ric h.'s Profile

As the stars state.. I've had better. Much better. I know Bazic is also about karaoke and whatnot but the food has to have some semblance of 'good' as it is a restaurant as well ...this was not the case on my recent and most likely last visit. We ordered fried chicken wings, sauteed gizzards and bulgogi.

The chicken wings were good enough, fried and battered, ok sauce. Crispy and I can see why people always say how awesome it is. Not overcooked, not over-battered.. just right. Basic, if you will.

The gizzards -  were not good. I have grown up with a style or two of gizzard dishes ..and these were simply over cooked and not flavorful. Dry and seasoned sooo spicy that it wasn't enjoyable. I love spice, Korean spiced food and peppers in my food. These were not good at all. It was just little pieces of meat overcooked and overly seasoned to the point of nearly inedible.

As for the Bulgogi.. Ok Bulgogi is marinated meats, beef usually in my experience.. and often has a nice flavorful finish of sesame and a bit of black pepper. It's usually a crowd-pleas'r. Good  and flavorful, marinated and then grilled is usually the setup.  This particular version we had was waaay over cooked and dry. Its supposed to be marinated beef, and it was really bland and dry.

Never again. When we mentioned it to the server, she said it looked over-cooked.. though she was the one that brought it to the table. The saving element was the beer. Good cold beer, even in Winter is a good thing.

So It's a shame, because I had heard so many thing that were good about this place. Maybe next time, maybe if I am brought there for the chicken and singing only :) Happy Eating!

I really liked "Insert Coins". Alot of hype surrounding it, and I finally made it down there for a couple of rounds of Burger Time, Ms. Pac-Man and House of the Dead.

I don't get downtown very often, but I find it to be a ritual of sorts to get into Insert Coins when I am anywhere near Fremont Street. A few good beers, some Street Fighter at the bar and some old school pin-ball machines later.. and I'm all happy and feeling like a kid again.. I realize it's not everyone's idea of fun, but beer and video games with a DJ and people acting a fool on the dance floor.. that's my kind of spot!

One of my favorite celebrity chef's : Anthony Bourdain, claims that Szechuan Chinese food is his favorite. While I love spicy food.. I didn't know if I could handle it.

We decided to give J&J Szechuan Cuisine a try and I am really happy I did. We got there on a quiet evening with only a couple of other tables in the restaurant so the waitress was fully available with our choices. We ordered some beers, checked teh menu and I headed directly up to the cold food bar. A sign stated "3 items for $4.50" It looked like a delicious challenge and I am always in the mood for one of those.

Among the selections available were cold chicken feet with a spicy sauce, chilled seaweed salad and cold cucumber with garlic and peppers. I skipped the chicken feet, this time, and went for the seaweed, cold cucumbers and chilled spicy tofu.

Back at the table we ordered ground pork and crispy green beans, mushrooms in a brown gravy and spicy crispy chicken and hot peppers. All really good, and all very very spicy. I loved it. My dinner date loved it.. we will be back!

It was my first taste of Szechuan, but I will be on the look out for more. Hope to see you there!

I love Mr. Tofu. On the suggestion of so many friends and great reviews I decided to expand my new found love of Korean flavors and put myself into the hands of Mr. Tofu.

I have spent the last year trying out many restaurants within the genre of my new favorite culinary flavor which is Korean style food. Mr. Tofu so far has been the place that I can often find myself dining at more than once a week. The food is really fresh and as so many others have said: delicious.

On top of it all the prices are among the best I have seen. I often head straight for the dolsot bibimbap, and I'm a huge fan of their pickled jalapenos condiment, which I have seen no where else thus far.

Two of us usually get out of there under $30 and usually with little or no room left in our bellies for more. It has a home-made flavor that you can really taste. The service is always kind and happy to serve you a great meal. Smiles and fast delivery of this quality goodness is another reason we go back so often. I am new to the Korean culinary delights, but so far Mr. Tofu is my favorite.

Catch me there and Happy Eating!

Many Sunday nights you could find me hanging at the Artifice for the live Jazz music available from local musicians. The bar is spacious and roomy with a lot of comfortable standing room both near the entertainment or around the corner on more plush seating. Many of your favorite drinks will be available but I couldn't tell you what most of them are as I stick to 'snakebites', 'black-velvet's'  and Jameson :)

It's a cool vibe and with all the commotion on the Strip, it's awesome to get away and enjoy some local musicians doing their thing in a quality space. Even if you don't make it for a Sunday night jam session, do yourself a favor and hit the bar up some evening. Dimly lit on the inside, the building is situated on the corner of First street in the Arts District of downtown Las Vegas with a bright neon sign.

Casual and fun, but refined in it's styling, it's a bar that I get comfortable at and let loose whilst sipping on beers and jammin out to the tunes. See you there!

I love it. Really Quality food with excellent service all served up with a smile. Seriously, awesome staff and particularly fresh items from this place. I've heard so many awesome things and it did not disappoint.

