I am often asked if a certain buffet includes lobster on the buffet. Lobster is a great attraction, but you are only going to find all that you care to eat lobster at very high priced buffets. There was a time a few years ago that it was possible to find it on a buffet priced under $30 per adult, but not any longer. A few higher prices Asian buffets still put lobster out with the meat in the shell cut up in ginger sauce. When you find this there is generally a swarm of dinners hovering over the empty tray waiting for it to be refilled - and then when it does come out it is emptied as quickly as it was filled. Often it is just not worth the hassle.
With the scarcity of lobster at affordable buffets, what is the "King" of buffet foods? King Crab Legs! Giant crab legs. Legs so large that if you saw the crab that was once attached, alive, and coming toward you, you would run screaming as far as you could get! But, put cut those legs off that crab, steam them, and pile them high on a buffet table and you will see people run toward them and not away!
King crab legs is the lobster-lover's buffet appeasement. I once heard someone say that the only reason people like to eat lobster is to have an excuse to dip something lavishly into melted butter and then eat it. How true! King crab legs provide the same opportunity. The meat is lobster-like, though less nutty in taste. You get the excuse to use a nutcracker to break the shells, and you get the melted butter - which is mostly what you are tasting when you eat the lobster anyway.
Many affordable priced buffets include crab legs. Some charge an additional cost to the meal. Some provide them in addition to the buffet in a limited quantity. Many that have then just include them in the price of the dinner. The crab legs are often served hot but I have been to buffets were they are also served cold on ice.
What is served will vary as well from buffet to buffet. The more expensive buffets will serve clusters of crab legs - this is several legs and the claw connected at a joint at the top. Some buffets will just serve individual legs, broken apart from the clusters. Even though you may take as many as you want, you do better with the clusters.
Crab legs are cooked by steaming them. Properly steamed the crab leg becomes reddish orange and cream color. The crabs just need to be put in a steamer, steamed, and served. In some parts of the US - particularly in the Chesapeake area of Maryland and Virginia, the crab is covered with a salty, spiced seasoning originally made by the Old Bay Company and then steamed. This gives the crab a unique flavor known to this region. It is quite good. The same spice is used on many seafoods. It is especially good on shrimp.
The King crab leg consists of three sections - the joint at the top where the leg connected to the body of the crab, the upper leg, and the lower leg. There is a joint between the upper and lower leg. If you have a cluster you will have several three legs plus a claw leg connected at the joint. In the Chesapeake region people love this stuff and put it on everything!
Eating a king crab leg has a technique all its own. I was first shown how to eat a crab leg by a waiter who took pity on watching me struggle to get the crab meat out of the shell. Just cracking open the shell at any spot along the leg just leads to frustration. Most buffets that are serving crab legs will have nut crackers available for you to use. If they are not out on the buffet table near the crab legs or on your table already, just ask. What you will not find at most buffets - even seafood buffets - are the little two prong forks used for eating shellfish. For some reason they just do not provide these -and these would be a great help when eating crab legs. Perhaps they think that they will be taken because they are so small. I don't know why but you never get one - even if you ask, they don't have them (if they even know what you are talking about). I once bought my own to bring.
So - I said that there is a technique for eating crab legs. Ok, I shall pass along the secret. First - put aside the nut cracker. You do not need it until you get to the claw. We will start with clusters - the individual legs will be obvious in a moment or so. Take the cluster and hold it at the top and pull the large claw leg down and off. You will rip it from the joint at the top of the cluster. Put it aside for now. Next, do the same for the next leg - which is the longest leg on the cluster. As you rip the leg away from the joint you will probably pull a nice lump of crab meat away with it from the joint. It is sort of a crab lolly pop now. Dip that lump of meat, still attached to the top of the leg into your butter sauce or red cocktail sauce or nothing at all as the crab meat tastes good with nothing on it at all and eat it. Hmmm! That was good and that was easy. You are now really ready for more, but you are going to have to do a little work to get the rest of the crab meat from that leg. You still do not need the nut cracker - you will just mess things up with it so leave it be. You are holding an upper leg that is connected at a joint to a lower leg with a small section in between. Gently break the joint at the top of that mid-section and pull the lower leg and the mid-section straight out from the upper leg. It will be easy to break and when you pull it away you will take two thin, stiff strands of cartilage with the lower leg out of the upper leg. Put the lower leg aside. Take the upper leg in both hands and hold it so that the shell is flat. Go to the end with the joint that just connected the lower leg. Break that joint end off with a snap. Turn the leg around and do the same thing at the top, breaking that joint end off with a snap. You should be left with the whole upper leg in the shell with the ends broken off. Sometimes the ends are difficult to break off - especially if the legs were cooked as single legs or if the crab legs have been sitting too long and the sell has become soft (and tough). Now comes the tricky part. Hold that leg flat in both hands with the orange red side facing you and with a snap break it in half length-wise. Try not to rip it. It needs to break. As you break it pull the top half of shell away and you will slide it off of the crab meat that is inside the leg. Grab a hold of that meat and gently slide it out of the bottom half of the shell. There you have it! Another succulent piece of pure crab meat!
In the lower leg you are not going to find much meat but there is some there. Snap that mid-section off and you will reveal a small triangle of crab meat. Just gently snap the lower leg in half and pull the top of the shell away. You will be rewarded with a thin strip of crab meat (sometimes).
Repeat this same process with the rest of the legs. After you have eaten the meat from the smallest leg you will still find meat in the claw leg and in the top joint. Break the joint apart. It consists of chambers and inside those chambers you will find crab meat to pick through. You may already have taken the majority of the meat out of the top when you broke the legs off, but there is always some meat left there. I have saved the claw leg for last because it requires the most work. You will need the nut cracker now. Take the leg in your hands and break the claw off the leg. It snaps right off using your fingers. Take hold of the upper jaw and break that off by pulling straight up. Now, take the nut cracker and break the claw shell. Just crack - it is not a vise. If you squeeze it apart you are going to wind up with broken shell mixed into a mush of crab. Crack the claw shell and break the shell away from the meat. There is a lump of meat inside - inside that meat is a thin cartilage. Don't eat that. Pull it away with the front of the lower jaw. The rest of the claw leg is the toughest part of the crab legs. You need to crack this with the nut cracker and pick out the meat from the shells. This part is sometimes so much trouble that with the ability to just get another crab leg or cluster I just don't bother with it.
From my years of enjoying king crab legs at buffets I have learned a few things -
1. Clusters are better than single legs because the single legs often sit in the serving tray in the water that has condensed from the steam and they become water logged which effects the taste and softens the shell to the point that it is difficult to break without ripping it. Single legs when cooked are cooked with the top cluster section cut up. The crab tends to overcook this way.
2. Crab legs are best when when they are hot because the meat will separate from the shell easier. As the crab leg cools the shell contracts and traps the meat inside. It will no longer pull easily out of the shell and will often rip in half leaving the meat inside the lower half of the shell difficult to get out (at least without a cocktail fork). As a result do not take too many crab legs or clusters at one time. They will cool off too quickly. Take two clusters or a few single legs and then go back for more hot ones! Please don't be lured by temptation as you look at the uninformed crab eaters pile clusters on their plate. Eat them hot and you will actually get to eat them and not leave the meat in the shell. Remember - it is a buffet. You can go up and get more any time that you like.
3. When crab legs are served cold on ice, expect a long struggle to get the meat out of the shell. Why? Read number 2 just above.
4. Crab leg meat added to other dishes is usually not real crab meat. There is a fish that tastes like crab and this is processed to look like king crab leg meat. If it is not in the shell, it is probably not real crab.
Crab legs are going to get your hands dirty. Your hands will be slippery with butter sauce. The hot, steamy crab juices will drip all over your hands leaving them with that "just out to sea" odor. You will often find wet naps where ever crab legs are served. If not, a quick trip to the rest room will wash the odors of your wonderful king crab feast away.
So now I am ready to go and eat some crab legs! Local Chinese buffets near me include them on the buffets so I do not have far to search. Yumm!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Makkoli Seafood Buffet, East Brunswick, New Jersey
I am always looking for buffet restaurants in New Jersey. On occasion business takes us to the Garden State and we usually drive around looking for a buffet for dinner, find nothing, and head back home. The one buffet that I had found in the area that we usually are in I wrote about a year ago - and it was not good. (Take a look in the archives and I am sure that you will find it.)
One of my readers contacted me and told me about a buffet near his home in New Jersey called Makkoli. He told me that he likes to go there for the sushi. I have not gone to buffets that are primarily sushi because, as some of you know, I have a wife who is a very picky eater - and she does not like seafood beyond shrimp. She especially will not eat raw fish. I enjoy sushi but I will not subject her to a dinner of food that she hates. And the sushi buffets that I am aware of charge a great deal of money for their meals - both at lunch and dinner, weekdays and weekends. So my first reaction to my reader - Art - was just what I have told you. He emailed me back to say that there is more at Makkoli than sushi and seafood. He also shared that the weekend price is $19.95 for dinner, which while high, is not as high as other sushi buffets that I know of. I went to look at their website - most of which is under construction - and saw a picture of a Japanese Hibachi chef cooking at an Hibachi grill. We were all set. My wife could eat Hibachi and whatever else there might be and I could try a sushi buffet. We just had to wait for another trip to New Jersey, which just so happened to come quickly.
Let me say that finding Makkoli was a bit of an adventure. One that included some yelling and swearing. I am sure that anyone who lives in this area of New Jersey would have no problem finding it right off, but for this traveler from another State, well, it was... let's just say an adventure. We wound up passing this restaurant twice without seeing it and we had GPS to assist us. One thing that you need to know about New Jersey is that there are no left turns in New Jersey and every large road is a divided highway with no way to cross to the other side. Every few miles there are right turn arounds that will head you across or get you in the opposite direction - but not knowing the roads and driving at night these are noted by signs that are not lit and usually hidden behind a tree. Each time the GPS said that we were there (we routed ourselves to the address), we would look to where the restaurant was supposed to be and all we could see was a dark field - actually somewhat of a pit. Back and forth we drove and then finally pulled into a shopping center and telephoned the restaurant. We were just a mile or so from the location and with their directions of what to look for and what to turn at we finally arrived. That dark pit that we had been seeing was actually the parking lot a bit lower than the road.
Makkoli Seafood Buffet is a Japanese buffet. The restaurant is located in small shopping center strip mall and takes up the length of about four store fronts. On entering the restaurant it is very bright and modern. There is a dining room along the front wall and then another dining room filling the rest of the space with tables all around the buffet area. The price of dinner at Makkoli is $18.99 from Monday to Thursday and $19.99 from Friday to Sunday. Lunch prices are $11.99 and $13.99. Children under three and one half feet tall eat free. Children from that height to four and one half feet are half price. Soda for all is $1.50 and is refillable. They serve Coke products. Hours on Monday to Thursdays and Sunday are to 9:00 pm and Friday and Saturday until 10:00 pm. You must be seated one half hour before closing.
We went for dinner on a Friday night. The restaurant was busy but we did not have to wait to get a table. We were seated and asked for our soft drink order. We then proceeded to the buffet server. There is a four-sided, large serving buffet in the middle of the dining room. Next to that on one wall is a single sided buffet server. Along the longest wall there is a counter that includes the Hibachi grill, soups, entrees, and appetizers.
