Chinese at the Red Dragon in Bullhead City, Arizona

One can't get Chinese food in Laughlin unless you go to Panda Express in the Aquarius Casino.  One night we decided to venture across the bridge through Bullhead City and into Fort Mohave and try the Red Dragon.  This is a small place just off of hwy. 95.   We had heard good things about it so decided to give it a try. 

The place was busy (with many people getting take out) but we were seated right away. Small, simple place with booths and tables in two rooms. Prices seemed very good, especially given even how much a two entree at Panda Express (fast food, "gourmet" Chinese food) costs.

Prior to taking our order the waitress put out the free bowl of crispy wonton type strips with a hot mustard sauce and red sweet/sour sauce. Very good.

We had the crab rangoons. Very good, creamy and you can taste the crab. A good portion of 8 rangoons. We also ordered the Dashew chicken and Generals chicken. We asked if we could have noodles or low mien instead of the rice (white or brown fried) that comes with them and were told no substitutions. Not even for an upcharge, which we would of been ok with. Had to order a separate order of low mien.

The Generals chicken was delicious with a hearty sauce and lots of it. A bit of a bite, which we liked. A generous portion as well.

The Cashew Chicken disappointed, less chicken and cashews and more celery and chopped up water chestnut. Sauce was not even very good.

The low mien also was slightly disappointing, noodles too mushy and not very flavorful.

The staff was excellent even though the service of the food itself was slow. Speed of the meals coming out was slow, in fact our waitress brought out the orders in stages spaced like 5 minutes apart. Guess they were busy, but still shouldn't of happened.

The value was good here, we loved the one dish. With so many items to choose you could probably find other favorites on the menu at good prices. We will most likely come back again but avoid the noodles and the cashew chicken. Or get takeout.

As a bonus one of our fortune cookies had two fortunes, how is that for good luck?!

Better than China Buffet and Panda Express (also in Bullhead City) for quality.

For more reviews and updates be sure to visit  www.laughlinbuzz.com

Send us your reviews of Red Dragon if you have tried it or give it a try.  We would love to hear them.

It is located at: Red Dragon Chinese Cuisine

4360 S Highway 95 Fort Mohave, AZ 86426-9254

Lee Greenwood at the Laughlin Veterans Festival

On Sunday, 11-11-12

Lee Greenwood was performing at Harrah's and dropped by the Laughlin Veterans Festival to sing God Bless the USA. A friend  just happened to be passing by when he performed. 

*Sound quality is slightly diminished due to the wind.

Lee Greenwood on Stage

 

Video - God Bless The USA

 

 

Come over to

 

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for more news, updates, reviews and pictures from Laughlin, Nevada

Veterans Day in Laughlin, NV

Lee Greenwood Performed God Bless America on Sunday in Laughlin

Veterans Festival

 

Veterans Day Ceremony in Laughlin on Sunday, 11-11-12 at 11am.

 

 

 

 

Avenue of the Flags by the Riverside Casino in Laughlin, NV


Photos of the Events and Ceremonies

 



 

Food, Fun, Motorcycles and Music



 

Clips from the Entertainment at the Laughlin Veterans Festival

 

 

Saiman Soup and a Burger - Lunch at Cafe Aquarius in Laughlin

Restaurant and Lunch Review



Aquarius Resort and Casino


 

Cafe Aquarius  - located inside the Aquarius Resort and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada

Date of visit:   October 2012








Two of us stopped by Cafe Aquarius for a early lunch.   One of us got the standard, plain, hamburger with fries.  Cafe Aquarius has very good burgers.  They are at least 1/3 of a lb, good quality, never dry, and served on a grilled, fresh bun.  The side of fries comes, like many of their side items, come in a metal basket.  They were cooked nicely, crispy and delicious.  Use of the metal baskets gives the meal a nice diner touch and presentation.

