"2"^^ . "2"^^ . . "Meal #8 of 2017 Las Vegas Trip\n \nThis was easily my husband's and my favorite meal in Las Vegas. It was such a lovely relaxing experience from start to finish. And everything was so yummy I gorged myself attempting to try as many different dishes that I could (and also revisiting some of the best ones).\n \nThe weekday lunch does not compare in the slightest to the weekend brunch, which while good, is in a completely different Stratosphere. (Let's see how many other Vegas hotels I can reference in this review, or on second thought, maybe not.) \n \nThe sunny two story Mandalay Bay restaurant definitely is superior to the other windowless location in the echo-y mall at Caesars Palace. The fact that Mandalay Bay's patio had a view of the pool just hammered the final nail in the coffin.\n \nA tapas-size version of each dish arrived, made to order, often in its own miniature frying pan. The cold items were available at a station by the bar. This included a made-to-order salad (the chef plucked still-growing micro greens to make it) which was one of the highlights of both our meals. Also here was a chia blueberry parfait (chia seed, lemon zest, almond coconut milk, and fresh blueberries). I may have had more than one.\n \nHighlights from the rest of the menu included the barbeque brisket mini torta and the chilaquiles. (Unfortunately I waited too long to write this review because I'm having trouble remembering what we liked and the few things we didn't like as much. I do remember the husband loving the salad and the chilaquiles.)\n \nOur server (I can't remember her name but I know she was from Sonora) was super friendly. I appreciated that she offered to bring a cinnamon roll pancake from the buffet menu to the kids (who were eating lunch off the kids' menu - they weren't complete freeloaders). The servers were nice and generally looked the other way when we did share a little of our food with the kids.\n \nFor $38.99 a person, totally worth it.\n \n \nOur Las Vegas 2017 Trip\n \n5 Stars\nBORDER GRILL, MANDALAY BAY (brunch)\nGrimaldi's, The Palazzo\nBouchon Bakery, The Venetian (snack)\nEggslut, Cosmopolitan (snack)\n \n4 Stars\nPayard, Caesars Palace\nBorder Grill, Caesars Palace (lunch)\nShake Shack, New York New York\n \n3 Stars \nTournament of Kings, Excalibur\nBruxie, New York New York\nTherapy, Downtown"^^ . . . "2017-06-30T00:00:00"^^ . "0"^^ . "5"^^ .