Holstein’s Shakes and Buns (Las Vegas)

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…unless you bring home a few extra pounds and a slightly squishier mid-section.

Earlier this month, my boyfriend and I spent a weekend in Las Vegas to celebrate our anniversary (our fifth, for anyone interested). We much prefer sitting on our couch to being in da club but tailored our weekend itinerary to our food-centric tastes, opting to forgo usual Sin City trappings. We may not be partiers, but we are certainly eaters. 

For our inaugural vacation meal, we visited Holstein’s Shakes and Buns at The Cosmopolitan.

Bursting with graffiti and cheeky cartoon cows, Holstein’s perfectly complements the Cosmopolitan’s playful vibe. The restaurant sits near the Marquee Nightclub, the Cosmo’s big moneymaker (and subject of this simultaneously amusing and appalling GQ article), which makes for sublime people-watching (OK, judging).

Our meal began with a pail of complimentary popcorn. Our server described it as salt and vinegar popcorn, but the freshly popped kernels tasted decidedly like lime to us. Either way, we enjoyed munching on it while we waited for our dinner.

The Truffle Lobster Mac n’ Cheese ($16.50) seemed like a no-brainer but was ultimately underwhelming. With pasta firmer than al dente, a wimpy amount of lobster, and a taleggio-mascarpone sauce that fell short of our creamy and cheesy expectations, this dish left us reaching for more of the popcorn.

Holstein’s offers sixteen unique “Big Buns” options, running the gamut from a vegan burger to a decadent foie-gras topped one.

For my entree, I ordered the Gold Standard ($17.50), a dry-aged sirloin burger topped with smoked bacon, aged goat cheddar cheese, tomato confit, baby arugula and garlic-chive aioli and added a fried egg for $1.00. The burger combined classic flavors with elevated fixings, and the fried egg added both a richness and textural element. This hit the spot. 

Justin fared less well with his Nom Nom Burger ($16.50), a combination of a Kobe beef patty, cheddar cheese, potato chips and Thousand Island dressing. In theory, the burger is a funky hybrid of high and low class, but, in practice, the flavors were rather one-note, and the patty overcooked. 

For dessert, we split a “Bam-Boozled” Tiramisu Shake– emphasis on “booze.” The shake featured blended mascarpone ice cream, ladyfinger crumbs, and Patron XO Cafe Dark as well as whipped cream, cocoa powder and espresso bean toppings. The milkshake was perfectly enjoyable but ultimately unremarkable. 

At the end of our meal at Holstein’s, Justin and I were happy to have food in our bellies after a long drive and pleased to check it off our list but considered it a warm-up for better eats to come.

*FYI: Check in on FourSquare to receive a free beer. You know, in case you’ve struck out at the casino downstairs. 

Holstein’s Shakes and Buns
www.holsteinslv.com
The Cosmopolitan Hotel, Level 2
3708 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 698-7940

King Kone

There are few things in life that are better than ice cream. In fact, I’m fairly certain that there is a direct connection between happiness and ice cream, which is why I eat it as frequently as possible.

This weekend, I visited King Kone at the Museum of Natural History, hoping for a little dose of joy.

King Kone offers a variety of sugary choices, including soft serve cones, sundaes, floats, milkshakes and ice cream sandwiches.

That day, I ordered an Oreo Milkshake ($3.75) because, well, I like to make my calorie-laden desserts even fattier. This milkshake definitely did not deliver the dose of happiness for which I was looking. It was watery, runny and left a strange aftertaste in my mouth. It was so bad, in fact, that I stopped drinking it. I put down a milkshake. Unprecedented. In all seriousness, you’re better off going to Jack-in-the-Box for a tasty, inexpensive, thick Oreo milkshake.

My friend Josh ordered their Hawaiian shaved ice ($2.50). Sorry, King Kone but this is not shave ice. The ice is way too thick and gritty for that and definitely crosses over into “snow cone” territory. Josh also wasn’t impressed by the tiger’s blood (watermelon, strawberry and coconut) flavor. For anyone interested in real shave ice from a truck, track down Get Shaved, which is better than many places in Hawaii!

King Kone left a bad taste in my mouth and a frown on my face…and I kind of wanted another milkshake afterwards. Sigh.

King Kone

www.kingkonela.com

www.twitter.com/kingkone

The Oinkster

It seems like I’ve been hearing about The Oinkster from left and right lately! It was on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” it was featured in the “Hot on Yelp” section of Yelp.com last week, and it was recently on a list of the best burgers in LA. So, one night after work this week, I decided to pay The Oinkster a visit.

