Las Vegas is a unique town. With it's history steeped in organized crime and gambling, they've over the last few decades made themselves a vacation destination for people across the world (because why else would you want to come to the middle of the desert, where it's still 95 at 10PM in the summer). Most people now focus on the strip hotels with their musical acts and amazing shows, but there are a huge number of other hotels that are "off strip", including a whole run of hotels that are centered around downtown Vegas and Fremont Street.
Vegas is also known for it's cuisine. While some restaurants are serving up Michelin rated gourmet meals and others are giving it's customers everything a $7.99 steak buffet will afford them. That also means that it should be a haven for mac n' cheese (both good and bad). While I'm sure that if I looked, every hotel would have at least one mac n' cheese at one of their many restaurants, but having come out for a convention (yes a gaming convention) I only had the time to check the hotels near the one I stayed at. Since our convention was at The Plaza on Fremont St. most of my time was spent near those hotels.
The Plaza has a chophouse (a fancy steak house) on site called Oscar's and after spending two days with friends talking about wanting steak, having a sick spouse stuck in the hotel room upstairs, I did what any good husband would do. Go and get take out to bring back to the room. When looking over the menu for something for me to eat as I'm not a big steak fan, I noticed they had sides one of which was mac n' cheese. I knew what was going to find it's way back to my hotel room.
The Review
Brand:
Shmuley’s Extraordinary Mac & Cheese at Oscar's Steakhouse located in The Plaza
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| Booze and ladies and steak! It's what's for dinner! |
Price:
$7.00 All items on Oscar's menu are a la carte, so if you want something to go with that steak, better order it.
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| Look! The former mayor and original restaurant owner signed my menu! |
Preparation:
*Find your way to The Plaza at the end of Fremont St. on your next trip to Vegas.
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| That's right, main billing... Even though they've got a nightly running of Best Little Whore House In Texas AND American Storm, a US casted show in the vein of Thunder From Down Under... and no I won't link it. That's all on you readers. |
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| Follow the arrow to steak and mac! |
*Let the hostess know how many people are in your party and wait to be seated. If seated you'll get to sit in the Plaza dome, which gives a cool view of Fremont St..
*If you're going to be placing an order to go ask to see a menu and then head over to the bar to place your order. Even ordering a steak it'll come out pretty quickly. Our two meals and sides took about 15 - 20 minutes to get.
*Take your bag back to the room and pull out the tray.
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| Not as appealing as it would be served in the Dome at The Plaza, but when it's to-go, you take what you can get. |
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| Sparkly mac. Does that mean it's a vampire? |
Taste:
Popping open the Styrofoam container I was greeted with a cheesy smelling pile of mac n' cheese. It had cooled considerably, even though I took it right back to the room. Being in the container steamed it a little and there was some considerable condensation on the inside of the tray. The noodles were some kind of rotini noodles (though the spiral was much tighter than most) and were firm and cooked. The sauce was a white cheddar sauce, and there was considerable amounts of shredded Parmesan cheese on the top of it. The sauce had an interesting tang to it and while I'm not sure what it was, I'm speculating it could have been because there was some sour cream in the sauce base.
Final Score:
A nice portion size (a great thing considering the price). I won't fault them for it not being HOT, because they don't deliver in the hotel and their food really isn't meant for travel back to the room. The sauce was by far the most interesting thing about this dish. I just couldn't place my finger on what that zing was but it sure kept me intrigued through out the meal. The shredded Parmasean gave the meal a nice texture as well. While I didn't have the steak (I had salmon), that was reported to be quite tasty also. So, if you find yourself in Vegas, down on Fremont St. and you want to have a good steak (and a pretty decent mac) It's worth stopping by.
Nutritional Information:
No nutritional information was listed either in the restaurant, or their site. There was cream, butter and plenty of cheese involved, so as we all should know by now, plenty of calories and fat. Eat in moderation!
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