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schild
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Reply #37310 on: February 08, 2018, 07:07:18 PM

Going to NAB in April.  Haven't been to Vegas in ages, where's the good food/shows these days?  Kids aren't coming, so it doesn't need to be that family-friendly.

Schild, I know you have opinions on this...

food: we only stay at the venetian/palazzo, adelson is a piece of shit but it has our favorite restaurants in terms of volume in one hotel
shows: don't care, venetian barely does shows

we gamble and eat and drink, we tend to never leave the hotel, the venetian is the best total package minus the shows part
Polysorbate80
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Reply #37311 on: February 08, 2018, 09:01:51 PM

Depends on the type of place you like to stay and your budget.

I don’t have a type beyond good service and good food—I hate staying at any place where the staff acts like the guests are some sort of inconvenience they have to tolerate, and the local restaurants in this town are shit.  Going out of town is my chance to have all the kinds of food I can’t get locally (bumfuck nowhere Idaho, to be precise)

Budget?  Most I’ve ever paid for a dinner was around $700.  Employer won’t reimburse that, of course, so I don’t want to do that all week  Ohhhhh, I see.

Oher than seeing Cirque if I can get in, shows are more the wife’s thing.  I’m open to suggestions for whatever.

“Why the fuck would you ... ?” is like 80% of the conversation with Poly — Chimpy
Chimpy
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Reply #37312 on: February 08, 2018, 09:39:56 PM

There are like 7 Cirque productions going on in Vegas, as long as you are not there during their down weeks you will likely have no problem getting in to see one of them.

'Reality' is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
Abagadro
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Reply #37313 on: February 08, 2018, 09:40:27 PM

We've been staying in City Center lately (Aria and Vdara so far) and like both the stuff they have there and it being fairly central on the strip. We prefer the Vdara, its a non-casino place but the Aria casino is right there if you want that sort of thing (good poker room). Pretty mellow vibe with good service and nice rooms, doesn't seem like too much of a party crowd there which is nice for us oldsters. We get the Executive Corner Suite which is huge for not a ton of money if you can hit it right.  Great spa too.

For food we really like Javier's in the Aria which is high end Mexican with great tequila  selection and Todd English's PUB also in the Aria which is high endish pub food (awesome lobster roll) with a great beer selection and two happy "hours" early and leate (and if you hit it right, some of the best bartenders in town if you sit at the bar).  We like Mon Ami Gabi (particularly for breakfast) which is a french place in the Paris.  Fantastic eggs benny and mimosas. Joe's Stone Crab in Caesar's is a good but spendy steak/seafood joint. Flay's Mesa Grill in Caesars is really good southwestern/mexican fusion place (duck tacos are a must). Trevi is a good italian place in Caesar's and great people watching as it is basically "outdoor" seating in the middle of a mall.  L'atelier de Joel Robuchon in the MGM is a high end french/fusiony place that lets you get a taste of a world class chef's stuff without spending a thousand dollars at his place next door (will still run you 3-4 hundy depending on what you drink).  Giada has a good spot in the Cromwell hotel (good chicken and waffles).  Get reservations way in advance to everywhere.  All these places have good web presence to check out menus.

We usually don't go as far north to the Venetian so can't say anything about that end of the strip although I've had a decent lunch at a mexican place in the shops by the fake canal that I can't remember the name of.

We don't really do shows but I've heard Love is pretty neat if you are into the Beatles.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2018, 09:45:46 PM by Abagadro »

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

-H.L. Mencken
schild
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Reply #37314 on: February 08, 2018, 10:03:32 PM

Holy shit, Abagadro and I experience opposite Vegaseseses. I find Aria like fair to middling. It's pretentious af which is saying something since I live in the high roller suite. That area is fine for Poker, or so I've heard, but the I've also heard the players are... Good. I haven't played poker in years though.

I've eaten at most of the places he's listed and I would take Bouchon and Cut over every single one of them. PUB is ok but nothing you can't find in any other major Urban center. The Venetian has like infinity restaurants but about six of them are fucking knockout good. There isn't a world where I eat at Mess Grill over Yard Bird for example. And Joe's (which is legit my favorite restaurant in the country) I will only eat at in Miami or DC.

