FIREFLY On Paradise

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One of my all-time favorite dining experiences is tapas. After spending a few weeks in Spain several years ago, I fell in love with the extensive variety of tasty dishes from the various regions. So when I came across the strong reviews for FIREFLY Tapas Kitchen & Bar in Las Vegas, I was quick to book lunch reservations.

As mentioned in previous posts, I always seem to struggle when ordering from a new restaurant – especially if they have a lengthy menu. The cool thing about tapas is that you get to order 8-12 small dishes and share them among your table. You can sample hot or cold dishes, and meat, vegetarian and seafood dishes all at the same meal. I also love the way tapas meals seem to last a little longer and are a very social experience. You order a few dishes…have a couple drinks…and then order a few more dishes…and then have a couple more drinks…and so on and so on.

 

Speaking of drinks, in my books nothing compliments tapas better than a nice big pitcher of ice cold Sangria. Now, I’ve consumed my fair share of Sangria over the years, and I have to say, the red Sangria at FIREFLY is absolutely fantastic! Loaded with fresh fruit, wine and the perfect amount of brandy, the stuff goes down very easily. Apparently, they marinate their Sangria for 3 full days before serving, so all the ingredients come together and get happy, happy, happy! Really delicious.

 

The restaurant itself has a very cool “bordello” type vibe going on. The walls are very dark and feature lots of striking abstract paintings in chunky frames, which keeps the mood fun but stylish and funky. Love the super comfortable big leather sofas too. The decor really sets the right mood for a fun tapas dining experience. The restaurant also features a nice little patio for those long hot summer nights.

And now to the best part – the food!  I had initially spent some time reviewing the menu, so I had a pretty good idea concerning which items we wanted to order (there are probably upwards of 75 dishes available – I could be there all night!). From the hot vegetarian tapas, we went with the Veggie Empanada, Roasted Eggplant Cannelloni and the Firefly fries. All servings were generous and highly flavourful. An excellent start! Next, we ordered some meat dishes including the Chicken and Chorizo Stuffed Mushrooms, Filet Mignon Sliders, Crispy Duck Roll and Merguez (spicy lamb sausage). Wow – talk about flavour bombs! Each dish had a unique flavour profile and absolutely exploded with tasty goodness. And again, very generously sized portions. There were a few other items on my radar, but after these seven dishes, all three of us were full. Absolutely LOVE this place. A must stop on your next trip to Vegas. For now, back to the cage.