Our second order was for the "Sign of the Zodiac" soup.  Perhaps you are like us and had never heard of it.  We noticed it on the menu and saw several other people in our section were enjoying this soup.  Our server told us it was very popular and said she personally loved it.

Sign of the Zodiac is the Cafe Aquarius version of Saiman Soup.

Saiman soup is sometimes called the national dish of Hawaii.   According to Wikipedia:
Saimin is a noodle soup dish unique to Hawaii. Inspired by Japanese udon, Chinese mein, and Filipino pancit, saimin was developed during Hawaii's plantation era. It is a soup dish of soft wheat egg noodles served in hot dashi garnished with green onions. Kamaboko, char siu, sliced Spam, linguiça, and nori may be added, among other additions.

This is not a side, small bowl of soup, it is designed to be a meal.  It contained Chicken, Pork, Shrimp, Scallops and Saimin noodles in a very flavorful broth.   The larger bowl was even hard to finish and was very filling.  The seafood and other ingredients in the dish were cooked perfectly and very fresh.  If you love this sort of soup or are in the mood for something different, we highly recommend you give this one a try.   At $9.99 is a good value.

As usual we enjoyed a inexpensive lunch at Cafe Aquarius.  Staff is very friendly, especially at checkout.  Service was good, though a little bit slow.  It was busy so that's somewhat to be expected.  Both meals plus soft drinks brought our tab around 25 dollars, not bad for a good quality lunch.   Cafe Aquarius does give a 10 percent discount for the AcePlay Players card and will accept points/comps as payment. 

Visit our website at  http://www.laughlinbuzz.com  for more updates, reviews, and news about Laughlin.   Or follow us on Twitter at:
http://www.twitter.com/laughlinbuzz

If you tried Cafe Aquarius and would like to share your thoughts or review your meal, drop us a line at laughlinbuzz@gmail.com    We would love to hear from you.

Burger Wednesday at Daniels Restaurant - Regency Casino

Jalapeno Burger

Every Wednesday they have a great special at Daniels Restaurant in the Regency Casino in Laughlin, NV.   Burger Wednesday is 2 for 1 burgers (or 1/2 off).  You do not have to buy 2 burgers to get 1/2 off.  Many locals and visitors say these are among the best burgers in the area.  Without a doubt, using this special they are one of the best values you can get.  After our own visit and another by a friend we have to agree their burgers are very good.

Daniels is located in the Regency Casino, which is the smallest one on Casino Drive.  The restaurant itself is in the corner of the Casino and has become a local favorite due to their great prices and good food.  Decor is just basic tables and booths.  There is a good view of the River and mountains at the back of the restaurant.  Staff is very friendly and prompt.  Service was fast despite the place being 3/4 full on both visits reviewed.

They have a large selection of burgers (over 15 options at last check) ranging from the Basic Burger to Jalapeno Burger to the Popeye Burger.  Just about anything you can imagine can come on your burger.

Mushroom Swiss Burger

Here is a link to the menu
http://hoppyshirts.com/daniels/images/lunchdinnerPDF.pdf
It is a large pdf so might load slowly.

Being a bit traditional one of us ordered just the Basic Burger (not even any cheese).  This is a great way to get the taste of how good the beef is.   We also tried the Jalapeno burger.  Both were delicious and come with a side of fries.  (You can upgrade from regular fries to other options for a small nominal charge).   The burgers are about a quarter pound on a nice fresh bun.  They seem a bit smaller than what you get at some of the other local places.  However, in our opinion they were just the right size.  The side of fries is a reasonable portion too, not like the huge heaping plate full you get at some places.  It's unusual but refreshing to see reasonable size portions.  Even though we loved the Jalapeno Burger if we had to choose between the two our favorite was the regular Burger.   Based on our recommendations our friends went and tried the Basic Burger and the Mushroom Swiss Burger.  They raved about both of them, but said the Mushroom Swiss was their favorite.  It had an abundance of good, fresh mushrooms and they said it was much juicier (and bigger) than the regular burger.  One of them also upgraded to the sweet potato fries which were deemed good.   Beer and drinks are also very reasonably priced and they have many specials and happy hours going on as well. 

