Al's Donuts

My mom wanted to try the infamous croissant/donut and so I went on the hunt. They were out at the two places I tried before Al's, so third times a charm. We arrived around noon and there weren't any in the display case, but the lady behind the counter let me know that they had some in the back that she was busy dressing so we had free reign on what flavors we could have. By free reign, I mean we were able to choose from the three flavors they have: chocolate, maple and vanilla. I opted to try the chocolate and maple. We didn't order any regular donuts.

This donut shop is right across from UNLV, on the corner or Harmon and Maryland. It's small and not particularly noteworthy and a little on the dingy side. The pastries were large and a little overly sweet for my taste. I love powdered sugar, but they were covered in them, so it was a bit of overkill. For the most part, the pastry was moist and had good texture, but I don't see myself going out of my way to try them again soon. Al's is a good option for students or those who live in the area.

Cornish Pasty Company

I came to Cornish Pasty Company with a friend who's mom is from England and is always looking for good British food in town to lure her mom here for a visit, so it wasn't too hard to convince her to try this place with me this week.

We arrived around 530 and the place wasn't packed but there were already a number of diners seated. The restaurant is much larger than expected and I enjoyed the ambiance quite a bit. It's on the darker side and makes you feel like you're the only people in the place.

We were seated quickly and perused the menu. Their pasty selection is extensive so it took us quite a bit of time to decide what we wanted to order. In the interim, we settled on some cider that was offered during happy hour. Our waitress was nice but service was a bit slow during our entire meal. She was apologetic about it so we weren't too perturbed. I decided on the lamb vindaloo pasty, since I was in the mood for something spicy. Our meals were slow to arrive, but worth the wait. At first we weren't sure about the portion size. They are deceptively large, when we first thought they were on the smaller side. I enjoyed my pasty quite a bit and it had the spicy kick I had been hoping for. My friend enjoyed hers quite a bit as well. I have tried pasties a few times in the past but I have to say this was probably my favorite so far. We each were only able to finish half of our meal, but took the rest to go with us. I couldn't resist ordering dessert as well, I ended up with the Shirley Temple's Pudding since I absolutely adore sticky toffee pudding and my friend got the strawberry pavlova. Both were good, with my pudding edging hers out by a nose in the flavor department.

We had a fabulous meal and my fella even raved about how good my leftovers were, so we will likely be back soon to give them another go. Just be sure you aren't in too much of a rush when you dine here since our whole meal took over two hours from start to finish.