Unlucky at Mix in Vegas
Vegas days are like dog years. We all just want to go home, but our itinerary won’t let us leave until late tomorrow night.
My roommates agree Mandalay Bay is a cash grab. I had to pay another $15 US to reconnect to the internet tonight to post this, and this time noticed the fine print – $15 per day, per room, PER LAPTOP. (So if A and I both wanted to connect, that would be $30 US. FOR AN INTERNET CONNECTION THEY HAVE ANYWAY.) And here I thought I’d be losing my money on the slots.
(I think I may have already mentioned that the TravelLodge offers free coffee, free airport shuttle, free breakfast AND free internet access, all for the low low price of $40. None of these come with our $189-$319/night price tag – only a cot on the first night when your room isn’t ready yet.)
Sorry to be so complainy. I know I’m lucky to be here. And we are having a lot of fun. But I’m not independantly wealthy, and I miss M and W.
Everyone but the three of us (A, S and I, who came together) left this afternoon, having arrived on Thursday morning. The three of us found a Walgreen’s and bought bags of prunes, dried fruit, trail mix and nuts. (That’s right, we ate prunes and had naps in Vegas. Now that stays in Vegas.)
We don’t leave until tomorrow night, so got tickets to a show (Cirque du Soliel’s Zumanity, which was great, as Cirque always is, but very exotic). I can’t believe how many shows are going on here at a given night – Donnie and Marie, Rita Rudner, Cher, Bette Midler, Carrot Top. We booked a late show so while we were cleaned up we could make a night of it and go to dinner first. A & S let me choose the restaurant. We stopped in at Bouchon this afternoon, but it closes in the afternoons and we were too sweaty to stick around – so that’s the plan for tomorrow’s breakfast.
Oh Chelsey. Thanks for the recommendation (you too Lisa), but you must have been luckier on your visit than we were. It certainly was memorable – just not in a good way.
I chose Mix - easy access, as it was on the 64th (!!) floor of our hotel, and it is really fabulous inside with incredible views (we peeked the night we got here). However. It will go down as one of the most expensive AND most disappointing meals of my life. (Sorry. But it was.)
The menu they have posted on their website is not the same as the one they had tonight, which was about half the size and not as interesting. but it does give you a sense of the prices. Of course, if we had an internet connection earlier we could have perused the menus and would have noticed how spendy it was before we pulled up a chair and ordered a Moscato.
A had a small, cold consomme that was pretty but plain, and an appetizer potato gnocchi that was, as she put it, “just OK”. (For $26, a small appetizer-sized bowl of potato gnocchi with mushrooms ought to blow your mind, or come with a steak, or something.) We got a kick out of the “fork-crushed potatoes” – FORK crushed? Wow!)
S had John Dory (fish, with zucchini ratatouille) and I ordered the duck – might as well get something I don’t normally have at home.
There were two slabs of breast meat, and the only thing that distinguished them from pork was the fatty skin – otherwise it had next to no flavour and was so sinewy it was difficult to cut through. The sauce, which was described as an olive sauce, tasted like no more than slightly thickened soy sauce (A and S agreed) and was slopped over the edge of the plate. There was a line of teeny olive halves down the middle that tasted as if they had been soaked in wine. (Not sure if they actually were.) The vegetable was a small rectangle of white daikon, topped with three peeled radish halves that, as A pointed out, looked like baby mice.
I gave up about a third of the way into one of the pieces of duck, and pushed my plate aside, the piece of meat I had been knawing at not so delicately mangled.
Our server walked by twice and looked at the plate, looked at me, and said nothing. Then he sent a busboy over to clear our plates (mine still hardly touched) without a word. He came and offered dessert and coffee in an overly smiley and insencere salesman-ish sort of way and when we said no, thanks, he brought the bill, without ever asking how our dinner was.
I’m not particularly picky but I’m of the school of thought that when you’re spending that kind of money the service should be a little better than what we get at Swiss Chalet. It was a sharp contrast to the genuine and superb service we had at Aureole last night.
