The Unqualified Culinary Critics

0:00:00
Welcome to the Unqualified Culinary Critics, a podcast centered around food and cultural experiences. We want to not only share our own perspectives in life, but hope that these stories connect in some way to each one of you as well. Thank you guys so much for tuning in once again to Unqualified Culinary Critics. We are back with Jason from KUNV. He's here to talk a little more about his experiences here in Vegas and just in general. So you've lived in a lot of different cities. I was

0:00:33
wondering if you consider yourself, if you consider any of those cities like a foodie city? Well, when I lived in the Cayman Islands, they were pretty pretty proud of their culinary offerings because the Cayman Islands is a very wealthy Caribbean island which attracts tourism at one point they had done a study that said something like 120 different nationalities were current residents in the Cayman Islands. So we had restaurants and people from all of those different countries all on this tiny 20 by 7 mile island. So the Cayman Islands was good. You could get, you know, great food from the Caribbean, from Jamaica, then you could get great food from Germany and great food, you know, from the Philippines and Australia. So I really got a chance to sample cuisine from all over the world when I was

0:01:30
lucky enough to be there. Do you feel like they had actual, like, genuine food from those cultures since, you know, they're far away from where a lot of the countries are.

0:01:40
Yeah, I mean I think definitely it was a challenge probably getting the ingredients but there were a lot of like little niche markets set up to kind of serve those communities and they did a pretty good job. I feel like yeah those places that was sort of like people's like their catch is that they would come and set up this really unique restaurant that would specialize in serving, you know, just legit food from the Philippines. Or the kids would come from South Africa and they would make, you know, authentic South African food. And a lot of times people would, when they would visit back home, they would bring lots of stuff back with them. So when they would come back, you know, South African guys would make a big pot of biltong, which is like a South African meat. So, yes, I think, yeah, they were pretty authentic. Yeah, for sure. I think more authentic than a lot of the food you're going to find up there, I think, on Las Vegas Boulevard.

0:02:34
Yeah, I was going to say probably.

0:02:36
Bubba Gump shrimp company. A lot of fresh seafood, fresh, fresh ingredients.

0:02:40
So, yeah. I wonder if there if you ever saw like any interesting like mixes in the cuisine, like, for example, like at least here in Vegas, I've seen, and I'm pretty sure this has happened in other states too, where there's like the birria ramen, where it's like Mexican and Japanese cuisine mixing.

0:02:59
Yeah, that's, I have noticed that here. Yeah, I found that, yes, the combinations here. But it works, right? Yeah. You know, I haven't, nothing jumps to the top of my head. But yeah, the way people have infusing Asian with other cultures has been quite good and I'd be interested to know where you can find that birria.

0:03:27
Birria? I thought two R's were a D. No? No. Okay, birria. You have to roll

0:03:39
your R's when it's two R's. Birria and

0:03:43
ramen. Where would you find that?

0:03:47
I know they have a place in Henderson. I don't remember the exact name

0:03:42
Sometimes it could be go or beef. It's up to the person

0:03:45
So there's a joint out in Summerlin in that downtown Summerlin area a Spanish place and they're doing like a massive Beer a taco and it just looks fantastic. I another one I saw on tick-tock

0:03:58
Yeah, tick-tock actually comes in clutch with those recommendations. Well, you know you eat with your eyes, right?

0:04:03
So you see these awesome looking places. I've seen a bunch of restaurants super excited to try by watching tick-tock

0:04:10
Yeah, yeah, like that one place. It's like off of flamingo somewhere that pizza place Remember did you see on the news about this food critic and he went to this pizza place? Not very far from here and he just ordered food and then he is reviewing it and then he's like these are the

0:04:28
best ones I had and then the business just bloomed. Really? Oh yeah I know who you're talking about that TikToker that he's a food reviewer from here in Vegas and he basically saved that family's

0:04:39
business. Really? Yeah with his reviews. Oh I think I was it uh I think I've seen that. Yeah. And and they were so nice that they were waiting like yes I have seen that that was a really touching video actually. Yeah, he's doing like a

0:04:51
partnership with Chipotle now. Really? Yeah, he's like doing a Chipotle commercial.

