Venetian/Palazzo and Cosmopolitan 2/19-2/23

Oooo always enjoy your TR!!! Following along

 

Dinner at CUT by Wolfgang Puck

We had dinner at CUT by Wolfgang Puck at Palazzo. We arrived at 6PM and I asked if they could seat us early (reservation was 6:30), they said sure, and seated us.

Here is the menu
https://wolfgangpuck.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CUT-A-LA-CARTE-LV-1.13.21.pdf

I suggested that instead of our usual 1/2 dozen oysters, that we have bone marrow.
Roasted Bone Marrow, Oxtail Marmalade, Mushroom Duxelle, Parsley Salad, Sourdough Bread

BFF had a good suggestion that we split order scallops and a steak.
Scallops with rice
Pan Seared Maine Diver Scallops, Jasmine Rice, Toasted Garlic Chili Soy, Cilantro

Rib-eye
USDA PRIME, Illinois Corn Fed, Aged 21 Days Bone In Rib Eye Steak

For side dish we had steamed spinach
Creamed Spinach with Fried Organic Egg

Everything was EXCELLENT, as one would expect.
We still had room for dessert, and I made a 30 second video of the Banana Cream Pie



Still pictures of the banana cream pie

The bill came to $218, and I had a $200 custom comp from Playstudios to use, so we ended up paying $55 out of pocket for the meal.

All in all, a satisfying meal.

BFF said goodbye, as he was heading back to Gold Coast to get settled in.

Went to the Grazie desk for the bad news, I finished 193rd, well out of the money. That's OK, if slots are 100% luck, then slot tournaments are 110% luck.

I was done playing and I'm going to ask my host for backend comps for the Hong Kong Cafe meal.

No breakfast tomorrow, I may drive down to Searchlight to deliver a late Valentine's Day present to PFGF Iris. Well, actually, it's just a drop off, because the only days she works are Thursday and Friday.

8:15PM, and my day is done . . . . tomorrow, on to Cosmopolitan!!

 

Thanks for your concern, but nah, these are MATCH PLAY chips, so it requires that I put up $1200-$1500 to play them. I have trips for March and April. Probably by April I'll be ready to play them. They are tucked away in my suitcase, and the only place that suitcase goes is my room at home, and with me to Las Vegas.

 

Good luck!

 

Well, membership has it's privileges . . . . I took a free late checkout to 2PM, but I will be moved out before then. I have time for a shower and then off to Searchlight for a quick delivery and then back for lunch. Perhaps Silverton or Jerry's Nugget. We might save Silverton for breakfast tomorrow. Dinner tonight is at the Village Pub and Cafe at Ellis Island.

 

Sounds good. I feel better. LOL.

Your email at CUT looked wonderful and that banana cream pie. Wow. Definitely dessert when I am there next. I just need to save room for it!
It looks like the kitchen cut the steak for your in advance given that you were sharing it. If so, that was great for them to do; another nice touch.

 

To be fair, it's right there in the name...

Everything looks amazing. A lot of it not my speed (I don't eat beef and hate bananas), but the creamed spinach and the scallops are something I'm going to have to try out.

 

Enjoying TR. Particularly relevant as I fly SWA from Bay Area, repeatedly get invited to V/P for stays and tournaments, and will be at Cosmopolitan in 1.5 weeks.

Adding CUT to my to-do list. Looking forward to report on Ellis Island.

 

Well, I slept in. For me that means waking up at 6:30am. I got dressed, showered, and headed out towards Searchlight. It was a little early, because they don't open until 10, but I figured that I might take a detour to Laughlin.

I called BFF, but he had problems sleeping last night and had things to do, so he passed on lunch and instead would meet me for dinner at Ellis Island.

On my way out of Venetian, I took a picture that reminded me of last night's dinner

I got to Searchlight at about 8:40AM, but didn't feel like waiting 20 minutes, co I continued on to Laughlin. The Riverside Casino kept entering my mind, since they send printed mailers and I keep getting invited down. They also have the Prime Rib house, as detailed in @eliza TRR.
I got to Laughlin and it was hella windy and slightly cold. Not a day to be wearing shorts (as I was)>
Right as you enter is the "Silver" dollar machine. (I will explain more about that later)

I found the restroom and made my way to the cashier's cage to get $20 in quarters.
Out of that $20 I got
which got me two "Silver" Dollars
I keep stating "Silver" dollars because these are Eisenhower dollars, and the date and mint mark indicate that they are cupronickel dollars. They are "barely" worth more than face value

1971-D
So, I went over to Little Devil slot machine, was down another $40, then I went to a Wonder Woman machine, and on the last pull I got a bonus game, which made back all of the money. So I broke even.