I'm going to assume the Mexican restaurant he's talking about is Cañonita. Don't go there. If you're at the Venetian do Chica. It's from 50 Eggs, the Yard Bird folks.

Also, everyone I know said Love was bad. If you've never done O, it's one of the first and it's spectacular.

Ab, we should have a Vegas street fight.

Poly, if you're willing to spend $700 on a dinner, I can give you a meal plan that will either change your life or destroy your rectum through richness. Maybe both. (Average meal price for two would probably run about $130, though I think there's a few single items worth that fee in the city.)

I'm heading to Vegas next week. I think Straz arrived there tonight.

Edit: just to rub it in I'm pretty sure Canyon Ranch at Palazzo is considered the best spa in Vegas every year, I don't do spas though. My relaxation is the machine state.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2018, 10:14:14 PM by schild »
Abagadro
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Reply #37315 on: February 08, 2018, 10:59:44 PM

To each their own. Just don't really dig that end of the strip in general.  I liked the Venetian's poker room on the couple of times I wandered down there.  I have wanted to try Bouchon so maybe I will make the effort when I am down there in June.

EDIT: Turns out English's PUB closed. Bummer, I liked that place.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2018, 11:17:34 PM by Abagadro »

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

-H.L. Mencken
Abagadro
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Reply #37316 on: February 08, 2018, 11:27:42 PM

I should also say that I am married to a picky pescatarian which somewhat limits our options.  Keller is responsible for the best meal I ever had (French Laundry) but the Bouchon menu offers MAYBE 3 things my wife would actually eat and that does not include a single entre.

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

-H.L. Mencken
Polysorbate80
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Reply #37317 on: February 09, 2018, 03:25:14 AM

Breakfast and lunch will be on the cheap—this is a “working vacation” for me; I’ll be at the convention center from 9-4 Monday-Thursday.  Don’t have the time to get fancy on the food then.  We also arrive Sunday evening too late to eat anything heavy, which will fuck with my reflux (I do NOT eat after 7:30pm). So i miss a dinner, but don’t have to deal with an early flight.  It’s an ok trade.

Otherwise, I have no problems with eating what I want.  Not travelling with my kids for a change means I don’t have to deal with their complaints and picky eating I normally get at restaurants, which is a huge bonus.  I love ‘em, but they can make me crazy any time we try to eat upscale.

So, that’s four dinners I need.  I think at least one good steak, one Asian, one Mexican, and one French (that was the $700–five course meal, the bar tab was about $250 of that between her red wine and my armangac/marnier). That should cover the bases.  I like fish but it’s not mandatory.  I eat almost nothing else (except rum) in Hawaii, and we were there just last month.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2018, 03:42:48 AM by Polysorbate80 »

“Why the fuck would you ... ?” is like 80% of the conversation with Poly — Chimpy
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Reply #37318 on: February 09, 2018, 07:06:08 AM

Breakfast and lunch will be on the cheap—this is a “working vacation” for me; I’ll be at the convention center from 9-4 Monday-Thursday.  Don’t have the time to get fancy on the food then.  We also arrive Sunday evening too late to eat anything heavy, which will fuck with my reflux (I do NOT eat after 7:30pm). So i miss a dinner, but don’t have to deal with an early flight.  It’s an ok trade.

Otherwise, I have no problems with eating what I want.  Not travelling with my kids for a change means I don’t have to deal with their complaints and picky eating I normally get at restaurants, which is a huge bonus.  I love ‘em, but they can make me crazy any time we try to eat upscale.

So, that’s four dinners I need.  I think at least one good steak, one Asian, one Mexican, and one French (that was the $700–five course meal, the bar tab was about $250 of that between her red wine and my armangac/marnier). That should cover the bases.  I like fish but it’s not mandatory.  I eat almost nothing else (except rum) in Hawaii, and we were there just last month.

Cut at The Venetian is where you want to be for steak. Cut is one of my top five meals in the entire country, possibly the single best honestly, but I haven't had a chance to do 11 Madison Park or Alinea yet. Hell, I haven't even eaten at Emmer and Rye in Austin yet :(

For Asian, you've got a number of choices, but you'll need to be more specific on nationality. I wouldn't go to Momofuku, all of their non-New York locations have been garbage. Give me more details.

