My buddy Evan and I try to grab lunch once a week.  What’s more, we’re both suckers for great Chinese food (perhaps it’s a Jewish thing – ha, ha).  So, when I stumbled past the Dim Sum Buffet at Wing Lei, on my way to CHANEL’s Numéros Privés exhibit (exquisite, BTW; but we’ll get to that next time), I knew where Evan and I would be having lunch, the following afternoon.

Cut to the next day, and we’re entering Wing Lei; walking across my all-time favorite carpet, below that gorgeous hand-painted ceiling, being led toward a pair of the comfiest dining thrones in town.

At Wynn, they like to do everything first-class, and this Dim Sum Buffet at Wing Lei is no exception.  Las Vegas sets a pretty high bar for buffets – but this is a simply exquisite midday dining experience that brings together the best of the Far East with a few mainstays of Western cuisine.

For instance, next to the Sushi Station (where sliced-to-order Ebi (shrimp), Maguro (tuna), Sake (salmon) and Tako (octopus) are prepared as both Make-style rolls and Nigiri-style sushi) is the Carving Station (that featured Rack of Lamb when I first peeked-in, and Roast Prime Rib when I ate there), next to a chafing dish with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes – a decidedly Continental pairing.

There are soups and noodles and even a Noodle Master from China, who spun and twisted the fresh noodles (cross a Brooklyn pizza-thrower with the queen from Rumpelstiltskin, and you get the idea). 

Chafing dishes full of such luscious dishes as Da Chin Chicken (a spicy, pan-fried Szechuan dish), Pork and Leek Dumplings, Steamed Sea Bass with Black Bean Sauce, Beef Tenderloin with Black Pepper Sauce, and Tomato Prawns are arranged around a central table holding a tall and vibrant contemporary floral arrangement.  A chef and runner make certain that the enormous copper bowl containing the Fresh Shellfish on Ice (including lobster, King crab legs, oysters and shrimp) was always heaping with the finest bounty our oceans have to offer.

There are some incredible Asian-inspired dishes that were concocted in the kitchens of Wing Lei, such as Lobster Salad (with arugula, fingerling potatoes, and truffle oil), and Pumpkin-Spiced Scallops (served cold and thickly sliced).

Oh yeah.  There’s a comprehensive assortment of Dim Sum that is brought by the tables, but I’d already returned from my third trip to the buffet whence the Dim Sum cart arrived at our table; and I was only barely able to sample the Beef and Oyster Dumplings, Shui Mei, and Pork Dumplings before reaching my fullest stomach capacity.  According to Evan, it was totally my loss.  I missed-out on the desserts, too; but that’s probably for the best.

Meanwhile, this exquisite culinary adventure only happens twice each year – during Christmas and the Chinese New Year; so if you don’t make it in by Saturday, you’re gonna have to wait another eleven months.

Dim Sum Buffet
Wing Lei — Wynn Las Vegas
Daily, through Saturday, January 28th
11am – 2:30pm
$58.88 per person
Click HERE for info

Get into it!