East Hampton Sandwich Co.

I am lucky that I have several friends that are also foodies and they frequently recommend restaurants to me.  These recommendations often lead to a dining excursion at the recommended restaurant. Two of my foodie friends highly recommended East Hampton Sandwich Co. to me.  The Dallas Observer voted the restaurant as the Best Sandwich Shop in 2013 and Thrillist claimed it was one of the 21 Best Sandwich Shops in America.  The high praise bestowed upon this restaurant served to set the bar very high in the expectations department.

In addition to their popular Snyder Plaza location, East Hampton Sandwich Co. opened up a second location in Plano at The Shops at Legacy.  Last Wednesday, my wife and I decided to meet for dinner after work and enjoy a hump-day meal at the Plano location.  One of the first things that we noticed is that they have a very nice outdoor dining area that looked like a perfect place to dine and visit with friends.  We contemplated sitting outside, but the wind made it a little too cold to dine outdoors on this particular day.  

We ordered our sandwiches at the counter and found a seat in the corner so our kids could be corralled without bothering other patrons.  The menu has several delicious-sounding sandwiches, which made it tough for me to pick just one.  After contemplating for a time, I finally ordered the Fried Chicken+Jack sandwich which consisted of Southern fried chicken, pepper jack, greens, bacon, avocado mash, tomatoes, and a jalapeno cream sauce.  The fried chicken breasts were pounded very thin and they had a crunchy batter that was seasoned well.  Although the chicken itself had a nice flavor, the sandwich was underwhelming in the flavor department.  Even the jalapeno cream sauce did not give it a punch of flavor.  Each sandwich is served with their homemade thick-cut potato chips.  The potato chips were certainly better than most, but they could have used some more salt.

Fried Chicken+Jack Sandwich

My wife ordered the lobster roll which included lobster, greens, chives, and a butter drizzle.  She felt the lobster roll on this day did not have enough greens on it and could have benefited from some more chives.  I tried a couple of bites and agreed with her assessment.  The sandwich was very bland, regardless of how much butter I liberally applied.

Lobster Roll

We ordered a grilled cheese for one kid and chicken strips for the kids.  They both ate well without any complaints.  We also had an order of the Hampton's Donut Bag with strawberry filling.  The donuts were somewhat tough to chew and seemed to be slightly overcooked.  The strawberry filling was very tasty, but you had to be careful eating them because the filling had a tendency to squirt out of the donut.

Hampton's Donut Bag (in a box, not a bag)

My wife and I were both disappointed in our visit to East Hampton Sandwich Co.  Perhaps I had over-hyped it in my mind, because it certainly did not live up to my expectations.  Different people have different tastes, but I will have to disagree with my friends on this particular restaurant.  The sandwiches were not horrible by any means, but they were not memorable either.  I also felt the sandwiches were a little on the pricey side, especially since they were just served with chips.  There may be a time when I give this place a second chance, but I certainly will not be going out of my way to eat here again.  

East Hampton Sandwich Co.
http://ehsandwich.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating =2

Table 10

I usually don't post about places that I just have a quick snack or an appetizer.  Sometimes a restaurant has an appetizer that is just too good not share with the world.  Table 10, another Emeril Lagasse restaurant in Vegas, is one of those places.  

Table 10 is one of the few places I have found in Vegas that actually has a Happy Hour menu that includes snacks.  I have hung out, watched games, and snacked at Table 10 the last three trips I have taken to the city.  I enjoyed the place so much that I thought I should introduce my wife to my favorite place to snack and watch games.  Now they have several appetizers/snacks that are good, but there is one that stands out as possibly my favorite snack of all time.    

Bar and Kitchen Area at Table 10

The Candied North Country Farm Bacon is one of the best foods I have ever put in my mouth.  The bacon slices are fairly thick and served five to an order.  The dish is somewhat sweet, but is also somewhat spicy.  Although the bacon is good by itself, it is also served with maple syrup that just adds to the greatness of the snack.  I consider myself a connoisseur of bacon and the Candied North Country Farm Bacon at Table 10 is the best bacon I have ever had.

Candied North Country Farm Bacon…the ultimate honor for a pig!

We actually snacked here three days in a row to watch some of the games that I had money on.  One day, we also tried the cheese plate, which included three types of cheese, honey, jam, apple slices, and crackers.  The cheese platter was great and my wife absolutely loved it, but we both agreed it paled in comparison to the candied bacon.

Cheese Plate

One of these days, I am actually going to eat lunch or dinner at Table 10.  They have several menu items that I want to try.  In the meantime, I will always have the beautiful memories of the amazing, wonderful, and beautiful Candied North Country Farm Bacon.

Table 10
http://www.emerilsrestaurants.com/table-10
Livin the Good Life Rating = 4

The Buffet at Wynn

On our last morning in Vegas, my wife and I were in the mood for a late breakfast that would fill our bellies so we could gamble through lunch.  Since we had not hit a buffet on this visit, I Googled "Best Breakfast Buffet in Vegas".  The Buffet at Wynn showed up on several websites, so we journeyed the quarter mile from our rooms at the Palazzo to the Wynn.

Short wait in line

There was a small line when we arrived, but it moved quickly and we were seated within fifteen minutes.  With a name like "The Buffet", you might expect to find a simple buffet.  The Buffet at the Wynn is anything but simple.  My wife compared the dining area to a set from Alice in Wonderland.  Colorful decorations and flowers are everywhere in the dining area.

Just going to all the buffet stations helped me burn some of the calories I ingested.

The buffet itself was very impressive.  They had so many different stations, that I didn't even make it to all of them.  I ate breakfast until I hurt.  I tried twelve to fifteen different items and I cannot remember having anything that I did not enjoy.  Obviously some items were better than others, but nothing I tried was bad.  The three items that were the highlights of my meal were the bacon waffles (it's waffles and bacon, so it has to be good), the ham and egg breakfast pizza (cooked in coal-fired oven), and the green chili  breakfast quesadillas.

Plate #1-Bacon, ham and egg breakfast pizza, corn muffin, breakfast potatoes, and ham

Plate #2-Bacon, green chili breakfast quesadilla, bacon waffle, and chorizo and eggs.

My wife, who usually detests buffets, loved this place as well.  She didn't make as many trips as I did, but she always came back with bacon and a smile on her face.  The fresh squeezed juices and coffee were commendable as well.  Since we were there towards the end of breakfast, they had started putting out desserts for lunch.  I took advantage of my fortuitous timing and got a couple of desserts as well.

Chocolate mint cupcake, strawberry shortcake, and fruit.

If  the items served at lunch and dinner are as good as the items served for breakfast, it is easy to see why USA Today voted it the best buffet in Vegas.  Although I only had breakfast here, I would rank it pretty close to my favorite Las Vegas buffet which is Bacchanal buffet at Caesar's.  Our coffee cups were always filled and our empty plates gone by the time we returned from a trip to the buffet stations, so I was pleased with the service.  At just over $20 a person, the value was good as well.  I would highly recommend The Buffet at They Wynn for breakfast.

The Buffet at The Wynn
http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/Restaurants/CasualDining/TheBuffet
Livin the Good Life Rating = 4

Whiskey Cake

Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar is one of my favorite restaurants in Collin County.  Since my wife is also a big fan, she is always willing to dine there any time that I ask.  I have dined at Whiskey Cake for lunch and dinner several times, but I had never had the pleasure of trying out their brunch menu until last week.  Their brunch menu is only available on weekends and one day we finally decided to pack up the kids and take the short drive to Plano.

Vermont Cheddar and Jalapeño Drop Biscuits

We arrived shortly after their 10 a.m. opening and were seated after only a short wait.  Luckily, Whiskey Cake is a kid-friendly place and we were able to order the kids breakfasts while we looked over the brunch menu.  When we placed the order for the kids pancakes, we also ordered a breakfast appetizer of Vermont Cheddar and Jalapeno Drop Biscuits.  They are served five to an order and each is topped with a slice of jalapeno and served with a bowl of sausage gravy.  They arrived within just a few minutes and were quickly devoured by my wife and myself.  We both agreed that it was a very unique and delicious twist on the traditional biscuits and gravy.

Kid's Pancake Breakfast

For my entree, I ordered the Chicken and Waffle.  The waffle actually had two pieces of bacon cooked into the batter and was topped with some excellent chicken tenders, eggs, and more of the sausage gravy that I liked so much.  Everything on the plate was absolutely amazing and I couldn't have been more pleased with my breakfast.  My wife ordered the Griddle Stack, which were pancakes topped with caramelized apples, maple syrup, almonds, and whipped cream.  She said it tasted like pancakes and an apple pie had a delicious baby.  In fact, I wasn't even able to snap a picture of her meal because she started eating it too quickly.  

Chicken and Waffles

Both of my kids cleaned their plates and my youngest even helped her mom finish off her whipped cream.  It seemed that everyone in my family enjoyed brunch on this day.  The only regret I had was that we were all too full to have a piece of their namesake dessert; whiskey cake.  This dessert is worth the trip alone, but I was very content and could not eat another bite of anything on this morning.

My youngest daughter finishing off her mom's whipped cream

Whiskey Cake's brunch menu lived up to our expectations.  The quality of food was top notch, much like their lunch and dinner menu.  The food was outstanding on this visit and we were very pleased with our service.  As we left, we noticed that the restaurant was packed and there were close to thirty people waiting to be seated.  Apparently we were not the only ones that had decided to do brunch at Whiskey Cake on this day.  Go give this place a try for brunch and arrive early if you don't like waiting.

Whiskey Cake (Picture taken on a previous visit)

Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar
http://www.whiskey-cake.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating = 4