The best Mexican won't be on the strip, but I blindly trust all the 50 Eggs places. I'm eating at Chica in a week and can report back, but I'm sure it's fucking awesome.

French - Bouchon, Joel Robuchon, Le Cirque, Guy Savoy - you've got options here. Las Vegas' cup runneth over with good french food.
Polysorbate80
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Reply #37319 on: February 09, 2018, 08:16:01 AM


For Asian, you've got a number of choices, but you'll need to be more specific on nationality. I wouldn't go to Momofuku, all of their non-New York locations have been garbage. Give me more details.


I'm very careful with Thai, since I've had some unpleasant experiences with an otherwise lovely dish ruined by something odd like too much anise.  The wife will be severely disappointed if she doesn't get sushi, but you don't strictly have to go Japanese to get that--unless there's a place to get legit Wagyu (not the typical U.S. pretending-it's-wagyu scam)?  I think it's overrated but she loves that too...

Chinese is impossible to recommend; get a dozen people together and they'll all disagree on which is the best.

Vietnamese I've never actually tried, but there was some tasty looking stuff Teleku posted in that other thread.

I include Indian food in the Asian category, both of us love it but we almost never can get it.  It's not available anywhere close to us.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2018, 08:23:11 AM by Polysorbate80 »

“Why the fuck would you ... ?” is like 80% of the conversation with Poly — Chimpy
HaemishM
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Reply #37320 on: February 09, 2018, 09:17:08 AM

Vietnamese I've never actually tried, but there was some tasty looking stuff Teleku posted in that other thread.

Vietnamese food is really good, even the cheap stuff. A good bowl of Pho is heaven.

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Reply #37321 on: February 09, 2018, 11:42:55 AM

I never feel more acutely aware of the geographical and cultural separation between me and other people on the Internet than when someone says they've never had X food.  There are 3 Vietnamese joints on my street.  I lived on cheap bun for about a year in college.  How do you function without it?

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
Polysorbate80
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Reply #37322 on: February 09, 2018, 12:00:33 PM

Not available locally, so I never think about it.  One of the many drawbacks to living in a rural and non-diverse area.

You can get all the chicken-fried steak you’d ever want, though (and the answer to how much I want is “zero”)

“Why the fuck would you ... ?” is like 80% of the conversation with Poly — Chimpy
Bunk
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Reply #37323 on: February 09, 2018, 12:39:57 PM

Vietnamese I've never actually tried, but there was some tasty looking stuff Teleku posted in that other thread.

Vietnamese food is really good, even the cheap stuff. A good bowl of Pho is heaven.

Lol, sometimes I forget that other cities don't have a Pho and Banh Mi place on every second corner. I'm spoiled.

"Welcome to the internet, pussy." - VDL
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HaemishM
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Reply #37324 on: February 09, 2018, 12:47:13 PM

What's funny is Jackson, MS (the "urban heart" of Mississippi) now has 2 Pho places, both of which are good. Yet, as I was commiserating with the owner of a new Asian market in town, there is no place where I can get Korean BBQ, real or otherwise. And I really want to try me some Korean BBQ.

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Reply #37325 on: February 09, 2018, 12:49:08 PM

Its funny, authentic Korean BBQ places are a bit harder to find around here, yet about 75% of the Sushi places are run by Koreans.

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schild
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Reply #37326 on: February 09, 2018, 01:59:57 PM

we have pho and banh mi and everything else all over the place

along with bbq that isn't utter garbage

you peasants
Soln
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Reply #37327 on: February 09, 2018, 02:08:57 PM

Is there an example of Pho that isn't just a big bowl of water with fish sauce?  Kind of asking seriously, because I also once liked it a lot as a dish, but have had too many recent bad experiences.  Seems like a bowl, some noodles, some basil, some protein, something else, fish sauce, and more fucking hot water.
HaemishM
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Reply #37328 on: February 09, 2018, 02:14:41 PM