0:04:56
Sold right out to the man. Yeah, when I first had got here I was really looking for a good pizza place and some study had come out about like the hundred best pizzerias in America and one that had fallen in the top 50 was right here right next to me. I think it's called DeFazio's. I could be wrong. It was right. It was in Pecos Plaza at Pecos and Tropicana really good. It's like a Philadelphia place pizza was actually pretty good pretty good, but then I found a great pizza out in Down in Henderson out of Boulder Highway called Sunshine Pizza pizzeria Fantastic so good so good. That's good. Yeah. Yeah, cuz like now we're talking food

0:05:31
And my question the question is now like are there any foods, cuisines, dishes, restaurants here in the valley that you just really want to try like I can I'll give an example because I I can just go first just to start it out so you know like as I mentioned before that I wanted to try other places and I'm kind of willing to come out of my shelter and just explore so I kind of want to try like Argentine cuisine, Cuban I've actually been to a Cuban place recently and it's pretty good. I recommend going. I can give a shout out it's Cubanadad 1885. Well what did you get? I don't really remember exactly the names first time and I just went like on a Tuesday. Well

0:06:13
you can describe it. Yeah describe. Was it like a sandwich? Did you get the Cuban

0:06:17
sandwich? I got a Cuban sandwich. It's chicken because I don't eat pork actually. Okay. So we had a chicken sandwich and we had like a protein with some chicken on it and then we even had some empanadas. My mom ordered a salad too so I would recommend going there. There's two locations I believe one I don't remember the exact street name for the Summerlin one it might be Fort Apache but I could be wrong but the one I've been to is the one in Henderson off of Eastern and Horizon Ridge so I recommend going and trying that place. I want to try Caribbean or Caribbean?

0:06:53
Caribbean. Well, you can say it either. Americans say Caribbean, but people from the Caribbean say Caribbean.

0:06:59
Okay, Caribbean. I want to be respectful.

0:07:01
Appreciate that. Yeah, it kills me to hear that because that's such an only Americans call it Caribbean, but it's definitely Caribbean.

0:07:09
Okay, it's just like when somebody says Nevada. Nevada as

0:07:13
Nevada.

0:07:14
And you know what, that's embarrassing too, because I will hear them speak, voices like on the radio or on TV say Nevada, and it's embarrassing.

0:07:22
Yeah, I-

0:07:23
It's definitely not Nevada.

0:07:24
Yeah, it's Nevada. And I was working one day, and one of my co-workers, when he heard somebody say Nevada, he's like, oh. It's like, I kind of expected him to say that.

0:07:34
Yeah. But just the fact that, you know, you're from the East Coast, and you know how to say it

0:07:37
right.

0:07:38
Well, I, you know, I think it's like Caribbean Caribbean, right? So I knew that you you know, you get smacked pretty quick when you say Caribbean down down the Caribbean So when I had got here in New York, I was I called it Nevada. I didn't know it's okay now, you know Yeah, but now I know so yeah now it's like one of those like You've become a local in a year and a half

0:07:55
exactly and

0:07:57
And going back to that where I wanted to try like Ethiopian, Israeli, like some more Korean, Japanese. Like this is just like basic list of what I have, but there's more and it's just not, nothing's coming to my head at the moment to add, but that this is, these are just examples of what I want to try.

0:08:14
Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what, I mean, I've been to Cuba and, you know, Cuba, not really known for their food, but there are some really good Cuban places. So I went to a Cuban joint on Tropicana between McLeod and the Easter. I think it's called like the Cuba Cafe or something. Oh I know which one you're talking about. Right next to that dirty burrito place. Yeah. And they did a really, really yummy Cuban sandwich which is you really can't go wrong with. But there is another Cuban place that I'd like to try. It's right near the same area. It's to check that out but I'll tell you what you want to try something interesting and I may go we may have to go over there together right across the street from where we are in that plaza next to us where the post office is there is a Haitian restaurant. I want to go there yeah. And I'm kind of intrigued at what Haitian food could be and or or is there or aren't there are you eating it with silverware I feel like maybe they're eating with their hands. I have no idea. That'd be interesting though. Yeah, yeah, I like, I like, I like foods from other countries. When I was living abroad, I became a big fan of food from Honduras. So, uh, bellyatas, you know what those are? Yeah. Oh yeah, Honduran tacos, those are really yummy. I found a Honduran place literally right, right down the block from us here. And they do some really tasty bellyatas there. Those are nice, fresh tortilla, yummy, very good.

0:09:38
Yeah, I'm a big fan of like Salvadoran food too, like pupusas. I know that's like the most basic answer you can have for somebody who says that, but like, they're so good.