We started with soup - as we always do. There were three Japanese soups - seafood soup, miso soup, and udon noodle soup. Below the label for the noodle soup were a list of the ingredients - tofu skins, noodles, seaweed, and scallions. We had picked up empty bowls and looked over the soup choices and headed for the udon noodle soup. Behind the soup tureen there were a few bowls with ingredients in them - but no broth. The broth was in the tureen. We figured out that we were supposed to take one of those bowls and fill it with broth creating the soup. Next to all of this there was a station where noodles would be boiled and the ingredients mixed for this soup. No one was there at the time - there was a chef there later creating these bowls for the soup. Slight confusion but we quickly had our soup (two advanced college degrees should be able to figure a simple thing like this out). The udon noodle soup was excellent. I enjoyed just about everything at this restaurant but I really enjoyed this soup. I almost went back for another bowl at the end of the meal but I was so full - and I had two hours to drive home - that I did not dare.
I moved on to the salad and sushi next and my wife headed for the hot appetizers. There are four sushi chefs working inside the rectangular serving area. On one long side are Japanese salads including salmon skin salad, tofu salad, mushroom salad, chopped lettuce, raw edame beans, and others. There were also plates of sashimi - lumps of raw fish with no rice. There was salmon, tuna, and red snapper. Along a short side were raw oysters and clams on the half shell and cocktail shrimp. A tub of red cocktail sauce was on the side along with fresh lemon wedges. I looked at the oysters - sitting on ice, but they looked dry looking so I skipped those. The clams looked fresher and moister. The shrimp looked great. I was looking for the out of the ordinary so I skipped the shell fish and tried some of the salads and took some sashimi. The mushroom salad was very good - I even made my wife try some. It was large black mushroom slices in a mildly sweet sauce. The tofu salad was squares of tofu with a white dressing on top. Also good. The sashimi - I took salmon and tuna and this was very fresh.
There is silverware available all over the restaurant near the clean plates including forks, knives, and soup spoons. At every table there are chopsticks placed on your napkin, Many here eat with chopsticks. I do - but soon tire of the effort and switch back and forth with utensils.
I went next for sushi. I am not an adventurous sushi eater. I tend to the basics of tuna and salmon. Here there is sushi for everyone - the adventurous and the timid. There was every kind of raw fish - white tuna, red tuna, salmon, red snapper, eel, ocotpus, squid, yellowtail, and more. I tried a few fish that I have never had an opportunity to try before - I still avoided the octopus, squid, and eel. All of these were on rice. Then there were the rolls and those were plentiful and different (at least to me). There was a lobster sushi roll. There was a tempura sushi roll - pieces of fried tempura wrapped in rice and seaweed. All of the fish was fresh. All was kept over ice on plates. The chefs keep an eye on each serving plate and refilled them with freshly made sushi continually as they emptied. Everything was well labeled - as was all of the food at this restaurant. All that I tried were good. If you like sushi beyond what you find in the usual Asian buffet, you will love this. And if you are a timid sushi eater you will be happy too. Be alert to the two signs on the glass above the sushi. Each says that you are not to "waste" the rice with the sushi and if you do you will be charged extra. Meaning - take sushi, eat all of the rice. Do not just eat the fish. If you do, you will be paying extra. I have heard from readers that some Asian buffets have had managers or serving staff come over to them when the left the rice aside and told them that they could not do that or that they would be charged extra for doing that. I have never encountered this - and I am one who usually leaves some of the rice aside so that I will not fill up on it. At least here there are clear signs that are unavoidably seen. No denying and no reason for issue- which is ok. I ate all of my rice.
All along my wife was happy with the hot entrees, appetizers, and side dishes. I tried these next. On one wall is a counter with space behind for serving staff and hot serving trays in the front. The hot foods are found here. Next to the soup are steamed crab shumai (dumplings). These were good. There are two tubs of liquid dipping sauce near by. One was a hot pepper sauce. The other was a sharp vinegar. Neither was dumpling sauce, but perhaps that is Chinese and not Japanese. Watch out for that hot pepper sauce! Along the counter there was Japanese fried rice - made on a grill and not the brown style Chinese fried rice, there were noodles that looked like Chinese lo mein noodles, but are much lighter, there were pan fried Japanese dumplings - verylight, and on and on. There was vegetable tempura. There was shrimp tempura - long shrimp in a light but thick fried batter - excellent. There was grilled shrimp on a stick - with the heads on. There were baked scallops - a real scallop shell (think the Shell Oil sign) filled with chopped scallop with a mayonaise based sauce baked together on the shell. There was a baked mussel that looked similar, if not the same. There was steamed flounder in ginger. There was chicken terriaki and beef terriaki. There were half crabs. There was broiled duck, several other chicken dishes, and other beef dishes. They had excellent spare ribs - Chinese sytle without that terrible red sweet sauce. These were charbroiled with just enough crisp. They were cut into small pieces, each a few inches long. There were also Spring rolls. Oh yes, everyone's favorite, there were king crab legs - individual legs, not clusters. The crab legs were refilled as soon as the tray went low. Everything was continually kept fresh and refilled. There was plenty here for the seafood lover and the meat eater.
If you had not had enough already, there was another big part of the meal to come. A section of the counter was an hibachi grill. This is not a Mongolian BBQ - you do not mix your own vegetables and meat. This is a real hibachi grill just like in the hibachi Japanese restaurants - you know the ones that you see in the movies where the chef throws the knife around to cut the food on the grill. You get it all here -except the show - there is no knife throwing, but there is a chef cooking each hibachi dish to your order. You have your choice of shrimp, chicken, and steak with mixed vegetables. The portion that the chef cooks for you fills a plate. My wife had the chicken. I intended to have the steak but I saw the shrimp being cooked for the person before me and I could not resist. The grilled shrimp were great. The vegetables mixed in were nicely seasoned. My wife's chicken was good. The steak looked really good too!
At this point I was full and satisfied - but I had this urge to go back and try some more great things. I resisted the temptation. But wait - dessert. Along the other short side of the rectangle was cold fresh fruit, jello, and canned oriental fruits. Opposite this was a another buffet server against the wall with - oriental buffet "Little Debbie" type cakes and an ice cream freezer chest along side with barrels of hard ice cream for you to scoop yourself. Good ice cream The usual oriental buffet cakes. Dessert was not spectacular, but with all the rest it did not really need to be.
Service was good. Plates were taken away as soon as you empty them. You are served your soda in a very large plastic glass and it took most of the meal to drink it - but when it was near the bottom the server came over and offered to bring more. The entire restaurant was very clean including the rest rooms.
I have said before that you can often tell that a restaurant serving the cuisine of a particular country - Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Greek , etc. is good when you see people of that nationality dining there. This Japanese restaurant had a good number of Japanese and Asian people eating at it. They all seemed to be enjoying it and this tells me that there is some authenticity to the cooking.
My wife noticed that this was a restaurant where people lingered and did not just eat and leave - and the restaurant did not seem to have any problem with this. Many of the people who were well into their meals when we first sat down were still sitting and talking after we had finished. Another thing observed at the table behind us of a large group of friends is that the restaurant does not have a problem if you bring your own bottle of liquor. That table not only had wine on the table but they also had scotch. The restaurant provided the glasses. The restaurant does not serve liquor so it was clear that the people brought it in with them.
Putting it all together - Excellent! It was worth the effort to find this gem. For what I had I did not so much mind that the bill for the two of us with soda and sales tax with $50. If you are local to this restaurant it may not be an every week restaurant - unless you are better off than I, but it certainly is a special occasion dinner or a splurge! I will be back in the area in a few weeks and I have a tough decision to find a new buffet to tell you about or head back for more at this one!
Makkoli Seafood Buffet is located in the Village Green Shopping Center at 415 Route 18 South in East Brunswick, NJ. To avoid riding in circles as I did - when coming south on Route 18 after you pass US 1, look for the Circuit City on the right and then continue two more traffic lights. You will see a U Haul lot (large sign) and you then make the immediate next turn into the shopping center. Travel though that strip of stores and around into the back where you will come upon another strip of stores and parking lot. Straight ahead is Makkoli. The phone number in case you get lost is (732) 967 - 8900 or for free - 877 - 625 - 5654. There is a website which is linked at the side of this page.
If you are in New Jersey, this is a definite go to!
One of my readers contacted me and told me about a buffet near his home in New Jersey called Makkoli. He told me that he likes to go there for the sushi. I have not gone to buffets that are primarily sushi because, as some of you know, I have a wife who is a very picky eater - and she does not like seafood beyond shrimp. She especially will not eat raw fish. I enjoy sushi but I will not subject her to a dinner of food that she hates. And the sushi buffets that I am aware of charge a great deal of money for their meals - both at lunch and dinner, weekdays and weekends. So my first reaction to my reader - Art - was just what I have told you. He emailed me back to say that there is more at Makkoli than sushi and seafood. He also shared that the weekend price is $19.95 for dinner, which while high, is not as high as other sushi buffets that I know of. I went to look at their website - most of which is under construction - and saw a picture of a Japanese Hibachi chef cooking at an Hibachi grill. We were all set. My wife could eat Hibachi and whatever else there might be and I could try a sushi buffet. We just had to wait for another trip to New Jersey, which just so happened to come quickly.
Let me say that finding Makkoli was a bit of an adventure. One that included some yelling and swearing. I am sure that anyone who lives in this area of New Jersey would have no problem finding it right off, but for this traveler from another State, well, it was... let's just say an adventure. We wound up passing this restaurant twice without seeing it and we had GPS to assist us. One thing that you need to know about New Jersey is that there are no left turns in New Jersey and every large road is a divided highway with no way to cross to the other side. Every few miles there are right turn arounds that will head you across or get you in the opposite direction - but not knowing the roads and driving at night these are noted by signs that are not lit and usually hidden behind a tree. Each time the GPS said that we were there (we routed ourselves to the address), we would look to where the restaurant was supposed to be and all we could see was a dark field - actually somewhat of a pit. Back and forth we drove and then finally pulled into a shopping center and telephoned the restaurant. We were just a mile or so from the location and with their directions of what to look for and what to turn at we finally arrived. That dark pit that we had been seeing was actually the parking lot a bit lower than the road.
Makkoli Seafood Buffet is a Japanese buffet. The restaurant is located in small shopping center strip mall and takes up the length of about four store fronts. On entering the restaurant it is very bright and modern. There is a dining room along the front wall and then another dining room filling the rest of the space with tables all around the buffet area. The price of dinner at Makkoli is $18.99 from Monday to Thursday and $19.99 from Friday to Sunday. Lunch prices are $11.99 and $13.99. Children under three and one half feet tall eat free. Children from that height to four and one half feet are half price. Soda for all is $1.50 and is refillable. They serve Coke products. Hours on Monday to Thursdays and Sunday are to 9:00 pm and Friday and Saturday until 10:00 pm. You must be seated one half hour before closing.
We went for dinner on a Friday night. The restaurant was busy but we did not have to wait to get a table. We were seated and asked for our soft drink order. We then proceeded to the buffet server. There is a four-sided, large serving buffet in the middle of the dining room. Next to that on one wall is a single sided buffet server. Along the longest wall there is a counter that includes the Hibachi grill, soups, entrees, and appetizers.
