The Buffet at Wynn ~ Photo-log V.2 Dessert [Las Vegas, NV]

Wynn Las Vegas Resort & Casino

3131 South Las Vegas Blvd

Las Vegas, NV  

 

Continuing on with my dinner at The Buffet at Wynn... The desserts in the Wynn buffet definitely deserved a post of its own. This was because the dessert stations were like a whole 'nother world! And in order to sample all of it, you really needed a whole second stomach. Unfortunately, I did not have a second stomach so I only got to eat a few of the sweets :( There was just too much variety!! The photos below do not even reflect all of the desserts that I saw!!

 

Mini cupcakes

Various cookies

Chocolate orange cups, Creme brulee

I didn't try the chocolate orange cups, but it looked like orange flavoured custard topped with chocolate mousse and chocolate cookie crumbles.

Rice crispy treats

Warm desserts station

L-R: warm bread pudding, warm chocolate brownie, warm apple and cranberry cobbler

Perfect for people who would like some tummy warming desserts.

Dark chocolate brownie cup

Dark chocolate mousse topped with white chocolate (I don't remember if it's also a mousse or a pudding), dark chocolate ganache and brownie crumbles

Mango tapioca pudding

Carrot cake, cheesecake cups(?)

Lemon tart glass

Various gelato and toppings

Gelato: chocolate mint, strawberry, mango sorbet, coffee chocolate chip, vanilla bean etc.

Toppings: shredded coconut, rainbow sprinkles, cookie crumbles, Oreo crumbles, mini M&M's, almond slices

Chocolate-dipped marshmallows

Tres Leche Cake (dolce de leche)

This was a sponge cake sandwiching a thick and creamy dolce de leche with a dollop of meringue on top. Dolce de leche is made from sweetened condensed milk which is simmered in heat until it turns into a thick, creamy, caramel consistency.

Variety of sugar-free desserts

There were also some sugar-free desserts but in comparison to the rest of the desserts, these looked so blasé and plain.

W and I selected some desserts to share between the 2 of us. One plate consisted of non-chocolate desserts while the second plate was chocolate-only desserts haha...

The Tres Leche Cake had a nice creamy and thick consistency which paired nicely with the sponge cake but overall I thought it was too sweet. W liked this one more than me.

The lemon custard/curd in the Lemon Tart Glass on the other hand was very tart and lemony. Really good for lemon lovers but my mouth puckered up when I took my first bite! However, the flavours balanced out when spooned with the sweet meringue on top.

The creme brulee was my favourite dessert out of all!! There were real vanilla beans dotted throughout the custard, it was not very sweet (but then again, everything wouldn't be as sweet compared to the Tres Leche Cake) and the not-too-thin/thick torched sugar topping was crunchy and sweet. Some tops of creme brulees can be torched too long creating a bitter taste to the carmelized sugar. This one was pretty good.

On the left of the plate was the Rocky Road Cake. It had a thin bottom chocolate cake layer and a thicker chocolate mousse layer topped with a marshmallow and a brownie chunk. I thought it was kind of plain but it was still a good dessert nonetheless. Maybe I was too full to actually appreciate this dessert.

The warm chocolate brownie (middle) was alright too. It was good at first because it was still warm and soft but when it cooled down, the brownie became hard so it was tough to spoon out from the dish. Maybe it would have been better if I added a scoop of vanilla gelato to it!

The dark chocolate brownie cup on the right would be perfect for chocolate lovers! A rich, not too sweet, dark chocolate mousse, a sweeter white chocolate layer, and a thin layer of dark chocolate ganache accompanied with small crumbles of chocolate brownies for a textural contrast. What's not to love?!

I really liked the buffet at Wynn because (1) the food layout was one straight-ish path so it was easy to get around, (2) the placement of the stations and the food itself was well organized, and (3) overall, the food was really well prepared and tasty! My inner glutton had been satisfied!

The Buffet at Wynn ~ Photo-log V.1 Dinner [Las Vegas, NV]

Wynn Las Vegas Resort & Casino

3131 South Las Vegas Blvd

Las Vegas, NV  

 

Ah! The moment I've been waiting for! Dinner at The Buffet at Wynn! I can't say that this was the highlight of the trip or the best meal I've had while down there but I was very satisfied with my "all you can eat" meal at Wynn.