0:09:48
Wait, what's it called?

0:09:49
Pupu?

0:09:50
Pupusas. Pupusas? Yeah, they're like, you've never heard of them?

0:09:52
Oh, pupusas. Yeah, yeah.

0:09:54
Oh, yes, of course. Yes, yes.

0:09:56
Well, I'll tell you what. So like, you're probably detecting a pattern, but when I was in the Caribbean I get a chance to eat food from Trinidad. So Trinidad and the Caribbean in general they you know they called the West Indies so there's a lot of Indian influence and specifically in Trinidad and Trinidad they have something called doubles and roti. Now I haven't had too much luck finding a legit Trinidadian restaurant here but if you ever should happen to see a place that's got a sign that says Roti R-O-T-I. Go in there and check it out. It's like a curry burrito. It's really, really yummy. And Trini Doubles, Trinidad Trini, is like chickpea. It's called, I forgot what they call it. There's a name for it. Chawna is what it is. Chawna. And it's curry chickpeas. And they wrap them up in these little pillow bread. It's just fantastic with a really nice hot sauce. And you eat about half a dozen of those for breakfast so

0:10:51
get your day going. I like how you mentioned chickpeas because I got into Mediterranean food recently because of my mom so we've been trying Greek food we've been trying like you know additional Mediterranean stuff so we've

0:11:01
been eating kebabs we've been having. Now what kind of kebabs so because there's two different kind of kebabs and I'm a fan of one but not the other. Well I'll just tell you what I eat. Okay. The steak and the chicken. Now are they shaving the steak off of like a trumpo? You know what I mean, a trumpo? Yeah. Or are they giving you chunks of steak that are grilled on a skewer?

0:11:20
Well, I mean, I've seen what you're talking about, but I don't know if they give that to me.

0:11:25
Gotcha.

0:11:26
So that's a thing. So yeah, I'm a big fan of doner, right? So doner is when they're shaving it off of that trumpo, and usually that's sort of like a mix of beef and lamb.

0:11:36
The gyro, yeah.

0:11:37
Yes, yes. The Greeks call it a hero, right? But in... I lost my place. What were we talking about? Oh, we're talking about the kebabs. Yeah. So I recently just found a legit Donair spot on Fremont Street. Oh, really? So if you go just a little bit down to Fremont, there's like a food court there. Have you ever been there? Yeah. There's like a food... I had no idea. Whoever eats on Fremont, I never eat out there and drink. But if you go in there, they're doing a really decent Donair. And I'm not even kidding. I've never been there. I've never been to a Donair.

0:11:57
I've never been to a Donair.

0:11:58
I've never been to a Donair. I've never been to a Donair. I've never been to a Donair. I've never been to a Donair. I've never been to a Donair. I've never been to a Donair. I've never been to a Donair. I never eat out in there to drink. But if you go in there, they're doing a really decent doner on a fresh kind of pita.

0:12:14
It's really, really good. Super cheap, too. It's like eight bucks. That is so funny that you say that because the high school that I went to was downtown,

0:12:20
so we would always ditch and go to Fremont to eat. Because that's all we could do. We were like 15-year-olds. For sure. I'd never... And my girlfriend introduced to me the idea of going to Fremont and going into the liquor store and getting drinks Yeah, and then walking around with them. I had never even thought of that I was just I would always go there and pay $20 for a drink from the bar. Yeah, there's this corner store market

0:12:38
It's on Fremont and 11 so like way down Okay They have super cheap drinks my friends and I would always go there pregame and then go to concerts They would have like at the bunkhouse

0:12:47
Yeah, that little food court. I had no idea it was there and we were walking up We parked cuz I'm like, oh, this is they've got it. Let's go And it was we walked right into Fremont Street underneath like a little door and into the yeah And he's got like a Mexican buffet. He's got like a Chinese buffet pizzas. It's pretty good. Yeah

0:13:05
There used to be a Greek place right across the street here. Yeah, um, but I believe I shut down Yeah, yeah, cuz I I remember I went there once. Yeah.

0:13:18
I think you talked about it in a previous episode too.

0:13:20
Yeah, because I remember I was here like my first two, well I remember seeing it the first two years I was here and I only went once, like right before it shut down.

0:13:30
Yeah, right. I love me some good hummus and some feta. You know, you put that on a nice Greek salad. Yummy.

