360 Vegas Review: Hugo's Cellar @4 Queens

The Four Queens isn't exactly where you would think of when you think of an evening of fine dining on Fremont St. Never heard of Hugo's Cellar? Don’t be surprised. It’s literally in the basement of the property.  It’s probably the best place to eat at 4 Queens but the fact that I had to use the word says something but that isn’t saying much in a place with only 3 places to eat and one is a coffee shop.

It’s described as one of those places that capture the “old school ambiance” of high end dining in Vegas.  Each woman receives a rose, the sommelier visits each table to help find the perfect wine to pair with your meal and even the salad is prepared table side, a la cart.  Charm, wit and customer service served in small portions are all apart of the dining experience at Hugo’s Cellar.  In a word, romantic.

Rating

Mark & Keren - 3/5 

360 Vegas Reviews: Lemongrass @Aria Spring 2014

Thai food has a reputation for being some of the hottest cuisine on the planet, Asian food with a kick.  The concept has always intrigued but as with most new foods, the vast collection of things featured in their dishes intimidated. 

Enter Keren, Vegas, Aria and Lemongrass, the perfect storm to inspire food experimentation.  It’s also the only Thai restaurant on the Vegas strip so clearly the options are limited.  Prepare to have your senses stimulated as Thai food is an art form.  It’s dishes feature at least 3 of the 5 of taste senses; sour, sweet, salty, bitter and spicy, in each dish with a grand plan to visit them all making a harmonious finish.

Rating

Mark and Keren - 1/5

360 Vegas Review: Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino Spring 2014

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Mandalay Bay, or as some have referred to it as, the Mirage south, is a property that very much earns that comparison.  From the gold tri-point tower, aquatic animal encounter, iconic pop cirque show and quality high-end dining, Mandalay Bay needed to be the Mirage 2.0 to overcome the tremendous disadvantaged of being the southernmost property on the Las Vegas Strip.  Fortunately, it was
successful.

Mandalay Bay is exquisite without being pretentious, high-end without being snobby.  It is simultaneously the culmination and, inadvertently, the downfall of circus circus enterprises, but we’ll save details about that for Vintage Vegas.  Like the Mirage before it, MGM took it over and also
like the Mirage, they’ve taken good care of it.

Vegas Mate Rating – 4/5 chips

Mark, Keren & Alastair – 4/5 chips

360 Vegas Review: StripSteak @Mandalay Bay Fall 2014

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Overview:

It’s steak, the pinnacle of protein.  Ask anyone what they would want for their final meal before shifting off this mortal coil and 100% of the time they’ll answer steak, and if they don’t, they’re gay.
What, gay people are awesome and love them so tube steak so that does work.  They’re Hitler.  Right, no one likes Hitler.  Whatever, its steak and its goooood.

This time around, Michael Mina steps up to the plate to see if he can impress our pallet and dethrone STK, which I totally agree is the best steak in Vegas. But who is this Michael Mina guy.  Well, he’s a James Beard winner, whatever that means, as well as being declared chef and restaurateur of year multiple times from multiple people, what-evs. He’s got 18 restaurants in the US and 4 in Vegas.  We tried Strip Steak at Mandalay Bay.

Vegas Mate Rating - 4/5 chips

Mark's Rating - 3/5 chips

Alastair & Keren's Rating - 4/5 chips

E-172: 360 Vegas Vacation 2

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Random Vegas

Binion’s was the first casino to offer free booze

Vegas Mate Review of the Trip

360 Vegas Mark’s 6/25/15 Review of Broadway Burger @NYNY – 5/5 chips

Twitpic of the Trip

We’ve been around for more than 4 years so I think its safe to accurately throw around the word “History”.  As you all know, whenever we go to Vegas, the intro of the show is related to that trip.  Random Vegas is related to what we did, the review is one of ours and Twitpic of the week becomes Twitpic of the Trip.  For the first time in the shows history, the Twitpic of the trip, while it was taking while we were in Vegas, it wasn’t taken by one of us.  This trips’s winner was taken by @agcorrington.  It’s panorama of the strip looking across the fountains of Bellagio.  This view is stunning and tends to frequently have a pic in the running every few weeks.  However this is, hands down, the best at capturing what it actually looks like to be there enjoying the view.  The only thing I can compare it to is when my smoking hot wife allows me to do some deep see exploration below the equator…I’m talking about going down on her incase that was too clever for any of you.  The picture is fantastic and well worth making show history.

