Dinner at Boston Lobster Feast in Orlando, an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet where whole Maine lobster is the main event.
Along with the lobster, the buffet typically includes snow crab legs, shrimp, mussels and a range of other seafood and sides. The photos show the lobster from this visit.
It’s a popular spot with visitors staying in the International Drive area, so check current prices and hours before you go.
This was day two of our September 2024 Orlando trip. See the whole trip in Five Days in Orlando.
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A week at Finest Punta Cana in Uvero Alto, on the quieter north end of the Punta Cana coast, in August 2024. The beach was beautiful, but the real story was dinner: six nights of plated, multi-course meals at the resort’s restaurants, from a beachside dinner to a steakhouse and an Asian table grill.
The resort and the beach
Finest sits in Uvero Alto, about 40 minutes north of the main Bávaro and Punta Cana hotel strip. The grounds are green and spread out, and the beach is lined with palms and thatched palapas, which is where we spent most afternoons with a fresh coconut.
Night 1: Dinner by the beach
The first dinner started with warm cheese bread and three dipping sauces, followed by a green salad with grilled pineapple and a seafood starter.
Night 2: A long, slow tasting dinner
Night two began with a frozen coconut cocktail and olive bread, then a layered terrine, a steak with a rich sauce and a chocolate layer cake topped with passion fruit.
Night 3: Soup, filet and a chocolate sphere
A creamy soup, a filet with asparagus and a chocolate sphere for dessert, all served on heavy stoneware plates.
Night 4: The steakhouse
The steakhouse brought baked green-lipped mussels, then sliced steak sizzling on a hot stone with fries, creamed spinach and chimichurri.
Night 5: The Asian table grill
The most fun dinner of the trip was a tabletop grill. The table is set with small sides and sauces, and the shrimp and meat are cooked on the grill in front of you. Dumplings and a spring roll came first and a light panna cotta-style dessert came last.
Night 6: Rack of lamb to finish
The last night was a terrine starter, a herb-crusted rack of lamb and a chocolate dessert with vanilla ice cream.
Where to stay
We stayed at Finest Punta Cana in Uvero Alto for six nights.
Dinner at The Buffet at Wynn Las Vegas, one of the Strip’s best-known upscale buffets.
The Buffet is set in a bright, flower-filled dining room and offers a wide range of stations, from seafood and carving stations to international dishes and an extensive dessert selection. The photos show a few of the plates from this visit.
Wynn is at the north end of the Strip, next to Encore and across from the Fashion Show mall. Weekend brunch and dinner can get busy, so it’s worth checking wait times or reservation options ahead of time.
A sandwich from Greenberg’s Deli at New York-New York Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
Greenberg’s serves New York-style deli classics such as pastrami, corned beef and Reubens, piled high on rye with a pickle on the side, as pictured here.
It’s a quick, casual option in the middle of the Strip, handy for lunch between shows or before heading next door to Park MGM or the T-Mobile Arena.
Dinner at the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace, often described as the biggest and best-known buffet in Las Vegas.
Bacchanal has hundreds of dishes spread across stations covering seafood, carved meats, Asian, Italian, Mexican and American comfort food, plus a huge dessert section. The photos show some of the plates from this visit.
It’s one of the pricier buffets on the Strip and can have long lines at peak times, so booking a time slot in advance is recommended.
Dinner at Deanie’s Seafood in New Orleans, a family-run seafood restaurant with locations in the French Quarter and in Bucktown in Metairie.
Deanie’s is known for generous Louisiana seafood platters, barbecue shrimp and oysters. The photos show chargrilled oysters and other dishes from this meal.
The French Quarter location is on Iberville Street, just off Bourbon Street, which makes it easy to fit into an evening in the Quarter.
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Five days in New Orleans in April 2024, staying on Canal Street at the edge of the French Quarter. We ate chargrilled oysters three different ways, had gumbo at a legendary Tremé restaurant, drank frozen daiquiris on Bourbon Street and learned the history of the Sazerac. Here is the whole trip, day by day.
Day 1: Acme Oyster House
We arrived on a Sunday evening and went straight to Acme Oyster House on Iberville Street, a block from our hotel. A bag of boiled crawfish, chargrilled oysters, a gumbo and jambalaya platter and boudin balls made a classic first night. More photos are in our Acme Oyster House post, plus a video of the chargrilled oysters.
Day 2: Beignets, Jackson Square and Deanie’s
Breakfast was beignets and coffee at Café Beignet on Bourbon Street. Then we walked to Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral, down to the Moonwalk on the Mississippi and back through the French Quarter’s iron-lace balconies.
Dinner was at Deanie’s Seafood in the French Quarter: a frozen cocktail, two rounds of chargrilled oysters, a huge fried seafood platter and New Orleans barbecue shrimp.
Day 3: Dooky Chase’s, Royal House and Bourbon Street
Lunch was at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant on Orleans Avenue in Tremé, the Creole restaurant made famous by Chef Leah Chase. We had gumbo with rice and a shrimp dish with potatoes and peas, plus mac and cheese on the side.
After a Steamboat Natchez cruise we had more chargrilled oysters at Royal House Oyster Bar, then steak and seasoned fries at a French Quarter dinner. We finished with frozen Purple Drank daiquiris on Bourbon Street.
Day 4: Mother’s and the Sazerac House
Mother’s Restaurant on Poydras Street has been serving po’ boys and jambalaya for decades, and its walls are covered with framed press clippings. Afterwards we went to the Sazerac House on Canal Street, a free museum about the Sazerac cocktail and New Orleans cocktail history.
Day 5: One more Acme
We couldn’t leave without one more trip to Acme, this time for a fried seafood po’ boy.
Where to stay
We stayed at the Holiday Inn French Quarter, a few blocks from Bourbon Street and Acme Oyster House. Almost everything on this trip was within walking distance.
Beignets at Café Beignet on Bourbon Street in the New Orleans French Quarter.
Beignets, squares of fried dough buried under powdered sugar, are one of the essential New Orleans treats. Café Beignet’s Bourbon Street location sits next to Musical Legends Park, where live jazz is often playing.
It’s a great alternative when the line at Café du Monde is long, and a good place to sit and take a break from walking the Quarter.
Chargrilled oysters at Acme Oyster House in the New Orleans French Quarter.
Chargrilled oysters are a New Orleans speciality: oysters on the half shell topped with garlic butter and cheese and cooked over an open flame until they sizzle. The video shows them coming off the grill.
Acme’s original location on Iberville Street has been serving oysters since 1910 and often has a line out the door, so arriving early or late in the afternoon helps.
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