Carol and Dave are vacationing less than 2 hours from here in Vegas so we got a chance to hang out.   We joined them at the Rio and took in a show.  We found some great places to eat following the lead of Guy Fieri.

Lunch at Bachi Burger (featured on Diners and Dives) where we divided and conquered four unique burgers: a Banh-Mi – it had shrimp and pork pate in the burger among other things, a Kalbi – how about some Kim-Che on your burger, a Kiki with Gruyere cheese and lots of mushrooms that I can’t even begin to spell or pronounce, and a lamb burger with perfect fresh herbs. An informal table vote put Dave’s Banh-Mi the most adventurous and Kent’s Kiki the favorite. We cleaned all the plates and no one was disappointed.  The pickle tray starter was fun, they pickle about anything it seems.  Apple slices, garlic cloves, pearly onions, cucumbers, cabbage and what we think was eggplant?  It is a fun sampler.

We recognized a reoccurring flavor that our foodie, Carol, identified as fish sauce. It was delicious in everything but seemed pretty widely used.  We probably noticed that more than others since we all sampled everything on the table.  Still, a great find.  Try it if you can.

Dinner at Burro Borracho, Guy Fieri’s new Mexican restaurant in the Rio.   Thick crisp chips with house made salsa and fun frozen drinks were a wonderful start.  We savored a couple kinds of tacos and jalapeño poppers.  Not that we needed it but we topped it off with fried ice cream that was just the right size to share.  Another great stop.

Penn and Teller, impressive slight of hand. They disappeared Elsie, a spotted pigmy elephant (actually a real live milk cow with a dryer vent trunk and big ears).  There was an audience participation card trick, appearances, disappearances and trading places right before our eyes.

Hash House A go-go

Breakfast for champions. They must think that gambling, or maybe late night drinking, makes for really hungry breakfast eaters.  The portions are huge. Check out my Snickers pancake!

Thank you Carol and Dave for sharing vacation with us. It was a great time.