Wedding planning and vegan eats in Las Vegas

See that? That's me. In a tshirt. In February. Outside.

I was lucky enough to spend 4 days in sunny Las Vegas, returning home Wednesday morning. I was accompanied by my friend Becca, and our mission was wedding planning! That's right, Steve and I are planning our October 2011 wedding in our favorite southwestern city. It was a very productive trip, and the most important decisions have been made (namely ceremony/reception locations and the vegan menu!). I will save those details for another time, for now I wanted to share my well documented vegan food extravaganza!

Tacos and Tequila

We had our first lunch out at Tacos and Tequila inside Luxor. There are two great vegan options there including these vegetarian tacos (minus sour cream). On other visits I have gotten the falafel tacos which are also awesome, and really unique. I found out that since my last trip to Las Vegas the beans are no longer vegetarian, so they gave me a double side of rice instead. Added bonus, there are always coupons available on restaurant.com, making this a very affordable place to dine as well.

Vanilla bean cake

On Saturday afternoon we had an appointment for vegan wedding cake testing. We tried the vanilla bean pictured above, and the red velvet pictured below.

Red velvet cake

The cakes were both very good. I am thinking about having each of the 3 tiers a different flavor so I don't have to choose just one!

Gluten-free brownies and carrot cake

The cake lady also brought samples of her carrot cake and gluten-free brownies, in case we want to do a whole dessert table. Sounds good to me!

Mint Indian Bistro

For dinner on Saturday we went to a place picked out by Becca, Mint Indian Bistro. I was ecstatic when I saw that all of the vegan options on the menu were clearly marked, including several dishes which are typically not vegan (naan, saag, daal maharani). Overwhelmed with having to decide on one dish, my decision was made easy when I noticed the vegan sampler at the end of the menu. In the end, I think it was overpriced ($27) for the amount of food provided. Especially considering that I didn't care for a few of the dishes. Next time I'll order one entree, and that will probably be the chana saag. YUM!

P.F. Chang's

We started our Sunday cheaply with a buy one get one free coupon at P.F. Chang's. Some of the items in the vegetarian section are naturally vegan, but I chose to modify the Vegetable Chow Fun which usually includes egg. This dish was spicy, delicious, and the portion was huge!

 

Chipotle

Sunday night we had a simple dinner at Chipotle, located on the north end of the strip near Harrah's. This is by far my favorite chain restaurant, and I always order my burrito the same way --rice, beans, hot salsa, corn salsa, and guac!

Bellagio breakfast buffet

Vegas is famous for their buffets. You can even buy an all day pass to sample several buffets in one day, oh my! I promised Becca that I would do one buffet with her in Las Vegas, and Monday morning I fulfilled that promised. We didn't skimp on this meal, we chose the Bellagio which is famed to be the best brunch buffet in town. I was a little worried that it would be a waste of money for me, without many vegan options, but I was wrong! One of the chefs kindly pointed me in the direction of several vegan options. I visited the impressive oatmeal bar, topping mine with figs, almonds, walnuts, and banana chips. I filled a separate plate with Mediterranean lentils, black beans, roasted potatoes, tomatoes with capers, melon, and bok choy with chili sauce. They even had soy milk in the kitchen for my oatmeal and coffee! Way to go Bellagio!

Mt. Everest Indian Cuisine

For dinner Monday night we had Indian again, this time at Mt. Everest Indian Cuisine. I chose the Aloo Kauli, a yummy curry dish of cauliflower, potatoes, peas, and tomatoes.

Ronald's Donuts

Tuesday morning started out very naughty with a trip to Ronald's Donuts. Actually I didn't eat these donuts in Las Vegas, they came home with me. Most of the donuts at Ronald's are vegan (top two rows in the case), but better to ask and confirm which are which if you visit. These vegan donuts are better than any non-vegan donut that I have ever had!

Go Raw Cafe

Craving some good healthy greens, I opted for Go Raw Cafe for lunch. I started out with a raw kale salad from their impressive raw buffet.

Go Raw Cafe

I followed up my salad with the "Traditional Pizza". Oh my goodness, this was amazing! The raw bread, raw marinara, and the walnut "sausage" were all superb. I was floored by how much this tasted like pizza.

Whole Foods salad bar

For my final meal in Las Vegas I hit the Whole Foods salad bar and built my own asian noodle salad. I started with the oil free sesame linguine noodles and topped it with cauliflower, green onion, roasted garlic, tofu, carrots, shredded zucchini, mushrooms, and a little bit of oil free tamari miso dressing. This was so filling and delicious, and kept me full all evening and during my red eye flight home (remind me not to do that again, by the way!).

What a delicious trip! I am also relieved by the wedding planning success. Now if only October would come sooner...