0:13:37
Since we're talking about Greek food, have you heard of Marakai? No. It's kind of like a chain here now, but it's a local restaurant. I've been to the one off of Buffalo and Blue Diamond. Their stuff is good. Okay. And I've heard about it through my mom. And then there's also a Yelp

0:13:52
Top 50 Best Local Restaurants of 2022. And they were like number one. Really? So I tried it. It's

0:13:59
good. I'd give it a try. You know, I'm really intrigued with like the Chinatown here.

0:14:03
Oh yeah.

0:14:04
Because there are just a lot of places to eat.

0:14:07
They're all pretty good. Like that's my issue that I have with like branching out and trying other food is because I'm like, Oh, I'll go to Chinatown. I'm going to try new things. And then I go there and I just go to the same places. Cause I'm just like, I know these places are going to be good. I am the exact same way.

0:14:20
I have been to restaurants and I, I will go out, get something I love and I will never order anything else and then I will deprive myself of all the other things they have. So I got taken to a really yummy place and I know where it is I don't know the name of it but for soup dumplings and boil boil they were really good. But I'm told they have quite another extensive menu but we tried every one of the soup dumplings and they

0:14:46
were just fantastic. Yeah that's good. Do you know the major intersections like Rainbow and Spring Mountain?

0:14:53
Yeah, I'm learning them. I'm learning them. Yeah, so Spring Valley, Spring Mountain, Spring Mountain?

0:14:58
Yeah, Spring Mountain.

0:14:59
Spring Mountain is, I'm still learning, but I'm getting a gist of things now. Because truthfully, I've been buying furniture and stuff off of Facebook Marketplace, so usually I have to drive up that side. So yeah, I kind of get the idea. Blue Diamond and Buffalo, that's kind of like where Dave lives. I kind of associate with who lives where.

0:15:17
So, yeah.

0:15:18
Yeah. That's kind of how you have to do it until you learn.

0:15:21
Right. Right.

0:15:21
And even then you like pass by over there, you're like, oh, that's where the homie lives. Yeah, that's right.

0:15:26
That's right. Yeah. My first couple of weeks being here, I kind of would just kind of stumble into places. And now, you know, I'll go someplace with a purpose and I'll be like, oh, yeah, I was over here. I know where this is. This is Green Valley. I know where I am.

0:15:39
Yeah.

0:15:39
But I feel like with Chinatown, it's just such, there's so much to try. And like you said in the previous episode, like there's just, you don't know where to start. It's overwhelming sometimes. Yeah. There's like a lot of additional Asian cuisines that I want to try there, but I just don't even know the restaurants. Like, yeah, like I said, I just don't know

0:15:59
all the restaurants, but it's just, it'd be worth trying, you know, I'm open to it.

0:16:04
But that's what's good about being single too, when I was single. So, you know, there's really no harm. It's not like you're going to get yourself into a hundred dollar mistake. You know, you can go get yourself a $20 dinner to go and be like, never again. Yeah. And kind of find out what's good and what isn't.

0:16:17
Yeah.

0:16:17
I probably eliminated eight out of 10 Chinese restaurants ever again, just by getting it to go and being like, yep, not a place I want to eat at, and I won't be eating here again at all.

0:16:28
Yeah, I don't blame you.

0:16:28
Yeah, but then there are places where I'm picking up to go, and I'm like, hey, this looks like a nice place to come back to. I may have to come try it out. So that's kind of how I, like, you can sample things.

0:16:38
Yeah, and like, there's one place that I want to try, but I don't know if it's, well, it's Vegetain Vegan. I want to just try a little bit. I don't remember the intersections. It might be Decatur and Spring Mountain. I think it's called Saffron. I want to try that place, but I don't know like I say may have gotten to intersections wrong

0:16:54
Okay, but yeah, are you open to trying vegan and vegetarian food? Absolutely? Yeah, I went to a vegan

0:17:02
Vegetarian place they had one down on the island and island naturals. I used to go there quite a bit Wasn't bad, you know, you know and now truthfully I have a love affair right now with Brussels sprouts. So I have been just hitting Brussels sprouts like crazy and they're so good that I can envision myself just eating them without like whatever chicken or protein I have with it. So now I think that my taste buds have matured a little more. You give me the right seasoning and good textures and maybe a little hot sauce. Yeah, I probably could easily do like a vegan. There's still probably, I went to Phoenix recently,

0:17:41
and I feel like over there, there's such a big vegan community. Literally, just about every restaurant that I would go with my cousin, it was either completely vegan, or there was more vegan options than regular options. And I feel like here in Vegas, it's not as big. There's just very few restaurants that are like all vegan.