When our bill arrived, A was charged $10 for her sparkling water (understandable), and S and I $10 for our still water. I really really hate when a restaurant does that – comes at the beginning and asks if you want sparkling or still and you just ask for plain old water and they then charge you $10 for bottled water that could have just come from the tap. Our bill, for three bubbly drinks, an entree for S and I and soup and an appetizer for A, and water – no nibbles or dessert or coffee – was $200. I spent $70 US on about four bites of very untasty food and a champagne flute of Moscato. And a glass of water.
We headed over to New York New York for our show and (finally!) found a great little pizza place that sold big, bendy slices for $3.50, and ate them in the theatre lineup. They were great – what we should have had to begin with!
We have to check out by 11, so I’m going to sign off so that I can shower and pack. If I can find a connection later today, watch for an update! Otherwise it’s back home by 1am, then off to Red Deer to teach another allergy class tomorrow.
September 14 2009 09:21 am | leftovers
Chelsey on 14 Sep 2009 at 10:20 am #
Oops I’m sorry you had a not so fabulous experience at Mix. To defend my recomendation to go there, when I went with a group of 12 a year and a half or so ago, we all left saying it was one of the best meals of our lives…we all loved it, service, ambience and food! and I consider half of us to be, well, foodies.
bummer about the whole thing. I might not go back there now if it has gone so down hill.
Robyn in Mountain (Ontario that is) on 14 Sep 2009 at 11:29 am #
Still chuckling. Have a safe trip home.
Elaine on 14 Sep 2009 at 11:38 am #
Well that is just thoroughly depressing. Maybe some of the excess silicone traipsing around the ciy got mixed in with your duck entree? Either that, or the chef just couldn’t see past her aforementioned giant fake boobs to read a recipe.
Vegas FAIL. Come to Chicago next time; we’ve got great theatre AND great restaurants. And no Carrot Top.
angela on 14 Sep 2009 at 11:54 am #
highlight of vegas for me was the M&M and Coke shop’s and winning a bucket of nickels at the Golden Nugget and then loosing said bucket of nickels. And a HUGE super yumm breakfast buffet the morning we left at one of the older casino’s.
Carol SB on 14 Sep 2009 at 12:00 pm #
Elaine, I’ve heard that Chicago is amazing. Clever, how you folks have the “windy city” reputation as armour against superficiality. My sister, who enjoyed your city’s hospitality a few years back, said she’d go again in a heartbeat: incredible architecture, museums and culture (she stayed in a hotel with secret passages leftover from prohibition and Al Capone’s time.)
Julie, I am astonished at the service you got at Mix. Astonished! would the server not swing by your table with a query? and $10 for water. Wow. The baby mice(Yup, A., you hit that one ‘dead’ on!) in the photo look a bit watery, too…
rea on 14 Sep 2009 at 1:44 pm #
crikey! perhaps it’s time for some steady drinking of cocktails so the tilted, over-inflated boobilicious world of Vegas straightens up?
i know that’s not appropriate of me.
robyn on 14 Sep 2009 at 1:45 pm #
I sooooooo hope you complained? Or wrote a letter? Places like that are usually more than happy to comp a bad meal just so you don’t say negative things! If you haven’t already complained, you should!
Elaine on 14 Sep 2009 at 2:40 pm #
Carol — Chicago IS pretty great and, like you said, very down-to-earth. My husband and I, both from the Washington, D.C. area, both grouse about the weather, geography, and lack of proximity to other cities, but we’re still here after many years!
Charmian Christie on 14 Sep 2009 at 2:41 pm #
Funny how they nickel and dime you to death at the high end hotels. I’m so sorry you’re having this frustration.
Sounds like you’re hitting the travel wall and the only thing to cure this is arriving home to your loved ones.
Safe travels!