Went back to Searchlight, and surprise! Iris was working!! I gave her the belated VD gift, with a card describing my next trip and gave her the dates for lunch/dinner. I bought some beef jerky, and a $3 bag of pub mix, which she comped me. I don't even know where she lives, but I guess I'll find that out when we go to lunch in March . .

So, driving back, and BFF was definitely not having lunch, so I decided to go to Greenland Korean Supermarket and have Champong (Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup) at the Food Court.


Not bad for $12.50 (I tipped the remainder of $15.00)

After lunch, decided to go to Plaza downtown to play their Silver Strike machine. I Put in $80 and got back $10 and 6 clad strikes, 5 of which were the same. Oh well, "trade bait" for the next trading session. Plaza only has clad strikes.


From there, I took the long way back to Cosmopolitan.

OK, ROOKIE MISTAKES. I MADE THEM SO YOU KNOW BETTER!!!

I parked at the Boulevard Elevators. The hotel lobby is near the Chelsea Elevators, which required me to walk ALL the way through the casino to the check-in counter.

However, not quite a bad thing, because I was put in the Boulevard tower.

The desk clerk asked me if I wanted a low or high floor. I requested high, and near the elevator.

When I entered the room, all I can say is "WOW!!!". Comparing this room to a "regular" hotel room is like comparing Venetian to Harrahs. I mean, Harrahs is nice, but this room is WOW!!!





A balcony!!!!

That you can go outside on

The beds have reading lights

Standard bedside lamp

The bathroom is standard, but I know that some of you like a view of the bathroom layout.



Closets, and a safe.


The safe was locked by a previous resident, so I called the front desk to have them open it up.

OK, I know that it sounds like I'm "gushing" all over this room. Yes, I've stayed at the Wynn, and I just came from the Venetian, but I didn't quite expect the luxury and elegance in the standard offering.


BFF called me and verified the time that I was going to be at Ellis Island. I said that I planned to be there at about 6PM, and I wouldn't play there unless there was a machine that I hadn't seen that I wanted to play. (I doubt that there would be one)

OK, we're all caught up. It's 3PM and I'm right on schedule. Facilities reset the safe, and it's now ready for use.

 

We have actually been to a Greenland Korean Supermarket for a lunch snack. Who’d have thought. Rainbow and Spring Mountain?

 

H-Mart is where it's at!

 

Those terrace studios are indeed nice. What always amazes me is the size of the TV in the sitting area. Great view of Aria and the Veer Towers; that should be really sweet at night.

 

Great TR so far. Sorry we didn't manage dinner, but glad we at least caught up for a few seconds. Hopefully you'll win big.

 

Just got on board @DaiLun. Sounds like your having a nice time. I'll be arriving on your last day. Not sure how long you plan on staying that day.

 

Yes, Cosmo surprised me, too. The room, with a balcony, just exceeded what I expect in a LV room although mine had a Japanese tub. The casino, too, exceeded expectations. They have one machine in the HL room that has $1 9/6 JoB...and you get HL service while you're playing. It's actually a 100-play spin poker machine that you have to opt for only 1 line while playing and then repeat the bet. It works.

 

Surprisingly, no H-Marts in LV (yet). Not a fan of the food court at Greenland.

Highly recommend Garionban for their galbitang (short rib soup). Had it last year delivered and was pretty happy with the quality of the broth.

 

How did your get such a thrifty meal at CUT? They took me and my brother for 700 last time I was there and we only had two drinks each lol

 

Well, another objective made. I made Sterling at Cosmopolitan. and made a conscious decision to spend the money to attempt to get to Gold level. I am now sitting at 9297 Identity points (started the day with 978 or so, so you see how much I played today) and the way I figure it, Cosmopolitan's rolling 12 month window plays to my advantage, as I now have 364 days to make the other 10,000 points.

However, I did spend a lot of money to make the level.

Here's a picture of some artwork in the Elevator lobby


One of the small comeback jackpots that I hit

It was $800
Dinner at Ellis Island was crowded. The good part is that we had a reservation and were seated promptly. The bad thing is that the food all came at once. Soup, Salad, and Entree.
I rank the Prime Rib above Jerry's Nugget and above Magnolia's
French Onion Soup

Green salad with bleu cheese dressing

Prime Rib, medium rare, with baked potato and string beans, au jus on the side.

The cut was larger than Magnolia's and better tasting than Jerry's Nugget. However, IMHO it's really situational. If you can get to Ellis Island, do so. If you're downtown and don't have a car, Magnolia's fills the bill. If you're out at the Palomino or Chicas Bonitas (and WhyTF would you be out there???) Jerry's Nugget would be the place.

I'm pretty much played out for this trip. I have free play to use at Golden Gate. Lunch is with BFF, Jason (local friend) and @44inarow at Saginaw's in Circa.

I am very tired and time for bed.

Thanks for following along.

 

Loving the report. Thanks so much. Can you share how much the Ellis Island dinner cost? I've only been there for breakfast.