 

The buffet at Wynn was one of my "must go to" places on my list. I feel like I HAD to go to at least one buffet while I'm in Las Vegas! It's just so appropriate to over-indulge my inner glutton in Sin City (get it? gluttony? one of the 7 sins? Sin City?? *face palm*). Yes, a glutton I am!

We were lucky; we got to sit in this dining room with all the pretty and whimsical flower arrangements! It's more fun than sitting in a regular dining room that's for sure.

Salad stations

There were DIY salads and ones that the chefs had already mixed together. I really liked the spinach salad with candied walnuts. Actually I just liked the candied walnuts. They were soooo good!

Charcuterie station
Mortadella, Copa, Cured Salami, gourmet cheeses, stone fruit

This station was something new to me! I've seen just cheese platters and I've seen cold cuts platters by themselves but not something gourmet like this.

Crostini station

With different spreads (pesto, tomato salsa etc)

This was new to me too. It's a DIY crostini station where you can pick your own toasted baguette and slather it with your own choice of spread or toppings. I skipped this part though because I didn't want to fill up on bread.

Pizza station

I liked how they made the pizza crust really thin so it wouldn't fill you up if you ate a slice. W and I shared a slice of pepperoni pizza. Although the thin crust was nice, I found the toppings to be quite salty.

Pasta, Sweet Pea Risotto, Chicken Scallopini

Sorry, I can't recall what type of pasta that was on the left. I did try the risotto and it was really good! Creamy and savoury with some sweetness from the peas and umami flavours from the mushrooms!! I had a second helping of it on a later round haha...

Bratwurst and sausage station

With yellow mustard and gherkins

I was surprised that there was a station just for sausages! And it was laid out so attractively! There were 2 or 3 platters of different sausage links and then condiments and sides to go with them. There was a chef behind the counter that would help you cut a piece. I randomly chose one of the sausages to try. If my memory serves me right, I ate a spiced turkey sausage. It was really spicy and salty...I didn't like it...

Cornflake crusted fried chicken, mashed potato, corn, cauliflower

This was probably the Southwestern American cuisine station...

Carving station

Prime rib, oven roasted turkey

There was a choice of dark and white meat from the turkey (didn't try it though).

Asian wok-fried station

Flat rice noodles, fried rice, veggie medley

The Asian section...

Individual salad cups

L-R: Beet salad, sardine(?) salad, wild mushroom salad, Thai noodle salad, Greek(?) salad

Even though these were salad cups, they were placed by the chilled seafood section. Not sure why... They looked cute and very organized but the different types didn't really appeal to me. For my health's sake, I ate the mushroom salad to add to my veggie quota. There were not much flavours coming from the mushrooms and the cheese. There was also very little dressing in it so the whole cup was really bland.

Chilled shrimp cocktail

With cocktail sauce and lemon

We have arrived at the star of the meal! This and the crab legs below of course. I may or may not have acted like a crazy lady that looked like she has not eaten shrimp and crab in ages....

Chilled Alaskan Opilio crab legs

Both W and I found the quality of the shrimp and crab to be really good. The shrimp flesh was large and bouncy. The crab legs were of good size and the meat was sweet but still with a tinge of saltiness from the ocean.

Smoked salmon station

With toasted brioche triangles and various toppings and spreads (capers, diced onions, tomatoes etc.)

Beside the Alaskan crab legs, there was also a smoked salmon station that offered toasted brioche triangle slices and various toppings to go with the salmon. My mind must've been pre-occupied with the crab because I passed on the brioche!! I didn't eat my favourite bread!!

Well, here you have it. The appetizers and entrees of the buffet! Next up will be the post specifically for the desserts at Wynn's buffet!

Le Cafe Ile St. Louis [Las Vegas, NV]

Paris Resort & Casino
Las Vegas, NV

Modeled after the real French city, stepping into Paris Resort in Las Vegas felt like walking through a grand palace (the registration lobby) and then into the streets at sunset (restaurants and retail section).

