Are you a Mexican, or a Mexican't!?

Ok I wouldn't use that joke if it wasn't something we've heard in real life. The first time I heard about it a good friend was recounting one of his favorite bus rides ever. A few months back, I heard a father say it to his son. It makes me laugh. Every time. A lot.

La Costa is a small place off Sierra Vista and Swenson. It's tucked into this shady looking strip mall that has like 2 or 3 things still open. The first time I went was with a coworker who kept telling me it was fine, the place had great food. I was worried. I was hungry. I was intrigued.
So far I've had their tacos, burritos and tortas. I love a good sammich, and their tortas make me happy every time. Their burritos, though, are why I go there for lunch. For $3.99 you get an all meat burrito. No onion or cheese or rice filler. Just this wonderfully seasoned meat that falls apart in your mouth. It's not often that I will brag about meat being in my mouth, it makes me feel dirty to say like that, but this stuff? Yeah it's fine to talk about like that. I'm good with it. Give me your big meaty burrito!

Ahem, enough of that.

I've eaten at Roberto's and their many clones, and for those of you that have, the serving sizes are about the same, if not a little bigger. The main difference is where Roberto's is "Yeah that was good.." this place is more of "Nom.. Mmm yeah Nom nom nom nom good.

It's a small joint, I think I've seen three workers total, and it's fine by me. It's open early, and late until 11:00pm. I think the longest I've waited for food was about 10 minutes. It's worth the jaunt over any time, and they always seem happy to have people coming in.

Thai me to the moon...

I couldn't resist the awful pun. I apologize profusely but it couldn't be helped, especially since we're becoming such good friends.

Ahem.



The subject today is Thai food and aside from the fact that I know I'm going to get crap for this, I've currently got two favorites in town: Royal Thai and Thai BBQ (the Original).

First up, Royal Thai. It's on Sahara just West of the Strip (can you tell this is our general neighborhood area? Yeah.. deal with it) and it's neatly situated in a strip mall filled with other cuisines that we've been meaning to try but have yet to venture toward because, well... Royal Thai is amazing. Menu and info for you here

The staff is O.M.G awesome and despite the fact that we're usually the only ..er... white people in the place (isn't this a good measure of the cuisine? If other people of that ethnicity love to eat there?), we've never been treated with anything less that excellence.

Not only this, but the food? The food makes me squee in my pants. Almost literally. I'm a big fan of Pad Thai in particular and this place makes me quite happy about it. Portions are huge and prices are absolutely affordable. I always start out with the appetizer - tempura vegetables (because despite the fact that I'm a fatty and don't generally eat a lot of veggies, I can't pass up deep fried eggplant, zucchini, broccoli and carrots with sweet sauce for dipping!) and then move on to the Pad Thai. I have also tried the eggplant main dish as well as the orange chicken. Everything to date has been absolutely delicious. Not a single complaint from me or any of the poor intrepid souls that have ventured here with me.

The best thing about Royal Thai is the dessert. Seriously. I'd punch babies for this dessert. I believe they call it sweet rice... I'm not sure how to say it in Thai, so I fake it and tell the server that I want the green rice (yeah, it's green, but totally worth the shock value) with ice cream. And by ice cream, I mean coconut ice cream which is not too sweet - actually, not as sweet as the rice - and still has bits of coconut in it. It comes in a little dish and you may want to share it, but not.. if you know what I mean. It's incredibly rich and it may be too much for you to think about eating, but you'll want to anyway. Also, the rice is served warmish and of course the ice cream is not. Great combination. NOM NOM NOM!

The other favorite thusfar was attempted just this week: Thai BBQ on Jones and Flamingo. Menu and location details here Whilst waiting for our showtime for Sherlock Holmes (which, BTW, was quite good indeed), my friend Ghryc (that's pronounced Freak... don't ask) and I ventured to the intersection of Jones and Flamingo for a bit of food before we sat around on our rears for 2+ hours.