The best I had was a kind of fish stew type of thing with the noodles, fish balls, squid and shrimp in addition to the veggies.

schild
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Reply #37329 on: February 09, 2018, 02:40:05 PM

Is there an example of Pho that isn't just a big bowl of water with fish sauce?  Kind of asking seriously, because I also once liked it a lot as a dish, but have had too many recent bad experiences.  Seems like a bowl, some noodles, some basil, some protein, something else, fish sauce, and more fucking hot water.

don't you live in seattle

the fuck, soln
Trippy
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Reply #37330 on: February 09, 2018, 02:53:15 PM

I'm very careful with Thai, since I've had some unpleasant experiences with an otherwise lovely dish ruined by something odd like too much anise.  The wife will be severely disappointed if she doesn't get sushi, but you don't strictly have to go Japanese to get that--unless there's a place to get legit Wagyu (not the typical U.S. pretending-it's-wagyu scam)?  I think it's overrated but she loves that too...
I haven't had sushi on the Strip but I have been to a couple of high-end Omakase places off-strip. Kubuto is decent if you want that snobby Edomae-style "sushi nazi" experience. Avoid Kame Omakase -- it is way overrated.

As for Wagyu beef Las Vegas actually has at least three places -- Bazaar Meat, Jean George Steakhouse, and SW Steakhouse -- with imported from Japan Wagyu beef. And the later two explicitly list having A5 grade (the highest) available.

Quote
Chinese is impossible to recommend; get a dozen people together and they'll all disagree on which is the best.
That's not true for people who know Chinese food. The correct answer is a high-end Cantonese restaurant.
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Reply #37331 on: February 09, 2018, 03:03:55 PM

Is there an example of Pho that isn't just a big bowl of water with fish sauce?  Kind of asking seriously, because I also once liked it a lot as a dish, but have had too many recent bad experiences.  Seems like a bowl, some noodles, some basil, some protein, something else, fish sauce, and more fucking hot water.
don't you live in seattle

the fuck, soln
If you want bolder flavors try to find a Southern-style Pho place. It sounds like you've been eating at Northern-style places with very weak broths. Or just eat ramen instead. Pho, as it's normally made, is never going to be the flavor bomb that modern ramen is.
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Reply #37332 on: February 09, 2018, 03:07:33 PM

I'm very careful with Thai, since I've had some unpleasant experiences with an otherwise lovely dish ruined by something odd like too much anise.  The wife will be severely disappointed if she doesn't get sushi, but you don't strictly have to go Japanese to get that--unless there's a place to get legit Wagyu (not the typical U.S. pretending-it's-wagyu scam)?  I think it's overrated but she loves that too...
I haven't had sushi on the Strip but I have been to a couple of high-end Omakase places off-strip. Kubuto is decent if you want that snobby Edomae-style "sushi nazi" experience. Avoid Kame Omakase -- it is way overrated.

As for Wagyu beef Las Vegas actually has at least three places -- Bazaar Meat, Jean George Steakhouse, and SW Steakhouse -- with imported from Japan Wagyu beef. And the later two explicitly list having A5 grade (the highest) available.

Quote
Chinese is impossible to recommend; get a dozen people together and they'll all disagree on which is the best.
That's not true for people who know Chinese food. The correct answer is a high-end Cantonese restaurant.


Go to Cut at the Venetian for A5 Wagyu.

I really can't stress enough. Go there for steak.
Samwise
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Reply #37333 on: February 09, 2018, 03:24:55 PM

Is there an example of Pho that isn't just a big bowl of water with fish sauce?

I've never made pho myself, but my understanding is that it takes a while to brew up a good rich broth to put everything else into.  Your description of it as "a big bowl of water" makes me think whatever you had skipped that important step.

Like, you don't make pea soup by boiling water, throwing raw peas into it, and serving.

