Delmonico Steakhouse

If there is one thing Vegas does right, it is steaks.  There are several really good steakhouses that I have dined at during my many visits to the city.  Prior to this trip, my favorite steakhouse in Vegas was Carnevino.  I made sure that I once again dined at Carnevino on this visit, but I also made reservations to try out one of it's neighbors, Delmonico Steakhouse.

Emeril Lagasse's steakhouse was rated one of the 10 Best Steakhouses in Las Vegas by Las Vegas Weekly and the Las Vegas Sun.  In a city with no shortage of steakhouses, this is high praise indeed.  The night we visited Delmonico was our last night in Vegas, so we were eagerly anticipating this meal on our final night in town.

We arrived a little early for our reservation, but we were seated immediately.  The wait staff quickly took our drink orders after they gave us the rundown of the nightly specials.  My wife decided to start with the gumbo, while I started with the organic baby mixed greens salad.  While we waited for our starters, the very attentive wait staff also brought out some very light and croissant-like roles.  

Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo

When my wife's shrimp and andouille gumbo arrived, I was slightly jealous that I had not ordered it as well.  She said it was the best gumbo she has ever had.  She did let me try a bite and it was an impressive gumbo indeed.  My salad had a sherry vinaigrette dressing, shaved manchego cheese, tomatoes, red onion, and creole spice croutons.  It was a really good salad, but I would have preferred that it had more of the delicious croutons.

Baby Mixed Greens Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette

For our entrees, we both ordered the filet and shared a twice-baked potato and grits.  Our filets were nicely charred and topped with a spiced butter that was extremely savory.  The flavor of the steak was delectable and it was one of the best filets I have ever had.  My wife agreed with my assessment and absolutely loved her medium rare delicacy. 

Filet

Not to be outdone, the sides were impressive in their own right.  The twice-baked potato was cooked to perfection with just the right amount of bacon and Vermont cheddar.  As good as the twice-baked potato was, the grits were the best grits I have ever had.  The white cheddar and bacon were the perfect add-ons to the amazing grits.

Bacon and Vermont Cheddar Grits and Twice Baked Potato

We could not leave the restaurant without sampling the desserts.  I ordered the pecan pie and my wife ordered the white chocolate macadamia nut bread pudding.  My pecan pie had an oatmeal crust that gave it an interesting texture.  The French vanilla ice cream and the caramel sauce were the perfect match for this dessert.  I could not have been more pleased with my selection of dessert.  My wife was disappointed in her bread pudding because it was somewhat dry.  Our waitress apologized and brought out some vanilla ice cream to go on top of it.  My wife said the ice cream improved the taste and texture of the dessert, but she agreed with me that the pecan pie was the better of the two.

Pecan Pie

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Bread Pudding

Despite my wife's dessert being somewhat disappointing, I cannot say enough good things about my experience at Delmonico Steakhouse.  Having tried Mario Batali's Carnevino and Wolfgang Puck's Cut in the same hotel complex, I can honestly say that Emeril Lagasse's Delmonico is on par with Carnevino and considerably better than Cut.  The food was top notch and the service was outstanding.  My wife and I absolutely loved this place and my next visit to Vegas will include a trip to this outstanding restaurant.

Delmonico Steakhouse
http://www.emerilsrestaurants.com/delmonico-steakhouse
Livin the Good Life Rating = 5

Holsteins

During a visit to Vegas in 2013, I had the pleasure of eating lunch at Public House inside the Venetian Hotel and Casino.  We enjoyed the food at Public House and they had plenty of TVs for us to watch the March Madness games.  I heard from a friend that Block 16 Restaurants, the group that owns Public House, also had a burger joint called Holsteins.  Since I am always up for a good burger, my wife and I ventured down to The Cosmopolitan to give Holsteins a try.

Seasoned Popcorn

We arrived to a busy weekday lunch crowd, but we only had to wait a few minutes before we were seated.  Our waiter brought us waters and seasoned popcorn right away while we perused the menu.  The menu had several delicious-sounding appetizers and "adult" milkshakes.  We decided to start with the buttermilk onion rings and they arrived before we had even decided which entree to order.  The crunchy buttermilk batter was absolutely amazing and they were served with a nice Chipotle aioli dip as well.  These onion rings were unquestionably some of the best onion rings I have ever had.  

Buttermilk Onion Rings with Chipotle Aioli 

Dining Area at Holsteins

Holsteins menu had several appetizing burgers to choose from, including the $28 Billionaire burger that included Foie Gras as a topping.  I decided to pass on that particular burger because I once had a distasteful dining experience involving Foie Gras.  For my entree, I ordered the Gold Standard burger with fries.  The Gold Standard was a dry aged sirloin burger with smoked bacon, aged goat cheddar cheese, tomato confit, baby arugula, and garlic-chive aioli.  The burger was very juicy and the toppings gave it a very unique taste.  This burger gets a thumbs up, but the fries were very bland and a complete disappointment.  Hindsight is 20-20, but I should have just substituted the fries for more onion rings.

