Wicked Spoon - Buffet at the Cosmopolitan

This was my first visit to the Cosmopolitan, and I have to say, I'm hooked.  I love, love, love the glamorous yet whimsical decor throughout the casino, and that same attitude flows into the Wicked Spoon buffet.

I didn't plan on visiting Wicked Spoon this trip.  I had vaguely seen it listed on a top 10 list of Vegas buffets, but I thought I'd just stick to my favorites.  We did a timeshare tour, and in exchange, we got this buffet for free.  I'm so glad we did or I never would've known how wonderful it is.  It's definitely a surprising new favorite.

During this trip to Vegas I actually ended up eating at The Wicked Spoon twice.  The first time was on Labor Day.  We arrived during the end of brunch.  Wicked Spoon only does brunch and dinner where some other buffets have separate breakfast, lunch and dinner food and pricing.  Usually the buffet is open from 8am-2pm for brunch during the week and from 8am-3pm on the weekends.  Since it was a holiday, brunch lasted until 3pm.  Also, usually The Wicked Spoon buffet is closed after brunch until 5pm when it reopens for dinner, but on Labor Day, it stayed open all day.  Take note of this because most buffets don't close between lunch and dinner.  Make sure you arrive with enough time to enjoy the buffet before it closes if you're arriving for brunch.

Since we were there on Labor Day, bunch cost as much as dinner usually costs.  Holidays always cost more.  That doesn't mean the food is any different than usual though.  Although, in this case, it meant that the buffet didn't close between brunch and dinner, and we were able to enjoy brunch food and then stay and enjoy dinner food as well.

There are 2 lines at this buffet before you're seated.  You have to get in line to buy the buffet.  Then you get in a 2nd line to be seated.  I'd never seen that before.  At every other buffet that I've been to, you get in one line to pay for your food, and then you stay in the same line to wait to be seated.  I just got in the second line at Wicked Spoon.  There actually wasn't anyone in the first line, so I basically didn't even see that I was supposed to go somewhere else first.  The hostess was nice enough and let me hold my place in the second line while my husband jumped in the first line to pay.

As I've already mentioned, I love the decor.  The square booths are super cute, and the pictures are whimsical, for example, a high heel stuck through cheesecake and a necklace wrapped around an onion.  I also love that the flat screen TVs scroll through definitions of different food terms. 

A beverage comes with the buffet, so I started with coffee.  It came in a nice tall cup, but it was a little strong for my taste.  One cup of coffee, and I moved on to Diet Coke.  I like that they have Coke products instead of Pepsi.





















Now, onto the food.  There was a lot to love.  During brunch, the roast beef and herb roasted tomatoes were standouts.  The salad bar area had a lot of individual serving size salads.  I loved trying all of those.  For dinner, I thought the prime rib and lamb were just okay, but the crab legs and the gnocchi were amazing.

I didn't love most of the desserts, but for me that's actually a good thing.  Usually I like them too much.  I do have a sweet tooth.  The chocolate covered strawberries dipped in toffee were pretty good, and the gelato selection was about the biggest I've seen at a buffet.  The salted peanut caramel was awesome.

We enjoyed the buffet so much that we went out of our way to visit it for brunch the day we left to drive back to L.A.  We arrived just before 11am on a Saturday.  The line was pretty short, and we were seated right away.

I tried a few brunch items that I hadn't tried the first time.  I loved the Blue Moon Beer & Granola pancakes.  They were especially good when topped with whipped honey butter, powdered sugar and syrup.  I usually don't get seconds of the same food at a buffet because I want as much variety as possible, but I ended up going back for a second pancake.  They were just that good.

I also loved the Ciabatta Panini with scrambled egg, bacon and white cheddar.  You really can't go wrong with that combination.  It was a wonderful breakfast sandwich and a million times better than the fast food english muffin version.  White cheddar is amazing.

I read in one review of this buffet that this is the only buffet where you'll see model-types eating on a regular basis.  There are a lot of small plates and healthy options.  I really like that about this buffet.  You can eat a lot, enjoy it, get variety, and not feel like a pig.  Wicked Spoon is now my second favorite buffet in Vegas.  I look forward to eating here during future trips to Vegas.  Well done, Cosmopolitan.  Well done.

Happy eating!