every dish!  This restaurant gave my favorite MESA Grill a run for its money.  Completely different food but the same memorable experience.  I picked it based on the menu and my past experience at Julian Serrano's Tapas at the Aria.  Every bite of every plate was a party in your mouth.  You literally just savor every bite and every flavor.  I can't find the words to describe this food.  The best thing I can do is use a line from one of my favorite movies, Big Night, "...when my uncle, in Rome, at this restaurant, makes this, you eat and then, you go [ugh]  and you kill yourself.  You have to kill yourself after you eat this; you can't live!"