Rough guide. Las Vegas Direction

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Ideas

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The big six

In Las Vegas, a

city consecrated

to the new, there’s

always some

freshly constructed,

mind-boggling,

man-made marvel

clamoring for your

attention, and

it’s inevitably a casino.

Ever since the Hoover

Dam kick-started the

development of the

city back in the 1930s,

it’s been an unending

competition to make sure

that each new casino is

bigger and better than

last.

 The Venetian

Opulent enough for any high-roller while also

still fun for the family, festooned with frescos

and echoing to the song of the gondoliers,

the city’s premier casino epitomizes modern

Las Vegas.

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 The Forum

America’s most proﬁ table shopping mall is

itself a jaw-dropping virtual-reality experi-

ence stuffed inside the faux Roman pomp of

Caesars Palace – though the price tags are

real enough.

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 Bellagio

If you’re looking to live

it up in style – with

reﬁ ned restaurants,

top-quality entertain-

ment and plush service

– look no further than

this marble Italianate

extravaganza with its

own eight-acre lake

in front.

P. 7 5  THE

CENTRAL

STRIP

 Luxor

Fronted by sphinxes and topped by a

massive laser beam, this stunning black-

glass pyramid abounds with enjoyable

ancient-Egyptian imagery inside and out

– and ranks among the city’s best-value

places to stay.

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 Hoover Dam

A thirty-mile drive out of the city leads to the

architectural showpiece that made the whole

thing possible, a mighty wall of concrete

holding back the Colorado River at the

Arizona state line.

P. 1 4 8  DAY TRIPS

 New York–New York

Whether staying at the hotel or simply drop-

ping in, the gleeful, meticulous styling of

this replica Manhattan ensures you’ll get a

perfect taste of the Big Apple in the desert.

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Buffets

All-you-can-eat

buffets remain a

deﬁ ning feature

of almost all Las

Vegas casinos.

When it’s good, the

traditional, bargain buffet

experience is like having

unrestricted access to

an upmarket mall’s food

court: good fast food, but

not great cooking. Recent

years have seen a new

development, however, in

which high-end casinos

have raised buffet prices

to a level that makes it

possible to provide feasts

ﬁ t for true gourmands.

 The Buffet, Bellagio

Bellagio’s sumptuous buffet is the one that

set a new agenda for the all-you-can-eat

market, providing a gourmet feast in which

you never know what to expect next.

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 Festival Market Buffet

The Palms, an otherwise upscale new

casino, draws an enthusiastic local crowd

with its well-priced traditional buffet.

P. 1 2 9  WEST OF THE STRIP

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 Garden Court

Buffet

Downtown’s best buffet,

at Main Street Station,

is pleasant rather than

mind-blowing, but it

offers excellent value for

the money, at lunchtime

especially.

P.120  DOWNTOWN

 Feast Around The World

Sunset Station offers something for everyone

at this quintessential locals buffet, which

caters to locals looking for decent food from

all over the world, at very reasonable prices.

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 Le Village

Though Paris’s Le Village is less wide-rang-

ing than almost any other Las Vegas buffet,

with the whole of French cuisine to choose

from, that’s unlikely to prove a problem.

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 Todai Seafood Buffet

Located in the Aladdin, this is one of the

city’s few independently run buffets and an

utterly irresistible destination for lovers of

Japanese seafood.

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Gourmet restaurants

Barely ten years

ago, received

wisdom had it

that Las Vegas

visitors were not

prepared to pay

for ﬁ ne dining.

Now, however,

with casinos luring

culinary superstars

from all over

America to open

Vegas outlets,

many tourists come

here speciﬁ cally for

the restaurants. It’s

now possible to

make a virtual cook’s tour

of all the latest trends in

American cuisine simply

by spending a few nights

eating out in Las Vegas.

 Olives

Todd English’s modern, Italian-themed cook-

ing ﬁ nds a perfect setting facing the lake at

Bellagio – try to get a table outside.

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 Nobu

A quietly subdued haven of wonderful,

Japanese-inﬂ uenced cuisine in the other-

wise hectic Hard Rock – expensive but well

worth it.

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 Commander’s Palace

Superb traditional Creole cooking from New

Orleans (where the original restaurant is a

culinary landmark), served in a formal but

very friendly atmosphere at the Aladdin.

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 Aureole

Everyone raves about the wine list – and the

eye-catching “wine tower” – at Mandalay

Bay’s Aureole, but the contemporary Ameri-

can food is every bit as impressive.

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 8-0-8

A sampling of Jean-Marie Josselin’s zestful

creations provides a perfect little taste of

Hawaii, albeit amidst the general post-

modern weirdness that is Caesars Palace.

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 Bouchon

Thomas Keller’s French bistro, beautifully

located on an elegant upper-story patio

at the Venetian, has a menu that’s just as

ravishing as the decor.

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Casual restaurants

Between the two

extremes of Las

Vegas’s restaurant

scene – the all-

you-can-eat

buffet and the no-

expense-spared

gourmet joints

– it’s still possible

to eat good,

well-prepared

food, served at

reasonable prices

in atmospheric

surroundings. You

can’t beat having an open-

air lunch right on the Strip,

while for breakfast and

dinner there’s a lot to be

said for an old-fashioned

casino coffeeshop, with

its no-frills service, hefty

portions, and hard-bitten

clientele.

 Vialé

This spacious open-air Italian restaurant in

front of Caesars Palace offers a welcome

break for pedestrians trudging along the

Strip in the midday sun.

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 Mon Ami Gabi

The perfect venue for an alfresco French

bistro lunch, on a terrace patio immediately

beneath Paris’s Eiffel Tower.

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 Binion’s Horseshoe Coffee

Shop

A true veteran of the downtown scene, for

many diners this basement coffeeshop, far

removed from the modern Strip in the old-

school gambling mecca of Binion’s Horseshoe,

encapsulates what Las Vegas is all about.

P.119  DOWNTOWN

 Mr Lucky’s 24/7

The Hard Rock hasn’t really been in

Las Vegas very long, but its 24-hour

coffeeshop does a great job of evoking

how the city used to be – or perhaps ought

to be.

P.138  EAST OF THE STRIP

 Paymon’s Mediterranean

Café and Market

A true Las Vegas gem, well away from the

Strip near the university, and offering the

best-value vegetarian food in the city.

P.139  EAST OF THE STRIP

 Margarita’s Mexican Cantina

Before their design and attractions became

more important than the food, gambling

or prices, every Las Vegas casino boasted

atmospheric and inexpensive eateries like

this time capsule at the New Frontier.

P.108  THE NORTH STRIP

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Bars and lounges

As the perfect fuel

to turn a dithering

gawker into a

diehard gambler,

alcohol is very easy

to come by. If you

want a drink in

a casino, a tray-

toting waitress will

ﬁ nd you. All the

casinos have bars

as well, while the

old-fashioned Rat-

Pack era lounge

has returned in force. The

booming nightclub scene

has seen the emergence

of the “ultra-lounge”, a

high-octane cocktail bar

with a dance ﬂ oor.

 Tangerine

Doing a ﬁ ne job of being all things to all men,

this Strip-front “speakeasy” at TI makes a

fun stop-off at any hour of the night.

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 Tabú

MGM Grand plays host to this most lavish

and luxurious of Las Vegas’s new breed of

ultra-lounge, complete with go-go girls and

multicolored, touch-sensitive tables.

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