We started with soup - as we always do. There were three Japanese soups - seafood soup, miso soup, and udon noodle soup. Below the label for the noodle soup were a list of the ingredients - tofu skins, noodles, seaweed, and scallions. We had picked up empty bowls and looked over the soup choices and headed for the udon noodle soup. Behind the soup tureen there were a few bowls with ingredients in them - but no broth. The broth was in the tureen. We figured out that we were supposed to take one of those bowls and fill it with broth creating the soup. Next to all of this there was a station where noodles would be boiled and the ingredients mixed for this soup. No one was there at the time - there was a chef there later creating these bowls for the soup. Slight confusion but we quickly had our soup (two advanced college degrees should be able to figure a simple thing like this out). The udon noodle soup was excellent. I enjoyed just about everything at this restaurant but I really enjoyed this soup. I almost went back for another bowl at the end of the meal but I was so full - and I had two hours to drive home - that I did not dare.
I moved on to the salad and sushi next and my wife headed for the hot appetizers. There are four sushi chefs working inside the rectangular serving area. On one long side are Japanese salads including salmon skin salad, tofu salad, mushroom salad, chopped lettuce, raw edame beans, and others. There were also plates of sashimi - lumps of raw fish with no rice. There was salmon, tuna, and red snapper. Along a short side were raw oysters and clams on the half shell and cocktail shrimp. A tub of red cocktail sauce was on the side along with fresh lemon wedges. I looked at the oysters - sitting on ice, but they looked dry looking so I skipped those. The clams looked fresher and moister. The shrimp looked great. I was looking for the out of the ordinary so I skipped the shell fish and tried some of the salads and took some sashimi. The mushroom salad was very good - I even made my wife try some. It was large black mushroom slices in a mildly sweet sauce. The tofu salad was squares of tofu with a white dressing on top. Also good. The sashimi - I took salmon and tuna and this was very fresh.
There is silverware available all over the restaurant near the clean plates including forks, knives, and soup spoons. At every table there are chopsticks placed on your napkin, Many here eat with chopsticks. I do - but soon tire of the effort and switch back and forth with utensils.
I went next for sushi. I am not an adventurous sushi eater. I tend to the basics of tuna and salmon. Here there is sushi for everyone - the adventurous and the timid. There was every kind of raw fish - white tuna, red tuna, salmon, red snapper, eel, ocotpus, squid, yellowtail, and more. I tried a few fish that I have never had an opportunity to try before - I still avoided the octopus, squid, and eel. All of these were on rice. Then there were the rolls and those were plentiful and different (at least to me). There was a lobster sushi roll. There was a tempura sushi roll - pieces of fried tempura wrapped in rice and seaweed. All of the fish was fresh. All was kept over ice on plates. The chefs keep an eye on each serving plate and refilled them with freshly made sushi continually as they emptied. Everything was well labeled - as was all of the food at this restaurant. All that I tried were good. If you like sushi beyond what you find in the usual Asian buffet, you will love this. And if you are a timid sushi eater you will be happy too. Be alert to the two signs on the glass above the sushi. Each says that you are not to "waste" the rice with the sushi and if you do you will be charged extra. Meaning - take sushi, eat all of the rice. Do not just eat the fish. If you do, you will be paying extra. I have heard from readers that some Asian buffets have had managers or serving staff come over to them when the left the rice aside and told them that they could not do that or that they would be charged extra for doing that. I have never encountered this - and I am one who usually leaves some of the rice aside so that I will not fill up on it. At least here there are clear signs that are unavoidably seen. No denying and no reason for issue- which is ok. I ate all of my rice.
All along my wife was happy with the hot entrees, appetizers, and side dishes. I tried these next. On one wall is a counter with space behind for serving staff and hot serving trays in the front. The hot foods are found here. Next to the soup are steamed crab shumai (dumplings). These were good. There are two tubs of liquid dipping sauce near by. One was a hot pepper sauce. The other was a sharp vinegar. Neither was dumpling sauce, but perhaps that is Chinese and not Japanese. Watch out for that hot pepper sauce! Along the counter there was Japanese fried rice - made on a grill and not the brown style Chinese fried rice, there were noodles that looked like Chinese lo mein noodles, but are much lighter, there were pan fried Japanese dumplings - verylight, and on and on. There was vegetable tempura. There was shrimp tempura - long shrimp in a light but thick fried batter - excellent. There was grilled shrimp on a stick - with the heads on. There were baked scallops - a real scallop shell (think the Shell Oil sign) filled with chopped scallop with a mayonaise based sauce baked together on the shell. There was a baked mussel that looked similar, if not the same. There was steamed flounder in ginger. There was chicken terriaki and beef terriaki. There were half crabs. There was broiled duck, several other chicken dishes, and other beef dishes. They had excellent spare ribs - Chinese sytle without that terrible red sweet sauce. These were charbroiled with just enough crisp. They were cut into small pieces, each a few inches long. There were also Spring rolls. Oh yes, everyone's favorite, there were king crab legs - individual legs, not clusters. The crab legs were refilled as soon as the tray went low. Everything was continually kept fresh and refilled. There was plenty here for the seafood lover and the meat eater.
If you had not had enough already, there was another big part of the meal to come. A section of the counter was an hibachi grill. This is not a Mongolian BBQ - you do not mix your own vegetables and meat. This is a real hibachi grill just like in the hibachi Japanese restaurants - you know the ones that you see in the movies where the chef throws the knife around to cut the food on the grill. You get it all here -except the show - there is no knife throwing, but there is a chef cooking each hibachi dish to your order. You have your choice of shrimp, chicken, and steak with mixed vegetables. The portion that the chef cooks for you fills a plate. My wife had the chicken. I intended to have the steak but I saw the shrimp being cooked for the person before me and I could not resist. The grilled shrimp were great. The vegetables mixed in were nicely seasoned. My wife's chicken was good. The steak looked really good too!
At this point I was full and satisfied - but I had this urge to go back and try some more great things. I resisted the temptation. But wait - dessert. Along the other short side of the rectangle was cold fresh fruit, jello, and canned oriental fruits. Opposite this was a another buffet server against the wall with - oriental buffet "Little Debbie" type cakes and an ice cream freezer chest along side with barrels of hard ice cream for you to scoop yourself. Good ice cream The usual oriental buffet cakes. Dessert was not spectacular, but with all the rest it did not really need to be.
Service was good. Plates were taken away as soon as you empty them. You are served your soda in a very large plastic glass and it took most of the meal to drink it - but when it was near the bottom the server came over and offered to bring more. The entire restaurant was very clean including the rest rooms.
I have said before that you can often tell that a restaurant serving the cuisine of a particular country - Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Greek , etc. is good when you see people of that nationality dining there. This Japanese restaurant had a good number of Japanese and Asian people eating at it. They all seemed to be enjoying it and this tells me that there is some authenticity to the cooking.
My wife noticed that this was a restaurant where people lingered and did not just eat and leave - and the restaurant did not seem to have any problem with this. Many of the people who were well into their meals when we first sat down were still sitting and talking after we had finished. Another thing observed at the table behind us of a large group of friends is that the restaurant does not have a problem if you bring your own bottle of liquor. That table not only had wine on the table but they also had scotch. The restaurant provided the glasses. The restaurant does not serve liquor so it was clear that the people brought it in with them.
Putting it all together - Excellent! It was worth the effort to find this gem. For what I had I did not so much mind that the bill for the two of us with soda and sales tax with $50. If you are local to this restaurant it may not be an every week restaurant - unless you are better off than I, but it certainly is a special occasion dinner or a splurge! I will be back in the area in a few weeks and I have a tough decision to find a new buffet to tell you about or head back for more at this one!
Makkoli Seafood Buffet is located in the Village Green Shopping Center at 415 Route 18 South in East Brunswick, NJ. To avoid riding in circles as I did - when coming south on Route 18 after you pass US 1, look for the Circuit City on the right and then continue two more traffic lights. You will see a U Haul lot (large sign) and you then make the immediate next turn into the shopping center. Travel though that strip of stores and around into the back where you will come upon another strip of stores and parking lot. Straight ahead is Makkoli. The phone number in case you get lost is (732) 967 - 8900 or for free - 877 - 625 - 5654. There is a website which is linked at the side of this page.
If you are in New Jersey, this is a definite go to!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Return to Asian Buffet, Hicksville, NY
I first wrote about Asian Buffet in Hicksville, New York in September 2005. I have mentioned in a few other articles since then. We have not dined there for quite a while because, frankly, it is priced too high. Friday to Sunday dinner there is $15.99. Weekday dinner is $13.99. These prices are high for a Chinese buffet that is not really out of the ordinary.
On a recent Saturday night we could not think of where else to have dinner in the local area, and after a lot of procrastination, decided to bite the bullet and pay the extra $2.00 each at Asian Buffet. When one lives on a fixed budget, a few dollars extra here and there get to be significant. This restaurant used to place discount coupons in the newspaper, but there have not been any in quite some time.
We got there and were seated promptly. The restaurant was busy but not crowded. On past visits, since prices increased, this restaurant has never been as full as it could be. In fact, on this visit we were surprised to see the number of cars that we saw in the parking lot when we arrived. We were seated in a booth - I should have remembered that the seat cushions in the booths in this restaurant were compressed to a minimum long ago, and, if you are short, sitting in a booth is like a three year old sitting at the "grown ups" table. Your chin is not far from the table top. I pushed over to the inside of the bench where the cushion provided a little more lift. To lessen the total cost of dinner we did not order sodas and were satisfied with ice water.
What struck us as were went up to the buffet servers is the variety of different dishes that this restaurant has to offer. There are many things found here that are not served at other Chinese buffets. Not fancy or expensive dishes, but different. Of course, the usuals are there as well so anyone who does not want to stray too far from chicken and broccoli, pepper steak, and General Tso Chicken will not be disappointed. There is a nice assortment of dumplings - less so than in the past, but still a nice selection.
On the weekend and the basis of reasoning for the $15.99 price is lobster in ginger sauce. Few buffets still offer lobster. The lobster on this night consisted on mostly claws and a few side pieces. There was no meat in the claw and just a few shreds of meat in the side pieces. Perhaps someone got all of the tail pieces, but the tray remained the same the whole time that we were there and there was nothing but claws in the tray. The sauce is tasty but basically what you are eating is breaded coating and sauce with a hint of lobster taste. They also have crab legs, but these are pieces of legs, not whole legs and certainly not clusters.
But, I really want to get back to the different dishes that I sampled and not the shortcomings and price. I have had salt and pepper shrimp and salt and pepper crab, but I have never seen salt and pepper spare ribs before. Salt and pepper spare ribs are three inch pieces of spare ribs with the bones that are coated in a crust with salt and pepper. These must have then been fried, but they are not greasy as one might expect. They were very good. Another dish based on spare ribs was spare ribs in black bean sauce. This was very small pieces of spare ribs in a thick sauce with black beans. The tips and bone are there but the meat and sauce was terrific. Another interesting and tasty dish was a dish of chopped pork spooned on top of a cube of moist, pudding-like tofu. It must have been steamed, though the meat was well cooked. It had a very thin sauce that was mildly sweet and also had a ginger taste, much like the ginger sauce found on steamed fish.
Steamed fish is a special dish not often found at Chinese buffets and when it is the fish is generally full of bones. Here there was steamed flounder fillet in ginger sauce. No bones. The fish was moist and the sauce was tasty. There were a few tiny bones that were left behind, so eat carefully, but for the most part there were no bones.