Scallops, "street noodles" and one of my favorites - garlic baby bok Choy... Even the house soup of the day.. Simple, and delicious. So awesome. I'll be back :)

It's open very late and you will be happy you went if you are fan of Chinese/Asian flavors.

Service was great, very friendly with a smile.

Food was... Ok? I'm confused as to whether I was in on a off day or if it's always kind of bland, but it wasn't anything to rush back in for. Everyone says its so amazing, but it really wasn't. The macaroni and cheese was overlooked and tasteless, the yams were good due to being so sugary and loaded with syrup.. And the greens tasted good due to an all day cooked flavor.. The chicken was over cooked and while it was edible, it certainly wasn't the best I have had.

I don't see myself going back, though it's not out of the question if I'm in the area.. Updated review if that happens :) happy eating!

Oh DCR ...how I loved thee.

It sucks because it used to be such a favorite spot to chill at... But the last couple of times have been less than worth the time. The service on nights like Monday and Tuesday when there are no events happening.. Is just not good. Will I be back? I hope so.. But literally the last two visits were all about slow/bad service, unknowlegable staff, and.. Even slower still service.

So I recommend skipping it or don't go on the slow nights. seriously. Not to be mean..just don't waste your time.

Well...

On a whim my friends and I were looking for a good place to eat and someone suggested India Palace. Having heard the good reviews over the years, we decided to give it a try. I checked the yelp app on my phone and saw that with 'check-in' on the app you get 1 free appetizer or cocktail with purchase. The reviews were also favorable so in we went. We arrived at 5pm and the place was seemingly in between shifts so we were sat promptly.

I noticed on signage that there were Happy Hour specials until 6pm so I asked the hostess about them. She replied, "Happy Hour? Why not? .. You can get buy 1 get one free on appetizers. " Great, It was about the same as the deal on the app so we ordered.

We had Veggie and Lamb Samosas, very nice as well as a few other items including garlic naan bread, Chicken Briyani, (Chicken mixed with Basmati rice with spices, cashews & vegetables) and Chicken Tikka Masala, (Tandoori white chicken marinated in yogurt & spices, simmered in a creamy tomato sauce.) Pretty standard stuff. We even opted for some traditional desserts and Indian Beer.

All in all the food was really good and tasty and I was very satisfied and full. Service was a bit off, but I think that may have been due to the language barrier, and sometimes the server would suggest an item, and then bring something else. In this case he offered a couple of different beers and then brought something altogether different. It wasn't a huge deal as the beers were good and 3 of us were sharing so they went fast.

What was strange was when the bill arrived, I asked again about the Happy Hour specials, as the bill had not been adjusted. Our server was no where to be found and the server presenting the check had no idea what I was talking about. I got up to ask the hostess that seated us about the specials, (she was the one that said "why not",) and she acted as though she didn't know what I was talking about.. then reluctantly adjusted the bill.

The 'new' server brought over the adjusted bill and seemed pretty aggravated at me. Possibly for asking about the discount? I don't know but it was not a happy presentation of the new check. We paid and left.

I would go again, possibly for a buffet situation, as I wasn't completely satisfied with the service, but the food was very good. I think at least one of my friends wouldn't return due to the service. We weren't asking much but the hasty and unhappy presentation of out adjusted bill kind of put us off a bit. Like I said though, we liked the food, so who knows :)

You should know that India Palace is on a very sketchy part of Twain Ave. It is literally always surrounded by police cars and as we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. No less than 4 police cars with sirens blaring were pulling 3 guys out of a car next door and had them pinned to the ground at gunpoint. I mention it, because I know the neighborhood well, and this has to be one of the less savory sections. I just wouldn't want a tourist to stop in and be surprised but commotions such as an arrest at gunpoint in a connecting parking lot.

Happy Eating!

Maybe this place was just not for me.

I'm very disappointed as I had made an appointment, or so I thought I did - over 2 weeks in advance. On the day that I walked in to speak to the artist originally. I was told I had to make the appointment, and all that was available was  a few weeks later. I was also told the shop charges $150 an hour for tats, but as I saw some of the freehand tribal art. and.Even as $150 an hour pricey,  I was willing to pay it for some quality ink.

I chatted with one of the artists as he flipped through his appointments and told me a day to come in. I waited patiently the 2 weeks or so for the day of the session. When I walked in on my scheduled day, the artist I was set to get work from was working on someone else. I was told by guy  that "he remembered me, but didn't book any appointment for me"... so basically i was SOL. I explained to him that I am on call 7 days a week and had to make special arrangements to be off for this. He just stood there pretending to flip through his book of appointments and offered no alternative as how to remedy the situation.

From everything I have seen and read, I think I would have ended up with some amazing art.. however, this is about bad service.. and when I lose money by taking a day off.. and I can't even get the work done.. its maddening.  

Better Luck To You!