Beth E.

The national press and James Beard nominations garnered by Lotus of Siam aren't an accident--it's incredibly good Thai food. Sounds like you'll be staying with family and have the use of a car, so I'd take a trip over to Spring Mountain Road and taste some of the great Asian offerings. Ping Pang Pong in the downtrodden Gold Coast Hotel is the best dim sum in town--the hotel just looks like it hasn't been updated since 1972. For pizza, my local friends recommend Due Forni and Settebello. If you don't mind braving the casino and parking, I hear that Shawn McClains (Sage), new pizzeria at The Cosmopolitan is quite good. Is Ping Pang Pong better for dim sum than the newish KJ Dim Sum at the Rio? Any idea on how they compare price wise?

Which convention center is this? I'm getting the idea that Atlanta has more than 1. I will be at the Georgia World Congress Center and I don't know if any of these places are close to that convention center.

Ma Po Fish perhaps to talk to the prawns?

Do prawns speak? I didn't know that. Perhaps they will be calling my name soon. The hubby has a dinner meeting tonight so I will be solo. Very interesting.

When I was in Baltimore with a coworker early June we had dinner at Bicycle Bistro. We did their dinner "two seater dinner for 2 for $75.) It includes 3 courses per person and an $18 bottle of wine. http://www.bicyclebistro.com The only thing they don't say on the website is that the whole menu is not included (beside the seafood trio) On their menu they show a limited number of choices for the prix fix dinner. I was able to add the tuna and avocado for a couple of $$ extra. My coworker and I enjoyed dinner there. The other meal I really enjoyed was breakfast at Miss Shirley's Cafe. Yum! I had "Get Your Grits On" for $16.99 -- pricey for breakfast but so worth it. It consisted of Jumbo Blackened Shrimp (3) on Fried Green Tomatoes, Savory Grits with Bacon & Roasted Corn Emulsion. I would go back there in a minute.

Any updates on what they are serving at Lee? How are the prices?

Just wanted to let everyone know that Chengdu One has redecorated. Some time ago they put up new wallpaper but more recently they got pretty and new wooden chairs. I was there picking up take out for my sick hubby when I noticed the change. The place looks beautiful.

I just found out that they have a website -- because I wanted to see all their meal prices. The website is very new: http://mikado23usa.com/

The smoking is what has me concerned too. I'm from NJ and so much of the area here is smoke free. I haven't been to Atlantic City in years so the smoke there doesnt effect me. ejw50 -- Do tell more about the pastry please. Are you talking about pastry in restaurants for dessert or from pastry shops? Is so which ones. My heart beat a little bit faster just from reading the word "pastry."

Thanks for the information. Now I have to get a few minutes with my coworker to get her thoughts. my list keeps expanding. Right now the possibilities include: Nob Hill Enoteca San Marco Cafe Babareeba Table 10 Fleur de Lys B&B Ristorante Mon Ami Gabi

I meant Table 10 -- sorry about that! And yes I do like to drink which I know cuts into the price. I might do without alcohol so I can have food. perhaps I'll get a drink after and pay for it myself. Our per diem per day is supposed to be around $64 per person. I suspect we can go slightly above that because on my first trip I went to Orlando and the per diem was lower ($49) but we were sort of stuck because the resort we were in was expensive foodwise and we did not have a car. I keep looking at menus and saying -- $28-$35 for an entree than no appetizer for me. And I love dessert!

Hi all! Thanks for the info. Jsmeeker -- I am looking for any and all info on Vegas -- mostly dining, but things to do/see would be appreciated as well. RJWong -- I like all kinds of food. My price point is probably around $50 -- I'm not sure about suplementing it with my own $$. I will speak to my coworker and get her feeling on that because we will probably get dinners together. We could catch a cab to go to a restaurant, but again -- we can't go crazy on spending. I'm new to the business travel thing and I don't want folks to go crazy when they see my expence report. I'm willing to hit a buffet to see what a Vegas buffet has to offer. I feel like I've been obsessing about dining for this trip. I'm looking at all the resort websites to check menus and compare things. I'm googling stuff all the time. What to you guys think of Mon Ami Gabi? How is Table 8? By the way -- a whole bunch of the MGM grand restaurants are doing prix fix winter menus that range in price from $29 to $80ish. Thanks for all your help! I can't wait to hear more.

I know there are posts here about Vegas dining and I hope you will help out another Vegas traveler. I am traveling to Las Vegas the end of March on business. This will be my first trip to Vegas. I will be going with a coworker who's been to Vegas before. We will be staying at the Rio and we won't have a car. I am a foodie so I am looking at this trip from the "where should I eat" perspective but we can't go crazy with spending. We use the goverment's per diem recommendation, which for Vegas is $64 a day. Keeping in mind the fact that we won't have a car and we can't go crazy with spending, where would you recommend we eat? I can skip one meal a day so I will have more $$ for dinner. Thanks for your help.