0:18:02
Yeah.

0:18:03
But like, I know there's some that like I've been wanting to try. Like I remember Veggie Nation. I don't even think that's there anymore. Like I think I'm pretty sure it closed down, but I never got to try that place.

0:18:13
Yeah. You know, Vegas, not really a city that screams healthy.

0:18:18
Yeah, definitely.

0:18:20
It's definitely as a guy who tries as hard as he can to be healthy, even though he just wants to eat cookies, I find that Vegas doesn't really make it easy for you. So, yeah, I can imagine that with, you know, they open the restaurants with the best of intentions, but if people want a cheeseburger, they're going to want a cheeseburger, you know?

0:18:37
Yeah, I agree. I know a co-host said this in the past, but I believe they mentioned that Vegas, it kind of just, I may be, maybe this is probably my opinion or Dares, I don't remember, but what I can say from me is that I think Vegas can do a little bit better with branching out a little bit more. And I think they're doing that right now, but I just think that maybe more vegan, vegetarian places would be great as well. Besides, but not just vegetarian, vegan, like I want to try all kinds of stuff. So I think that we just need to sprout a little bit more.

0:19:07
I think that's what we should do. We should give Ashley a bunch of money. Yes. She should open a restaurant and call it all kinds of stuff.

0:19:14
Yes.

0:19:14
Oh, I don't think I'd be good with business, the math and all that.

0:19:18
You know, I'm sure that those restaurants probably exist, but it's hard to find them, you know, if you don't know where to look.

0:19:25
Yeah.

0:19:25
I'm sure there's probably somebody listening to this podcast right now saying, hey, you got to go to this place.

0:19:30
Yeah.

0:19:31
So, and that's what's the, that's the, like we talked about in the beginning of the last episode, is that, you know, when you have all of these choices, like, how do you even know where to start looking?

0:19:40
Yeah. Are there any like cuisines that you wish you could find here in Vegas that like you've had in the other places you've lived in?

0:19:47
Yeah, well Trini food. I'd like to get some Trini food for sure because I'm a big fan of roti. And that's how they say in Trinidad, you get some roti. I'd love to find a Trini place. I've only seen places that are kind of like Indian Caribbean, which is close, but usually you wanna, you know, it's just like, if you're looking for a bagel, you don't want to go to a place that specializes in donuts that has bagels, right? So just like with roti, you don't want to go to a place that's really a Puerto Rican place, but they also offer roti. It's not going to be the best roti. Yeah, I'm on the lookout for a trini place for sure. I think I've had a couple of decent experiences with Caribbean food. What's funny is there's a kid who goes to school here at UNLV, he's from Cayman as well, and I asked him when I connected with him, where are you getting your jerk, like good jerk chicken? And he said that the struggle was real, but there was maybe one place that had some good jerk. So I think that's it. Maybe a really good poutine. I had a lot of Canadian friends and the poutine that we could get was just amazing. Haven't really had quite the best poutine here. But Canadian cuisine, kind of niche. People aren't beating down the door for Canadian cuisine. Not really. Their cuisine is poutine. That's really the highlight from the Canadian taste palette. Maybe that maple syrup. Yeah, I

0:21:11
think there's more, we just don't know. We just gotta know more. I mean, when I went to Canada, I tried their poutine, but I'm gonna give it another chance, but the poutine that I had was like, mmm, not really.

0:21:22
Really?

0:21:23
Shocking. Yeah, I was in Vancouver, so.

0:21:25
Oh, and that's shocking, because Vancouver's a big city, so.

0:21:28
Yeah, I like Vancouver, but I just didn't like the poutine that I had there. Maybe it just wasn't their day.

0:21:32
That's it, probably just having a bad day.

0:21:34
Yeah. Have any of you tried this place called Blackout?

0:21:37
No.