On the cold server there were several different dishes that I did not try including dried tofu (which I have had before) and, also, slices of cold beef. Back on the hot server there was scallion pancakes - very good, but a bit oily. Not different, but better than the usual are the regular spare ribs. These are coated in what I have termed "over-sweet red sauce" often abundantly put on Chinese buffet spare ribs, but here the sauce does not overwhelm the ribs and they are cooked to a charred outside. For buffet spare ribs they were ok - most are not.
Despite the price I did enjoy the meal. With the tax and tip it still cost $40 for the two of us, which is about six dollars more than usual for a night at the Chinese buffet and that is without any sodas - but many are raising their prices and may soon catch up to this. For the variety of different this buffet is good. I would recommend it to anyone who does not mind the price. If they would start to run newspaper coupons again that would be good on the weekend, I might even come back more often.
As a matter of fact, after this return visit we were again in similar circumstances and we went back again - also a Saturday night. This second visit was as good and different as the first, but I will emphasize different. Many of the dishes that I describe in this article were not there on the second Saturday night. There were other out of the ordinary dishes offered - though I must say not as interesting as those I encountered first and described here.
On this second visit we also had an opportunity to observe another member of the "Lobster Grabbers" club. Search through the archives and read my article on the Lobster Grabbers. This new Lobster Grabber was an immense, older woman who emptied the lobster serving tray into two plates and took it to her table. At first we thought it was for both her and her companion - another immense, older woman, but as it turned out it was all for her. When more lobster was brought out she filled her plates again, leaving very little for everyone else in the restaurant. She ate lobster straight through the meal - even during dessert. They got their check and were eating dessert and suddenly she was up and back again with another dish of lobster. Cake and lobster I suppose is an interesting way to end a meal - of lobster. You see some of the oddest things and the most selfish people at buffet restaurants - especially when lobster is served.
Asian Buffet is located at 276 Old Country Road, Hicksville, New York. The phone number is (516) 433-6688. There is no website. For more detail read my original article from September 30, 2005.
On a recent Saturday night we could not think of where else to have dinner in the local area, and after a lot of procrastination, decided to bite the bullet and pay the extra $2.00 each at Asian Buffet. When one lives on a fixed budget, a few dollars extra here and there get to be significant. This restaurant used to place discount coupons in the newspaper, but there have not been any in quite some time.
We got there and were seated promptly. The restaurant was busy but not crowded. On past visits, since prices increased, this restaurant has never been as full as it could be. In fact, on this visit we were surprised to see the number of cars that we saw in the parking lot when we arrived. We were seated in a booth - I should have remembered that the seat cushions in the booths in this restaurant were compressed to a minimum long ago, and, if you are short, sitting in a booth is like a three year old sitting at the "grown ups" table. Your chin is not far from the table top. I pushed over to the inside of the bench where the cushion provided a little more lift. To lessen the total cost of dinner we did not order sodas and were satisfied with ice water.
What struck us as were went up to the buffet servers is the variety of different dishes that this restaurant has to offer. There are many things found here that are not served at other Chinese buffets. Not fancy or expensive dishes, but different. Of course, the usuals are there as well so anyone who does not want to stray too far from chicken and broccoli, pepper steak, and General Tso Chicken will not be disappointed. There is a nice assortment of dumplings - less so than in the past, but still a nice selection.
On the weekend and the basis of reasoning for the $15.99 price is lobster in ginger sauce. Few buffets still offer lobster. The lobster on this night consisted on mostly claws and a few side pieces. There was no meat in the claw and just a few shreds of meat in the side pieces. Perhaps someone got all of the tail pieces, but the tray remained the same the whole time that we were there and there was nothing but claws in the tray. The sauce is tasty but basically what you are eating is breaded coating and sauce with a hint of lobster taste. They also have crab legs, but these are pieces of legs, not whole legs and certainly not clusters.
But, I really want to get back to the different dishes that I sampled and not the shortcomings and price. I have had salt and pepper shrimp and salt and pepper crab, but I have never seen salt and pepper spare ribs before. Salt and pepper spare ribs are three inch pieces of spare ribs with the bones that are coated in a crust with salt and pepper. These must have then been fried, but they are not greasy as one might expect. They were very good. Another dish based on spare ribs was spare ribs in black bean sauce. This was very small pieces of spare ribs in a thick sauce with black beans. The tips and bone are there but the meat and sauce was terrific. Another interesting and tasty dish was a dish of chopped pork spooned on top of a cube of moist, pudding-like tofu. It must have been steamed, though the meat was well cooked. It had a very thin sauce that was mildly sweet and also had a ginger taste, much like the ginger sauce found on steamed fish.
Steamed fish is a special dish not often found at Chinese buffets and when it is the fish is generally full of bones. Here there was steamed flounder fillet in ginger sauce. No bones. The fish was moist and the sauce was tasty. There were a few tiny bones that were left behind, so eat carefully, but for the most part there were no bones.
On the cold server there were several different dishes that I did not try including dried tofu (which I have had before) and, also, slices of cold beef. Back on the hot server there was scallion pancakes - very good, but a bit oily. Not different, but better than the usual are the regular spare ribs. These are coated in what I have termed "over-sweet red sauce" often abundantly put on Chinese buffet spare ribs, but here the sauce does not overwhelm the ribs and they are cooked to a charred outside. For buffet spare ribs they were ok - most are not.
Despite the price I did enjoy the meal. With the tax and tip it still cost $40 for the two of us, which is about six dollars more than usual for a night at the Chinese buffet and that is without any sodas - but many are raising their prices and may soon catch up to this. For the variety of different this buffet is good. I would recommend it to anyone who does not mind the price. If they would start to run newspaper coupons again that would be good on the weekend, I might even come back more often.
As a matter of fact, after this return visit we were again in similar circumstances and we went back again - also a Saturday night. This second visit was as good and different as the first, but I will emphasize different. Many of the dishes that I describe in this article were not there on the second Saturday night. There were other out of the ordinary dishes offered - though I must say not as interesting as those I encountered first and described here.
On this second visit we also had an opportunity to observe another member of the "Lobster Grabbers" club. Search through the archives and read my article on the Lobster Grabbers. This new Lobster Grabber was an immense, older woman who emptied the lobster serving tray into two plates and took it to her table. At first we thought it was for both her and her companion - another immense, older woman, but as it turned out it was all for her. When more lobster was brought out she filled her plates again, leaving very little for everyone else in the restaurant. She ate lobster straight through the meal - even during dessert. They got their check and were eating dessert and suddenly she was up and back again with another dish of lobster. Cake and lobster I suppose is an interesting way to end a meal - of lobster. You see some of the oddest things and the most selfish people at buffet restaurants - especially when lobster is served.
Asian Buffet is located at 276 Old Country Road, Hicksville, New York. The phone number is (516) 433-6688. There is no website. For more detail read my original article from September 30, 2005.
Friday, February 08, 2008
TOP THREE CHAINS FOR 2007
I have already given you my two top buffet restaurants for 2007. I thought that you would find it interesting to see what the restaurant industry picks are. Restaurants and Institutions Magazine and website is the restaurant industries trade resource reporting on industry news, trends, and consumer opinions. In September 2007, based on extensive consumer survery, Restaurants and Institutions rated the buffet chains.
The top three chains for 2007 are -
Number 1 - Soup Plantation/Sweet Tomatoes
Number 2 - Golden Corral
and
Number 3 - Ryan's.
Restaurants and Institutions went into some detail on their findings. Soup Plantations appeals to consumers age 26 and under. Men rated the food quality higher than women. The ratings given by both men and women for food quality were the top in the category for all buffets. Golden Corral appeals to all age groups, but it is the choice of mature consumers' patronage. Menu variety gets a strong rating from men and also families with older children. Younger diners are more pleased with the restaurant's atmosphere than older diners. Ryan's received its highest scores from customers aged 26 and younger in the areas of intention to return, menu variety, and food quality. Families with young children rated Ryan's above average in value.
I have reported on all three chains and I must say that I do agree that all three are the top three - though I would have changed the order and rated Golden Corral as number, Ryan's as number two, and Soup Plantations number three - but as I am over 26 perhaps that is why I prefer Golden Corral to Soup Plantations.
Soup Plantations is an excellent buffet restaurant and you can read my review of it in my article on September 7, 2007. It is a soup and salad based buffet with that addition of pizza and pasta on the buffet servers. This was a great place for lunch and if you like salad and soup, it is great for dinner as well. It differs from the other two chains that it surpassed is that it offers no meat entrees nor does it offer a traditional meal menu. It is also the smaller chain of the three with only one hundred locations with no restaurant further north than North Carolina, but the restaurant does spread across the country to California where it originated. Everything was fresh, the restaurant was extremely accommodating, and the dining experience was memorable to the point that I look forward to returning when I make that long trip south some time in the hopefully near future.
Golden Corral has risen in my opinion since the take over of Ryan's by Buffets, Inc. and its transformation by its new owners to be more and more an Old Country Buffet clone. A few years back I would have picked Ryan's over Golden Corral, but not any longer. Golden Corral is a meat and potatoes buffet with a large variety of menu items. There is a charbroil steak grill with excellent steaks, but the steak is not the central focus. There are many other barbecue and dinner entrees featured.
Ryan's as I say was a one time favorite and I still enjoy it, though it is hard to ignor the changes that have taken place for the worse since the take over. The steak grill is the central focus at Ryan's with several meats being grilled alongside. There used to be more variety at Ryan's.
If we look toward a trend of healthier eating there is no wonder that Soup Plantations has been selected as number one. It is by far the menu with the healthiest of choices in the greatest variety. It may have been the location that I visited in North Carolina but it was jam-packed at lunch time, mid-week. The restaurant was full with workers and executives on their lunch hour, mothers with children, and shoppers. I have not seen other buffets this busy at lunchtime on a weekday (or weekend, for that matter).
So as a consumer who may or not have been included in the research study done by Restaurants and Institutions, does your opinion agree with their findings?
The top three chains for 2007 are -
Number 1 - Soup Plantation/Sweet Tomatoes
Number 2 - Golden Corral
and
Number 3 - Ryan's.
Restaurants and Institutions went into some detail on their findings. Soup Plantations appeals to consumers age 26 and under. Men rated the food quality higher than women. The ratings given by both men and women for food quality were the top in the category for all buffets. Golden Corral appeals to all age groups, but it is the choice of mature consumers' patronage. Menu variety gets a strong rating from men and also families with older children. Younger diners are more pleased with the restaurant's atmosphere than older diners. Ryan's received its highest scores from customers aged 26 and younger in the areas of intention to return, menu variety, and food quality. Families with young children rated Ryan's above average in value.
I have reported on all three chains and I must say that I do agree that all three are the top three - though I would have changed the order and rated Golden Corral as number, Ryan's as number two, and Soup Plantations number three - but as I am over 26 perhaps that is why I prefer Golden Corral to Soup Plantations.
Soup Plantations is an excellent buffet restaurant and you can read my review of it in my article on September 7, 2007. It is a soup and salad based buffet with that addition of pizza and pasta on the buffet servers. This was a great place for lunch and if you like salad and soup, it is great for dinner as well. It differs from the other two chains that it surpassed is that it offers no meat entrees nor does it offer a traditional meal menu. It is also the smaller chain of the three with only one hundred locations with no restaurant further north than North Carolina, but the restaurant does spread across the country to California where it originated. Everything was fresh, the restaurant was extremely accommodating, and the dining experience was memorable to the point that I look forward to returning when I make that long trip south some time in the hopefully near future.
