Tag Archives: Food

Club Lounge at the Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas

03/09/2020 Shirley

During my recent visit to Las Vegas I stayed at the Vdara hotel, which is one of the two properties that has no casino floor in the City Center in Las Vegas. The other hotel property that has no casino is Waldorf Astoria, which formerly known as the Mandarin Oriental.

Like many of the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, Vdara has its own private lounge for hotel guests. Hotels guests can get lounge access by booking special suites on the property, or by paying an additional daily lounge fee. The private lounge usually offers drinks and light snacks.

The Vdara’s private lounge is called the Club Lounge. It is open daily from 7:00am to 7:00pm, and serves complimentary coffee, tea, soda, and light snacks throughout the day.

The coffee machine at the Club Lounge gives you various choices from Americano coffee to Cappuccino, with fresh milk and syrups. They even offers Chai tea latte, mocha, and hot chocolate.

(These are some of the fresh fruits and pastries served at Vdara’s Club Lounge every day.)

In the morning from 7:00am to 11:00am, the Club Lounge provides selections of self-serve breakfast, fresh fruit, pastries, bread, and donuts.

(Scrambled eggs, cheese crepes, fresh berries, and caramel macchiato.)

In the afternoon, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, the Club lounge offers hors d’oeuvres and selected beers, wines and champagne. Other cocktails are available for an additional charge.

(These are some of the hors d’oeuvres I had. The asparagus were so good; I had them everyday during my stay in the Vdara hotel.)

Between 6:00pm to 7:00pm, the Club Lounge offers desserts. I tried the key lime tart and chocolate mouse cake. They were really delicious.

(These are two of the desserts served at Vdara’s Club Lounge. They were really delicious.)

In my opinion, Vdara’ offers the best-value lounge compared to other hotels’ private lounges I’ve been to. Just the breakfast selections at the Vdara alone covers a full meal. In the hotels on the strip, getting a breakfast meal with coffee would easily cost you at least $30 per person.

The complimentary afternoon hors d’oeuvres with wine is the perfect light happy hour before your dinner.

The next time you stay in Vdara in Las Vegas, consider trying their Club Lounge. Even if you don’t get the complimentary lounge access with the suite you stay in and have to pay for the daily lounge fee, it’s well worth every penny.

(This donut tree is one of my favorite items at the Vdara Club Lounge. It’s served every morning.)

All Posts, Food

Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki Restaurant in Seattle

01/30/2020 Shirley

A few months ago, my friends introduced me to one of their favorite restaurants in Seattle, Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki. “Kaiseki” refers to a traditional multi-course Japanese cuisine, prepared with rigorous attention to detail.

The menu at the restaurant changes daily, based on the season and weather. And the restaurant only has nine seats, which makes the reservation hard to get. We had to reserve two months in advance.

Once you are seated, you can watch the chef and sous-chefs prepare each of the courses right in front of you while you eat.

My first time experience at the Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki was wonderful. The food was delicious and the service was great.

I enjoyed eating all the food at Taneda Sushi in Kaisei. However, I have several personal favorites which I don’t mind to eat them all the time.

My personal favorites are the sashimi and uni served over the sea urchin shell, amaebi and uni roll, caviar, uni, Kobe beef over rice, and Kobe beef with meatball.

See below for the images I took during dinner.

(Uni and sashimi served on a sea urchin shell – the ingredients were very fresh; they literally melt in my mouth as I ate them.)

(Amaebi and Uni roll — sweet shrimp and sea urchin — in a close-up image – this is so delicious! I think eating just one is not enough.)

(Special mix of caviar, uni, and Kobe beef over rice – this course has all of my favorite ingredients. The portion is small, but rich in taste.)

(Kobe beef and meatball with special sauce – the Kobe beef is so tender. )

Below are more food, in addition to my personal favorites.

(Sampling of delicious bites.)

(Assorted sushi.)

(Watching Chef Taneda preparing our food.)

I am going back to the Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki with a group of friends tomorrow night. Just by looking at the pictures of the food I took during my last visit to the restaurant makes me hungry. I can’t wait for the dinner tomorrow.

Since the food at the Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki restaurant changes seasonally, I am looking forward to see what’s new. I hope they will still offer my favorite dishes. (Stay tuned for my follow-up post on my returning to the restaurant.)