Elizabeth L. on 14 Sep 2009 at 3:51 pm #
Hi Julie,
Welcome back to lovely Canada. I am now convinced I will never go to Vegas. Give me the Rockies anytime, with a backpack full of picnic food.
thepinkpeppercorn on 14 Sep 2009 at 5:10 pm #
hahahahaha. I’m so sorry, but it is so funny. You’re awesome. I am SO very tired of only hearing good, or great reviews… umm especially when things aren’t good
hahaha, I’m still laughing with your honesty. So good.
Sandy on 14 Sep 2009 at 5:42 pm #
I have never wanted to go to Las Vegas and now I’m sure that is the right choice. I’m with Elizabeth – give me the Rockies and a picnic. I have no desire to see New Orleans either so guess I’m just a country girl.
Andrea C on 14 Sep 2009 at 5:57 pm #
People think my husband and I are nuts for vowing to never go to Vegas. After reading your last 2 posts I’m positive that is the right choice. Of course, we ARE from Saskatchewan and still have the first nickels we ever earned… ha ha Welcome home to lovely Cowtown, dear Julie!
Amy on 14 Sep 2009 at 6:05 pm #
The “duck” looked more like road-kill than something edible didn’t it. A tragic accident in the hotel kitchen anyway. Blech. Your experiences mirrored our own in Vegas, completely. We were never so hungry – ever hunting for something suitable, and under $25 a plate, to eat. We’ve another name for the whole place: Vanity Fair.
At very least, you’ve provided a lot of people with tremendous enjoyment, reading about your experiences Julie. Hope your next “special” trip more than makes up for this one.
LisaMer on 14 Sep 2009 at 7:12 pm #
Okay, you’ve totally cured me of any desire to go to Vegas. I’ll save my pennies for something lovely and beautiful!
You should send a link to this post to the manager at Mix!
Avery on 14 Sep 2009 at 7:37 pm #
Boo! Booooo! Vegas FAIL is right. I have heard of people eating spectacular meals in Vegas, but it sucks when you’re not one of them. Boo.
lovetocook on 14 Sep 2009 at 7:42 pm #
Julie! Send the duck back to the kitchen! Ask for something edible and explain that you’re doing them a favour. We can’t accept food and service – I should say attitude- like this at these prices. It is so common here in Calgary that we rarely eat out. Not surprising about the water; it’s not plentiful in the desert. Much the same in Europe.
Laurene on 14 Sep 2009 at 8:42 pm #
I don’t think you could pay me enough money ever to go to Vegas. Many of my reasons were mirrored in your entries. On the other hand, I second the suggestion that you come to Chicago some time. I live just south of the city & it is one of the greatest cities around. So much to do & see. Bring M & W & make it a real vacation.
Alicen on 15 Sep 2009 at 3:58 am #
So sorry you are having such bad luck with food. Especially after I’m sure you were looking so forward to it. I hope all goes well and you get home with no more disappointments
Andie on 15 Sep 2009 at 4:47 am #
Cirque du Soleil
Barb on 15 Sep 2009 at 6:08 am #
How disappointing. I have been hearing not so nice things about Vegas from other people as well. I know they are hurting because of the economy – or is it the economy? By the sounds of your post the hurt is all self inflicted.
June on 15 Sep 2009 at 6:45 am #
Lovetocook – water might not be plentiful in the desert (We live in Tucson), but our water bills are cheaper than mine were in Calgary. Go figure. Vegas is just Vegas – the strip is a RIP OFF. They spend millions advertising, but how many people have you heard of go back more than once? Some day their reputation is going to catch up to reality, then they’ll really be in trouble. They give the rest of the USA a bad name.
erin on 15 Sep 2009 at 6:57 am #
Julie, I loved that you think gnocchi should come with a steak for 26 bucks! My sentiments exactly!! I love good food, but I am also extremely, um, frugal, so I don’t think I would enjoy my meal if I knew how expensive it was!!