Limo Playlist

360 Vegas Reviews: Nacho Daddy Spring 2014

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Nacho Daddy is perhaps the greatest idea in the history of culinary invention.  Take any food concept you love, deconstruct and recreate the experience then remove the bread and replace it with a bed crispy, salty tortilla chips.  You don’t need Will Hunting to tell you that the answer to that equation equals exquisite dining.

Buffalo chicken, cheeseburger, spicy shrimp, Filet Minion… yeah, I know.  Take a second to collect yourself.  Okay, lets proceed…TO BREAKFAST!  Chorizo, chicken fried steak…okay, enough.  I can’t stand it.  It’s amazing.  Just go to the audio.

Vegas Mate - N/A

Mark - 5/5

Alastair & Keren - 4/5

360 Vegas Review: Serendipity 3 Summer 2012

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As Vegas grew in popularity and air travel became the primary means of transportation for those visiting Las Vegas, the need for large parking lots taking up vast amounts of real estate became an impractical use of space.  Multi leveled parking garages replaced them and the challenge then became, what do we do with all this space.  Some properties expanded their hotel casinos right up to the strip; many were simply destroyed and replaced.  Properties like Caesars & Bally’s chose to repurpose the areas with varying degrees of success.

Caesars never really had the option of moving the property closer to the strip.  The long drive up to the Porte casher is part of the ambience.  The famous fountains are iconic and could never be moved so redevelopment was pretty much the only choice.  While some would argue they still haven’t made proper use of that strip frontage, Caesars will tell you it’s a work in progress.  A major piece in the puzzle is Serendipity 3

Dining, right on the strip, in the elements has become the hot new trend and Caesars was one of the early adaptors.  Serendipity 3 is a restaurant made famous by their original location in NY opened back in 1954.  Their signature dish is the frozen hot chocolate that First Lady Jackie O loved so much she requested the recipe so she serve it at a party.  The owner declined to acquiesce to her request but did offered to come to the party and make it for her.  Today, they sell the recipe in the gift shop.  Offering way more than sweets, the common theme you will notice at Serendipity 3 is unique takes on familiar dishes as well as portion size.  Bother are excessive, in a good way, regardless if you order from the takeout window or choose to sit and eat.

Vegas Mate Rating - 4/5 chips

Mark Rates - 4/5 chips 

Keren Rates - 3/5 chips

24 Hours in Vegas

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Created with flickr slideshow.

In this installment, Keren and I live a game we call "24 hours in Vegas" which is played exactly how it sounds.  Whenever we are really missing Vegas, we imagine "What if I was in Vegas right now and only had 24 hours to enjoy it.  What would you do"?  Fate dealt us an opportunity to live this formerly hypothetical scenerio and this is how we chose to live it.

360 Vegas Review: MJ One @Mandalay Bay Spring 2013

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After Cirque created Beatles LOVE, a tremendous commercial and critical success, dreamers wondered aloud, what would other shows based on musical artists be like. After the failure of Viva Elvis, many thought Cirque had caught lightening in a bottle with LOVE and questioned, not only could they do another musical artist, but should they.

When Michael Jackson died in 2009, speculation began again and was relatively quickly confirmed that Cirque would create a show featuring the artist’s music. Michael Jackson Immortal began touring the North America in 2011.  It was also announced, when the show come to Mandalay Bay for a run of shows, that a permanent residency would be setting up shop at the property.

In 2013, Michael Jackson ONE started their residency at Mandalay Bay.  When the show was originally confirmed, it was said to not be the same as the touring Immortal tour.  However most expected a refined, improved version of that show.  Instead, they received a completely different show.  Since previews, the show has been a colossal success, receiving reviews from a must see to being called Cirque’s best show ever.

