Shannon N.
Yelp
While in town, I usually stray from where I'm staying to a restaurant either on or off the strip. This time, I wanted to try Zen over at the Waldorf, which appeared to be walkable. Utilizing the fairly new walkway that connects Bellagio, Cosmopolitan and Aria/Vdara, I took advantage of this by cutting through Vdara, then outside over to Aria, then through Aria continuing back outside to the Waldorf-Astoria. This isn't a bad walk, but in 110+heat, it makes it a little difficult.
I haven't been here since it was the Mandarin Oriental, so taking the elevator up was familiar, but instead of the lobby, I exited onto the third floor, where Zen is located to the left. I was seated right away by the windows, and a server came over to take my order. Since it was almost 11:30a, I wanted to try their chocolate-chip vanilla pancakes, alongside a hot chocolate (I know, it's too hot out but I had to). The cocoa was really good, and I had to wait a little for the pancake to be prepared which I didn't mind; they looked so good in the photos here, and I'm usually a waffle girl.
Overall, these were fine. Nothing wrong with them, but they just didn't hit the spot as I had expected them to. I did enjoy how there were chocolate chips incorporated in each cake, and not just decorated for presentation on solely the top one. However, I did see other items on their menu that could be worth trying in the future (Waldorf chicken salad HAS to be great...right?)
Service started off well but then switched to another employee near the end, which I found odd since the original server was just by the host area talking.
Walking back, I realized I could have made my life easier by cutting through The Shops at Crystals (by Zegna), even staying on the same floor in order to get back to my hotel, but I learned the hard way, and got some exercise as well. However I do think they open at 11a so if you're looking for a true breakfast, you may have to find an alternative route.