0:21:38
I've seen, like, ads for it and stuff. Is this like a

0:21:41
dining in the dark kind of thing? Pretty much, you just got it right. Okay. Yeah, I was like having a meeting with my co-host and we were like, I was like, you want to try it and then we're kind of open to it but I don't know about that happening in the future. Yeah. It's just the trying it in the dark is the kind of thing that

0:21:58
throws some of us off. Yeah, I think that's certainly gonna emphasize your, the priority you put on the taste and the texture, right? Maybe in the smell as well. Probably makes for an interesting dining experience.

0:22:11
Yeah.

0:22:11
Yeah.

0:22:12
You know, it's probably something to experience. Sounds like a birthday.

0:22:15
Yeah.

0:22:15
Would you guys try something like that? I would.

0:22:18
I probably would. Would you?

0:22:19
I don't know.

0:22:20
You're like one of my friends.

0:22:21
You're like Jerry Seinfeld, like your biggest fear would be not knowing if there was bugs in your food.

0:22:27
Oh my gosh.

0:22:28
I think it's vegan vegetarian too, I think.

0:22:31
I gotta look it up.

0:22:32
Hey, you know what? That's probably a great approach to trying to get people to try vegan or vegetarian. If you can't see, then you really don't know. And then you're really, you know, it's sort of like, you know, dating and not getting to see what each other look like, you know?

0:22:45
Like a blind date.

0:22:46
Exactly. So you're almost going on a blind date with vegan food.

0:22:49
Yeah. It just reminds me of, I don't know if you guys ever saw the movie about time. Like, there's this, it's a chick flick. Never. Like, that's how the couple meets. They went to a blackout dining.

0:23:01
Oh, OK.

0:23:02
But yeah, no, I have to see what I'm eating. Really? What if it looks disgusting?

0:23:07
Right.

0:23:08
And you're eating it, no.

0:23:09
And maybe that's what the kitchen, they're all laughing that no one knows.

0:23:12
Yeah. Let's just like, yeah, they'll throw anything on the plate.

0:23:17
Yeah. Hope they're like washing their dishes. Yeah. Yeah. True. But I think I've heard that they had good reviews, but then again, it was in the dark. So, but I mean, I haven't been maybe I'll go. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure it would be fun. Yeah. Have any of you been to any food festivals here in the Valley? Like there's a foodie fest like the great American foodie fest or the San Gennaro fest. I have not, unfortunately.

0:23:40
And I know that I wish I could have an answer for that. I've seen a bunch that I'd like to go to. I've seen like a taco festival. Yeah, the taco one. And then I believe that there was like a Hawaiian... Oh no, there was a poke festival. Which I will not miss again. Like kind of around the Hawaiian event. Yeah. What about you? Have you been to any food festivals?

0:23:59
I went to San Gennaro. They used to do that at Silverton, but they have it somewhere else. It's okay. Honestly, I think it's just too expensive for entry But I mean, it's it's alright You're exploring the Italian culture and there might be more that missing but you know, I think it's mostly Italian culture No, I'll tell you this we went to Disneyland. It was my first time because I've only ever been in Disney World I'm Disneyland Paris

0:24:16
But with Disneyland in Anaheim and the California Adventure Park was offering some sort of like eat the holidays pass Where they had set up probably like 15 different booths with all sorts of different things you could try And I was not impressed, but when is when is the food at Disney? That was our mistake there. Yeah Usually not so good

0:24:41
I don't remember the taste of Disney and I haven't been at Disneyland in years and I want to go back

0:24:46
Well go back, but skip the

0:24:52
taste. Yeah, I was just thinking about how like I haven't been to any of like the food festivals but I'm interested in like the beer festival that they have here too. It's kind of like our own Oktoberfest. Yeah I think I remember

0:25:07
hearing they did one a pretty good one down in Boulder City. Yeah. I missed that one last year but beer fests on Sundays always make me kind of nervous because I got to work But you know where I have been wanting to go is from what I understand the food they have at Resorts World It's sort of like an Asian street food Court, and I heard it's a little pricey, but you can get some pretty good variety I've been kind of eager to go check that out. Yeah, I went well. I was trying to get some food

0:25:33
I went to Resorts World for a psycho fest yeah, and it was really late at night so everything was closed. I was like, no, they had so many good options. Well, it looked like they had a lot of good options. Like, they had ramen, pho, dumplings and stuff. And I was just like, why is this closed? I know it's 2am, but...

0:25:52
Yeah, I like the street food.

0:25:54
Street food's good.

0:25:55
Yeah.