Being that the co-author, Kobold has this silly allergy-to-shellfish thing, I often try to avoid eating things with .. you know, animals that could kill him while we're out and about, but my company tonight would not be spared the tragedy of killing small crustaceans. We ordered the appetizer called "Wings of Angel"... which is a little disturbing if you're super-religious, but we're not so we were all about cherubic cannibalism. The order comes with 2 boneless chicken wings which are stuffed with shrimp, pork, chicken (of course) and clear noodles, also served with a side of sweet and sour cucumber sauce. Y.O.M! Not just yum, but YOM. Whilst my companion was given to eating the sauce all by itself, it did indeed lend to the taste of the shri-por-ken (like tur-duck-en, get it?) and sort of helped cut the very minimal greasy edge of the deep fried goodness.

I, being that I have decided this is my standard fare at Thai places, had the Pad Thai, which was an enormous helping (hello, lunch for 2 days afterward) and though there were no substitutions on the shrimp on the menu - as I would have preferred chickens - I was quite pleased with the overall taste. Very well done indeed.

My companion is of the opinion that you can't go to a Thai place and not have curry - I'm not entirely sure what he ordered, but he ordered it in the "please hurt me with the level of spice" area and was pleasantly surprised that not only did it "eviscerate" him as he had wanted, but it still had excellent flavor. All I remember is dabbing my finger in a bit of the sauce, putting it on my tongue and being incredibly sorry afterward. Please keep in mind, I'm from the Midwest, which means spicy things aren't really my specialty.

We were remiss and didn't order desert, as we did have a flick to catch, but we were both heartily satisfied with our meals and we left without too much of a dent in our pocketbooks.

Mmm Pizza makes me fatter

Ahh the joys of Pizza Joints in Vegas. There are of course the mandatory chains, you know, the Pizza Huts and the Papa Johns and the Little Caesars, but there is at least one place in this town that makes me happy.

Rebels Pizza.
It should come as no surprise at this point that it is, of course, by the college. What can I say, most people die within 20 miles of home, I eat within 5 if I can. Here they have a cheese pizza for under four bucks ($3.50). It's gooey and yummy, but not overly greasy. That's my biggest beef (Hahaha beef) when talking about a cheese pizza: Normally it's cheese and grease. While I'm a fan of using grease to get the job done, when you eat a pizza and have to wash your shirt afterwords, it's not nearly as fun as it should have been.

Their peperoni isn't as great, in my none too humble opinion, but it's pretty awesome in it's own right. They smother these things in meat. It's marvelous.

There are college specials, sammiches I've yet to try, and random sides (such as decent mozzarella sticks) . I'm a pizza fan, and need to break this habit and try more, but for now that's where I'm at. Though I have one negative: their cheesy garlic bread. It's kind of blah. It's the one thing this little joint failed on, that I can tell. It's open quite late, is decked out in Red and Grey (Go Rebels), and is definitely worth traveling to this part of town for.

I eat many noodles.

I am a fan of Asian food.
Then again, being a tried and true fatty, I really am a fan of any food. But for now, a triple decker for everyone.

1: Noodle House in the GoldCoast.
This was a good little place to come upon inside one of the classics of Las Vegas. It's off the strip just a tad, has good prices, and me and Rabbit both nommed hard. The food took a minute to get to us (it's all prepared nice and fresh) so the nice manager brought us an extra appetizer. Now, it was a few weeks back, so hopefully Rabbit will come through with remembering what we ate.
Update: Rabbit came through for me. She had Sweet and Sour chicken, that was good. I had Chicken Chow Mein and was impressed. Our appetizer that was ordered was crispy duck (mmm duck), and the freebie was orange chicken, that was really good too.

2: Thanh Huong
This is a place not far from UNLV. I've eaten there probably far too often in the last year. I've eaten many of their wonderful sammiches, their noodle plates, and of course, pho. This place definitely rocks up there as one of my favorite places to get lunch. It's quick, clean, and close to work. Me and a coworker eat here normally for under $15 total, but have yet to spend more than $20.

3: Chow King
This is another joint near the college. It's essentially fast food. They have sio pao, noodle plates, and the thing I go there for the most: Spicy chicken. They have a schezwan style powder they coat the fried chicken in, and it's just good. It's not overly greasy, it's cheap (2 pieces and a side for around $5), and it's good. The side is rice and a mushroom gravy. I'm not sure, over all, what the deal with the mushroom gravy is, but I'm not knocking it.

