My attempt at using up all my vacation days led us to schedule another road trip a mere 6 weeks after returning from Yosemite. This time we'd be headed to Zion, Monument Valley, and Sedona....with a couple of stops along the way; which included the SGV and Las Vegas, We again stayed at the Courtyard Monterey Park and again ate at Bistro Na's; so I won't even post on that.
The next morning we headed out to Vegas, first stopping for our caffeine fix in West Covina at a place named Coffeholic.
This shop was in an interesting location; in the Lakes Mall, near Edwards Cinema, near a bunch of shopping center-chain looking places, banks, and offices. Needless to say, at 8am on a Tuesday, there was not another soul around.
So....service was quick, I had my usual....and the Missus got a pour over (of course), which was super cheap at 5 bucks.....and of course, She got what She paid for.
Regardless, we got our coffee sat and sat for a bit.
Coffeeholic
1240 Lakes Drive Unit B
West Covina, CA 91790
Since we hadn't been to Old Town/Downtown in ages.....like over 20 years we also took a stroll down South Glendora Avenue.....it was so quiet here, almost spooky in a way.....hard to believe this is West Covina.
And after getting in our fix, we headed off.....
It used to be that we'd stop in Barstow for fuel and a "bio break"....but the last time we drove up to Vegas, our usual stop, the Barstow Outlets seemed to be getting somewhat run down. So, I decided that our refueling stop should be at place in Yermo named "Eddie World", which is supposedly the largest gas station in SoCal..... And much like Bravo Farms has restaurants, a huge candy shop....
And all kinds of snacks and "stuffs" that you never knew that you needed. The restrooms were super clean and it was fun walking around checking things out.
Also, we usually bring nuts and beef jerky on our road trips to cure the pangs of hunger should they set in. This time we hadn't brought jerky; so I bought some stuffs from Jedidiah's Jerky in Eddie World.
We then topped off our tank and headed to Vegas.
EddieWorld
36017 Calico Rd.
Yermo, CA 92398
We got to Vegas in good time. As I mentioned before, the Missus isn't a big fan of staying on the strip, so we stayed at the Homewood Suites on the other side of the I-15 from the strip. Man, had it been over 8 years since we'd been in Vegas? And then of course, there was the question of "where to eat"? Of course, there were places off the strip that had been favorites of years past.
But since we'd be staying on or near National Parks and such, there's not a lot of great choices for eating. I figured we'd be back on the "burger bandwagon" again....so like our previous road trip, I set-up nice "bookend dinners" for us.
After doing a bit of research, I found a French inspired tasting menu only restaurant named Partage, located on of all places Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas's unofficial "Chinatown" where many of the best Asian restaurants in the city can be found.
I had full intended on driving to the restaurant, but of course the Missus had other ideas and decided we should walk the almost two miles to Partage.
And so it came to be that we walked to the restaurant.
Partage is located in the same strip mall complex as places such as Shokku Ramen, Pho Kim Long, King Fu Thai and Chinese, and Lee's Sandwiches; so yes, it does kind of stand out.
We arrived at the designated time and were seated.
The menu card has the story of Partage.
The Missus and I both took the 7 Course Tasting ($125) menu; the Missus took the wine pairing ($55) and I selected the Foie Gras and Oxtail supplement ($27). Service was quite professional if a bit stiff and our Server was quite sweet but really didn't know the dishes too well.
Thing started with the Amuse - a Pomme de Truffle. Which was delicious.
A crunchy potato round with truffle....man, this was good!
The first dish was the Butternut Squash Veloute with a Coffee-Truffle Foam.
Loved the earthy mushrooms, which also, along with the croutons added a nice crunch. The coffee-truffle foam tasted a bit odd and the dish was perhaps a bit too sweet for my taste.
The Lobster Cannelloni with Leek Foam, and Lobster Bisque was good.
For me, the wonderful bisque was the hightlite of the dish; wonderful sweet-oceany flavors, velvety texture. The Mimolette cheese in the cannelloni added a nutty texture; though I wish the lobster flavor came thru a bit more in the cannelloni.
The Rabbit Boudin Blanc was amazing, while the Rabbit Brulee had a wonderful texture, but was again on the overly sweet side.
Love the seasonings in the sausage and the mildly gamy flavors of rabbit seemed to fit in so perfectly in a boudin blanc.
The Missus and I shared the Foie Gras supplement, which was quite generous in size.
The foie gras was seared perfectly and was so wonderfully decadent. The passionfruit powder was a perfect addition to the dish and the gingerbread wasn't overly sweet. The was delici-yoso!!!!
The Halibut and Sunchoke two ways was a good dish; the hailibut perhaps a bit overcooked, but still moist and tender.
We enjoyed the unique nutty-sweetness of the sunchoke puree and the hazelnut crusted sunchoke was also quite tasty. A nice variation of textures.
The Oxtail Supplement was an Oxtail Croque Monsieur, which like the Foie Gras supplement was worth the price of admission!
Such amazing beefiness! Having the shaved black truffle didn't hurt at all either!
By this point in the meal, the Missus wasn't really wow'd by the wine pairing. We quickly noticed that almost everyone in the restaurant were having cocktails and not wine. And with good reason....they made some very good cocktails.
The meat course for the evening was a pretty much by-the-book preparation of Beef Tenderloin.
The beef was a bit tougher than I prefer; though I loved the sweet-buttery leek confit and the brioche went surprisingly well with the jus. The red wine reduction wasn't overbearing and added to the flavor of the beef as well.
And the Missus enjoyed the desserts.....
Even though the Missus wasn't too impressed with the wine pairing; I think the very innovative pairing from Six Test Kitchen was still fresh in Her mind; this was an enjoyable meal and a nice start to our road trip.
Partage
3839 Spring Mountain Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89102
While having dessert, the Missus mentioning wanting to walk back to our hotel via the strip and the sweet young lady looked surprised and recommended we take an Uber. But of course the Missus wasn't having any of that......
And so, we walked down Spring Mountain Road and onto Las Vegas Boulevard. We were kid of freaked out at all the folks milling about maskless.......
It seems like Vegas, looked just like....well, the Vegas we remembered.
We walked all the way to the MGM, before heading back to the hotel. Well, at least I got my walking done on this evening, right?
And tomorrow we were headed to Zion!
Thanks for stopping by!
what a great adventure!
Posted by: kat | Monday, 28 March 2022 at 05:46 AM
Eddie World looks interesting.
Posted by: Soo | Monday, 28 March 2022 at 08:38 AM
We did have a good time Kat!
It's a good place to stop for gas and a short break Soo....very clean too.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 28 March 2022 at 08:55 AM
Spring Mtn to the strip? You definitely got your steps in!
Posted by: Junichi | Wednesday, 30 March 2022 at 11:36 AM
Yes Junichi....I guess the Missus was trying to get me "warmed up" for hiking in Zion! ;o)
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 30 March 2022 at 11:58 AM