Las Vegas Food #1: Buffets (Le Village Buffet, Flavors, Spice Market, & Paradise Garden)

I found some very cheap flights and went on a very short trip to Las Vegas. Of the many eating options in the city, Las Vegas does have a reputation for buffets. Upon arriving, I saw advertised that there was a deal where you got unlimited 24-hour access to five buffets in various casinos in the Harrah's chain for $49.99. I was only going to be in the city for about 36 hours total, so this seemed like a good way to go. Timing wise, I was able to get four meals out of this deal, working out to under $13 per buffet before tax and tip. 

Le Village Buffet in Paris:

I arrived in Las Vegas early in the morning. This meant it was time to have breakfast. I stayed in Paris, so after arriving at the hotel, I bought into the buffet deal for a late breakfast at Le Village Buffet. This was the only highly themed buffet I dined at. It was set in a Paris street, with a cloud filled sky up above. The restaurant would have fit right in at Epcot.

Le Village Buffet was somewhat themed foodwise. There was all the standard breakfast items you would expect, along with more French breakfast items such as crepes (which I did not sample because of huge lines), quiches (which I did sample, both the meat and vegetarian versions, both of which were good), and smoked fish (smoked salmon and smoked trout- I enjoy smoked fish).

One major disappointment. There was no French toast on the buffet. I wanted very much to say I ate French Toast (which isn't French) in a casino buffet pretending to be Paris in the Nevada desert. Besides the lack of French Toast, this was actually the best of the buffets I sampled in Vegas. Read on...

Flavors in Harrah's:

This was buffet #2 for lunch. Of all the four buffets I sampled, this was the most unappealing, heading towards the Golden Corral level of food. The cigarette stench from the casino floor also drifted into the buffet, which is a bit disgusting. Wonder how long it will be for all these casinos in Las Vegas to go smoke free?

The buffet was vaguely internationally themed, with various world cuisines. Everything I tasted here was really mediocre. Not impressed. Flavors lacked the flavors...

Spice Market in Planet Hollywood:

Spice Market was buffet #3 for dinner. Similar to Flavors, Spice Market was also internationally themed. The food on this buffet seemed better quality with a better variety. I'm not sure if this is the difference between lunch options and dinner options on buffets owned by Harrah's.

First plate of food included a trip to the Mexican section of the buffet, with quesadillas, rice, beans, and guacamole.  From the American section of the buffet, I had some BBQ ribs (meat wasn't very tender).

Plate #2 mostly consisted of the Mediterranean section of the buffet. This seemed to be what they were pushing in all of the buffet's advertisements. There was lamb skewers, tabouli, roasted vegetables, stuffed grape leaves, and large cubes of feta. Just like the ribs, the lamb was a bit too chewy.

Paradise Garden in The Flamingo:

My final buffet in my 24 hours was at Paradise Garden in The Flamingo. This was my second breakfast buffet in Las Vegas. They had pretty standard breakfast items, although I preferred Le Village Buffet for breakfast. I found it interesting that they had French toast on the buffet in this restaurant, but the French themed buffet did not.

I had a strawberry filled crepe here as well.

Desserts were interesting, especially for breakfast. They were very colorful tarts. The weirdest one was the fruit tart which came with a syringe of raspberry syrup.

Overall, this was a good deal for food for my short time in Las Vegas. Breakfast buffets seemed to definitely be done better compared to the lunch and dinner buffets I tried, which were sort of hit or miss. After this trip, I can cross the Las Vegas buffet thing off my list...

Buttonwood Cafe in Flamingo, FL

While visiting South Florida, I ventured deep within Everglades National Park and found myself in the former town of Flamingo. Flamingo is the furthest south that you can travel in the park by road. Flamingo was an actual town at one point which was occupied in the late 19th and early 20th century. Eventually Flamingo became a ghost town and was incorporated into the national park. The ruins of the former ghost town are apparently still present, but today Flamingo consists of a visitors center, marina, campsite, and an abundance of alligators and crocodiles.

Behind the bright pink Flamingo Visitor Center, there is a screened in area that houses a restaurant called the Buttonwood Cafe. The location provides a very nice view of Florida Bay.

The restaurant itself was essentially a food truck with table service. There was a trailer attached to the screen enclosure where all of the cooking was done. Servers took orders and delivered food. Apparently there was a more permanent restaurant here in the past which was destroyed by hurricanes and was never fully rebuilt.

I ordered the grouper sandwich. This consisted of a fried filet of fish on a bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, and tartar sauce included alongside the sandwich. I assembled all of the sandwich components together and this ended up being a tasty sandwich. The large piece of grouper was freshly breaded and fried. The breading had a very nice peppery flavor. The bun was a step above a standard hamburger roll. Coleslaw and fries were served on the side.

I enjoyed my meal at Buttonwood Cafe. It was my first experience dining in one of Florida's National Parks. It was also the furthest south I've ever eaten in peninsular Florida. I'd gladly return to the Everglades to eat here again!