Grabbed lunch today at Mr. Tofu on Spring Mountain. This is in the long Pagoda'd strip mall just west of Valley View on the southbound side. Much more mixed crowd as you might expect.

The menu is, as you might imagine, heavy with tofu soups. I wasn't feeling soup two days in a row, so I ordered the dolsot bibimbap. I've had much better bibimbap (and this wasn't chock full of meat either), so I definitely regret not having ordered the tofu soup. But this was fine and not particularly expensive, so whatever, just don't expect to be wowed.

Banchan. Kimchi, greens w sesame oil, fish cakes, spicy pickled cucumbers, and radish. I think it was just those 5. Could have been a 6th. Middle of the road banchan. Didn't love or hate anything.

I think bbb was $9 and the dolsot was $10. Most of the menu was similarly priced. Server was friendly and we chatted about food for a bit. He recommended Oyshi for sushi, and that if I want good Korean, I should go to LA. Will definitely go back to try the tofu.

My favorite kbbq is DJK on Spring Mountain, but really there are lots of decent options and afaik no superlative ones. Mother's and Honey Pig are both fine, too. I'd say DJK has the best meats, Mother's has the best banchan, and Honey Pig distinguishes itself by making an awesome fried rice sort of thing with the scraps left over on the griddle to finish out your meal. (Disclaimer: I moved away a couple years ago so this info may be out of date or there may be new, better places now.)

1) How is Lotus of Siam lunch buffet? Should I/can I get reservations?

2) What's the best time to hit Peppermill for breakfast? I'm thinking about 4AM Sunday.

3) I get in to PH on Saturday night, anywhere I can grab a quick but good bite? Or should I just go to In-N-Out?

1) Don't get the buffet at Lotus, order off the menu. You will need reservations for dinner but I've been able to walk in at lunch.

2) When you're hungry. Peppermill serves breakfast 24h.

3) Earl of Sandwich in PH.

Similar to you, on my way to Fremont from midstrip, I stopped at two places to eat:

1) eat las vegas ( http://eatdtlv.com ) 707 Carson St. Went for b'fast

2) fat choy ( inside eureka casino, sahara just east of LVB ). Went for shortrib grilled cheese, burgers, bao

Both were excellent.

two or so blocks away from Rio is Fat Greek (15 min walk?)- had lunch there cause of this thread.....MAN was it good! Totally recommend- fresh and tasty, and service was A+ to boot.

ps- SO exciting to see the WSOP being set up...cant wait!

Any thoughts on Del Mar Deli in the South Point?

Also will be coming from Anthem area to Rio daily during WSOP,
any real good breakfast spots, perhaps with bakery?

Thanks

Best (cheap) Pasta options?

http://www.yelp.com/biz/noras-cuisin...n%20Restaurant

Nora's on Flamingo

Been on an XLB kick lately. Went with a friend the other night to China Mama (same shopping ctr as Chada, which had a 45 min wait ) and got the XLB, crispy beef, and sizzling tofu. It was all fine, nothing to write home about. Wouldn't discourage anyone from going. Went solo tonight to Spicy City in the big ass Chinatown mall on Spring Mtn (4215). XLB was better than at CM for sure, but still not amazing, and at least a couple were already leaking when they were brought over. Ma Po Tofu left something to be desired. Had to call them out for giving me the (really limited and terrible) white people menu. They gave me the Chinese menu and assured me that it wasn't a white people menu, it was the "express menu." It's not like I was getting takeout, so either it was the white people menu or they were trying to express my ass out of there, which is unlikely since there were like 3 other groups in there and 15 empty tables. Tea at CM was way better than that at Spicy City.

OK but surrounded by better. If you're in a hurry or you're going to eat in the sportsbook, sure. Otherwise Steak & Shake, Garden Buffet, Big Sur Seafood Bar, and Coronado Cafe are all steps away.

Nora's is ok I guess. Other than the steak and arugula bruscetta, which is legit awesome, the rest is pretty mediocre but hard to argue with the price.

I've only had breakfast there and it was quite good. The things that stood out: salt bagel toasted with cream cheese, danish and a breakfast sandwich with bacon, egg & cheese.

Gave The Fat Greek a try this weekend thanks to this recommendation, definitely enjoyed it. The Dolemades were very good; we ordered the cold ones on the menu (rice only), but he waitress told us there was a hot beef & rice version available. We switched to the hot version and thought they were great. Got hummus as well and it was tasty, if a smallish portion.

I got a gyro and the wife got chicken shawerma for sandwiches. Gyro was a solid "B", shawerma was a little better than that. Dolemades were the best thing we tried, but the whole meal was good. Came to just under $40 IIRC with tip.

