Three Times Prime Rib

We were in Lancaster, PA for a Fall trip and, of course, every night was a buffet - actually every night was at one of the top buffets for the past year. It just so happened that the nights we went to Yoder's, Shady Maple, and Dutch-Way/Gap Prime Rib was the feature for that night. Prime Rib can vary a lot at buffet restaurants and at these three there were differences. There are times that I prefer Prime Rib to steak - if the Prime Rib is good.  Given a choice between a bone in slice and a slice with no rib bone, I prefer the bone in slice but I have never come across a buffet restaurant that serves a bone in Prime Rib.

We first went to Yoder's Restaurant - Tuesday is Prime Rib night there. Yoder's Prime Rib is carved at the grill and they will try to accommodate your request for rare, medium, well done. While I was up at the grill someone before me had wanted theirs very well done and they had that piece on the grill top for extra cooking. I wanted mine rare - no surprise to our regular readers - and the carver cut into the Prime Rib at a spot where the meat was rare - red rare - and sliced me off a nice slice. The outside of the Prime Rib was a herb rub without any type of sauce added. The meat was very tender. It did need a little salt to bring out the flavor but that was fine. There was very little fat in the meat and even less grizzle. Later in the meal I went back for a second slice and this time the carver was different and she carved a very thick piece - thicker than I really wanted given the point in the meal I was at - but she cut a generous slice. This time the meat was not as rare as the first but again the meat was very tender. Both slices were very tasty - even though the first needed a little salt added.

Wednesday night is Prime Rib night at Shady Maple Smorgasbord. It surprised me how crowded Shady Maple was for mid-week Fall. Prime Rib is carved to order at two of the grill stations at Shady Maple. Here they have different Prime Ribs to carve each done to a different wellness. I saw one carver at a very rare looking Prime Rib and I went over to him for a slice. The slice was generous and this slice of Prime Rib was the most like in appearance to a slice of Prime Rib that one would get in a menu restaurant. At the side of the grill counter was Au Jus gravy to ladle on your meat yourself. There was also ground horseradish to spoon on. There was a large circle of fat at a corner of the slice. The outside of the Prime Rib was black and semi-crispy and the meat was coated with a sauce that tasted like a combination of Worcestershire Sauce and A1 Steak Sauce. This was cooked onto the outside of the Prime Rib. The outside had a distinct flavor because of this. I was given a slice per my request that was red rare. The meat of this Prime Rib was interlaced with grizzle and while eating there was a lot that had to be cut off around what was cut to eat. It was tasty but chewy. It was good enough but because of two nights of Prime Rib for dinner, I did not take a second slice and continued the meal with several of the many other good things that Shady Maple has to offer.

Friday night (and Saturday night - but this was a Friday night) is Prime Rib night at Dutch-Way restaurant in Gap, PA. The Prime Rib here is also carved at the grill. One Prime Rib is out for the carver to serve from, but from past visits I know that if you ask for a piece cooked differently from what is out, they usually have it. I asked for rare, as did the man after me. The carver told me that he had to go and get another Prime Rib that he could cut off rare slices from and he went off. When he came back he had a tray with a Prime Rib in it. He opened a hot draw inside the carving station and picked up the remaining Prime Rib on the cutting board and added that to what was in the tray in the drawer. He pulled out the tray and put it aside - to be brought back into the kitchen when he was done carving my slice and the slice for the other gentleman there. He cut into the middle of this Prime Rib and it was pinkish-red inside. Not as rare as I had hoped for but still rare. Perhaps one might say it was medium-rare, but that is better than well done and dry. This slice had some fat marbled through and just a little grizzle mixed in. The outside of the Prime Rib at Dutch-Way is crispy and also may have been a steak sauce cooked onto the outside. It was tasty, there was little to have to cut around and perhaps if this night was not a night we had to drive back for a three plus hour trip I might have eaten more of the fat than I did. The slice was a good sized slice. Did I go back for another? Well, no but only because on the buffet was Dutch-Way's meatloaf and since I have been good meatloaf craving for awhile, I forgo another slice of Prime Rib for some really good meatloaf.

Of the three buffet restaurants, I found the Prime Rib at Yoders to be the best. It was the most tender by far. It had little waste on the slice and it was tasty. There was no sauced crust on the outside to detract from the taste of the meat. It was also the most satisfying. Yoder's on a Tuesday night is the place to go for all you care to eat Prime Rib along with their other good things on the buffet.

All three buffets are linked at the side of this page.