Mastro's Ocean Club Restaurant at Crystals City Center

Boots suggested we give Mastro's Ocean Club restaurant a try on our February trip to Vegas and I was all for it as reviews were good and I've never eaten at any restaurant at Crystals City Center up to now.

Photo of the restaurant above, some call it a tree house, others call it other things, what do you think it looks like?

Boot's gin base cocktail which she describes in the video below. I forgot to take a photo of my Cosmopolitan I ordered but it is in the video and bubbling away as it was served with dry ice on the bottom of the glass.

 I have the bread basket in the video but again forgot to take a photo of it. I was having some camera issues that evening, couldn't be me, has to be the camera. ;)

 Boots had the appetizer portion of their scallops and it was great, but with the heavy butter sauce very rich!

 I loved my crab appetizer served on dry ice, the portion was very generous and well worth the price, I would order this again!

 Boots had a filet mignon which she liked but was having trouble eating as the rich buttery sauce on the scallop appetizer had filled her up.

 I ordered the dinner entree of scallops which was a mistake because I could only eat three of the five on my plate due to the heavy sauce so in hindsight should have ordered the appetizer portion for my entree.

 Sides of sugar snap peas and mushrooms. They were fresh and tasty but a bit heavy on the oil/butter.

We were too full to order a dessert which made me sad! If I return since portions are so generous I would likely order the crab again which was really a good deal in my opinion and then perhaps a second appetizer as my entree and only one side dish per two persons so that I would have room to try one of their desserts!

Photo Slide Show and Video of the food and drinks. My Cosmopolitan cocktails not pictured above is in the video, it was smoking with lots of dry ice!

CliQue New Lounge and Bar at THE Cosmopolitan!

CliQue Bar and Lounge opened around January 1st where the Book and Stage bar used to be.  If you don't know where that was it's first floor, west tower which isn't far from the hotel registration area. CliQue's hours are 3pm to 3am with snack type food being available from 5pm to midnight.

I was there on Friday night January 22nd before dinner with my friend Boots and later returned to have a drink around 10pm with my friend Deann. Since it was Friday night I made a reservation and was glad I did as the lounge was full at 10 until we left around 11pm.

I never got to the bar area but I've read on vegasmessageboard a post that said they do have video poker at the bar but they only comp drinks for VP play up to $15 and most drinks at CliQue are more then that as you will see from the menus below.

 The servers are very attractive and friendly. However since it's newly opened sometimes the staff can get confused on the orders and while service both times I was there that night was very friendly it was a bit slow, but I'm sure that will clear itself up after it has been opened longer.

 Our server above recommended the Dr. Cel Ray Pepper as one of the best drinks and it was definitely a stand out, very refreshing, I would also recommend this.

 Boots ordered the Off the Leash drink and it was also very good.

 There was a bit of confusion with initially taking our order as our server thought the mixologist had said that only one drink that available on the table side mixology menu and since that one didn't appeal to us we ordered the drinks above. However when she served them to us she let us know that she had misunderstood and the drink we didn't want was just one he recommended and all were available, so after a taste of the two above she took those back and we ordered off the table side mixology menu.

 Seating was very comfortable. It was early around 5pm so they hadn't put down the dividers that would lowered later that evening to cut off the view of the slot area from the lounge.

 It took a while for them to set up for the table side mixology but once it happened it was fun to have them mix the drinks at our table. There's a video at the end that I took of the mixologist making our two drinks.  I loved my drink on the left,  Heated Moments which is spicy and served with a few jalapeños that have a cinnamon sugar glaze. Boot had the Chester Copper Pot and she liked the drink but the mixologist seemed to have a slight problem in our opinion getting all of her drink to drip out of the barrel so she ended up with a drink that was mainly a large round piece of ice and her drink was $30.00!  Drink prices are a bit steep at CliQue but then again most of the nice lounges on the strip these days have drinks at $15.00 or more.

 Later that evening I returned with my friend Deann and like most lounges the music was playing a bit too loud to make it easy to talk but was bearable.

I think Deann's drink was Luck be a Lady and she liked it enough to order two. I had the Dr. Cel Ray Pepper as a fall back drink because I was able to confirm that if you want something off the table side mixology drink menu everyone at your table must order off one of those.

 We tried a couple of their snacks, the Edamame which was good but then it's hard to ruin Edamame.

 The Deep Fried Oreos with vanilla anglaise sauce was yummy, and the portion generous.

 I will return to CliQue again in the future when I'm meeting up with friends because I found the table side mixology fun and there are some snacks on that menu I would like to try and lately I have found Bond Bar to be too noisy at night to attempt to talk to friends while drinking there.  However for those of us who are slot players and we're not looking for a snack at the time, the best meet up place at The Cosmopolitan might be in the casino while playing games with friends there as they are still among the best complimentary drinks on the strip!

