Las Vegas Recap
So the last few days in Vegas have been action packed. The conference is over and it went well. I’m excited to go again next year (maybe… probably.) The last two days have felt like a week. Most of my days were spent at speeches, and evenings were spent going out. I’m wondering when I’ll catch up on my sleep. Not this week!
Friday evening we visited Mesekrem, which is an Ethiopian restaurant just off the Strip. The main thing about them is convenience. The food was good, and I really enjoyed their injera bread. I couldn’t really get a straight answer whether some of the things had dairy products in them, so I skipped them in favour of avoiding any potential stomach upsets. The server was really nice, and it seemed popular with some of the other conference goers.
On Saturday we went to Wazuzu in the Encore Hotel right on the Strip. I was excited to find out that they really did have a separate vegan/vegetarian menu (but you do have to ask for it.) Great selection (about 20 items), and not horribly expensive (at least not by Vegas standards.) My friend ordered the Vegan Chow Fun, and I had the Vegan Szechuan Bowl. They were both pretty good, though I have to say, my dish was more flavourful, but I loved the noodles in the Chow Fun (so of course I mixed the two together.) Beautiful location, and perfect for visits with dedicated omnivores.
Saturday night we hit up Old Vegas and the Fremont Street Experience. If you think the Strip is loud, you haven’t seen anything. With a huge overhead television, and flashing lights everywhere, it can be a bit overwhelming. Though I have to say, participating in a sing along with about 200 people was pretty cool (who doesn’t know the words to American Pie by now?)
We found two hidden gems just off of Fremont Street, the Downtown Cocktail Room and The Griffin. the Downtown Cocktail Room is just a nice relaxing hangout, nice and dim with great music. The Griffin is like two places in one, at the front it’s just a classic pub atmosphere. It has both a fireplace and air conditioning blasting. And in the back, it’s a dimly lit dance club playing a variety of light techno. I’ll be back next time.
Yesterday after the closing ceremonies we took a cab to Komol, a Thai and vegetarian place I have visited on a previous time in Vegas. It doesn’t seem like it’s all that far away when you look at the map, but it’s worth taking a cab or bus (it cost about $10+tip one way.) This place is excellent if you like spicy food (and everything is so good that I’m sure that even just a touch of spice would still be good.) We started with the tofu Sa-tay and ordered the Paw Kee Mau (a noodle dish) and the Soy Duck Curry. Portion sizes were excellent, the price was great (by any standard) and we ended up with a lot of leftovers (my lunch today!) It’s easy to see why they have a wall of awards.
Even though we were full of food, there is always room for dessert, and I’m so glad there was. They have two varieties of ice cream (dairy free and made in house) so we ordered one of each. The mango had a great texture and a smooth consistency, and the coconut was just plain delicious (though the texture was more slushy/icy than the familiar smoothness of ice cream.) I am so glad we went.
Today I’m on my own, and I’m heading over to Ronald’s Donuts and maybe up to the top of the Stratosphere. Tomorrow… San Francisco!