 

W and I made our way from Aria to Paris for brunch on our second day. After a quick stroll through the "streets", we decided on Le Cafe Ile St. Louis.

 

Complimentary rolls + butter

Latte ($5)

Mimosa de Soleil ($7)

Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut with fresh squeezed orange juice

Feeling in a very vacation-y mood, I ordered their Mimosa to start my day. Orange juice and champagne! Whoo! The latte was W's and our server brought over a large basket of bread for us as well. It felt like such a waste because we only ate 1 roll out of the whole basket.

Salade Maison ($5 add on only)

Mix of tender greens, diced cucumbers, shaved shallot, tear drop tomato, ranch dressing

Not wanting to forget our vegetables during our vacation, we tacked on a side salad to our meal. It was just a regular house salad with ranch dressing. The dressing tasted a little off to me though... I'm not sure what it was, it just didn't taste right.

Croque Madame ($15)
Parisian ham, emmental cheese, mornay sauce, sunny side up egg and pomme frites

We had already decided to go to Wynn for their buffet dinner so we just shared a meal. As usual, I got my way and chose my favourite grilled cheese sandwich!! Rather than a poached egg, the cafe topped the sandwich with a fried egg. I guess that is the usual practice with Croque Madame? Anyway, the whole package was still delicious and gooey. The fries were crisp and had a dusting of herbs (cilantro? parsley?) but if there was some grated parmesan it would have taken the fries to another level.

Service was friendly and for the first half of the meal we were well attended to. However, when we finished our food, it took a really really long time to get someone to take our plates away and bring us our bill. In fact, our original server disappeared and the bus boy had to find someone else to serve us. We weren't in a big hurry so that didn't really irk us too much but it just felt like we were abandoned.... Still, Le Cafe Ile St. Louis was a nice starting point to our day.

Cafe Vettro [Las Vegas, NV]

Aria Resort & Casino

Las Vegas, NV

 

After checking in and getting our luggage settled in our room, W and I were hungry so we didn't feel like venturing out far for some eats. We decided to hoof downstairs to Cafe Vettro which is Aria's 24-hour cafe.

 

We were seated quickly at a booth which faced the hotel's back taxi and valet area as well as one of Vdara's entrance. It was light and bright at first but somehow some lights around our table were turned off so it became dark. Boo! Bad for picture taking!

  

Coke ($4.50) and Chocolate Milk ($4)

$7 for a glass of juice?!? Are you kidding me!?! That was my reaction when I looked at the drinks menu. So, wanting to be cheap and "healthy", I opted for a glass of chocolate milk while W had his usual Coke.

Philly Cheese Steak ($16)

Grilled shaved beef, American cheese, onions, green peppers on a French roll; with side of cole slaw and pickle

It was already late in the afternoon. W and I didn't want to fill up our tummies too much since dinner time wasn't very far away so we decided to share a sandwich. The Philly cheese steak sounded good on the menu so we went with that. The kitchen was nice enough to split the order onto two plates for us! Then we looked at the actual sandwich on the plate... Wow that's pretty big! Ummmm...that looks like Kraft processed cheese slices melted on the beef....which then cooled off forming a gummy cover...

Hmmm, I guess American cheese = Kraft processed cheese! Nothing wrong with that; I love Kraft cheddar cheese! But I just didn't expect a nice cafe like this one to serve processed cheese that's all. The sandwich was alright. The beef was nicely seasoned  but it was kind of dry. We added mushrooms to the sandwich which helped add some juiciness to it. The pickle helped alleviate the saltiness of the beef and cheese but the coleslaw was flat and the dressing was watery. At least the bread was soft and buttery so cutting it with the knife was not hard to do.

In the end, we finished up everything and got so full that we skipped dinner. Oops! Well, not really...we anticipated that something like this would happen so we brought cup noodles in our luggage LOL!! Later at night we boiled some water in our room and made cup noodles as a late dinner.

Our meal at Cafe Vettro was pretty average. It didn't taste bad but it didn't really impress me that much either. If it wasn't for convenience, I might not have chosen this place.