However, I do have to defend Vegas! My husband and I have been a few times and we loved it!! Of course, we don’t do many shows, and we eat at whatever buffet seems the nicest. And we play the nickel slots, so we can spend hours and only spend a small amount.
JulieVR on 15 Sep 2009 at 8:09 am #
Erin – we plowed through the money on nickel slots!! The we found an anti-gambling flyer by the phones and it listed the risk and average money lost at each game (from blackjack to Keno to nickel and dollar slots) – and the nickel slots had the highest house advantage and largest average dollar amount lost! Which was definitely true for us – when I took the leap and tried dollar slots, I at least won $9.75!
Lovetocook – I don’t know if I could excuse the $10 water as it being a desert.. if you saw the fountains in the Bellagio and the ginormous tubs/showers/pools/wave pools in the hotel, I don’t think a glass of water was hard to come by!
JulieVR on 15 Sep 2009 at 8:36 am #
Robyn – I know I should have complained! I’m terrible about that. I did complain (to the busboy, who was the only one there) about the water, to no avail. I will write a letter, I think.
The thing about restaurants in places like Vegas is – how many repeat customers do they have? People come and go every day. I don’t think there’s the same concern about keeping customers happy as there is in other cities. The next day, a whole new unsuspecting crop of customers arrives.
Mary on 15 Sep 2009 at 8:39 am #
I have to say that we love Vegas as well. It does not advertise itself as anything less than a decadent holiday and we enjoy every minute of it from the shopping to the gambling, shows and yes even the food. You always know what you are going to get in Vegas and you never have to do anything you do not want to do but have fun!!! Must say it is better with a spouse.
Sorry you did not enjoy yourself, hopefully your next holiday will be more to what you like to do.
Lana on 15 Sep 2009 at 11:36 am #
People also say John and I are nuts for not loving Vegas. Sad to see that you agree based on experience.
Umm…Robyn in Mountain (Ontario that is)..are you in the Mountain near South Mountain? East of Kemptville?
Only asking as I live in Inkerman…
Vivian on 15 Sep 2009 at 3:09 pm #
Complaining to busboys is like spitting into the wind. Think “chef’s reputation”…you said you had seen some piece on him on TV that made you want to try the place, right?…You want a reaction, I’d say go to the top person involved who’s creds are on the line. The chef is the “bottleneck” through which all plates should be passed (or am I taking Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen too seriously?!…probably!). You should never have been served that kind of duck, nor should you have been snootily ignored and never asked how you fared with your meal. If you could, a personal note to the chef would get some reaction. People tend to go to high-end restaurants based on the credentials of the chef, they have the most to lose and would be the most concerned with your evaluation. But, then, you are on vacation…and an “incident” would leave negative memories, so it’s a toss up. Too bad that they get away with this so often…I really think the chef would like to know what’s going on in his own restaurant and the latent impact it might have on his career.
angiebean on 15 Sep 2009 at 5:06 pm #
So sorry to hear your Vegas trip was a cullinary bust! I have heard the food is amazing there and was looking forward to your pictures and mouth water descriptions.
You have convinced me to stay away.
robyn on 15 Sep 2009 at 7:07 pm #
I think your blog is really good for advertising – good or bad! Angiebean saying you have convinced her to stay away is proof that you have an influence. Perhaps if you write a letter (include your URL) you’ll get some action? I always find it easier to put my complaint in writing rather than in person….
JulieVR on 15 Sep 2009 at 8:29 pm #
Mary – I didn’t mean to come across as having not enjoyed myself – A and S and I had a riot, and tons of laughs. I think most holiday destinations are about not having to do anything you don’t want to do… the problem here is that everything you want to do in order to have fun is going to cost you! I’m fine with paying $90 to see a show, but then when you go in, one drink costs $12.75?
I didn’t hate it, it just felt like a cash grab to me. But I’m glad I went and experienced it. And I’m glad so many people have so much fun there!
Carol SB on 16 Sep 2009 at 6:12 am #
Looking at your ‘post’ times, Julie, I’m guessing you’ve checked out and have a chance to access wifi elsewhere. Good.