The Gold Standard with Fries

My wife had the Maine lobster roll sliders with cole slaw and gave them her stamp of approval.  She allowed me to try a bite and I thought the toasted mini-hot dog bun was a perfect fit for the lobster.  I am usually not a huge fan of lobster rolls, but I would have eaten these any day of the week.

Mini Lobster Rolls and Cole Slaw

Holsteins ended up being an perfect choice for lunch.  The food, with the exception of the fries, was much better than your average burger joint.  The service was good and we did not have to wait more than a few minutes for either our appetizer or our entrees.  Holsteins was a little on the pricey side, so I certainly wouldn't consider it a great value.  Even though it was a little pricey, I would certainly go back because I want to try some of their other burgers.

Holsteins
http://www.holsteinslv.com
Livin the Good Life Rating = 3

Serendipity 3

Serendipity 3

Breakfast is my wife's favorite meal of the day.  I myself am not a "breakfast person", but I do make exceptions when I am with her and I don't have to make it myself.  While visiting Vegas, we noticed that Caesar's Palace had a Serendipity 3.  My wife is a huge fan of it's New York restaurant, so we decided to try out the Vegas location for breakfast.

Dining area of Serendipity 3

The Vegas location of Serendipity 3 is located in front of Caesar's Palace, just off Las Vegas Boulevard.  On the morning we dined at the restaurant, our internal clocks were still on Central Standard Time and we woke up around 7:00 a.m. (which from my vacationing experiences there, is very early by my standards).  We arrived right after they opened for they day and sat down to look at the menu.

Frozen Hot Chocolate

I am usually a fan of coffee in the morning, but I decided to forgo it on this occasion and split the frozen hot chocolate for two with my wife.  This was a drink that we had shared at the NYC location and we both really enjoyed it.  I was pleased that the frozen hot chocolate at the Vegas location was just as good as the one in New York.  The drink is quite large, but we managed to finish it off without any problem.

Cresentwich with breakfast potatoes

Since I was not super-hungry on this particular morning, I decided to just get the breakfast crescentwich with potatoes.  The cresentwich was very filling, but it would have been better with more bacon and less eggs.  The potatoes had excellent seasoning, but mine were slightly over-cooked.  My wife wife was also in the mood for a light breakfast and got the fruit platter with yogurt and granola.  She said she really liked her breakfast, but like myself, thought the frozen hot chocolate was the highlight of our visit.

Fruit platter with yogurt

Our breakfast at Serendipity hit the spot and gave us the needed kick start to a day of shopping for my wife and a day of gambling for myself.  The service was very good and the restaurant had a very casual feel to it.  Although it was a little pricey for my standards, it was pretty comparable to most other Vegas restaurants on the strip.  The frozen hot chocolate here is certainly worthy of a return trip.

Serendipity 3

http://www.caesarspalace.com/restaurants/serendipity-3.html#.UyUAFygf9CM

Livin the Good Life Rating = 2

Soulfish Grill

Good seafood in DFW is hard to find.  I have tried dozens of places and only a handful of them have been decent.  I have been disappointed time and time again, so I was starting to believe that it would be easier to find the Ark of the Covenant than a good seafood joint in the Dallas area.  Soulfish Grill was recently recommended to me, so I thought I would give it a try.  

Dining area and bar at Soulfish Grill

My wife and I happened to be in the Richardson area around lunchtime one day, so we popped into Soulfish Grill.  The menu has seafood appetizers, grilled seafood, PoBoys, seafood based salads, soups, fried seafood baskets, etc. We both liked various types of seafood, but on this particular day I was in the mood for fried fish.  Since I am a big guy, I went ahead and ordered the three piece fish basket.  

3 piece fish basket

When my basket arrived, I immediately knew that I had made a mistake.  Each fried fillet was approximately ten to twelve inches in length.  One fillet would have sufficed for a lunch meal, but I had three in my basket.  I knew from the first bite that I was going to enjoy this meal.  The fish was flaky and the cornmeal batter was superb.  This fried fish was one of the best I have had in DFW.  The tartar sauces and fries were better than expected as well, but the hush puppies were terrific.  I was pleased that I had decided to forgo the cole slaw and substituted it for extra hush puppies.  The hush puppies were dense, but thoroughly cooked and flavorful.  I somehow finished off two of the three pieces, but despite my best efforts, I could not finish the third piece.

Grilled Fish Tacos

My wife had the grilled fish tacos with cole slaw and rice.  She gave me a bite of each and they were also pleasing to the palate.  We were both so full, that we couldn't even think of eating dessert.  Our first visit to Soulfish Grill will not be our last.  The food was terrific and the service matched the food.  There are several items on the menu that I want to try, but it will be hard for me to pass up the fried fish basket again

Soulfish Grill
http://www.soulfishgrill.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Delaney's Irish Pub and Restaurant

Following church one day, the family and I decided we wanted to have breakfast for lunch.  We went through the names of our usual suspects, but decided we wanted to try a somewhere we haven't been before.  After trying to think of a place in McKinney where we had not dined, my wife reminded me that Delaney's Irish Pub  served breakfast on weekends.  Since the restaurant was close to the house, I started driving that direction.