Regular Burger was $4.50, Jalapeno Burger and Mushroom Swiss were $4.99 at the 1/2 off price. There was a 50 cent up charge from regular fries to Sweet Potato. 

A pint of Newcastle Brown even came in at just $3.50, a good price.  A bottle of Stella is $3.75, while a bottle of Michelob Ultra was $3.25.  There are other great beer prices during their happy hours and specials as well.

For a good burger with couple of beers on Burger Wednesday you can get in and out for under $20 for two people.  Even cheaper if you don't have an alcoholic beverage.  That's a great deal. 

Daniel's restaurant also serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday.
Tuesday is Taco Tuesday
Wednesday is 2 for 1 Burgers all day, not just limited hours.
On Friday's there is an all you can eat fish fry from 3-10 pm.
Prime Rib is served Thursday through Sunday after 4pm.

Breakfast specials (by the sign we saw) looked good too.

Moolah

 

You can access Daniels from the Riverwalk (just about 300 steps from the Aquarius Casino) or from Casino Drive between the Edgewater and Aquarius.  It's smaller and set back from the road, lots of parking.  Be sure you pat the lucky cow going in or out if you are going to try your luck on the machines!  

Regency Sign on Casino Drive

Note:  Apparently at one time the Restaurant was called the Tropical Cow but is now Daniels.

Riverwalk Entrance to the Regency

As far as we know they do not offer a players card or other discounts.

We highly recommend you try the burgers and will share other reviews on other items soon.  The jury is still out if this is the best burger in the area but we know it ranks up there near the top.

If you try Daniels let us know what you think or what your favorite burger was!
Contact us at  http://www.laughlinbuzz.com   or send us a tweet at http://www.twitter.com/laughlinbuzz



Riverside Casino Sunday Brunch - Laughin, NV

The Riverside Casino has a wide variety on their Buffet, including different themes every night. 

Riverside Buffet

They also have a very good Sunday Brunch.

Themes of the Riverside Buffet

The space for the Buffet/Brunch is like much of the other areas of the Riverside.  A bit of a throwback to another era.  Older, simple tables and seating, plain and unassuming.  There is a good view of the Colorado River. 

Sunday brunch is from 7am-2:30pm.  It starts earlier than most of the other Sunday brunches in Laughlin.  Included are traditional breakfast items and main entrees.  Unlimited Champagne is also included. 

We went early one Sunday so focused mostly on the Breakfast items.  They have a nice Belgian Waffle station, which was good.  The other breakfast items were fresh and well prepared. We only sampled a few of the entrees but what we tried was good.    Unlike some of the other buffets we have tried in Laughlin, they kept the items restocked and nothing looked like it had sat out too long.   If you like Bread Pudding they had a really good one on the buffet. The only part that was lacking a bit was the desert section which consisted mostly of donuts, a few pastries and an ice cream machine.  It probably was worst dessert section we have seen at a Buffet in Laughlin. 

The brunch was moderately busy when we got there, and traffic picked up by the time we left.  There was even a brief line to get to some of the items.  Apparently they get a lot of guests because when you first go in there is a long winding velvet rope maze to go through to check in. 

At $13.99 the Champage Brunch is a good value.  Using our comps on the players card it was even better -- FREE.  Even if we had paid full price it would of been a good value.  As usual we ordered Orange Juice and made our own Mimosa with the unlimited champagne.  The champagne was served in the little plastic glasses like you can buy in the dollar store for New Years Eve, it would of been much nicer if they actually gave a wine or champagne glass.  In our opinion this would of been a good touch and just make the champagne brunch concept a bit nicer.  On a more positive note they do come to the table with the bottle and fill your glass as much as you want.  Unlike the Aquarius Champagne brunch, where you get two glasses but have to go up to the little bar to get them.  
We would of probably hung around longer at brunch but the place did get a bit busy and loud so we headed out to recoup some of our spent comps. 