Location

• Mandalay Bay in the Michael Jackson ONE Theatre (formerly Mandalay Bay Theatre) 

Run time

• 90 minutes

Performance Times

• Sat – Wed 7 pm & 9:30, doors open 1 hour before the show
  
• Dark Thursday & Friday

Theatre capacity & configuration

• Theatre seats 1,804
  
• Standard theatre configuration however the cast use the isle ways all around sections 100

Refreshments

• Drinks 
• can be purchased at the showroom bar inside the theatre’s lobby
• All
  beverages are allowed in the theatre as long as they are allowed as long as
  they are in a plastic container
• Food
• Only popcorn is allowed in the theatre, of course, available at the theatre lobby
  

Cast

• 63 including dancers, aerialists and acrobatics
  
• Show is choreographed by Jaime King who not only choreographed the other Michael
  Jackson Cirque show Immortal but did tours for for him as well as Madonna,
  Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears
  

Theme/Music

• The show’s plot is centered around 4 kids, each with their own undesirable personality trait; Clumsy, Shy, Smarty Pants & Sneaky.  The show chronicles the gang’s journey to overcome these issues through Jackson’s music, specifically represented in Iconic items from the artists past.
  Michael’s Shoes, Sun Glasses, Fedora Hat and Glove help these 4 become better people.
  
• Show features 32 songs from Michael Jackson catalogue, some in mash-up form from
  every solo studio album as well as some from his time in the Jackson 5
  
• Smooth Criminal lean technology

Promotions

• MJ Prix Fixe Menu Options
  
• Mandalay Bay has 7 restaurants that offer prix fixe menus
  
• They are
  
• Aureole, Border Grill, Fleur, Kumi, RM Seafood, Red Square & Noodles Shop
  
• Dining
  vouchers can be acquired at the box office when you pick up your tickets, you
  just need to ask for the specific restaurant you want to go to
  
• Tickets can usually be found at tickets 4 tonight as well.

Vegas Mate Rating - 4/5 Chips

Mark's Rating - 4/5 Chips

Keren's Rating - 5/5 Chips

360 Vegas Reviews: LAVO @Palazzo Summer 2012

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After the tremendous success of their Tao Asian bistro/nightclub and more recently day club at Venetian, it was only natural to expect that the Strategic Hospitality Group would be asked to setup
their second location in Vegas when Las Vegas Sands started to build Palazzo.

The results have been pretty much the same.  This time focusing on Italian cuisine, LAVO and her nightclub have been able to recapture, not only the reputation for top quality dining but also another tremendously popular nightclub frequented by those that wish to be seen.

Vegas Mate Rating - 4/5 chips

                Mark and Keren Rate - 5/5 chips                           

Million Dollar Quartet @Harrah's Fall 2013

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Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee is famous for being the studio that brought Rock n Roll & subsequently Rockabilly, to the masses.  In the 50s, Sam Phillips recorded such iconic artists as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and more.  To grow Sun Studio, Sam had to realizing at one point, that he’d taken Elvis as far as he could and sold Elvis’ contract Colonel Tom Parker.  It’s reported that Elvis didn’t want to leave but understood it was necessary to further his career.  He would remain close with Sam and Sun throughout his career, especially considering they were both located in his hometown.

On Dec 4^th, 1956, Elvis decided to pop into Sun studios to pay a visit to Sam. While there, he had a chance to check out the latest recording from Carl Perkins, who happened to have a new kid by the name of Jerry Lee Lewis playing piano for him during the sessions.  After chatting for a while, an impromptu jam session began between the 3.  At some point during the fun, John Cash stopped by and joined in. Fortunately for the world, the sound engineer thought it would be a good idea to record the session. Sam Phillips realized the opportunity for some press and called the Memphis paper.  The next day, the paper released the iconic photo of the 4 playing together and dubbed the jam session the Million DollarQuartet.

In 2007, Million Dollar Quartet the musical came to stages and was a huge success, breaking box office records in some theatres.  It spent over a year on Broadway and has recently taken up residency at Harrah’s.

Details

Location - Harrah's

Run Time - 90 minutes

Performance Times -

• Mon & Thurs - 5:30 pm & 8 pm
• Tues, Wed, Fri & Sun - 7 pm

Ticket Cost -

• $72-97
• Tickets available at Tix for Tonight

Restrictions - Family Friendly

Plot

• It’s a theatrical telling of the real life jam session with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee
  Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins at Sun Studios in Memphis Tennessee
  
• The music played during the show consists of some of the greatest hits from each
  artist, although the set list isn’t factually accurate.
  
• Songs like Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues & I Walk the Line or Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls of Fire and a Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On were not performed during this session. In fact, none of these songs were even released until 1957.

Vegas Mate Rating - 4/5 chips

Mark and Keren Rating - 3/5 chips