As we were about to enter the restaurant, they had a sign up that said "Voted Best Breakfast in McKinney".  I am not sure what publication voted them the "Best Breakfast in McKinney, but it did serve to set the bar a little higher in the expectations department.  We were warmly greeted by the staff and they quickly set us up with a table and a high chair.  Our waitress was very attentive and  brought us out some very rich coffee while we were perusing the menu.  

One Of My Three Breakfast Dates

Delaney's menu offered most of the traditional breakfast items you would find at a breakfast joint, including several types of omelettes, pancakes, waffles, skillet breakfasts, French toast, etc.  Several of the items looked really good, but I ultimately chose the chicken and waffles.  It turns out that I made a great decision.  The waffles were semi-sweet with a great texture and the chicken strips on top were obviously hand-battered in house prior to going in the fryer.  After pouring a liberal amount of syrup on the chicken and waffles, I dug in and was impressed with their version of this Southern delicacy. This was unquestionably the best chicken and waffles I have had inside the city limits of McKinney.

Best Chicken and Waffles I Have Had In McKinney

My wife enjoyed her waffle combo with scrambled eggs and bacon.  Both of my daughters cleaned their plates of pancakes as well.  My oldest shared her bacon with me and it was crispy and flavorful.  Everyone in my family left Delaney's full and ready for a nap.

Kids Pancakes

I could really kick myself for never eating breakfast at Delaney's before this visit.  I have lived less than a half mile from this place since it opened.  We will certainly be going back to this place that is practically in my own backyard.  The service is outstanding and the breakfast is one of the top three that I have had in McKinney.  Next time, I might just walk to Delaney's to help burn the calories off on the walk home!


Delaney's Irish Pub and Restaurant
http://www.delaneystx.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating =3

Lockhart Smokehouse Plano

Lockhart Smokehouse finally opened up it's long awaited downtown Plano location on February 12th.  I can't remember a Collin County restaurant opening that was more eagerly awaited than this second location of Lockhart Smokehouse.  It was originally supposed to open in the late Fall of 2013 before being pushed back to January of 2014.  January came and went without it opening, but the doors finally opened in February.

Waiting to order smoked meat

I have visited the original Lockhart Smokehouse location in the Bishop Arts District and blogged about how my family had enjoyed the barbecue there.  We tried to dine at this new Plano location on the first Sunday that it was open, but we arrived to a line that was 40 deep outside the restaurant.  Since we had just been to church and had the kids with us, we decided to forgo the wait and ended up dining at another downtown Plano restaurant called Urban Crust.

Bar at Lockhart Smokehouse Plano

On the second weekend it was open, I ended up meeting my brother and a buddy at Lockhart Smokehouse.  We arrived about ten minutes prior to opening, but still found that there were twenty people lined up along the sidewalk awaiting the 11:00 a.m. opening.  Once the restaurant opened, the line moved quickly and the pitmaster, Will Fleischman, even tossed some burnt ends our way so we could sample as we waited to order.  I wanted to sample a variety of items, so I ordered 1/2 pound of brisket, 1/2 pound of ribs, 1/2 pound of turkey, a Kreuz jalapeno cheese sausage link, and the habanero mac n cheese.

Will Fleischman slicing beef

We sat down in upstairs loft area and dug in like wolves on a fresh kill.  The brisket was from the fatty end and full of flavor.  It had an outstanding bark, a nice smoke ring, and melted in your mouth like butter.  The ribs were good as well with a terrific rub on them and a nice smoky flavor.  They were somewhat tough on this visit, but the flavor was right.  The turkey was very moist with a Cajun seasoning used as a rub.  Although I could not taste much smoke on the turkey, it still had a nice flavor to it.  

Kreuz Sausage, Pork Spare Ribs, Brisket, and Turkey

Since most Texans are familiar with the taste of Kreuz sausage, I will just say that the jalapeno cheese link tasted just like you would expect.  The only complaint I have about the sausage at Lockhart Smokehouse is the price, which is $5.25.  You can order the same sausage directly from Kreuz Market and have them shipped to you for $2.20 each.  My brother was kind enough to let me try some of his pork chop that he ordered and it was impressive as well.  Perhaps the biggest surprise in the taste department was the habanero mac n cheese.  When I took the first bite, I thought it was rather mild.  By the time, I took my second bite, the delayed impact of the habanero had hit at full force.  It was very cheesy, but I loved the extra kick the habanero gave it.

Habanero Mac & Cheese

The Bishop Arts location made the Texas Monthly Top 50 Barbecue Joints in Texas and I would say that the Plano location is almost a carbon copy of the original.  Will Fleischman and his crew turned out some seriously good meat on this visit.  If they continue to turn out meat of this quality, I see Lockhart Smokehouse doing very well in downtown Plano.   I can guarantee you that I will be making a return trip to this barbecue joint.

Smoked Pork Chop

Lockhart Smokehouse-Plano
http://www.lockhartsmokehouse.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating= 4