Originally, W and I had planned a day of shopping (or window shopping) at the Fashion Show Mall and the Premium Outlets after lunch.
I guess Bobby Flay wasn't the only celebrity chef restaurant that we visited during this trip! We stopped by Gordon Ramsay's BURGR inside the Miracle Mile of Planet Hollywood and since we arrived before the bustling lunch crowd, we got a table right away. Yay!
Ginger ale and unsweetened iced tea
Time and time again, I order the iced tea thinking it was the sweetened version that we get in Canada. I always forget that iced tea in the States literally is "ice + brewed tea"; no sugar, no sweetness. I tried to like it, but I just can't shake my Canadian-ized iced tea taste buds. Should have ordered the Ginger Ale like W did!
Kale Granny-Apple Caesar Salad - parmigiano-reggiano cheese, mini herb-garlic crouton
I felt like we needed some greens to counter the burger and fries that we were going to have. With the addition of crisp sweet apples and super good, kale, this version of the Caesar salad was not bad. Just like a typical Caesar salad but with some non-traditional co-stars.
Chantrelle Burger - chantrelle mushrooms, arugula, figgy-onion jam
We short-listed a couple of burgers on the menu and after some deliberation, we went for the Chantrelle Burger which has, of course, chantrelle mushrooms, a sweet fig and onion jam, and a handful of fresh arugula leaves. Since the burger patty was made to order, there was the option to select the doneness of the meat. We went for medium rare and it came just that, reddish-pink in the middle with a nicely browned exterior. Overall, the taste of the burger was nicely balanced. There was the savoury beef patty, the sweet fig-onion jam, and the bitter arugula. However, I thought the beef wasn't as juicy or fatty as I had expected. Hence, when eaten with the thick brioche bun, it actually became kind of dry.
Truffle Parmesan Fries - hand cut fries, truffle parmesan, truffle salt, truffle aioli
We can't have burger without fries! The Truffle Parmesan version has a liberal sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese and an enticing aroma of truffle oil and truffle salt. Dipped in the truffle aioli, it was an explosion of earthy, umami-ness! Not a big fan of the short stubby fries but they were crispy, fresh, and hot so that satisfied me just fine.
The entrance was pretty cool, very eye-catching indeed!
Now, in the beginning, I said that we were originally going to go (window) shopping after lunch. I said "originally" because there was a change of plans :( Both W and I came down with a terrible case of nausea and upset stomachs. It wasn't because of the food from Burgr...I think it was from the tuna melt sandwich we had the day before. It probably sat in the car too long when went to Valley of Fire State Park and turned bad (even though it tasted fine when we ate it!). We ended up heading back to the hotel to nap for the rest of the afternoon.
By dinner time, W was feeling better but my stomach was still giving me a hard time. I wanted some comforting Asian food but I didn't want to venture too far away. And since we had tickets to go see the Blue Man Group later that night, we decided to go to Dragon Noodle inside Monte Carlo for dinner. If it wasn't because of my upset stomach, I wouldn't have settled for expensive, mediocre, Americanized Chinese food =P But at that moment, some wonton soup comforted my sick body.
Luckily, the quirky and humourous Blue Man Group took my mind off the stomach pains and I was able to enjoy the rest of the night :)
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