I am driving my daughter to a friend's bat mitzvah in New York. The Bar Mitzvah itself takes place in Tarrytown followed by a luncheon in Yonkers. It is Saturday. I will be coming from NJ and don't have a clue about what to do for the day while I am in the area. Any ideas for a lunch place for me while the princess parties the day away? I'm not looking for expensive. What else is there to do in the area? Help please! Thanks.

Very happy to report that the Cedar Grove location was as wonderful as always on my last visit. The stuff was very Sichuan-y full of the mouth tingles/numbness you get from the Sichuan peppercorns.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who knows about that place. Although when I stop in for lunch I can see that I'm not the only one who knows about them. The line moves quickly though so I'm not complaining. And they have a lot of repeat customers who they seem to know -- which is always nice to see.

Got to tell you all that I love this place for a quick sandwich. It's a little Italian deli. The owner and his wife are lovely folks -- as are their employees. Their eggplant wedge sandwich is a favorite of mine. It's lightly breaded and fried eggplant on a wedge of a sandwich with smoked mozzerella, roasted peppers and arugula. It's $5 for a nice sized sandwich. They have a muffuletta sandwich and a sandwich called the Sporka-joe. They have sausage, ravioli (fresh and frozen) and soup too. There are daily specials including a fritatta of the day, soups and salad specials. For the home pantry they have oils, vinegars, dried pastas, tomato products etc. They are located at 277 Main Street, Millburn, NJ 07041

How funny -- both my brother and sister had their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs at the Bethwood. I haven't been there since then. And the most recent one was 19 years ago. Glad to hear it's still good.

I haven't been to a bad affair at the Crystal Plaza.

I've been to the Kowloon -- even though I live in NJ. It was many years ago with a boyfriend on a vacation. We had the PuPu Platter and I had one of those drinks that comes in a glass shaped like a tiki head. Memories!

My grandmother's remedy used to be a cup of tea with a generous shot of brandy and lots of honey. Now my dad uses it as do I whenever I feel under the weather. There's something about the heat and the brandy that makes it put me right to sleep.

I've been dreaming about a Wegman's for a long time -- since the rumor of the proposed Wegman's on Rt 10 in East Hanover. Ahhhh, Wegmans.

I went to Next Door last night with my 2 daughters (ages 9 and almost 13). We started with the Mushroom Barley soup. It was really good. Great broth, good meaty mushrooms and lots of barley. I shared it with the older child. The younger one is picky and she won't eat what she won't eat. The older child loved the soup, but she found the mushrooms overwhelming after a while. That's not a bad thing -- just a kid finding. They weren't like the little mushroom pieces in the cream of mushroom soup at Pal's Cabin. But she ate it -- just after eating a bunch she started to skip the biggest mushroom pieces. We followed that up with a hamburger for the younger daughter -- medium with American cheese. It was nice and juicy (and large) The roll was a nice roll -- not a bun. It came with lettuce and tomato and some chips. She was very happy with it. I had a bite and it was good. Older dd and I split two pastas -- the spagetti bolognese (the clear favorite) and the Fettuccini, Mushrooms, Roasted Garlic, Pecorino Romano. What can I say about the bolognese -- I would go back again tonight for it. The other pasta was good, but not quite as WOW. I can't explain. It was good -- rich hearty, plenty of pieces of roasted garlic and lots of mushrooms but it didn't compare to the bolognese. I'll be dreaming about the bolognese. For dessert we had the warm chocolate cake (which came with peanut butter ice cream) and the Cream Brulee. Six thumbs way up! The peanut butter ice cream was inhaled by my younger daughter. I did manage to steal a taste or two and found it to be very peanut butter-y. Really intense peanut flavor The warm chocolate cake was cakey on the outside and pudding-y in the middle. Luckily it was very rich and younger dd couldn't finish it all! The cream brulee was also yummy. It came in a nice sized glass bowl with a good crunchy topping and fresh strawberries and blueberries on top. Both my girls commented on the speckles of vanilla bean in the custard -- there were lots. I think my older daughter would have licked the bowl if I had let her. I can't wait to go back again. (Even if I did stare longingly at the door to Blu on my way in and out of Next Door.) Chef Zod has two great dining spots to his credit.

At first I thought the Calandra's Family was setting up a compound -- like the Bush family in Kennebunk Maine. I think the name is going to be the Calandra's Italian Village. Very interesting - looks like they will have a bakery, a cafe, a wine store, brick oven pizza, coffee bar, gelato and underground parking for inclement weather. If they put in a castle and a "Magic Kingdom" I won't have to travel to Florida so much!

I wasn't even hungry when I started reading this! Now, well that's another story.