Golden Corral has risen in my opinion since the take over of Ryan's by Buffets, Inc. and its transformation by its new owners to be more and more an Old Country Buffet clone. A few years back I would have picked Ryan's over Golden Corral, but not any longer. Golden Corral is a meat and potatoes buffet with a large variety of menu items. There is a charbroil steak grill with excellent steaks, but the steak is not the central focus. There are many other barbecue and dinner entrees featured.
Ryan's as I say was a one time favorite and I still enjoy it, though it is hard to ignor the changes that have taken place for the worse since the take over. The steak grill is the central focus at Ryan's with several meats being grilled alongside. There used to be more variety at Ryan's.
If we look toward a trend of healthier eating there is no wonder that Soup Plantations has been selected as number one. It is by far the menu with the healthiest of choices in the greatest variety. It may have been the location that I visited in North Carolina but it was jam-packed at lunch time, mid-week. The restaurant was full with workers and executives on their lunch hour, mothers with children, and shoppers. I have not seen other buffets this busy at lunchtime on a weekday (or weekend, for that matter).
So as a consumer who may or not have been included in the research study done by Restaurants and Institutions, does your opinion agree with their findings?
Friday, February 01, 2008
Pay by Height - Controversy at a Buffet
Whenever buffets make the news it is generally about an issue involving price. An article appeared in New York Newsday recently reporting an incident that took place at a sushi buffet on Long Island.
The buffet has a policy to charge children's prices based upon height. This seems rather unusual, but the buffet claims that it is a common practice in restaurants in New York City. Consumer bureaus and restaurants in Manhattan that were contacted by the newspaper stated that they had never heard of such a practice. I have never been to this buffet and seen the giraffe ruler at the entrance at which they have kids measure up for what mom and dad are going to pay for their meal.
The news story reports that an 11 year old came in with her parents and measured four feet, eight inches tall - two inches over the limit for children's prices. The child was to be charged the full $19.95 adult price for the weeknight dinner. (Just aside - this is a very expensive buffet and that is the reason that I have not patronized it.) The parents, upon hearing what it was going to cost for their skinny, but tall, little girl to eat, complained to the manager who gave them no satisfaction and then left - and, evidently, alerted the "media". The manager had referred the parent to speak with the owner - but the owner does not speak English.
The restaurant's policy - which is posted and not hidden -is that children three and a half feet to four and a half feet pay half the adult price, children under three and a half feet eat for free, and children over four and a half feet pay the full adult price. There is no state law that prohibits basing price on height and this is not a human rights violation - as the parent tried to pursue. It is the right of the restaurant to base their pricing as they see fit.
The story was picked up by the Dr. Phil Show and they would like the child to come on the show. I am not sure why - though I am sure one can spin this into a major tragedy - "Tall child denied her sushi dinner!" Oh yeah! The girl has not accepted the invitation to go on the show - yet.
The complaint by the parent was that the restaurant made an incorrect assumption that a child's height will determine how much they will eat. The newspaper sought an explanation from the restaurant but they will not comment. Another neighboring restaurant - East Buffet - which I have reviewed on this site - also has the same pay by height for children policy. They state that they started this two years ago. I had not noticed when I was last there and perhaps it is not as obvious. East Buffet would comment to the Press as to why they have this policy and from a business point of view it actually makes some sense. They state that when you base the price by age you put the employees and the restaurant in the position of guessing or taking the not always so reliable parent's word about how hold the child is. They state that many parents would insist that a child was much younger than the child obviously was. One incident involved a "child" who was six feet tall and the parents insisted that the child was ten years old. They claim that with the height system there is absolutely no question. The child is measured and the price is established as you enter - no question, no guessing, no confabulating. They did say that this policy is flexible and if a parent insists that their tall child is much younger than the height would imply they will adjust the price down.
A number of restaurants were asked for their reaction to a pay by height policy and they all said that they had never heard of such a thing, but that it would be bad for business.
I must say - on a personal note - that my six year old niece who eats little more than a bowl of rice and some jello and was charged $9 recently when I took her to a Chinese buffet would be better to be charged based upon her height as she is small for her age - and even at half price would have been better than the fixed children's price that I was charged for her meal. I can also see how a tall child could eat much less than a little "round" child. (Pay by weight - wouldn't that be a controversial idea!)
The "Pay by Height" policy for children does make sense as a practical and non-disputable way to determine the price. Other than East, for all of the buffets that I have been to, no place is doing this. Perhaps you have seen this done? Let us know and let us know what you think about this!
The buffet has a policy to charge children's prices based upon height. This seems rather unusual, but the buffet claims that it is a common practice in restaurants in New York City. Consumer bureaus and restaurants in Manhattan that were contacted by the newspaper stated that they had never heard of such a practice. I have never been to this buffet and seen the giraffe ruler at the entrance at which they have kids measure up for what mom and dad are going to pay for their meal.
The news story reports that an 11 year old came in with her parents and measured four feet, eight inches tall - two inches over the limit for children's prices. The child was to be charged the full $19.95 adult price for the weeknight dinner. (Just aside - this is a very expensive buffet and that is the reason that I have not patronized it.) The parents, upon hearing what it was going to cost for their skinny, but tall, little girl to eat, complained to the manager who gave them no satisfaction and then left - and, evidently, alerted the "media". The manager had referred the parent to speak with the owner - but the owner does not speak English.
The restaurant's policy - which is posted and not hidden -is that children three and a half feet to four and a half feet pay half the adult price, children under three and a half feet eat for free, and children over four and a half feet pay the full adult price. There is no state law that prohibits basing price on height and this is not a human rights violation - as the parent tried to pursue. It is the right of the restaurant to base their pricing as they see fit.
The story was picked up by the Dr. Phil Show and they would like the child to come on the show. I am not sure why - though I am sure one can spin this into a major tragedy - "Tall child denied her sushi dinner!" Oh yeah! The girl has not accepted the invitation to go on the show - yet.
The complaint by the parent was that the restaurant made an incorrect assumption that a child's height will determine how much they will eat. The newspaper sought an explanation from the restaurant but they will not comment. Another neighboring restaurant - East Buffet - which I have reviewed on this site - also has the same pay by height for children policy. They state that they started this two years ago. I had not noticed when I was last there and perhaps it is not as obvious. East Buffet would comment to the Press as to why they have this policy and from a business point of view it actually makes some sense. They state that when you base the price by age you put the employees and the restaurant in the position of guessing or taking the not always so reliable parent's word about how hold the child is. They state that many parents would insist that a child was much younger than the child obviously was. One incident involved a "child" who was six feet tall and the parents insisted that the child was ten years old. They claim that with the height system there is absolutely no question. The child is measured and the price is established as you enter - no question, no guessing, no confabulating. They did say that this policy is flexible and if a parent insists that their tall child is much younger than the height would imply they will adjust the price down.
A number of restaurants were asked for their reaction to a pay by height policy and they all said that they had never heard of such a thing, but that it would be bad for business.
I must say - on a personal note - that my six year old niece who eats little more than a bowl of rice and some jello and was charged $9 recently when I took her to a Chinese buffet would be better to be charged based upon her height as she is small for her age - and even at half price would have been better than the fixed children's price that I was charged for her meal. I can also see how a tall child could eat much less than a little "round" child. (Pay by weight - wouldn't that be a controversial idea!)
The "Pay by Height" policy for children does make sense as a practical and non-disputable way to determine the price. Other than East, for all of the buffets that I have been to, no place is doing this. Perhaps you have seen this done? Let us know and let us know what you think about this!
Friday, January 25, 2008
New Feature at Old Country Buffet
There is a new menu feature at the Old Country Buffet. The feature is "Surf and Turf". Now don't get excited. You are not going to suddenly find lobster on the buffet at Old Country Buffet (and Ryans and all of the other incarnations of this chain). No, the surf part of the OCB Surf and Turf is fish and shrimp. The Turf part is steak.
So, fish, shrimp, and steak... where is the feature? This is another of OCB's recent feature pheonomenon that I have been calling the "why bother?" features. They have put three things that are always on the menu on a feature sign and call it something cute. I am not sure why they are doing this lately. They used to have nice features in the not that long ago past - barbecue, tex-mex, etc. Now we get shrimp and the same awful steak that is there Monday to Saturday anyway.
The fish part of the Surf and Turf feature is Butter Crumb Alaskan Pollack. This is a return of this dish from one of the last fish features. This fish dish has made appearances on Friday nights - so it is not all that different either. One thing, though -it is good. It is one of the best fish entrees that OCB has served. This is a crusty broiled fish with a moist crust. It tastes good. (Yes, I can compliment OCB too.)
The feature is served from Monday night to Saturday night. OCB does not include features on Sundays - despite the new higher weekend price. The sign says that there are additions to the feature on Wednesday and Friday nights - baked salmon, butterfly shrimp (another fried shrimp?), and fried fish.
I went to OCB for the feature on a Tuesday night. Tuesday is Italian night on the buffet servers. There are a few good dishes to be found on Tuesday nights that have nothing to do with the new feature. One is a Chicken Parmesan dish. I have had this on two visits to OCB and it was different each time. The first time that I had this at OCB the chicken was cut into small cubes, battered and fried and cooked in tomato sauce with mozzarella cheese melted on top. The second time the chicken was cut into long strips and cooked the same way. The cubes were much better. They were moister and tastier.
Another good Tuesday night dish is a dish of ziti macaroni with Italian sausage, peppers, and onions mixed in with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. Again, two visits and two variations. The first time had nice, large chunks of sausage. The next visit the sausage was hardly visible and what was found were small, thin slices.
The third good dish was rice risotto. This is a nicely seasoned, soft rice with mushrooms and a good seasoning. It has a good taste and even goes with the pasta dishes found on Tuesday night.
I would not run out to OCB just to have the Surf and Turf. You will not miss much if you miss this limited time feature. Basically, you can get this any night that you go (other than Sundays) as they always have steak (except Sundays) and the always have some form of fried shrimp. In fact, go on any Friday night and you will always find this whole feature including the fish. Again, I say "Why bother?" Who do they think they are fooling with a special feature that consists of regular menu items?
So, fish, shrimp, and steak... where is the feature? This is another of OCB's recent feature pheonomenon that I have been calling the "why bother?" features. They have put three things that are always on the menu on a feature sign and call it something cute. I am not sure why they are doing this lately. They used to have nice features in the not that long ago past - barbecue, tex-mex, etc. Now we get shrimp and the same awful steak that is there Monday to Saturday anyway.
The fish part of the Surf and Turf feature is Butter Crumb Alaskan Pollack. This is a return of this dish from one of the last fish features. This fish dish has made appearances on Friday nights - so it is not all that different either. One thing, though -it is good. It is one of the best fish entrees that OCB has served. This is a crusty broiled fish with a moist crust. It tastes good. (Yes, I can compliment OCB too.)
The feature is served from Monday night to Saturday night. OCB does not include features on Sundays - despite the new higher weekend price. The sign says that there are additions to the feature on Wednesday and Friday nights - baked salmon, butterfly shrimp (another fried shrimp?), and fried fish.
