Las Vegas: Rincon Criollo and Luv It Frozen Custard

After dropping the Missus off in the morning, I took a 4 hour "stroll" around the strip. Things looked pretty much the same on the strip since my last visit. I had to laugh when I passed the Bellagio.......

 

The last time I was here with the Missus, She was attending a class as well. The venue for the class was Imperial Palace (ick), and while I had Steak Frites at Mon Ami Gabi for lunch, overlooking the Lake at the Bellagio, the Missus was served Baloney Sandwiches (true story) for lunch! I'm not quite sure if She was exaggerating, but the Missus told me the baloney had a green tinge to it..... Luckily, this time the venue was a bit better.

By the time I hit the Wynn, I was starting to get hungry, so I headed back to my car. I had one lunch in Vegas, and there were many choices. But I knew what was ruled out....

 

No cheap drinks.....

 

And no buffet.....

And in keeping with our eating "theme", nothing on the strip.....

I had more than a few choices to consider. Perhaps some Filipino Food? Salo Salo Grill had been recommended, and good ol' Elena's Restaurant had set up shop in Vegas as well. There was Yun Nan Garden for Yunnan and Sichuan. But I thought some Cuban food sounded good. Way back in the days "BB" (before blogging) 'Jorge' had recommended two Cuban Restaurants in Las Vegas. One of them was Havana Grill , but that was a bit more of a drive than I wanted. Which is how I found myself driving North on Las Vegas Boulevard, past the Little White Chapel, "Where Joan Collins and Michael Jordan were married!" (Not to each other I hope) And farther out, past the shadows of the Stratosphere. An drove into a parking lot with some pretty colorful art work:

 

I parked, and walked past the Reggae Lifestyle store....

 

And the "Adult Superstore"......

 

And to my destination......

Rincon Criollo Cuban Restaurant:

 

When I arrived, the place was starting to get busy, an older woman stood, and pointed me to a table in the corner. Most of the customers there had the rapport and body language that told me they were regulars. Most of the conversations were in Spanish......

 

The menu here is located under the plate glass covering each table.

 

Jorge had recommended a couple of dishes to me......the two version of Puerco Fritas came highly recommended, but that would have wiped me out for the rest of the day. We still had dinner plans for Lotus of Siam, so I decided on something other than pork.

As I was reading over the menu, some bread, toasted  in the "Plancha" (Cuban Sandwich Press) arrived.

 

I had decided on the Boliche Mechado ($9.99). Boliche is a Beef Roast (usually rump roast), stuffed with Chorizo sausages, simmered in a tomato based sauce. And when it arrived at the table, it looked just like photos I'd seen of the dish:

 

It's very hard to see in the photo above, but there are two chorizo sausages stuffed into the slices of beef roast. The beef was nice and moist, firm, but not tough. The sauce was quite nice, tangy, with a mild garlic flavor. My only complaint would be that it was served lukewarm. I'd have preferred it a bit hotter. It came with some plain, and very mild tasting black beans and rice. The chorizo added a bit more "zing" to the dish, but not much.

 

Of course it seemed like every other customer had ordered the Masas de Puerco Fritas (deep fried chunks of pork) or Chuletas de Puerco Fritas (pork chops), both of which looked wonderful. Talk about food envy. Still, this was a pretty good lunch.

Rincon Criollo
1145 South Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89104

(702) 388-1906

Later that evening, the Missus wanted something "sweet" to freshen Her palate after dinner at Lotus of Siam. One of the really nice Servers recommended Luv It Frozen Custard, which is also located North of the strip, right off Las Vegas Boulevard. We arrived to a pretty crowded parking lot.

 

There are lots of locals that will give you advice here.....the gentleman in the photo told us he's been coming here for over 35 years...since 1973! When I first saw the sign saying "frozen custard", I warned the Missus. She is not a fan of "eggy" desserts. She ended up purchasing a combination Pina Colada/Raspberry cup.

 

This frozen custard was less "eggy" and lighter than the versions I tasted in Madison. The raspberry tended toward the sweeter side, and had almost an artificial flavor. The pina colada flavor was less sweet. We thought this was okay, but nothing we'd rush back for. In fact, for the rest of the evening, everytime I mentioned the place, the Missus would repeat, "it was ok.....but I didn't LUV IIIIIT!" 

Luv-It Frozen Custard
505 E Oakey Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89104
(702) 384-6452

Tue-Thu. 1:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 1:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

You should check them out if you're in the area....who knows....you just might LUV IIIIIT!"

Comments

[kat]

your lunch looked delicious I don't think I've ever tried cuban cuisine.

[Janfrederick]

This makes me miss my college days in San Jose when I lived a couple blocks from a great fish and chips place, 2 decent Mexican places, a quirky sandwich shop, great donut shop (the local beat cops used to help themselves!), cool Mexican market, decent Ethiopian, and a wonderful Cuban restaurant. LOVED the Cuban food!

[nhbilly]

I had Cuban food once in LA I was kind of disappointed I was expecting WOW factor but got a womp womp womp. I think I ordered the same dish you had but the meat looked processed it was too perfect.

[stephen]

Interesting post. Last time I was in Vegas, I was with my whole family so there was no venturing off the strip. The green tinged baloney was past its days of service. ICK!
I'm curious though, if the lunch was lukewarm, why didn't you send it back and let them re-heat it? Its you're hard earned money you are spending on their food.

[Denver]

I LUUUUVVVVV Luv-It Custard. So much that I've been trying to find a good frozen custard shop in San Diego. It narrowly beats gelato in Italy.

Luv-it is in a seedy part of town though (roll up them windows when driving over there). Pretty close to Olympic Gardens.

Speaking of Strip Clubs, try Treasures. It's a Steak House and strip club. hahha. Really good steaks though....

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - I hope your able to sample Cuban cuisine one of these days....

Hi Jan - Now that's some variety!

Hi Billy - This was a nice home style dish.

Hi Stephen - You know with ethnic cuisine you're not familiar with, and in small mom and pop places like these, I'll defer to what the kitchen makes....from what I've read, it seems that this dish is not served piping hot. That's the way you learn the nuances..... Otherwise you become the "I don't want my mapo tofu spicy...." kind of person. Plus the place was totally slammed when my food arrived.

Hi Denver - Luv it was much less eggy and dense than the stuff I had in Madison and Chicago, which was good.....I guess we just weren't "LUV'IN IT!" ;o)