Guy Fieri’s made his mark on The Oinkster!

I opted for the restaurant’s namesake sandwich–the Oinkster Pastrami. As a pastrami lover, I was seriously disappointed in this sandwich. The meat was way too peppery for my taste. Although there was Gruyere cheese, caramelized onions and red cabbage for a flavor contrast, these toppings came nowhere close to balancing out the amount of pepper in the meat. Luckily, J loves me very much and was willing to trade his dinner for mine.

We also ordered and shared the Piggy Fries, which are similar to In-N-Out’s “animal style” fries. These, however, were much richer than those from In-N-Out, and I started to feel a little sick after I had more than a few bites.

Then there was the Classic Burger, which soon became mine. In terms of simple, inexpensive burgers (it costs only $4.75!) , this one’s now up there on my list. I loved that the bun was soft and squishy, I enjoyed the thousand island dressing on the sandwich and thought that the veggies had a nice crunch. The meat patty had good flavor, too.

After J and I finished dinner, we were pretty disappointed and I said to him, “I’m glad we were already in the area. If not, I’d have been pissed!” Despite our lack of enthusiasm for our meal, we’re not people to say “No” to a milkshake, so we decided to split an Ube (purple yam) Milkshake.

And just like that, our review of The Oinkster went from “Wow, not going out of our way to come back here” to “I’d TOTALLY come back and get a burger, plain fries…and this incredible milkshake.” Ube tastes a little bit like coconut and a lot like the best milkshake you’ve ever had.

Final verdict: It’s worth it for the milkshake, but opt for the Classic Burger and plain fries for your dinner!

The Oinkster

www.theoinkster.com

2005 Colorado Boulevard

Eagle Rock, CA 90041

(323) 255-OINK

The Golden State Cafe and Milk

On Thursday, one of my very favorite people who is currently living and working in D.C. asked me, “What are you doing for dinner on Sunday??” Flying into LA for work on Sunday and Monday, my D.C. friend would have only ONE night to eat out in the city! My boyfriend J. and I immediately began brainstorming how we could make D.C.’s one night with us in LA a delicious one. We decided on The Golden State Cafe.

Nestled among the Jewish delis of Fairfax, The Golden State Cafe serves up sandwiches, salads, and hot dogs from LA’s Let’s Be Frank. Golden State also serves the famous Scoops gelato (one

of a handful of places that you can get the delicious stuff) and boasts an impressive beer menu–including a tasty selection from the Craftsman Brewing Company in Pasadena.

Although I love delicious ice cream and beer just as much as the next person, what keeps me coming back to The Golden State is their delicious burger–one of my top 3 or 4 burgers in LA that warrants one of my only 5-star reviews on Yelp. The meat is always juicy and tender is perfectly complemented by the gooey, flavorful cheddar. Arugula and homemade aioli add a tang to the burger and applewood smoked bacon adds crunch and texture to the otherwise soft hamburger. J, D.C. and I all ended up getting the burger.

The three of us then headed to Milk for dessert–a tiny shop nearby on Beverly Boulevard with milkshakes, malts, floats, baked goods, ice cream and more. I’ve yet to be anything short of giddy with anything I’ve ordered here.

D.C. ordered an Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cookie and a Red Velvet Popper, and J and I shared a Strawberry Shortcake milkshake. I can’t speak for D.C.’s cookie, but I got a Red Velvet Popper of my own to go, and it was delicious. Although the red velvet cake itself is good–not great–, the cream cheese frosting is among the best I’ve had…and I’ve had a LOT of cream cheese frosting from red velvet cupcakes in my time. The red sprinkles on top also added a nice crunch.

The Strawberry Shortcake is a combination of vanilla ice cream, malted milk strawberry sorbet, and buttery crunchy cookie crumbles. The vanilla ice cream was rich and creamy, and the strawberry sorbet–in big red chunks throughout–lended a nice contrast in flavor and consistency every few spoonfuls. I slurped my half (and maybe some of J’s half) down pretty quickly and was crushed when it was all gone. This is definitely one of my new favorites, and I’m STILL thinking about it.

It doesn’t get much better than burgers, beer and ice cream in my book and, I have to say, I think J and I did a pretty good job of feeding D.C. on his one night with us!

The Golden State Cafe

www.thegoldenstatecafe.com

426 N. Fairfax Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90036

(323) 782-8331

Milk

www.themilkshop.com

7290 Beverly Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90036

(323) 939-6455