Robin’s absolutely right about your influence. You’ve managed to entice a demographic not many areas cater to (pun intended). You have articulate, thoughtful people reading your blog. Often these qualities go with a higher income. (I’m just sayin’) And the people with this fortunate position are careful how they use their resources. Which means during a time of lower spending, their frugality allows them to continue to enjoy the occasional indulgence. Places with a high price tag might do well to take note.
I must say, to build the community you have done takes a long time, a lot of work, and some visceral honesty. Which you’ve gven us freely (including in these posts): in return, you receive our trust.
Not intending to be maudlin. I just want you to know: Julie, people do, and should, listen to you.
Anna on 16 Sep 2009 at 6:15 am #
I too have developed a love-hate relationship with Vegas. I have good memories of good times. My memory of the unreasonable expense usually fades (at least until the next time I go back – and so the cycle continues). Since food is your passion this trip might make an impression that lasts. It sounds like you would have had a better meal at an all-you-can-eat buffet. I would suggest writing an article during a future trip (tax deduction?): reasonable non-buffet eats in Vegas! Thanks for the heads up about Mix. Unless I see some representative from that restaurant post a good reply I’ll be avoiding that one.
erin on 16 Sep 2009 at 6:26 am #
Yes, Julie, I suppose you are right….we do tend to spend more than we want to even on the nickel slots.
And, really, we haven’t been there in 4 years, so I’m sure things have changed. I heard a rumour that they were trying to move Vegas back to the good ol’ days (ie make everything incredibly cheap so that people are tempted to gamble more) but obviously they are not quite there yet!
Kelci on 16 Sep 2009 at 9:28 am #
Nothing makes me madder than spending loads of money in a restaurant just to get mediocre service and mediocre (or in your case, bad!) food. It’s the type of thing I remember and feel angry about for ever. I hope you’re able to let these things go more easily! I also hope that your breakfast at Bouchon was good. We went there twice the last time I was in Vegas and it was lovely.
H.Peter on 16 Sep 2009 at 1:37 pm #
Las Vegas is not for everybody. Having lived there for almost 7 years (and really enjoyed it), I can tell you that it is just like any other city in North America, except with plenty of casinos and millions of tourists. Show me a tourist destination and I show you a trap.
Bouchon for breakfast, $1.00 Taco truck for lunch and Wolfgang Puck for dinner. Where else? And that’s just for the food.
the other Al on 16 Sep 2009 at 6:36 pm #
I think that you meant EROTIC not EXOTIC when describing the Zoomanity show.(the moaning girl in chains, bath tub filled with milk and splashing couple, Bronco’s striptease?) S and I thought it was titilating! Did anyone read the article in McClains magazine about the debauchery back stage at the Cirque? It was a fun night! A
ps yes everything Julie wrote about our meals and experience is true. We had a lot of laughs but had to call a spade a spade.
Lisa on 16 Sep 2009 at 9:14 pm #
Vegas = overrated. Hope you made it out safely!!
Allison on 19 Sep 2009 at 11:03 am #
Hi Julie,
I love Vegas and have enjoyed some fun places – I can’t recall the name, but one of my favorite restaurants is Caesar’s by the statue fountains – beside Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant. I have also had HORRIBLE experiences – my worst mirrors your evening – price, rudeness of the waiter, nickel and diming you to death – but instead of it being at Mix, it was in they Wynn hotel. We too looked on the internet in advance, and were shocked by the “real” menu when we got there. There were 8 of us, so to add insult to injury, they added a 20% tip automatically for cr*p service. We complained, but nothing happened. So I have now made it my mission in life to recommend to everyone going to Vegas TO NOT STEP FOOT IN WYNN’s.
Hope your trip back was great, and if you ever go again, I hope you have better experiences.
???? on 09 Nov 2009 at 2:12 am #
????? c?????? ????????? ???????