I went to OCB for the feature on a Tuesday night. Tuesday is Italian night on the buffet servers. There are a few good dishes to be found on Tuesday nights that have nothing to do with the new feature. One is a Chicken Parmesan dish. I have had this on two visits to OCB and it was different each time. The first time that I had this at OCB the chicken was cut into small cubes, battered and fried and cooked in tomato sauce with mozzarella cheese melted on top. The second time the chicken was cut into long strips and cooked the same way. The cubes were much better. They were moister and tastier.
Another good Tuesday night dish is a dish of ziti macaroni with Italian sausage, peppers, and onions mixed in with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. Again, two visits and two variations. The first time had nice, large chunks of sausage. The next visit the sausage was hardly visible and what was found were small, thin slices.
The third good dish was rice risotto. This is a nicely seasoned, soft rice with mushrooms and a good seasoning. It has a good taste and even goes with the pasta dishes found on Tuesday night.
I would not run out to OCB just to have the Surf and Turf. You will not miss much if you miss this limited time feature. Basically, you can get this any night that you go (other than Sundays) as they always have steak (except Sundays) and the always have some form of fried shrimp. In fact, go on any Friday night and you will always find this whole feature including the fish. Again, I say "Why bother?" Who do they think they are fooling with a special feature that consists of regular menu items?
Friday, January 18, 2008
Snuffy's Pantagis Renaissance Restaurant, Scotch Plains, NJ
A number of years ago this restaurant would advertise on metropolitan New York radio stations with festive Greek music and shouts of "O-pah! O -pah!". It was a very effective commercial because many in this area will recall the commercial and remember the name of Snuffys in Scotch Plains, New Jersey - even though that is more than fifty miles away. "O-pah! O-pah!" In those days there was never any mention of a buffet - and then there probably was no buffet.
Many of you have probably noticed the Google ads at the side of these articles and the bottom of this page. I realized a short time ago that one of those advertisers is Snuffy's Restaurant - the same "O-pah, O-pah!" place. Now, I am not permitted to click on Google ads on my own site, but I could find the Snuffy's website on my own to find out why they were being associated with a site about buffets. Could they now be offering a buffet? When you look at Snuffy's website it seems to primarily feature its catering hall and the wonderful weddings that it can provide. If you look really close you will find that this caterer/restaurant offers buffets two nights a week.
Did you ever wish you could find an Italian buffet? Italian restaurants are as prevalent as Chinese restaurants - and there are many Chinese buffets, but you really don't find Italian buffets. Well, on Thursday night head on over to Pantagis Renaissance Restaurant because they have an Italian Buffet.
Now, as I have said before about some restaurants that I am writing about - I have not been to this restaurant. I am not reviewing the restaurant. I am letting you know about it and sharing that it looks good. Do I know that the food is good? No. When I can get there (it is not nearby, but not impossible either) I will write again. But for now, let's take a look at what looks good.
The Italian buffet is served for dinner on Thursday nights from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm. It is not inexpensive, but not unreasonable for what is being offered. Featured are Cavatelli with Broccoli, Beef Burgundy, Tortellini Alfredo, Chicken Marsala, Shrimp Scampi, Lobster Ravioli, Eggplant Rollatini, Fried Zucchini, Baked Haddock Sicilian Style,and Chicken and Sausage Italian Style. There are also carvings including Turkey, Fresh Ham (Pork Roast), Roast Beef, and Virginia Ham. There is a cold Anitipasto, and your choice of four soups - Pasta Fagioli, Minestrone, Potato Leek, and New England Clam Chowder. Still have room for dessert. They have Cannoli
Assorted Cheesecake, Tiramisu and more.
This is all served from table cloth covered buffet tables with the food hot in chafing dishes. The price for this buffet per adult is $17.95. Children eat for half price. This is high for mid-week, but when you look at what you are getting and think that you are only paying six dollars per person more than Old Country Buffet this is very good if you like Italian food. Many must think so as the restaurant recommends that reservations be made.
On Friday nights Snuffy's offers another buffet. On Friday's you will find a Seafood Buffet - Mediterranean Seafood Buffet! This one looks fabulous - and for the many readers who comment and write to me about unlimited lobster - on Friday night at this restaurant you will find Stuffed Lobster on the buffet! Time for the buffet is 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
The seafood buffet begins with a salad bar and bread selections. There is a large display of fresh fruit as well. Now, what should come next - the seafood or the rest? Let's start with the seafood. Ready? You are going to find Shrimp Cocktail, Clams, Mussels and Oysters, Stuffed Lobster, Grilled Sword Fish with Red Pepper Coulis, Mussles ala Marinara, Steamed Clams with Salsa Verde,Spicy Fried Calamari, Lobster Bisque, and Coconut Shrimp.
When you have had your fill of seafood you can move on to a Pasta Station, Eggplant Rollatini, and Swedish Meatballs. You will also find carvings of Prime Rib,
Steam Ship Roast, Virginia Ham, Roast Turkey, and
Whole Leg of Lamb.
Ready for dessert? There is a selection of Venetian and Greek style desserts.
Throughout your dinner you will be entertained with by a "live" piano player. How nice - and you so much better than a "dead" piano player.
So, lobster, hot and cold seafood a-plenty - how much is this going to cost? Price for adults is $32.95 per person. Children, again, are half price. For a buffet that includes lobster this is not a bad price. Yes, it is high for many of us - myself included. But for a special occasion or celebration dinner this is good for this bountiful meal. Again, Snuffy's says that they recommend that you make a reservation for the seafood buffet.
From how these buffets are shown as served, these are catering hall- style buffets. This seems pretty much a catering restaurants opportunity to offer to the public some of what they offer at their catered affairs. I suspect that the buffet meals are more bountiful than the catering meals judging from my dining experiences at catering halls - Remember, I have never been to Snuffy's so I am not talking about them - they may have great catered meals.
If I had a choice of either night, I am more intrigued by the Italian Buffet on Thursdays. Seafood is nice and lobster is great, but other than the lobster most of what is offered on the Seafood Buffet is found at other buffets at less cost. The Italian buffet, however, is unique. I know of no other.
So, if you are in New Jersey - or traveling through - and you can afford it, try Pantagis Renaissance Restaurant on either Thursday or Friday night. If you have been there, leave a comment and let us know how it is.
The restaurant is a large building and is located at Park and Mountain Avenue in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. The phone number is 908-322-7726. There is a website and it is linked at the side of this article. (If you see the Google ad on this site for this restaurant, visit it from that link - at least I earn about three cents.)
Many of you have probably noticed the Google ads at the side of these articles and the bottom of this page. I realized a short time ago that one of those advertisers is Snuffy's Restaurant - the same "O-pah, O-pah!" place. Now, I am not permitted to click on Google ads on my own site, but I could find the Snuffy's website on my own to find out why they were being associated with a site about buffets. Could they now be offering a buffet? When you look at Snuffy's website it seems to primarily feature its catering hall and the wonderful weddings that it can provide. If you look really close you will find that this caterer/restaurant offers buffets two nights a week.
Did you ever wish you could find an Italian buffet? Italian restaurants are as prevalent as Chinese restaurants - and there are many Chinese buffets, but you really don't find Italian buffets. Well, on Thursday night head on over to Pantagis Renaissance Restaurant because they have an Italian Buffet.
Now, as I have said before about some restaurants that I am writing about - I have not been to this restaurant. I am not reviewing the restaurant. I am letting you know about it and sharing that it looks good. Do I know that the food is good? No. When I can get there (it is not nearby, but not impossible either) I will write again. But for now, let's take a look at what looks good.
The Italian buffet is served for dinner on Thursday nights from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm. It is not inexpensive, but not unreasonable for what is being offered. Featured are Cavatelli with Broccoli, Beef Burgundy, Tortellini Alfredo, Chicken Marsala, Shrimp Scampi, Lobster Ravioli, Eggplant Rollatini, Fried Zucchini, Baked Haddock Sicilian Style,and Chicken and Sausage Italian Style. There are also carvings including Turkey, Fresh Ham (Pork Roast), Roast Beef, and Virginia Ham. There is a cold Anitipasto, and your choice of four soups - Pasta Fagioli, Minestrone, Potato Leek, and New England Clam Chowder. Still have room for dessert. They have Cannoli
Assorted Cheesecake, Tiramisu and more.
This is all served from table cloth covered buffet tables with the food hot in chafing dishes. The price for this buffet per adult is $17.95. Children eat for half price. This is high for mid-week, but when you look at what you are getting and think that you are only paying six dollars per person more than Old Country Buffet this is very good if you like Italian food. Many must think so as the restaurant recommends that reservations be made.
On Friday nights Snuffy's offers another buffet. On Friday's you will find a Seafood Buffet - Mediterranean Seafood Buffet! This one looks fabulous - and for the many readers who comment and write to me about unlimited lobster - on Friday night at this restaurant you will find Stuffed Lobster on the buffet! Time for the buffet is 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
The seafood buffet begins with a salad bar and bread selections. There is a large display of fresh fruit as well. Now, what should come next - the seafood or the rest? Let's start with the seafood. Ready? You are going to find Shrimp Cocktail, Clams, Mussels and Oysters, Stuffed Lobster, Grilled Sword Fish with Red Pepper Coulis, Mussles ala Marinara, Steamed Clams with Salsa Verde,Spicy Fried Calamari, Lobster Bisque, and Coconut Shrimp.
When you have had your fill of seafood you can move on to a Pasta Station, Eggplant Rollatini, and Swedish Meatballs. You will also find carvings of Prime Rib,
Steam Ship Roast, Virginia Ham, Roast Turkey, and
Whole Leg of Lamb.
Ready for dessert? There is a selection of Venetian and Greek style desserts.
Throughout your dinner you will be entertained with by a "live" piano player. How nice - and you so much better than a "dead" piano player.
So, lobster, hot and cold seafood a-plenty - how much is this going to cost? Price for adults is $32.95 per person. Children, again, are half price. For a buffet that includes lobster this is not a bad price. Yes, it is high for many of us - myself included. But for a special occasion or celebration dinner this is good for this bountiful meal. Again, Snuffy's says that they recommend that you make a reservation for the seafood buffet.
From how these buffets are shown as served, these are catering hall- style buffets. This seems pretty much a catering restaurants opportunity to offer to the public some of what they offer at their catered affairs. I suspect that the buffet meals are more bountiful than the catering meals judging from my dining experiences at catering halls - Remember, I have never been to Snuffy's so I am not talking about them - they may have great catered meals.
If I had a choice of either night, I am more intrigued by the Italian Buffet on Thursdays. Seafood is nice and lobster is great, but other than the lobster most of what is offered on the Seafood Buffet is found at other buffets at less cost. The Italian buffet, however, is unique. I know of no other.
So, if you are in New Jersey - or traveling through - and you can afford it, try Pantagis Renaissance Restaurant on either Thursday or Friday night. If you have been there, leave a comment and let us know how it is.
The restaurant is a large building and is located at Park and Mountain Avenue in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. The phone number is 908-322-7726. There is a website and it is linked at the side of this article. (If you see the Google ad on this site for this restaurant, visit it from that link - at least I earn about three cents.)
