EATER Las Vegas Archives - Taste With The Eyes

Crispy Duck Panang

We recently had an extraordinary dinner at their newly opened location in the Red Rock Casino…at what is widely agreed to be the best Thai restaurant in Las Vegas, Lotus of Siam.

Since 1999, Chef Saipin Chutima and her family have owned and operated this world-renowned restaurant. Chef Saipin’s cooking revolves around the Northern Thai recipes passed down from generations of her family. She received the coveted James Beard award for Southwest Region Chef in 2011.

Lotus of Siam’s 3rd location at Red Rock Casino Resort opened in November 2022, with Saipin’s daughter, Penny, at the helm. The design of the restaurant is casual yet breathtaking, and everything one would expect from a new Red Rock concept. Eater Vegas chose their Chiang Mai-inspired style as the Best Design of the Year.

The elevated food is obviously not your local hole-in-the-wall Thai menu (although there is nothing wrong with that!). And the award-winning wine list and service are impeccable. We enjoyed a bottle of the lovely HeavenSake with our meal.

We shared several dishes – all excellent – some highlights included Chilean Sea Bass with Sweet & Sour Sauce, Penny’s Ceviche, Garlic Prawns, and of course the Crispy Duck Panang.

By the way, their base sauce recipes are a secret. Only three people know the recipes according to Chef Saipin in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Craving the exotic flavors of Lotus’s stellar dish, I set out to create my own version of Crispy Duck Panang.

Lotus of Siam, Red Rock Casino

Crispy Duck Panang Recipe

Continue reading “Crispy Duck Panang”

Brezza Las Vegas Style “Pan-Seared Fish”

Pan-Seared Fish
Black Rice, English Peas
Meyer Lemon Lobster Butter
Micro Greens

Black Cod, Black Rice

We loved it so much we cooked it twice. Once featuring Alaska Coho Salmon and once featuring Alaska Black Cod…with premium quality fish, a rich and tangy lobster butter sauce, earthy black rice, and plump sweet peas.

The inspiration for this striking colorful recipe came from a heavenly dinner we recently enjoyed at the new Brezza, located in Resorts World Las Vegas. We were quite impressed by the restaurant’s service and ambiance, pristine Tonno Carpaccio, and brilliant Tagliatelle Bolognese with its intriguing hint of cloves, but it was her Chilean Seabass special that we especially craved again and again.

EATER Las Vegas writes that the winners of the 2021 Eater Awards in Las Vegas comprise a diverse group of the finest and most interesting chefs, restaurants and bars in the city.

Continue reading “Brezza Las Vegas Style “Pan-Seared Fish””

Nashville Hot Chicken in Vegas

Slater's 50/50 Nashville Screamin’ Hot Chicken Sandwich — Slater’s 50/50 Nashville Screamin’ Hot Chicken Sandwich

Nashville Hot Chicken in Vegas

Last weekend my brother Don and nephew Stone came to town to watch the Chicago Bears play the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. With the super popularity of Nashville Hot Chicken in Vegas, we thought it would be fun to do a “hot chicken tasting” the day before the game.

Belly Bombz Special Fried Chicken Sandwich Nashville Hot

We chose 5 popular restaurants off The Strip that serve Nashville Hot Chicken, all on the south end of Las Vegas. We ordered one sandwich, with a side, to split between the three of us. If there was a choice of degree of spiciness, we chose the medium spice to be consistent.

The sandwich was rated on a scale of 1 to 10 in five different categories: chicken, spices, bun, presentation, and toppings. At the end, we reviewed our ratings and we each gave the sandwiches an overall ranking.

Houston's Hot Chicken Sandwich — Houston’s Hot Chicken Sandwich

“If fried chicken lore is to be believed, Nashville hot chicken was created by a woman scorned. Sometime in the 1930s, there was a handsome man named Thornton Prince III living in Nashville. To put it in polite terms, Thornton was…active…on the dating scene — so active in fact that one of his girlfriends decided to seek revenge on his two-timing ways by cooking him some fried chicken with a little too much of a kick to it. The plan backfired; Thornton loved the chicken. And thus, Nashville hot chicken was born.” (from Eater Las Vegas)