Restaurants to Try This Weekend in Las Vegas — April 18

Delilah. | Janna Karel Your handy guide on where to eat this weekend It’s the most pressing question of the weekend: “Where should I eat?” Here, Eater editors issue tried and true recommendations for places to check out this weekend. For big umami flavors: Momofuku Janna Karel Momofuku. It had been too long since I last visited David Chang’s Momofuku. While this restaurant at the Cosmopolitan is a spin-off of his Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York City and award-winning Momofuku Ko and Momofuku Ssäm Bar, the Vegas version of the brand is singular, uniquely meriting repeat visits. Chang is well-credited for his role in ushering in the rise of contemporary Asian-American cuisine. At Momofuku, it’s a legacy that is evident in dishes that are best served family-style, sampled in small bites packed with bold flavors. A starter of cucumber salad is smothered in creamy sauce with generous shakes of fiery togarashi — a lively contrast to chilled cucumbers that are salted to become extra crunchy. A crimson-shaded tofu ragu with mouth-numbing Szechuan peppercorns enrobes rice cakes that are crunchy to bite into before giving way to a chewy interior. And those pork buns, which have become iconic themselves, are not to be overlooked. Supple steamed bao nestles fatty slices of pork belly with crunchy cucumbers and a just-sweet-enough hoisin sauce. Appropriately, our visit ended with a detour to the adjacent Milk Bar for birthday cake truffles. Cosmopolitan; 3708 Las Vegas Blvd South, Las Vegas, NV 89109. — Janna Karel, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For last-minute dinner and a show: Delilah Janna Karel Delilah. This throwback supper club at the Wynn is one of the hardest reservations in town to get. The dining room can book out months in advance. However, the bars are first-come, first-served. The upstairs bar is stylish and lively, with a balcony that overlooks the action on the main floor. But if you’re intent on being where the action is, your best bet is to arrive earlier in the evening — by 6 p.m. or so — and request a seat at the downstairs bar. It’s located just behind the secondary stage, which means primo views of dancers as they twirl their feathered fans overhead, singers decked in sparkly sequin gowns, and jazz musicians who fill the room with jazz. The full menu is offered at the bar, so dinner can still include the restaurant’s unique offerings of bar food made high-brow: buttery lobster rolls with black truffle, pigs in a blanket with wagyu beef franks, and crunchy chicken tenders with three sauces. Delilah also serves one of the most iconic desserts in Las Vegas — a heaping ice cream sundae with marshmallows, brownie bites, and cookies. And Cristie Norman, who runs the restaurant’s beverage program, is a James Beard Award finalist for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service this year, so it’s well worth it to request her guidance when selecting a drink at the bar. Wynn Las Vegas; 3131 Las Vegas Boulevard South Las Vegas, NV 89109. — Janna Karel, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest For Las Vegas’s favorite Thai food: Lotus of Siam Matthew Kang Lotus of Siam. I confess it had been over a decade since going to Lotus of Siam proper. I had visited the one at Red Rock a few years back, but there’s a rift in its operations due to an ongoing lawsuit. So, armed with a car on this visit, I made the short trek to Lotus’s current home on Flamingo that was very clearly a Roy’s restaurant in another life (I could sense this with some of the very weathered upholstery and the early 2000s-style decor). Though I miss Lotus’s original Sahara location, which will soon reopen after a years-long renovation, I’m happy to report the Flamingo outlet is still very good. Whole U15 wild prawns were deep-fried to the most gorgeous golden brown, covered in the thinnest veil of garlic pepper sauce that managed to allow the sweet shellfish to shine. Thick khao soi noodles came topped with fried duck slices, an absolute flavor bomb of fat in the best possible way. Portions are massive here, so expect to roll out like royalty after lunch. In some ways, I completely understand the popularity of Lotus of Siam, a massive, bold expression of Thai food that only Vegas could really do. 620 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV, 89119. — Matthew Kang, lead editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest