Three from the Sea at OCB

I have tried the new special feature at Old Country Buffet and I do have to admit that it is better than Shrimp, Shrimp, Shrimp. Three from the Sea is the new feature served on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. As the name implies this is a seafood combination that includes fish, crab, and shrimp (naturally).

The fish is called Butter Crunch Alaskan Pollack. It is not bad. It is the best of the three and far surpasses the other fish dishes that Old Country Buffet has served to date. This is thin strips of pollack fillets, a light, white fish, that is coated in a very light crusting. It is broiled (or baked) in what is presumed to be butter from the name - but the butter (or whatever) was not overwhelming. It had a nice mild taste and I went back for more.

The crab is crab cakes or what should be called here "mock crab pancakes" are thin patties of fake crab meat (it did not have the texture, the color, or the taste of real crab, but more resembled "sea legs" which is what it must be). There is a lot of breading and a few pieces of green pepper chopped in. All of this is broiled and comes out as flat disks about thee inches in diameter. The taste was ok, but these were not crab cakes as anyone would expect. The Maryland shore has nothing to worry about here.

The shrimp was Orange Shrimp. It is exactly the same as OCB's Orange Chicken but made with shrimp. This is breaded shrimp that is fried and then mixed into an orange glaze with a sprinkling of sesame seeds. These were ok at first, but after a few became too sweet and I wound up peeling away the coating to get to the shrimp inside. I have had the Orange Chicken and liked it. This was sweeter. Perhaps the shrimp is not enough to carry the orange sauce.

While the name of the feature says "Three" from the sea, there was also fried clam strips. The ones that were out when I took them were burnt - and as a result were terrible. I could not finish the few that I took to taste. Later in the evening more were brought out and these did not look burnt. They may have been better tasting - but the first batch put me off them and I did not take more - even to try.

While this is feature is being served the regular items have not seemed to be discarded. On this Thursday night they were still carving beef brisket and ham and beef ribs were served. Despite the lack of signs about steak, there was still steak being served. Of course, there was regular fried shrimp as well. (Somebody at OCB corporate must love shrimp!)

So all in all, Three from the Sea, is ok. It is worth a try, if for nothing but the pollack.