The restaurant is in the shopping center @ Decatur and Flamingo - google maps said it's 1.5 miles from the Rio, so I am guessing it's more of a 20+ minute walk from the Rio - not sure I'd say it's worth doing in the summer. Great lunch option if you are driving and nearby though.

~~~

Now, to pay forward the new restaurant recommendation. The wife and I were in Summerlin and looking for lunch a couple weeks ago. Yelp gave Windy City Beef n Dogs 4.5+ stars on 100+ reviews, so we gave it a try. Loved it.

The place features staple Chicago foods, specifically chicago hot dogs (with the peppers, relish, celery salt, tomato etc), polish sausages and "chicago beef" sandwiches. I only recently became aware of this type of sandwich - it's basically Chicago's answer to the Philly Cheesesteak. Similar long hoagie roll stuffed with thin slices of beef. The beef isn't (I don't think) cooked on a flat top though, but rather steamed or boiled in a way where the juices are collected at the bottom (edit: looked it up, it's roasted). Then the juice is either ladled onto the sandwich, or the entire sandwich can be dipped in the juice. The sandwich is finished with hot or sweet peppers, plus cheese if you want it.

I got a beef and sausage sandwich - a chicago beef sandwich as described above with a hot itallian sausage link also in the sandwich. Very, very tasty. I got it dipped in the juice so it was very messy, and probably included 2 days worth of salt, but the beef was tender, the whole thing had a ton of flavor, and the hot pepper relish really added a nice kick. The wife got a chicago dog which was one of the better versions of that style hot dog either of us had ever had. Each topping was fresh and tasted great. They also have homemade fries, again very good.

The staff was super friendly too - they brought over a little bowl of the sherbert for our 1 year old, checked to see how we liked everything, etc. Also, prices were plenty reasonable. My beef+sausage sandwich I think was the most expensive thing on the menu at 8.95, plus it's 2 to add fries and a soda. A hot dog with fries is under 5, and you can get two chicago dogs + fries for 7.

Again, this is in Summerlin so this is definitely more of a locals play - I can't say it's worth venturing off-strip to go check it out. But for the locals, highly recommend. Also, there's a 2nd location in Henderson that also serves Chicago deep dish and thin crust pizza, looking forward to trying that out too.

I'm going to make a point to try that Fat Greek place this summer, thanks!

Windy City is awesome. Beef sandwich with hot link + hot giardinera + cheese + dipped = incredibly tasty heart attack.

Besides Fat Greek, any good recommendations that would work with WSOP dinner break?

I'll have a car, but you only get an hour or an hour and a half, so preferably 30 minutes from arrival to leaving, and less than a 15 minute drive from the back area of the Rio to give us enough time to get there, eat, and get back.

Rollin smoke

The AYCE sushi game gains a new competitor Sunday (6/1) when JaydeFuzion, the Asian-fusion restuarant at the M Resort, introduces AYCE sushi + free sake for $24.95, provided you eat at the sushi bar (and not at one of their restaurant tables). (The $24.95 price is a few bucks cheaper than most other AYCE sushi restaurants in Las Vegas.)

You might (or might not) recall that JaydeFuzion's chef Seonkyoung Longest was the winner of the Restaurant Express bake-off on Food Network in which she bested several competitors and won the privilege of operating a restaurant at the M.

Perhaps JaydeFuzion realized AYCE sushi restaurants such as Oyshi, Goyemon, Xtreme Sushi, etc. are their main competition (and, up to now, are all significantly less costly than a meal at JaydeFuzion).

The beef is soaking in the juice the whole time. Of you get it dipped they grab the sandwich and dip it into the juice.

DA beef, DA Bears, Ditka

During WSOP breaks my go to place is Thai noodle house on spring mtn and Wynn. Another rec mentioned here somewhere. Might be better of calling an order to go as they have limited space.

FYI there's a Marche Bacchus Groupon out now

Man whenever I'm watching food network I always start salivating when I see the dipped Italian sandwiches - definitely gonna have to give it a try

Went here last night based on Yelp reviews because I didn't feel like driving out to Rainbow and Windmill to hit up Oyshi.

Very very solid, compares very favorably to Oyshi. Great vibe/decor, fish was comparable (my gut says better than Oyshi, but I would want to eat them side-by-side before saying for sure), fish:rice ratio was great. Really really enjoyed it, and it's super close to everything. Highly recommend.

Next time you're looking for AYCE nigiri, check this place out.

Specifics: oysters had a fairly unique and spicy granita which I really enjoyed. Ginger salad dressing was a little much for me, and wife and I both agreed that rolls left something to be desired. Would definitely just rock the nigiri next time, though the bulgogi was reasonable, and there was a miso slow-roasted pork that I kind of wanted to try but didn't have room for without being a total glutton.

Super pleased with BLT burger.

Fried Pickles
Tex-Mex Mac N Cheese
Curly Fries
Lamb Tandoori Burger
I-80 burger

Sides were good, burgers were great. Everything was even good this afternoon when we snacked on all the leftovers (there was quite a bit leftover).