0:25:56
I think Resorts World, it's like... I know there's one in the Philippines too, so that's probably why there's one here in Vegas. I don't know if there's anywhere else.

0:26:05
Oh yeah, Resorts World is a pretty big hotel brand. Oh yeah. But their ties are to Asia for sure.

0:26:11
Yeah. But I want to go to Resorts World, but I'm just kind of hesitant to go because of the whole Vegas environment in terms of the safety thing. I'm just a freak of it. But I want to probably get out of that phase soon. I hope so.

0:26:24
I work on the strip. You'll be fine.

0:26:26
Maybe go with me so I don't feel that scared.

0:26:28
I don't think anything can hurt you in that puffy jacket you got on. That's a pretty good line of defense.

0:26:33
Yeah. If there's any foodie fests that are out there, anybody want to go with me? Like the Great American Food Fest and that kind of stuff?

0:26:41
I would love to go. Just you name it, let's set it up, I'll pick you up.

0:26:45
Alright. Because I know, I want to try all kinds of pizzas because when they had the foodie fest I don't remember what day last year they were like here's a restaurant that serves this kind of pizza and this does this like we're just all gonna go to one restaurant in another restaurant and then this is John I'm like that sounds interesting but at the same time maybe I've been there already I don't remember but it just

0:27:05
sounds kind of cool how do you like your pizza are you thin crust person I can do

0:27:09
almost anything I can do like maybe thin crust or hand tossed or whatever. I want to try good Brooklyn pizza, New York style pizza. Okay. Some Detroit. I've had deep dish. I remember like last year I tried Lumanati's. This isn't sponsored by the way, but I've tried it. Not too bad, but I'm also not fully familiar

0:27:28
with their kind of pizza. What about you, Vae? I like thin crust. Thin crust. Yes,

0:27:33
because you're a normal human being. Yes, because pizza is meant to be thin. Deep dish pizza isn't pizza, it's a casserole. Exactly. No, I went to

0:27:41
Chicago a couple years ago, we had deep dish and I was like, I don't like this.

0:27:45
Yeah. It's the water dough. And what I understand is Giordano's has the best Chicago deep dish and they've got one of these up on the strip. But the one I'm really eager to try and I haven't tried it yet is the Detroit style pizza where the sauce is on the top. I know it sounds kind of probably like a little, you know, kind of, you know, like a novelty, but it looks pretty good, you know, and I know that there is a joint out downtown that's supposedly got the best stuff. I don't mean, I feel like it's Mad Dogs. I can't remember, but I've been eager to kind of get out and try the Detroit style. It seems to be like the new trend in pizza.

0:28:18
I don't even know there was a Detroit style pizza.

0:28:22
Yeah, Detroit style. It's like the hot new one. It's gotten so big now that now even Little Caesars has jumped on top of it.

0:28:28
Pizza Hut.

0:28:29
Yeah, you can get it from the chains now.

0:28:31
Interesting.

0:28:32
But yeah, if they have that at the Foodie Fest, we should all go.

0:28:36
Pizza Fest? How can you go wrong?

0:28:39
I heard there was a Lumpia festival like last month, but I'm like, ooh, that's cool. But it's in Craig Ranch Park. I'm like, it's too far away.

0:28:47
What now?

0:28:48
Lumpia.

0:28:49
Lumpia?

0:28:50
Lumpia. It's like an egg roll. Oh, like an egg roll festival. Yeah, in a way.

0:28:54
Yeah, it's Filipino. Oh, yeah, okay.

0:28:56
Have you tried? I think so. It's like a spring roll. Are you talking about like a fried? Fried egg roll, yeah. Well, it's fried. So how could it possibly be bad?

0:29:04
Like I heard there was like a contest about that. Like I think eat a lot of lumpias and stuff. I don't remember much about it, but I'm like, that sounds pretty cool. I won't

0:29:15
be the competitive eater, but I'll probably be there for the experience, but it's too far. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't even know that existed either. That sounds amazing. Yeah. Craig Ranch

0:29:26
Park is far though. Where's Craig Ranch Park? Give me a little more. In Northtown. Northtown. Okay. Pasta Airport, I think. Okay. Yeah. North Las Vegas Airport, I think. I see. Okay. Sure. I think I mentioned to you in the past episode for part one about steak houses. Yes, so are you interested in trying?

