January 18, 2015 Mundo Restaurant in Las Vegas

January 18, 2015 Mundo Restaurant

We ate breakfast at McDonalds and walked two blocks to the Golden Nugget and took the shuttle bus to the World Trade Center for the Home Show.  I ate oatmeal cookies made with cranberries and a Mexican wedding cake with a cup of Tazo Earl Grey tea in Encore Accessories’

Showroom.  

After an orientation we began to walk the vast halls and show rooms in Building C.  Cocktails and wine were served from 10:00 to 12:00 which kept us going until about 2:30, when we walked across the Plaza to Mundo Restaurant in Building A.  Mike had told us that Mundo served a sort of nouvelle Mexican food and we wanted to try it.  We were lucky enough to be seated at a table near the bar where the GB Packer v. Seattle Seahawk NFC final game was being shown on TV.  So we and lots of other folks were watching the game. 

Suzette saw two items immediately.  Fried Calamari with a chipotle mayonnaise and a cilantro serrano sauce and shredded beef enchiladas in a pasilla chili sauce. We ordered those two items with a Negro Modelo.  There were about 6 minutes to play in the game’s third quarter when we ordered so we saw lots of great football.  As we finished our enchiladas Seattle tied the game at 22 – 22.  The calamari were among the most delicious I have ever eaten.  They must have been flash fried in a tempura batter because the flesh was very soft and tender inside and the outside was very crisp.  I ordered a side order of warm toasted corn tortillas served in a white linen napkin.  We ate fried calamari rolled in a tortilla and slathered with the two sauces and filled with pieces of lettuce and cilantro that were served with the dish.  Super delicious.

fried calamari with cilantro serrano sauce and Chipolte mayo

 Into the fourth quarter the shredded roast beef (desebrada) enchilada with a slightly reddish cream colored pasilla sauce was served with another Negra Modelo.  The desebrada was some of the best I have ever had; long strands of beef with little or no fat in it, just clean meat.  The tortilla was poached in sauce and the pasilla sauce was surprisingly picante even though it seemed to be mixed with crema and crema had been squirted in crisscrossed lines across the top of the pasilla sauce covered enchilada.  My impression of the meal was that this was authentic Mexican Cuisine cooked and presented elegantly.  It was a complete dining experience.  Our waiter, Juan, was also excellent.

Suzette wanted to try the tres leches cake when the game was lied late in the 4^th quarter, so she ordered a cup of coffee with a jigger of Frangelico in it and I ordered a cup of chocolate mint tea from the interesting assortment of teas in a wooden box with a flan.  I had never had chocolate mint tea before and I found it fascinating, with a distinctly chocolate flavor.  

Suzette’s tres leche cake was rather interesting because the whipped cream on top was actually bitter, like a crème fraise with lots of sour cream in it.  My flan on the other hand was perfect; a perfectly round column of flan dripping in a puddle of light brown sugar caramel.  The flan was perfectly smooth and yet soft to the touch and firm until cut with the small spoon provided, when the slices cleaved like diamonds.  I took small bites of flan dipped in caramel sauce with sips of tea and nibbled small bites of mint from the sprigs of fresh mint used to garnish the desserts and watched Seattle stop GB’s first overtime drive and then go down the field to win with a long pass from Wilson into the end zone for a convincing victory.  

We paid the bill ($70.00 plus an $11.00 tip) and counted our meal a complete success and an enjoyable afternoon of football.

Suzette shopped for another hour or 1 ½ hours while I sat and read the New Yorker.  Finally at 5:00 we were tired and after looking to see if there were receptions and not finding any we decided to not stay for drinks and snacks at 6:00 to 8:00 but listened to the live music for a few minutes and took a shuttle back to the hotel at 5:30.  We watched NE crush Indianapolis for a few minutes but I turned off the TV when NE scored intercepted Luck again and drove for a touchdown to make the score 41 to 7 with about 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

We were not hungry for dinner after our late lunch at 3:30, but very tired so we went to sleep around 7:30 after a great meal that will not soon be forgotten.

Bon Appétit