I’m in Vegas. One of the things I like to do when I’m somewhere other than home is to try out new foods. I’m mainly going out for lunch. We can get box lunches at the convention but they are close to the same price as restaurant lunches and they tend to be icky. I’m a crazy party animal so I tend to be holed up in my hotel by dinner time. I have a full kitchen so I ordered breakfast and dinner food from a grocery store. I’m not eating as horribly as these pictures might imply. Here’s some of the best stuff I’ve eaten so far.

Monday I had lunch at Border Grill in Mandalay Bay. I started with the Quinoa Fritters.

Quinoa fritters

There are described as crunchy aztec grain – cotija cheese – aji amarillo aoili. I don’t even know what that all means but they were yummy.

I love plantains. I can never get them right at home so I will go way out of my way for a restaurant that serves them. Here I had a choice of a side of fried plantains or roasted plantain empanadas. I went for the empanadas.

Plantain empanadas

Amazing. They were plated on a black bean sauce and a cotija cheese sauce.

Monday night I went out for dinner with people I used to work with to the Top of the World Restaurant at the Stratosphere. They have one vegetarian option. It is a vegetable and portobello napoleon with quinoa tabbuleh. It was good but not the best I’ve ever had.

This was mighty nice though.

redvelvet

That is a white chocolate shell containing layered red velvet cake and a white mousse. I approved.