0:29:42
No, the thing is that we talked about I just remember as Morton's say oh So that's quite a popular one for luxury. Yeah, I always see it in like airplane magazines Yes, I love I love a good steak boy steak can get expensive. Yeah, especially depending on the cut, too Yeah, I'm a percent. Those are but I'll tell you I've learned a thing or two about finding cheap steaks because I have become a huge fan of the Flat iron steak next time you're at Walmart. Wherever you get your steaks look for a flat iron steak You're gonna that's a great steak and it's about five bucks. Okay, but also I had a delicious steak at Mon Ami Gabi Yeah, and that was a hanger steak, which was fantastic. Yeah, just fantastic. It's a French restaurant So, of course, it was gonna come out in sauce, but even without the sauce, it would have been a really good steak. Yeah. And the skirt steaks, real good steak as well.

0:30:32
Yeah. Because I've been to Morton's too.

0:30:35
Have you?

0:30:36
Yeah. The one off of Flamingo, right?

0:30:38
Yeah.

0:30:39
Near the airport? Yeah.

0:30:41
Yeah. Not bad. Have you tried Lori's? I haven't. You know, see, I try to be healthy, right? Yeah, yeah, of course. I work for the state of Nevada, so my salary is not the biggest so I have to be kind of frugal with my with my my money So of course we kind of keep the eating out to a minimum But when we do eat out, we like to go where we like Yeah, so but and then you know this but then there's always special occasions and stuff and I'll tell you where we did find It was a great spot. I know we're running on time was the Tuscany casino. You guys know where that is Yeah, it's on Flamingo great place to park and get to the strip from free parking. They've got something in there called pub 365 and there wasn't a person in the place and it was a shame because the chef came out introduced himself the staff everyone was great And the menu just looked fantastic So if you're ever looking for a cheap dinner before you head up, it looked like a really good spot pub

0:31:32
365 little plug there. Okay, there's like other places too. I know I've been to the Palm, I've been to Laurie's, Martin's as well, which I remember. You've been to Hank's in Green Valley? No. I believe, I think I tried it before, I don't remember the taste. How do you take your steak out? Oh this is going to be very interesting to say. I can take medium rare or medium well. I'm not going to be that raw. If I say well done, somebody's gonna... I was

0:31:58
gonna say, yeah, that's a crime. Yeah. But yeah, you're okay with medium well, that's fine.

0:32:04
Yeah, I just don't want it too red. I don't want red meat, but pink I can handle.

0:32:08
How do you take it, Victoria?

0:32:09
You guys are about to beat me up. I'm not going to beat you up.

0:32:12
It's okay. It's okay. My mom's like, well, some people are like...

0:32:16
But I probably had actual steak like once or twice in my life, but at least with carne asada, I like it done so well that it's almost burnt.

0:32:25
Really? Yes. You know what I love? My favorite part of carne asada is that onion. You take that Vidalia onion, you wrap it in tinfoil, throw it in the fire. And then we squoze a little lime on it, a little salt. Man, that was so good. Yeah. Love Mexican food. Yeah. Big fan. Yeah, me too. I really do actually. There's everything is good about Mexican. I think, I remember I was in Monterrey for like a week and we had eaten Mexican every day. And I finally got to a point was like please let me take me for

0:32:52
a cheeseburger or something. I can't eat Mexican again. Yeah I'll give you that list too. Like I said I just gotta think. Yeah yeah nice. But I recommend those places that I went

0:33:03
to minus Morton's because you've already been but yeah. Nice. Yeah. You have any final

0:33:08
thoughts? Thanks for letting me be on your show guys. Yeah of course thank you so much for coming. I'm kind of anxious now to maybe do a follow-up like a few months

0:33:19
from now we can share stories of where we've been. I feel like I've got some

0:33:25
eating to do. Yeah, we gotta take our

0:33:29
recommendations and try all these new places out. That's it. Yeah. Want to come back then? I would love to come back. Nice. Thank you. My pleasure. Thank you guys. We would love to have you back. All right, well thank you guys again so much for listening to this two-part episode. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram at Unqualified Culinary Critics, and on Twitter as well, so it's gonna be at U-N-Q-C-U-L-C-R-I-T. All right, thank you guys so much. Let us know any recommendations that you guys have. Just tell us about it. We'll try and check them out as well, and hopefully next time Jason's back, we'll talk about them as well, yeah. Thank you guys so much. Thank you guys so much. Thank you, and take care.

Transcribed with Cockatoo