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| - When those in my generation look back on our childhood, we nostalgically remember television jingles for soda pop, tobacco and laundry detergent (e.g., "I'd like to teach the world to sing...", "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should", and "Ajax - laundry detergent - is stronger than dirt"). Etched into our memories are also iconic moments such as listening to Jim McKay intone, "the thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat...," whilst watching a hapless skier have the worst wipe-out of all time. Another such memory is hearing Earl Scheib drawl, "I'll paint any car any color for twenty-nine ninety-five!"
One of the first ad signs I noticed when I arrived in Las Vegas during a recent vacation was posted in bold letters along the side of Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Casino:
$4.99 Ribeye and Eggs. Midnight until 6:00 AM.
I immediately felt a stab of nostalgia and thought of Earl Scheib whose paint jobs were infamous for their cheap quality as well as their cheap price. I tried to imagine just how terrible this meal could be and turned to my wife and friends saying, "We have got to try that!"
The following day was filled with the stuff most tourists do when they visit: walking a lot, shopping and gambling, taking a ride on NYNY's roller coaster (three stars), eating an excellent dinner at Olives in the Bellagio (four stars), watching the odd but very entertaining fusion of ballet, Olympic diving, synchronized swimming and circus acts that makes up Cirque du Soleil's O (three stars), and dancing on Cleopatra's Barge at Caesar's Palace (four stars).
As midnight approached, we were working up quite an appetite for late-night munchies and decided the time had come to try out the ridiculously cheap ribeye and eggs at the Victorian Room. A lot of other people must have had the same idea. I'm guessing that midnight is the peak hour for this place. We had a twenty minute wait to be seated which we spent throwing money away in cheap slot machines near the entrance (the back of Bill's) so we could hear when our name was called.
Once ensconced in our booth, our order was taken and the food was delivered extremely quickly. I requested that my eggs be cooked over easy and the meal came with hash browns. The moment of truth had come--just how bad could it be? As it turns out, it wasn't bad at all. Their secret is simple: the ribeye is about 1/8" thick and heavily seasoned which is a good tactic for making mediocre meat tasty (it was too thin to be chewy). I thoroughly enjoyed swirling bite-sized chunks of steak in my runny eggs and mopping the whole thing up later with the delicious hash browns. It was the perfect way to end a long day in Vegas.
Its stained glass windows, flowered curtains and red patent leather booths give this restaurant a reasonably "Victorian" feel. What catches you by surprise is that half the menu is Chinese fare. I was only able to resolve this dilemma when I realized they were styling the place after Victorian-era San Francisco and this was the Chinatown element.
Part of the nostalgia that drew me here in the first place was based on my previous Vegas trip 30 years ago. Back then, $1.99 steak and egg specials were being promoted. I suspect that this $4.99 ribeye and egg special is the closest you're going to get to that, which isn't bad when you realize that it now costs at least $359.99 for Earl Scheib to paint your car.
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