These are three quick and easy picks for the day. Definitely make me nom.

Pasta Nommy!

It wasn't too terribly long ago that Kobold and I ventured to our newest favorite Italian food place. It's called Pasta Mia and it's on Flamingo and Arville, just west of the strip. I have to say it, OMG it's delicious. It's Zagat rated/approved and though it's in a sort of weird looking strip mall-ish location (right next to the Loose Caboose, if you're interested), it's absolutely lovely inside. It's definitely a good place to take a date. It's the sort of place that has real (oh no, not that!) table clothes and napkins.

Moving on, while we were there we happened to be one of very few customers, but we did hit it off-hours, so we'll go ahead and assume they have healthy traffic flow, despite strange location.

I chose the Lasagna - as I'm told that the true measure of an Italian place is, of course, the lasagna (and I'm more than slightly partial to such things) and Kobold had the Penne Arrabbiata (15.99 and 12.99 respectively). While we waited for our meals, we were treated to Richard Cheese Christmas music (OMG amazing) as well as garlic bread that I would have killed babies to get again. Seriously. Babies.

Also, our waiter was very courteous and had an excellent sense of humor. This rates highly in my book, as I spent many (many... many...) years as a server and I know how restaurants and servers/chefs should behave. Beware, I tip well if you do well and if not, I feel no pity whatsoever leaving no tip at all.

Moving on, my lasagna can best be described as a "food-gasm." The portions here are absolutely humongous and despite the slightly-higher-than-I-was-initially-willing-to-pay prices, let me tell you.. you will stuff yourself and still have leftovers. Let's not forget - Kobold and I are fatties, we can pack away some food if we want to, and believe me we were trying.

It was some of the best Italian food I've ever (yes ever) had... the sort of food that you eat until you're full and then-some. I could not stop eating, it was so good, I ate past the point of full and almost made myself sick.

I don't suppose that sounds terribly appetizing, but that's the way it is.

Here be a link to their website: Pasta Mia!

Please be advised. If you go here, you will eat too many.

We Eat Too Many, on the third try, that is.

So most of Ms. Rabbit and my adventures happen in the wonder that is Las Vegas. We drive around looking for food and randomly stop to, as she would happily say, "Nom, nom, nom." Our latest adventure took us down Boulder Highway at 9:00 pm on a Sunday, looking for the afore mentioned "Noms." We started with Sam's Town. We figured they should have a 24 hour Cafe, and we fail. Continue down the road a bit and we get to the East Side Cannery. Their little hole in the wall Cafe ("Snaps") is a bit busy, we wait in line for 10 minutes like good little fatties. We get inside, order our drinks, and begin to wait. And wait. 15 minutes pass, we've gotten a refill, and no Server. We watch as tables around us begin sending cold orders back. I'm guessing they were just understaffed and having a bad night, at least that's what I hope was happening.

We made like a tree, and got the F out. Across the street we go, to the Long Horn, where it's not a palace and it's not a town, and some other lyrics to the radio song. We get in, get seated, and get to order. Their menu is a bit small, but it's decently priced and worth it. I got the Finger Food Basic. Mini Burritios, some cheesy taquitos, wings, fingers, and onion rings. Everything tasted great, for the price. The wings and fingers were medium, but had a great flavor for medium. And I seriously got a plate full of ranch, sour cream, salsa, and ketchup. Rabbit got a decent Patty Melt. This is all besides the fact.

The joy of our night and the orgasm of our hungry coupling was the Strawberry Shortcake. It's $3.99. It's huge. Seriously it had to be 6"x6"x6". Covered in strawberries, whipped cream, strawberry goo. It was wonderful. I do believe Ms. Rabbti "Squeed in her Pants." Even us, two professional fatties couldn't finish it, it was that freaking large.

So, for all of you with a sweet tooth in the middle of a Sunday Night, hit up Longhorn on Boulder Highway. It'll make your noms come true.