Friday, January 11, 2008
Prime Sirloin and Other Tidbits
One of my readers told me about a buffet chain in the Southern US. It is called Prime Sirloin in most of its locations. I almost had an encounter with Prime Sirloin twice when I was in North Carolina this past summer. I didn't dine there because this chain, for some reason, seems to play down that they have a buffet in their local listings. I had been aware of a buffet chain with this name - but when I saw a listing for it, I could not be sure that I had actually found one. Looking at the Prime Sirloin website, this should not be a surprise because the website plays down the buffet just as much. The logo for this chain says "Steaks, Buffet, Bakery". Sounds like Ryans . But other than a few lines about the buffet on an extensive menu page, the focus of Prime Sirloin is to sell you a steak or chicken dinner from the menu. The focus of the website is to sell you a franchise.
My reader told me that he has been to the the Prime Sirloin location near Altoona, PA. This is the furthest location north of the chain, with the majority of locations in North Carolina. He describes the restaurant as "very Golden Corral-esque in both decor and menu". He said that though there is a menu to order from he has never seen anyone use the menu. He also said that you will find some non-traditional bufet offerings such as freshly grilled Panini sandwiches. Sounds good! He says that it is good and the food has "never been less than perfect". Well, that is a great recommendation - and is good enough for me to seek one of these out the next time that I am in North Carolina. (Keep an eye out for a review around August or September.)
The Prime Sirloin Family Steakhouse has ten locations in North Carolina, two locations in Virginia, and one location in Pennsylvania. The chain also goes under the name, Western Steer, and with that name there is a location in Georgia and one in Florida.
As I say, there is a website, but it is sparse and wants to tell you about how to open a franchise location more than it wants to get you to come in and dine. The website does have customer appreciation coupons. The one I saw was for a free beverage (they serve Pepsi products - which seems to be a North Carolina thing, because Pepsi was invented there).
If you have ever been at the Prime Sirloin, please leave a comment or contact me. I would love to get more opinions. Right now, I am taking the recommendation and will try it. I think that it is safe to say that you should try it too!
_______________________
I have called this article "Prime Sirloin and Other Tidbits" because there did not seem to be enough to write about the Prime Sirloin buffet alone, especially since I cannot give you the usual detail that I try to give whenever I write about a buffet. I have been collecting a few buffet "tidbits" recently and I will use this opportunity to share them with you!
Tidbit -
Old Country Buffet has instituted a weekend price which is now higher than the weekday prices. The new price is for Friday, Saturday and Sunday diner and is $12.29. The reason for this price increase when I asked at the local OCB is because there are special features added to the buffet on those nights. What are they? Well, it is called Surf and Turf Special - which is different from the Surf and Turf Feature that OCB is listing as coming soon on its website. This weekend Surf and Turf is roast beef and fried butterfly shrimp. But, you might say, they always had roast beef on Sunday nights and fried shrimps shows up daily in one form or other on the buffet. You are right! This was just an excuse to raise the weekend price. This makes OCB the most expensive of any of the buffet chains on the weekends.
Tidbit -
Old Country Buffet ran an ad campaign just before Christmas to get more people to dine there. They blanketed local newspapers and bulk mailed discount coupons - buy one get one free. Are they seeing a decline in business? (I wonder why?, I ask facetiously.) From my observations people were using the coupons, but they did not look like there were any more diners than usual.
They also have instituted an "E-Club" which can be joined for free on their website or at the cashier of the restaurants. The e-club will email you coupons for money off and for free meals, as well as advertisements. By joining you get a free meal. Not bad! Take advantage - especially with the recent price increase.
Tidbit -
This story has been documented in the newspaper - two patrons dining together at a Chinese buffet in Louisiana were charged double and banned from the restaurant because they took and ate TOO much. Both diners were over 260 pounds. (Interesting how the newspaper had to list each person's exact weight - this goes along with the bad rep that buffets get.) One was a regular at the restaurant. The spokesman for the restaurant said the reason was that they were only eating the seafood. Evidently the police were called and the meal was made complimentary. There is no mention, though, if they are still banned from returning.
_______________
There are the tidbits! Check out Prime Sirloin. I have placed their web link at the side of this page.
My reader told me that he has been to the the Prime Sirloin location near Altoona, PA. This is the furthest location north of the chain, with the majority of locations in North Carolina. He describes the restaurant as "very Golden Corral-esque in both decor and menu". He said that though there is a menu to order from he has never seen anyone use the menu. He also said that you will find some non-traditional bufet offerings such as freshly grilled Panini sandwiches. Sounds good! He says that it is good and the food has "never been less than perfect". Well, that is a great recommendation - and is good enough for me to seek one of these out the next time that I am in North Carolina. (Keep an eye out for a review around August or September.)
The Prime Sirloin Family Steakhouse has ten locations in North Carolina, two locations in Virginia, and one location in Pennsylvania. The chain also goes under the name, Western Steer, and with that name there is a location in Georgia and one in Florida.
As I say, there is a website, but it is sparse and wants to tell you about how to open a franchise location more than it wants to get you to come in and dine. The website does have customer appreciation coupons. The one I saw was for a free beverage (they serve Pepsi products - which seems to be a North Carolina thing, because Pepsi was invented there).
If you have ever been at the Prime Sirloin, please leave a comment or contact me. I would love to get more opinions. Right now, I am taking the recommendation and will try it. I think that it is safe to say that you should try it too!
_______________________
I have called this article "Prime Sirloin and Other Tidbits" because there did not seem to be enough to write about the Prime Sirloin buffet alone, especially since I cannot give you the usual detail that I try to give whenever I write about a buffet. I have been collecting a few buffet "tidbits" recently and I will use this opportunity to share them with you!
Tidbit -
Old Country Buffet has instituted a weekend price which is now higher than the weekday prices. The new price is for Friday, Saturday and Sunday diner and is $12.29. The reason for this price increase when I asked at the local OCB is because there are special features added to the buffet on those nights. What are they? Well, it is called Surf and Turf Special - which is different from the Surf and Turf Feature that OCB is listing as coming soon on its website. This weekend Surf and Turf is roast beef and fried butterfly shrimp. But, you might say, they always had roast beef on Sunday nights and fried shrimps shows up daily in one form or other on the buffet. You are right! This was just an excuse to raise the weekend price. This makes OCB the most expensive of any of the buffet chains on the weekends.
Tidbit -
Old Country Buffet ran an ad campaign just before Christmas to get more people to dine there. They blanketed local newspapers and bulk mailed discount coupons - buy one get one free. Are they seeing a decline in business? (I wonder why?, I ask facetiously.) From my observations people were using the coupons, but they did not look like there were any more diners than usual.
They also have instituted an "E-Club" which can be joined for free on their website or at the cashier of the restaurants. The e-club will email you coupons for money off and for free meals, as well as advertisements. By joining you get a free meal. Not bad! Take advantage - especially with the recent price increase.
Tidbit -
This story has been documented in the newspaper - two patrons dining together at a Chinese buffet in Louisiana were charged double and banned from the restaurant because they took and ate TOO much. Both diners were over 260 pounds. (Interesting how the newspaper had to list each person's exact weight - this goes along with the bad rep that buffets get.) One was a regular at the restaurant. The spokesman for the restaurant said the reason was that they were only eating the seafood. Evidently the police were called and the meal was made complimentary. There is no mention, though, if they are still banned from returning.
_______________
There are the tidbits! Check out Prime Sirloin. I have placed their web link at the side of this page.
Friday, January 04, 2008
"The New" International Buffet - Garden City, NY
In November 2005 I wrote a review of a Long Island, New York buffet called The International Buffet. It is a Chinese/Asian/Italian/American buffet with the emphasis on Chinese. The restaurant has been closed for a little over two months with signs on the building saying that they were closed for renovations. In late, mid-December 2007 they re-opened.
We went to the newly renovated International Buffet on a weeknight, a Wednesday, because this is an expensive buffet and we did not want to pay the $23.99 weekend per person dinner price. The restaurant on a Wednesday night has customers. They were not crowded. There were plenty of empty tables, but they did have people coming in throughout the night. This has been a well know buffet. I have been there many times before since they originally opened. At one time this restaurant was known for the unlimited half lobsters that were included on the buffet. Those lobsters have not been offered for some time now - and they are still not offered now.
We entered the restaurant wondering what the new renovations would be. The entrance is still the same with the exception of a canopy of green tiny lights between the inner and outer entrance door. The buffet server room at first glance looked the same but as you enter the restaurant you can see that there is a newly designed grill area that L's across the back of the buffet room - the buffet servers are in a separate room from the two dining rooms that make up this restaurant. Neon lights above the grill glow what is being served in each section - Sushi and Sashimi, Grill, Dumplings, and Hibachi. The buffet room is much brighter than it had been. The dining rooms are very much brighter as well with all of the walls now painted bright white. The dining room is actually a bit stark now and the walls are bare. Perhaps there are plans to decorate them in some way in the future. There is a small section with booths off to the side - as there had always been. These booths are now a bright and shiny lime green. The rest of the dining room and the second dining room are the same tables as there were. There is a private party area in the second dining room that is separated only by glass.
Looking around at the buffet servers it appeared that everything that was there before on the menu was there - as we actually got around the buffet servers we would learn that we were wrong. There are things missing.
The soup bar is in the same place as it was - opposite the grill. There seemed to be as many soup tureens out as there were, though there were not as many soups as there used to be. One of the best soups that they had was lobster bisque. It is still there but it is not what it used to be. This used to be a thick cream soup with lumps of lobster meat and a semi-sharp flavor, as a good bisque should have. The lobster bisque now is a thin, watery soup with a hint of lobster slivers and a few vegetables. The soup is more like Manhattan-style clam chowder - weak clam chowder, at that. In the past, wontons were served from a bamboo steamer. Now they are floating - sparingly - in broth. The wontons, if you can find one, are large and doughy - which I prefer over the small, thin skinned wontons that this restaurant used to serve.
The sushi and sashimi bar is now located at the opposite side of the room. The assortment of sushi is basic - a few varieties of tuna or salmon rolls. There was nothing fancy. There was no spicy tuna or salmon. There is a plate of sliced salmon and tuna - the sashimi. This had not been offered before. Over all the sushi bar is lacking - not only from what it had once been not so long ago before the renovations, but from what is offered at other sushi bars in Asian/Chinese buffets locally.
There always was a raw bar and that remains - though with some differences. The raw bar always had someone continually shucking oysters and clams. Now there was no one there - though someone did come and put out more shell fish when it was needed. In addition to the raw oysters and clams on the half shell, there were cold king crab legs, mussels, and peel and eat shrimp. Here I found another difference - and not for the better. The shrimp that used to be served was always shelled and cleaned. Now the shrimp is in the shell. There is cocktail sauce, hot sauce, and lemons on the ice at the side of the raw bar. The cocktail sauce is now a change for the better as it is a standard and good tasting cocktail sauce rather than the sweetened cocktail sauce that used to be served.
There is now a dumpling area, not here previously. There was an odd assortment of dumplings though and they were mislabeled. There were good pan fried dumplings on one of the hot buffet servers. There was nothing of the steamed dumplings to rave about. There was a shrimp and greens dumpling that was ok - but they were tough and in addition to being steamed seemed to have also been browned in some way.
The grill is also just a shadow of what it once was. There were spare ribs - cooked in an orange glaze and a bit too sweet, boneless ribs that had too much sweet red glaze on them, and whole shrimps with heads on a skewer. Gone are the grilled beef ribs, skewered beef, and grilled vegetables. There was a large rib roast or perhaps, prime rib sitting under a heat lamp waiting to be carved at your request. The exposed meat was pure red - definately undercooked - and well dried out. Not at all appetizing. There was also a tray of raw steaks, partially cooked ribs, and raw vegetables. Perhaps this was the hibachi (it was under the sign) but there was no indication that they were doing anything with this raw food and no one went up to that section the entire time we were in the restaurant. Also gone is the Peking Duck.
