Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Mon Ami Gabi, Breakfast Vegas-Paris Style

My undying love for breakfast restaurants did not dissipate upon entering Las Vegas.  Please.  This is the land of 10,000 breakfast buffets.  It's a shame I'm not a buffet fan. But there are other fantastic breakfast places to adore and my sister set out to introduce me to them.  Her favorite, and now my favorite, is Mon Ami Gabi right on The Strip.  I heart this place with a love that is too strong for words. 

First let's discuss the bowl of coffee.  Yes, a bowl.  Now, I'm normally not a super-size-me kind of girl, heck, I'm not even a Venti kind of girl.  In fact, my official Starbucks drink is a double short latte.  Never heard of the "short?"  That's because it's not even on the menu--it's the child size hot chocolate cup.  It's one of those secret ordering things--every Starbuck's will make it, not sure why they won't put it on the menu.  Add an extra shot into that rather small cup and you have the most perfect, strong, small, delightful coffee ever. 

So while smaller is usually better in my mind when it comes to coffee, I couldn't resist the "bowl of coffee" option on the menu--how can you not just to see what it is right?  They weren't messing around...


A little hard to gauge the size without perspective?  Here, let me help a bit...


Yes, this bowl of coffee is actually half the size of my head.  And it was really a deliciously strong latte.  They had me at the coffee bowl, but then brekkie came.  I'm not going to lie to you, spinach and artichokes in a benedict is as perfect as it sounds. And Mon Ami Gabi fries the english muffin in butter--it is what the french would do.  I was quite possibly the best eggs benedict I'd ever had (sorry Snooze, I still love you).  With the butter that was dripping off of the perfectly crunchy and salty hashbrowns as well, I'm guessing this probably wasn't the healthiest thing on the menu. C'est dommage.   There was also a chocolate and bacon waffle on the menu. Intriguing.


As if the perfect latte and breakfast wasn't enough, there's the ambience of sitting on the strip and people watching and the view.  Just look up...



Or across the street to Caesars...


Or a bit more to the left to the Bellagio water fountains.  Any place with a seated view of the absolute best thing about Vegas is a winner in my book. Bellagio fountain shows = magic.

There's also a few more Mon Ami Gabi's sprinkled across the land.  If you can't make it to Vegas, maybe you can have breakfast D.C.-Paris or Chicago-Paris style.


I feel a bit bad that our other breakfast place sits pretty far in the shadow of Mon Ami Gabi.  We headed to Sunrise Cafe a couple of weekends ago.  It wasn't too bad, but my dear Snooze has nothing to fear. I will however give them kudos for their naming.   I chose the Brooklyn Benedict for the turkey and spinach, but the excellent naming was a bonus. 

The hollandaise was a little excessive.  I've never thought to ask, but staring at this photo makes me wonder if you can order the hollandaise on the side.....hmmm.



13 comments:

Ellie said...

I've been to the one in dc many times and can say that the chocolate bacon waffles are out of this world. Worth a try even if you just split an order with the table.

Love your blog!

Anonymous said...

While it doesn't surprise me that there doesn't appear to be any meat at all on that eggs benedict, I have to ask if that is the case. Not even super crispy bacon? Can it really compare with a benedict that has meat? ;)

-Lexi

Colleen said...

DC? Did you say DC??? I must get there before I leave. But how will I decide what to order. You only described two of the options and already I'm torn. I will be looking up the DC location as soon as I finish typing this!

Lila said...

I've actually eaten at this one!!! Not sure why that makes me so excited. :) But I loved the ambience so much just sitting their on the strip. The food was every bit as good as you say!!!

Lila said...

I think I could just sit there with that big cup of coffee all day. But the benedict sure looks good too!

Melody said...

Yuh-um!! I have major breakfast envy...it looks positively 'sinful' ha, ha...

Chipmunk has such furrowed brows in that first picture - tell her to stop that or she's gonna need Botox one day! :)

Bonjour! said...

,,,(((love))) mon ami gabi!,,,we live in Bethesda MD so we frequent the one on Woodmont Ave all the time,,,and we've been to the one in "sin-city", too,,,a little piece of heaven here on earth!,,,

Bronwyn said...

We always walk by there when we are in Denver and say we should try it out because of the beautiful raised patio seating on the strip but then our hotel always has a buffet. :) Next time we are prioritizing it for sure!

Monica said...

Now I can't ever take you to another breakfast place in Vegas - you will always be disappointed.

Lila said...

One of my favorite breakfast places ever. We always go whenever we are in Vegas. Its worth the wait and love those coffee bowls!

judi.0044 said...

We were there a month ago - lovely breakfast, such attentive service. We had a reservation for 9am when I believe the patio first opens and there were still some seats - first come outside. Family met us for a day of our vacation - we flew in and they drove over from CA. We were easily able to add them to our original reservation. An hour or so later all the seats were gone but sadly so were we.

Ellie said...

my boyfriend and I are planning our trip to Vegas next month--we'll definitely plan on having breakfast here instead of a buffet. Looks amaing!

Mary said...

It seems I am only one of the many who already adore this place. :) It is phenomenal right?!