Perhaps the best thing about running Rosario Knows is that I get to try out some amazing food! Las Vegas is one of the best food cities in the world, and I have done my best to try out just about every place I hear good things about.
However, because of there being so many celebrity chefs and fancy hotels here, sometimes the food tends to be a little well-to-do for my tastes. Quite often I just want to chow down on a great burger! So when I heard about a new promotion being offered at the Hard Rock Cafe, I was sure to run on down and give it a try! We had eaten there before, and I was happy to have an excuse to go back.
I might not be from America originally, but I have come to love this most traditional of American foods! And what Hard Rock is doing is perfect for someone like me that likes to enjoy a taste of America, while at the same time experiencing a worldwide twist on that fare.
I couldn’t really choose just one burger, so we had to get four and share! And checking out the website, they have so many other burgers that look incredible, I know we will have to come back shortly to try out some of the others. I can’t believe we didn’t get either the Aussie Burger or the Cuban Burger!
The entire purpose of this promotion is to give people here something they are familiar with (the burger), and allow them to pair that with something that is more representative of other parts of the world. So they have selections from places like Australia, Turkey, Bolivia, and just about any other place you can think of. But don’t think they forgot about the USA, as several selections also represent our regional preferences. In all, it looks like there are 16 different burgers to choose from.
My favorite burger was the Schnitzel Burger, which really isn’t a burger at all. Instead, it is two lightly breaded pieces of pork schnitzel, along with bacon, lettuce, tomato, a spicy brown mustard and some tangy sauerkraut. It came with some seasoned fries and was simply amazing! It was all I could do to not just eat this one by itself and forget the other burgers on the table. But I allowed my husband to have some as well, and saved some room for the other offerings.
The next one out was the Date Burger representing the UAE. This one is easily the most polarizing of the burgers we had. It had a date chutney and some chopped dates, along with softened cream cheese, lettuce and tomato. While I did enjoy it, it was a little sweeter than I prefer my burgers to be. My husband however, enjoyed it thoroughly after being confused at first as well.
That is what I really appreciate about what Hard Rock is doing here. We are so used to expecting certain things from our food. That is especially true with our burgers. We just open our mouths, shove it in and expect to taste the same things we always taste. Here, you are allowed to expand your horizons, while at the same time enjoying the comfort of something familiar. So after several bites of the burger, my husband decided that he did quite enjoy it, despite not particularly liking sour cream or even dates (unless wrapped in bacon).
We were determined to carry on, so next out came the Java Lava Burger representing Seattle. I was nervous upon hearing the name since I am not a big fan of hot food. However, there was nothing to fear here. This burger featured an espresso rub, a house made lava sauce, crispy onions, melted cheese, smoked bacon, and lettuce and tomato. On top there was a fried jalapeno which looked adorable, and is easily removable for people like me who don’t do spicy.
This was the closest thing to a “traditional” burger we had, because it had the cheese and bacon we so often expect with our burgers. However, the crispy onions added a nice crunch, and the espresso rub made it unique enough to stand out on its own. Overall, this was a great burger and the safest burger for those not as adventurous in what they eat.
Finally, we tried out the Banh Mi Burger. This is a perfect example of what I think they are trying to do with this menu. For me, it was my least favorite. I liked it, but the toppings were something that seemed strange on a burger. My husband, however, absolutely loved it! It was his favorite by far. It just goes to show how different we all are, and how they have something for everyone.
The burger had a Vietnamese glaze and was topped with sliced cucumbers, pickled vegetables, cilantro, and green onions. The vegetables on top definitely added a fresh element to go with the burger.
The burgers are plated in a fun manner, reflecting the area they represent, right down to a flag from the country they are from.
Each selection came with some seasoned fries, but we decided that just wouldn’t do. We were going all out! They have three types of Artisan fries that we were interested in sampling. Although we were about to explode, we unbuckled our belts and dove in!
First up was the Herb and Garlic Fries with Chimichurri Mayo. These tasted great, especially when dipped in the sauce that had a pretty heavy note of dill. No strange twist to these, just basically what you would expect. They were delicious!
Next up was the Chili Seasoned Fries with Chipotle Garlic Ketchup. These were my favorite! They had a great seasoning that is hard to describe. It had a light smokey flavor that almost seemed like an elevated version of Arby’s curly fries. Truly delicious, and I was not expecting it because normally I don’t care for chipotle flavored anything. The sauce was not my thing, but these are great enough to eat without a dipping sauce!
Finally we had the Parmesan Romano Fries with Garlic Aioli. These were also absolutely fantastic! They had the perfect fried crunch, nice and salty and creamy from the parm. The dipping sauce that accompanied them was fantastic. It had a lot of garlic and some parm in it as well. These were the favorite of my husband, and we both looked depressed as they removed the fries. Our only regret was that we couldn’t finish every fry brought out because by this time we had both eaten more than we really should have.
As good as the food was, we all know that any dining experience can be ruined by poor service. Fortunately, in this case it only improved things. From our hostess, to our servers, the managers who visited our table, and the chef, everyone was absolutely a delight! We really appreciated their service and it is clear they love what they do.
Chef Tony Price was particularly fun to talk to. He came out and explained the concept to us and how he found the experience of putting these great burgers on the menu. We compared notes on each burger and realized his opinion differed greatly from ours. Again this is a good thing!
There are so many great restaurants in Las Vegas, so it is easy to forget some that you enjoyed in the past. It had been awhile since we last visited the Hard Rock Cafe, and it was nice to be reminded what we had been missing. The World Burger Tour 2015 is running from now through June 30, so you can be sure we will get back very soon. There are so many great sounding burgers left to try, that we have to make sure we don’t miss out.
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