Off The Strip Eating in Las Vegas

Ron and I spent four full days in Las Vegas, playing bridge, poker, pai gow, and eating.  Ron loves his poker, so when he wasn't putting in his bets on the horses, Ron was playing Texas Hold'em.  He ended up doing quite well, so the trip was practically free.  I was there to play in the national bridge tournament, which didn't work out so well.  We originally had a team of four, one dropped out, so we had to pick up a sub.  We ended up with someone unknown, and the results were, we were knocked out on the first round.  Oh, well.  Since I'm not  big gambler, I went shopping and explored a bit of Las Vegas.  I went to Henderson for lunch one day to a little restaurant in a shopping center.  It was spotless, and the food was outstanding. It's called 8 Kitchen. They described the food as modern Asian fusion.  I would describe it as a ramen shop with some Asian fusion dishes.

I had a most delicious ramen dish.  The broth was rich and flavorful, with pieces of pork and pork belly, vegetables, poached egg on top.  Yum!  Other dishes included  Saimen bowl, which is a fish cake with rice and veggies, furikaka shrimp plate, short rib plate, burgers, chashu pork donburi bowl, and crispy shrimp bao bao.  The last dish is something I would try next time.  It was two little baos, slit open and filled with shrimp and veggies and sauce.  I think they also have it with pork and chicken.  It sounds so delicious.  Breakfast and lunch is all they have, but it's so fresh and delicious you won't want to miss it if you're in the area.  Also, it's only a mile or two from the Sketchers outlet.

The other restaurant we went to on the recommendation of a friend who lives in the area, is a local French bistro in Summerlin called Oh La La.  Free parking, and very good handicap access were other reasons why we went there.  The prices were moderate.  Our bill for the two of us, including a $15 glass of wine for me, was about $75.  We had beef tartare, escargots, baked brie with bread and onion soup.  No main course, but, we were absolutely stuffed.  It's a great little find outside of the bright lights of the strip.

Ask a local for places off the strip for dinner.  You'll generally find great food at moderate prices.  Yes, the celebrity chefs all have restaurants on the strip, but you pay a hefty price to eat there.  I'm not sure you're getting your money's worth.  For us, having to deal with a wheelchair, access is very important.  Also, go to Caesar's valet and you might wait as much as 20 minutes for your car!!!  We're sticking to the smaller, off the strip restaurants for now.