Vegas Day 1: Chinois and "Wing It"

We arrived in Vegas last Sunday for our third annual trip to the NAB Convention. Joining J-Bends, Niko and I on his inaugural trip to NAB was the Sanch. RRR also came along for the ride, however, I couldn't convince her to actually come to the convention with us; I guess the pool at Caesar's is a bit more inviting.

After settling in, we decided to walk through the Caesar's Forum Shops to find some lunch. After weighing our options, we settled on Wolfgang Puck's Chinois. We started our meal with the very tasty chicken and shitake spring rolls. The rolls were crisp and juicy without being overly greasy and the chicken was very flavorful. The portions were a bit small however, and the four of us wound up with about half a roll apiece.

I chose the firecracker shrimp for my main course which consisted of shrimp in a spicy yet tangy sauce accompanied by bok choy, water chestnuts and basil. The vegetables provided the perfect amount of crunch and the spiciness of the shrimp was just about right and some sticky rice certainly helped balance out the bit of heat from the dish.

After spending time at an Avid off site at the Hard Rock Hotel (complete with open bar and a few hors'douvres) we regrouped at the hotel and decided it was time to get a bite to eat. It was decided prior to leaving that this was going to be the one meal that was not preplanned and it was a bit disappointing for J-Bends to learn that "Wing It" didn't mean chicken wings and beer.

We ventured over to Mandalay Bay and had a casual meal at Burger Bar. I had a delightfully medium rare burger with mushrooms and onion rings and we ordered some sweet potato fries for the table. The fries were crispy and wonderfully salted and the onion rings were far above average. Thick rings of onions that didn't fall out of the batter after a bite.

The burger fared equally as well. The quality of the beef was outstanding and it was perfectly charred on the outside and bright juicy pink on the inside. What a way to kick off the week.

Note: I refrained from snapping photos to ease my co-workers into what was sure to be a photographic nightmare....