For the slideshow of photos and also video of the table side mixology click on this youtube video I put together.

Wayne Newton's Casa de Shenandoah Estate

I'm Gwen (YourStarla) and It’s an honor for me to guest write for Las Vegas Daze! Diana asked if I would step in to write this one, and I readily agreed. You’ve probably seen pictures of me on this blog, but for those of you who don’t know me, I am one of those psychotic people who goes to Vegas too often. Diana and I met years ago through Tripadvisor and over the years we’ve gotten pretty close and regularly plan trips together.

When I heard they were opening Wayne Newton’s house for tours I was on the website buying tickets within milliseconds. It’s not that I’m an insane Wayniac, but I have a rabid fascination with all things Vegas. At home I’m a boring slob in her sweat pants who forgets to brush her hair before she goes to the grocery store. But in Vegas I’m always seeking adventure, and the more Vegasy the better. There’s nothing more Vegasy than Wayne Newton. He is Mr. Las Vegas. Of course he is also in major debt, and desperate times call for desperate measures. And his desperate measures allowed me and Diana to finally get past the golden gates of Casa de Shenandoah.

We opted for the Diamond Tour, which was $95 per person. I know that may seem like a hefty price tag, but the tour was about four hours long and gave us a lot of access, so I personally think – and this is a big statement for me to make – it was the best money I’ve ever spent in Vegas.

Drop the mic.

Do you know how much money I’ve spent in Vegas over the years?

Our adventure started in a cab from Caesars Palace, where Diana was staying. We got one of those chatty cab drivers, except he was chatty in the way that makes you want to duct tape his mouth. He lost total credibility when he turned around at a light, took a look at Diana and said, “Are you Roseanne?”

Let me give you a few guidelines to life. One, if you drive a cab, just drive. Two, if you ask a woman if she’s Roseanne you are guaranteed to either get slapped or have your tip reduced. Diana was classy enough to choose the latter as his punishment and only gave him 18 percent. Note by Diana: I recommend taking Uber and not a taxi to Casa de Shenandoah, LOL!

Diana and I arrived at the visitor center across from the estate in about twenty minutes and the cab ride was around thirty bucks. The visitor center is brand spanking new, complete with a gift shop, restroom facilities and a very nice movie theater. We checked in for our tour and were soon led into the theater to watch a twenty minute movie about Wayne Newton’s life and a little introduction to his home.

We had a great tour guide, Steve. He was very laid back and full of fun tales. He led us out onto shuttle buses that took us across the street to the estate. I was so excited to finally get to go through those ornate gates. Every time I fly into McCarran I see his house down there, taunting me. Being able to finally enter was a Vegas dream come true.

Our first stop was the guest house on the property, which was the original house. It is where Wayne’s parents lived, and it’s full of untouched amazing retro-fabulous furniture reminiscent of your grandma’s house.

From there we moseyed over to the outside stables to chat with the beautiful Arabian horses. (We would go in the full stable later.) Those animals were just so gorgeous, and desperately enjoyed the attention of the guests. We weren’t allowed to touch them, much to my chagrin, but they poked their noses out the doors, obviously hoping we’d break the rules. Sorry horsies, but if I’m going to break a rule at Wayne’s pad, I am going to save it for something bigger. (I won’t disappoint you in that regard.)

It was about this point that I started to realize how many peacocks were roaming freely on the grounds. Full-plumed peacocks were enjoying the sunshine, strolling down the sidewalks and perching on fence posts. Typically I’m terrified of birds, but there’s something majestic about peacocks. Well, until they get too close. Then I take about 48 big steps back. But as long as they were several giant yards away I was happy to share my space with them. Or hide behind Diana as necessary.

But back to the horses! We were escorted out to some metal stadium stands and got to sit and watch several of them train. It was so nice to sit outside in the brisk December sunshine and watch the elegant animals gallop and enjoy the day’s exercise. We got to watch three horses take their turn in the ring, and after several days cooped up at the mercy of casino ventilation systems it was nice to just sit outside and breathe fresh air. Everyone kept saying it was cold, but I took my sweater off. The crisp air was refreshing and invigorating.

Wayne’s estate is home to many animals actually. Our next stop was his exotic animal area, where we saw a cage full of scary birds, as well as his monkey Boo, the wallabies, the penguins, the swans and, of course, more peacocks. Steve told us they are trying to get some sea otters soon. I love sea otters. That’s reason enough to go back!

I should mention that the estate is huge and Steve drove us in the shuttle bus to each stop along the way. It was great because if we didn’t want to lug all of our stuff with us we could just leave it in our dedicated bus.