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

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