All Posts, Fashion, Food, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – March 2018

04/02/2018 Shirley

March is the beginning of Spring and it’s time to try new nail colors, new coffee, and a new cuisine. See below for the things I am doing this month.

Enjoy the New Nespresso Double Espresso

I am always looking out for Nespresso’s new coffee flavors. This month they released two new capsules (Double Espresso Chiaro and Double Espresso Scuroin) for the Vertuo system machine. I tried it at home and it’s delicious, especially with some frothed milk.

Switch to Green Nail Color

For this month (St. Patrick’s Day and beginning of Spring), I am switching from my all-time favorite red gel nail color to green. Instead of the dark green color, I got a light green color with glitters and Swarovski crystals. I love my new gel nail color and I think it’s perfect for everyday this month!

Break Into Light Color Shoes

Since we are in the beginning of Spring I can start breaking in the light color shoes I bought for the warm seasons. One of my recent favorites for casual attire is Puma’s Glitter Platform Sneaker in Gray Metallic. Unlike most of the glitter shoes I have, these Puma glitters are sealed under a glossy coat, so you won’t see individual glitters falling off.

Valentino

Update Work Wardrobes

With the starting of a new job, I plan to update my work wardrobes with more dresses. Among the brands I like, The Kooples, offers many dresses that are perfect for work and I can wear from morning to Happy Hour.
For example, the The Kooples’ Contrast-Collar Lace-Inset Mini Dress I recently got would be perfect for the office, if I wear it with a sweater cardigan and flat ballerina shoes (with short heels). After work, I can skip the cardigan and switch into a pair of stilettos. This is an ideal dress that takes you from day to night!

Experience a New Cuisine

I like to try food that I’ve never tasted before. This month my friends introduced me to the Kabul Afghan Cuisine restaurant in Seattle. We had kababs combination, which includes chicken, lamb, beef, grilled eggplants, Basmati rice, and Afghan Bread. All the food we had at the restaurant was delicious, but I liked the beef and the rice the best! We finished our meal with the dessert, Ferni, a custard pudding flavored with cardamom and rosewater, and topped with ground pistachios.

Kabul Afphan Cuisine Ferni Dessert — Shirley Style food advantures

All Posts, Beauty, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – December 2017

12/06/2017 Shirley

We are now finally in December. Needless to say, most of the things I’d like to do in December involve some sort of holiday celebration. See below for my list.

Nespresso Holiday Coffee

Each holiday season Nespresso releases its holiday limited-edition coffee and espresso. For 2017, they offer three flavors for the Vertuo line and three flavors for the Original line. My favorite pick for the Vertuo line is the Peppermint and for the Original line is the Liquorice. You’d be surprised on how great the Liquorice flavor tastes with the steamed eggnog.

Luxury Hair Treatment

I don’t usually do much when it comes to styling my hair. The most I do is to put Moroccan oil on my hair after I wash it. A friend recently suggested to me to try the hair brush by Mason Pearson. Since I have long and thick hair, I bought a Mason Pearson’s Junior Mixture Nylon & Boar Bristle Hair Brush. After brushing, my hair instantly became shiny and fluffy. I love the way my hair looks.

Invest a Velvet Jacket

Velvet is one of the big fashion trends for this season. Since it’s the holiday season, it is the perfect time to invest in a velvet jacket that you can wear to special events or holiday parties. The two most versatile colors of the velvet jackets are black and red. But you can always add some sophistication to your outfit by wearing a bordeaux velvet jacket.

Christmas Brunch by the Fountain

I’ve been to Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve before and had a great time. This year I will be joining my family in Las Vegas for Christmas. It will be my three-year old niece’s first time to Las Vegas, and I think it would be fun for her to eat brunch by the Fountain of Bellagio. I know just the right spot for the gorgeous fountain view and it’s one of my favorite restaurants in the Bellagio hotel, Lago by Julian Serrano.

Holiday Celebration in the Theme Park

Last year’s New Year’s Eve I visited Spain and watched the fireworks from our W Hotel in Barcelona. This year, I will be in Orange County, California, visiting my brother’s family. And I plan to watch the fireworks from one of these theme parks in California.

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