As long as you aren't looking for a fancy or relaxing atmosphere (or a dessert fanatic) we recommend the brunch as a good choice.  

Share your experiences with us by visiting  http://www.laughlinbuzz.com

or Tweet us at http://www.twitter.com/laughlinbuzz

2012 Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in Laughlin, Nevada

Hard to believe it is already almost Thanksgiving. 

The Laughlin Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, December 2nd. 5 p.m.

Location:   Mountain View Park in Laughlin

Mountain View Park is located just off of Needles Hwy in Laughlin

In addition to the traditional lighting of the tree, the festivities will include a Christmas reading by students from Bennett Elementary, and a performance by the school choir.

Of course, you can also get your picture taken with Santa.

Visit  http://www.laughlinbuzz.com   for more updates as the event gets nearer. 

Harlows "Deuce" Breakfast - Another Review

Based on our recommendation about the Special "4 Deuces" breakfast available at Harlows restaurant in the Golden Nugget, Laughlin, we received this review from a trusted source who tried it.

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This was our first visit to Harlows.  The restaurant itself is a standard coffee shop type diner you will find in just about any casino.  We went specifically to try the 4 Deuces breakfast and arrived just after 7am, so the special was priced at $1.99.  We didn't see any sign or notice that the special was still on-going.  Our waiter, Mel, greeted us warmly and dropped off menus and took our order for coffee and water. He came back promptly with the coffee (only) and asked what we wanted to order.  No mention was made of the special.  Had we not read about it on the Laughlin Buzz blog we would not of known about it.  We asked him and he said yes, it was available.  My friend ordered a side order of Hash Browns as well (for us to split). 

The food came out within a few minutes.  Mel quickly dropped the plates off on our table and scooted away.  Minus the Hashbrowns.  We waited for him to come by again and check on us to remind him, but it was a long time before he went past us to change channels on one of the TV's overlooking the dining area.  By this time we were halfway done with breakfast and decided we would just have the item removed from the bill rather than ask him for it.  Everything was good, except the sausage patties were only bordering on cold.  They were fully cooked, just cool.  Mel didn't even come by our table to check on us when he came past our table with a pot of coffee.  He filled the cups of coffee at tables on both sides of us but didn't stop at ours.  The other two tables were not even his, as other servers had waited on them.  The restaurant was only half full and certainly not busy.  There was no sugar in the holder and no Ketchup on our table.  I had to get up and get some off another empty table.  Plus I wanted hot sauce but Mel was a no-show to request it from.  My friend was now irritated and wondered why the poor service. Was it because we asked for the $1.99 special? This seemed unlikely but possible.   He hurried past as at least twice more before stopping to clear our plates.  It was only at that time he asked if we would like more coffee.  We were done so declined and left.  With tax our tab (2 people) was under $10.  No hashbrowns. The coffee cost more than the $1.99 breakfast.   The breakfast was a great value.  The service left a bad impression.  

Then as we were waiting to pay there were two other incidents that occurred with two other guests at the cashier, that didn't help with our experience.  We had to wait and witness the scene after the manager finally came out.  Let's just say that the staff and management of Harlows, The Golden Nugget, and Landrys (owners) might possibly want to work on some customer service skills to ensure their guests have an enjoyable experience from sit down to check out.  We may or may not try it again.  For just a few more dollars elsewhere we can probably get a better breakfast and certainly a better atmosphere and service.
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In another blog post soon we will share the other comments from this guest about what happened as they tried to pay their bill.

 See our other more positive review about the 4 Dueces special and Harlows here.

If you have tried Harlows or any of the other restaurants in the Golden Nugget in Laughlin, NV and would like to share them with us, contact us at http://www.laughlinbuzz.com 

We would love to hear from you.   Or send us a tweet at  http://www.twitter.com/laughlinbuzz

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