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Ard
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Reply #37334 on: February 09, 2018, 09:24:07 PM

Also fish sauce in pho, what the shit?  That's one of the few things they don't put it in, otherwise I wouldn't be able to eat it, and I love pho.  What sort of shit ass places are you geting pho from, there's like one every other block out here.
Trippy
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Reply #37335 on: February 10, 2018, 12:24:32 AM

Fish sauce is in Pho. Just cause you can't taste it doesn't mean it's not in there.
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Reply #37336 on: February 10, 2018, 01:19:13 AM

In Hungary, 'Chinese' == Szechuan cuisine pretty much exclusively. I mean, I like that stuff, but some variety would be nice (dim sum, etc).

Speaking of which, the biggest roadblock I ran into with pho is coriander... I can't stand the taste, and it's a core ingredient of pho as I understand it. I thought I was crazy, but my brother can't stand it either... of course that doesn't mean I'm not crazy.  why so serious?

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Reply #37337 on: February 10, 2018, 09:12:58 AM

Coriander seeds are a core component in many recipes but the coriander the herb is just a garnish. Northern-style Pho usually omits the cilantro as a garnish. Or find a Southern-style place that lets you garnish the bowl yourself.
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Reply #37338 on: February 11, 2018, 08:11:11 PM

Cilantro tastes like soapy death to me, but I love a good pho. Lots of shitty pho around the country now though. I'm sure I'll discover some shitty pho in Phoenix this week!
Abagadro
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Reply #37339 on: February 12, 2018, 12:49:25 AM

So I have an idea for an app and a general sense of how I would like the UI to work. It would mostly be scrubbing info from a publicly available but badly implemented web site and making it useful and searchable (if enough uptake I could see targeted ads doing very well on this app).

Since my coding experience ended with Applesoft Basic in approximately 1985 I'm wondering what kind of resources are out there. Should I try to learn it myself, are there freelance people out there to do it reasonably with a design document, is this a waste of time?   

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

-H.L. Mencken
Hawkbit
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Reply #37340 on: February 12, 2018, 01:35:12 AM

Not a waste of time and worst case you'll learn about modern programming. Nothing wrong with learning something new.

If you're going web application first, then mobile, I might suggest Ruby on Rails or Python/Django. Both can get you writing web code relatively quickly. At the very least you can prototype what you're trying to do. A big question is how you're planning to scrape the public info. Do they have an open API you can hook into? If no, then you're stuck literally scraping the HTML off and parsing it - which is expensive computationally and frustrating as hell to code around. Especially if the site being pulled from sucks.

Google will require you to have significant content before approving a Doubleclick for Small Business (AdSense) account. Basically you'll want to have your product pretty much in place before they'll sign off.

Finally, my suggesting on farming out the work is to pick someone local that you can meet face to face. There's no nice way to say this, but here goes: I've had no positive experiences farming dev work to either Russia or India. It's cheaper, but so much of the design gets lost in translation and our projects ended up taking 2-3 times longer than we needed to get to market.

You'll probably get some great differing opinions here, I know some of the other folks here have more experience than I do. Good luck - whatever the project is it sounds like fun.

Ironwood
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Reply #37341 on: February 12, 2018, 10:14:31 AM

Fuck London   

"Mr Soft Owl has Seen Some Shit." - Sun Tzu
Trippy
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Reply #37342 on: February 12, 2018, 10:29:31 AM

So I have an idea for an app and a general sense of how I would like the UI to work. It would mostly be scrubbing info from a publicly available but badly implemented web site and making it useful and searchable (if enough uptake I could see targeted ads doing very well on this app).

Since my coding experience ended with Applesoft Basic in approximately 1985 I'm wondering what kind of resources are out there. Should I try to learn it myself, are there freelance people out there to do it reasonably with a design document, is this a waste of time?   
I would not recommend you try to do it yourself. It's not easy to build this sort custom database-backed Web site by yourself without a programming background. There are, however, plenty of freelance people around that can do that sort of thing. I'm not sure, though, where the best place to find such a person is now since I've been out of that market since like 2009. In the old days, here in the SF Bay Area, Craigslist was a good place to post this sort of smallish-sized contract Web job.
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Reply #37343 on: February 12, 2018, 11:00:21 AM

Fuck London   

How's that family vacation going?

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
Sky
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Reply #37344 on: February 12, 2018, 12:32:11 PM

Fuck London   
I thought that was a Scottish motto?
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