Cli4 - Sunday, March 11, 1984 - North Shore News

prise. The last time I was there was in

ODP ese Teast in Las Vegas was a real sur-

November — maybe four years ago. It was
chilly and windy, probably a bit colder than what
we left-behind in Vancouver. Who would expect
bikini weather in February? Mind you, the local

——— ~~ peopie were ail still wearing winter woolens but the

7 ee

pools.

— liked our hotel, the” — ac
perial . Palace. It’s new, the.

rooms..are spacious and
spotless . ‘and best of all,
soundproof. ‘When! two of
you are barking like a herd of
coyotes all night it helps not
to have the people in the next
room banging on the walls.
Since we were sick for

the Holiday Casino. (next
door) ‘uses the same recipe.
Castaways is even worse. The
only decent coffee we found
was at the buffet in the Flam-
ingo Hilton.

The 99¢ breakfast (i!
p-m-——7 a.m.) in the Imperial
Palace is quite adequate for a
late-night snack. Better,
though, is the clam chowder
in the Sea House. It’s only
$1.50. and. comes in two
varieties — New England and
Manhattan. We had dinner
one night in the Sea House —
if you like pickled herring in
sour cream, theirs is great. A
huge serving (masquerading
as ‘an appetizer!)“ is only
$2.50. 1 could hardly finish
my main course — seafood
crepes — even though they
were excellent. Brian praised
the Shrimp Louis.

If you avoid any casino
restaurant, stay clear of
Castaway’s. The only reason
we went into that depressing
little joint was an ad. we'd
seen on TV about the food.
Such lies! I ordered French
Dip and I got it — dry, grey-
colored beef on a soggy bun.
The dip and the coffee might
easily be interchanged as
neither had any flavor short
of hot water. The French
fries had a texture all their
own — rubber on the outside
and wallpaper paste on the
inside. Brian loves coleslaw
but one forkful of
Castaway’s brand was quite
cnough. Even the olive on the

tourists weren’t a bit uncomfortable around the

McCreadie

top had picked up the flavor
of cantaloupe and leftovers
from sitting too long in the
fridge.

We tried the $1.17
breakfaast special at the
Holiday Casino. It’s fair. If
you order the bacon and fried
eggs, youll be OK. The
scrambled are yuk and the
sausages overspiced and
tough. I won’t mention the
coffee again.

But the medal for the worst
breakfast goes to the
Emperor Buffet at the Im-
perial Palace. In one word —
awful. The buffet at the
Flamingo Hilton is excellent,
especially the scrambled eggs.
Mind you, it isn’t a buffet
*“all you can eat’’ proposition
but a cafeteria style
restaurant where you pay for
each item separately. Worth
the extra money.

Battistas 1s a well-known
Italian restaurant, right
behind the MGM Grand
(Battista’s Hole In The Wall,
4041 Audric). I'd been told

and it had. Our meal was
adequate but far from cheap.
The service is adolescent.
Brian’s spaghetti with meat
sauce was. $9.98 while I had
linguini

that the quality had slipped.

with mussels for

tampers with a good steak or
roast beef!

Las Vegas doesn’t have the
same famous little off-beat
joints that you'll find in
Reno. There’s no “‘Squuze-
In’’ serving soul food along _.

$15.95. The wine was free.
We’d have been more-or-less
satisfied with the meal if the

prices had been 50 per cent

Tess.

Two Italian restaurants
recommended to me by local
residents should be worth
trying:

The Vineyard,
Maryland Parkway
Lu’s — on Teddy Drive.

If you like Mexican food,
Ricardo’s in the Meadows
Mall is good, featuring sing-
ing waiters. I’m told that you
can eat an enormous meal
and come away with change
from $7.

1 searched in vain for a
Basque restaurant. Couldn’t
believe it! 1 asked the Las
Vegas Tourist Bureau, the

3631 S.

Silverwing Rep., the bell cap- .

tain at the hotel, the reserva-
tions desk, waiters and
waitresses in various casinos
— and even checked the
phonebook and the Las
Vegas Convention Bureau’s
list of restaurants. In most
cases I had to begin by ex-
plaining what a Basque
restaurant was.

Most of us eat our meals in
whatever casino we happen
to be gambling in at the time.
If you’ re after a big meal, the

best. advice is to head for the

place that serves steak and
prime rib. You can usually
get away for about $6.95 and
you can count on good quali-
ty. Americans seem to
tolerate dreadful things done
to French or Italian cuisine
but God help anyone who

Careers in Travel
We can open the door to
the exciting world of travel

for YOU!
DAY & EVENING COURSES

in

TRAVEL COUNSELLING
TOUR ESCORTING -

SALES & MARKETING

COMPUTER TERMINAL

TRAVEL -
TRAINING CENTRE
Ste.2-1583 Pemberton Ave
North Vancouver 986-2221

Lose up to 3 pounds and 6 inches after

just one treatment

New Thermic Plus ts a highly sophisticated body combina
ton Weatment which has been developed and tested in
€ urope tor the past six years The deep penetrating heat in
creases body waste elimination faster breakdown of tat.
gives deep Muscle relaxation and improves skin texture in

treated areas

10 treatments “mus
diet and food
supplement

\!

Park Royal South a aa
768 Marine, West Van

next to White Spot

926-6214

the Strip. It’s easy to under-
stand, though, when you —
realize that Las Vegas Blvd.
(the Strip) is eight miles long. _
Most tourists avoid the...
downtown area where you |
can walk from casino to ~
casino as in Reno. Instead,
one visits the adjace
casinos on foot and then
either rents a car, takes a cab

or grabs the bus to something
further away.

$359:)«
$504 |.

5) Garment Bag.’

WAIKIKI 103x60x5.5 cm
8 a 7 Nights, Air & Hote!
: Set of 5 Travelling Bags
o| - 1) Passport Bag 2) Cosmetic Bag
RENO $249 +) Shint Bo 4) Carry a
5 Days, 4 Nights, Air & Hote! aax2en8 cm’ carn en

MAPLE LEAF

all for
only

844 Park Royal ‘North. West Van
_ Richmond Centre Mall 276-2606 |

PRINCESS CRUISES

The Mere yy Wl Nhe “lan

A ‘Nita SPECIAL EVENT

. _\
| /

ne North Shore Independent Travel Agents have
negotiated a special discount for North Shore
wa® Kure telloan residents Save hundreds of dollars on our July 4

and Aug. 25 sailing to Alaska

Call your nearest NITA travel agent
now before they are sold out

timer
NORTH NORTHWEST TRAVEL WEST VAN
VANCOUVER oan Ave. ALTEC TRAVEL
All WORLD TRAVEL 8-659 Ciyde Ave.
240 Ennt ist St ORCHID TRAVEL 922-8162
930-6531 1814 Lonsdale Ae. INCENTIVE TRAVEL
CAPHLANS TRAVEL al Ave.
1873 Caplens RM. PaYLIK SPECIALIZED TOURS 621-8131
2771 beeen De PRIME TRAVEL
TRAVEL Tah 204-1760 Marine Dr.
190 West 15% St STEELES TRAVEL WORLD 025-1212
110-260 Esplanade ROSEWAY TRAVEL
DISCOVER YOGR WORLD 957-2214 106-100 & Pach Reyal
TRAVEL TIME OUT TRAVEL 826-4344
1295 Marine & 1126 Leaséate Ave
900-4576 987-5244
MERCERY TRAVEL VENTURE TRAVEL
311) Mightand Givt. ALO Exst 14th 81.

986-1377