The regular buffet servers are sectioned into types of food. There is a salad bar that offers just a small selection of what it once had. There is a hot appetizer server with good spring rolls. Everything is the standard Chinese buffet appetizer selection, but no egg rolls. Two servers have Chinese dishes. Again, there is nothing really special from less expensive Chinese buffets. There are King crab legs (single legs - no clusters), stone crab in ginger sauce, broiled salmon, and one different than usual selection - steamed flounder in ginger. The flounder was very good. Beyond that there were the usual assorted chicken with broccoli, beef with peppers, General Tso Chicken, etc. There was Chicken with Black Pepper and Veal Chops with Black Pepper which were good. Gone is the excellent Shrimp with Lobster Sauce. Also gone is the Chow Mei Fun (thin noodles). There are fried rice, lo mein, and french fries - as there are at every Chinese buffet. At one end of one of the servers was a tray of pieces of roast duck - all spread out on a flat tray - and all dried out. There is a hot buffet server with American and Italian food. The American food consists of a you carve ham, creamed spinach, Chicken Marsala - which was not cut up and had nothing to cut it up with so it was impossible to take (though my wife had gotten some earlier), lamb shanks in tomato sauce, baked beef ribs that were dried out looking yet sitting in a tray of grease (this must be the replacement for the grilled beef ribs of the past) and a few other items. There were a few Italian dishes - ziti in sauce (which they always had but now there is no meat sauce on the pasta), eggplant Parmesan (which they also always had but this is cooked entirely differently), pizza, and whole clams in the shell cooked in tomato sauce.
The last cold buffet server is full of fruit and pudding. There is raw fruit and fresh fruit. Unusual here are fresh sliced mango and kiwi fruit. Gone from the puddings and cold desserts are the flan, tapioca, and rice pudding. This server leads you over to the dessert server that sits against the front wall. There used to be a vast assortment of cakes. Now you only find an abbreviated assortment of Chinese buffet "Little Debbie" cakes - two inch squares of commercial sheet cake with a thin icing coating. There are also cookies. Two soft serve machines have ice cream and sherbet. No more soft serve sugar free ice cream with a sign on the machine that says "Sugar Free for Diabetic Only - Too Expensive". (Thank goodness!) Anyway, this is not the dessert selection that this buffet was known for - before the "renovations".
How was the food? It was ok. There was nothing special. This buffet was always extra special. It is not any longer. When you came here you could see and taste why the price was more than other local Chinese buffets. NO LONGER! There is nothing that sets this buffet apart. All of the offerings can be found at the other Chinese buffets that charge almost half of what this buffet charges.
There seem to be different employees here - I suppose that when you close for two months you are going to lose your staff. All of the staff were prompt in clearing plates and in refilling soda. The restaurant was clean. My wife said that the ladies room looks like it has new tile, but she said that the fixtures are the same.
The buffet tables needed tending. This is what I say when I see serving trays drying out, needing stirring, and being kept appetizing. There were too many items that needed tending. There was a manager acting gentleman at the grill several times during the evening tell the cooks behind he counter reminding them to put out more oysters, etc. He never did seem to get around to the buffet servers, and if he did, he paid no attention to making sure that they were "tended". Food did not go without replacement. As some items got low - the crab legs, for instance - they were replaced. Items that were not taken often were left to sit.
About half way through the meal my wife asked me if they were under new ownership. I said that I was not sure because I thought that I saw the same lady at the cash register that had been here before. I also said that there certainly is a new chef and not one for the better. There were some signs though - one of which are the signs. There used to be signs on every table taped to the napkin dispensers (which are still on the tables) that warned you that leaving seafood on your plate would result in an addition charge and that you were expected to eat and be gone in a certain time period. These signs are gone. Good! When the check came I was not so sure that the restaurant was still run by the same owner. The cash register receipt clearly has "DJ's International Buffet" boldly printed across the top. This was not there before. This had always been just "International Buffet". That would explain it all. New owner or new management - new decor- and not so special buffet.
This had been intended as a special night out - a holiday celebration of sorts for just the two of us. We looked forward to the return of The International Buffet. We were both disappointed. If this was a buffet charging the local usual of $13.99 on the weekends and $10.99 or $11.99 on weeknights, it would be fine. It offers nothing that the buffets charging those prices offer - several of them do it better for that money in many ways. There is nothing wrong with this restaurant except the value. It simply is not worth $16.99 on weeknights and $23.99 on Friday to Sunday. Though an hour after the meal both my wife and I had MSG headaches - something that has not happened from other Chinese buffets.
The restaurant is located just off the Stewart Avenue exit of the Meadowbrook Parkway in Garden City, Long Island New York. They now have a website which is listed at the side of this page. The website is new and has lots of nice photos of the food - along with an extensive listing of dishes on the menu, many of which you will not see when you get to the restaurant. (At least I did not see most of them!) The panoramic photos of the dining room on the website were taken before the renovations. The walls do not look like that any more. The prices, as mentioned, are $16.99 Monday to Thursday nights starting at 4:00 pm, $23.99 Friday through Sunday nights, $7.99 for lunch Monday to Friday and $10.99 for "Brunch" Saturday and Sunday. There are fairly priced children's prices with an amount multiplied by age - $1.00 per year of age for weeknights and $1.25 for year of age on the weekend nights.
Should you go to the newly "renovated" International Buffet? Only if you do not care about the price. For myself, this is not a special place to look forward to any more. How sad!
We went to the newly renovated International Buffet on a weeknight, a Wednesday, because this is an expensive buffet and we did not want to pay the $23.99 weekend per person dinner price. The restaurant on a Wednesday night has customers. They were not crowded. There were plenty of empty tables, but they did have people coming in throughout the night. This has been a well know buffet. I have been there many times before since they originally opened. At one time this restaurant was known for the unlimited half lobsters that were included on the buffet. Those lobsters have not been offered for some time now - and they are still not offered now.
We entered the restaurant wondering what the new renovations would be. The entrance is still the same with the exception of a canopy of green tiny lights between the inner and outer entrance door. The buffet server room at first glance looked the same but as you enter the restaurant you can see that there is a newly designed grill area that L's across the back of the buffet room - the buffet servers are in a separate room from the two dining rooms that make up this restaurant. Neon lights above the grill glow what is being served in each section - Sushi and Sashimi, Grill, Dumplings, and Hibachi. The buffet room is much brighter than it had been. The dining rooms are very much brighter as well with all of the walls now painted bright white. The dining room is actually a bit stark now and the walls are bare. Perhaps there are plans to decorate them in some way in the future. There is a small section with booths off to the side - as there had always been. These booths are now a bright and shiny lime green. The rest of the dining room and the second dining room are the same tables as there were. There is a private party area in the second dining room that is separated only by glass.
Looking around at the buffet servers it appeared that everything that was there before on the menu was there - as we actually got around the buffet servers we would learn that we were wrong. There are things missing.
The soup bar is in the same place as it was - opposite the grill. There seemed to be as many soup tureens out as there were, though there were not as many soups as there used to be. One of the best soups that they had was lobster bisque. It is still there but it is not what it used to be. This used to be a thick cream soup with lumps of lobster meat and a semi-sharp flavor, as a good bisque should have. The lobster bisque now is a thin, watery soup with a hint of lobster slivers and a few vegetables. The soup is more like Manhattan-style clam chowder - weak clam chowder, at that. In the past, wontons were served from a bamboo steamer. Now they are floating - sparingly - in broth. The wontons, if you can find one, are large and doughy - which I prefer over the small, thin skinned wontons that this restaurant used to serve.
The sushi and sashimi bar is now located at the opposite side of the room. The assortment of sushi is basic - a few varieties of tuna or salmon rolls. There was nothing fancy. There was no spicy tuna or salmon. There is a plate of sliced salmon and tuna - the sashimi. This had not been offered before. Over all the sushi bar is lacking - not only from what it had once been not so long ago before the renovations, but from what is offered at other sushi bars in Asian/Chinese buffets locally.
There always was a raw bar and that remains - though with some differences. The raw bar always had someone continually shucking oysters and clams. Now there was no one there - though someone did come and put out more shell fish when it was needed. In addition to the raw oysters and clams on the half shell, there were cold king crab legs, mussels, and peel and eat shrimp. Here I found another difference - and not for the better. The shrimp that used to be served was always shelled and cleaned. Now the shrimp is in the shell. There is cocktail sauce, hot sauce, and lemons on the ice at the side of the raw bar. The cocktail sauce is now a change for the better as it is a standard and good tasting cocktail sauce rather than the sweetened cocktail sauce that used to be served.
There is now a dumpling area, not here previously. There was an odd assortment of dumplings though and they were mislabeled. There were good pan fried dumplings on one of the hot buffet servers. There was nothing of the steamed dumplings to rave about. There was a shrimp and greens dumpling that was ok - but they were tough and in addition to being steamed seemed to have also been browned in some way.
The grill is also just a shadow of what it once was. There were spare ribs - cooked in an orange glaze and a bit too sweet, boneless ribs that had too much sweet red glaze on them, and whole shrimps with heads on a skewer. Gone are the grilled beef ribs, skewered beef, and grilled vegetables. There was a large rib roast or perhaps, prime rib sitting under a heat lamp waiting to be carved at your request. The exposed meat was pure red - definately undercooked - and well dried out. Not at all appetizing. There was also a tray of raw steaks, partially cooked ribs, and raw vegetables. Perhaps this was the hibachi (it was under the sign) but there was no indication that they were doing anything with this raw food and no one went up to that section the entire time we were in the restaurant. Also gone is the Peking Duck.
The regular buffet servers are sectioned into types of food. There is a salad bar that offers just a small selection of what it once had. There is a hot appetizer server with good spring rolls. Everything is the standard Chinese buffet appetizer selection, but no egg rolls. Two servers have Chinese dishes. Again, there is nothing really special from less expensive Chinese buffets. There are King crab legs (single legs - no clusters), stone crab in ginger sauce, broiled salmon, and one different than usual selection - steamed flounder in ginger. The flounder was very good. Beyond that there were the usual assorted chicken with broccoli, beef with peppers, General Tso Chicken, etc. There was Chicken with Black Pepper and Veal Chops with Black Pepper which were good. Gone is the excellent Shrimp with Lobster Sauce. Also gone is the Chow Mei Fun (thin noodles). There are fried rice, lo mein, and french fries - as there are at every Chinese buffet. At one end of one of the servers was a tray of pieces of roast duck - all spread out on a flat tray - and all dried out. There is a hot buffet server with American and Italian food. The American food consists of a you carve ham, creamed spinach, Chicken Marsala - which was not cut up and had nothing to cut it up with so it was impossible to take (though my wife had gotten some earlier), lamb shanks in tomato sauce, baked beef ribs that were dried out looking yet sitting in a tray of grease (this must be the replacement for the grilled beef ribs of the past) and a few other items. There were a few Italian dishes - ziti in sauce (which they always had but now there is no meat sauce on the pasta), eggplant Parmesan (which they also always had but this is cooked entirely differently), pizza, and whole clams in the shell cooked in tomato sauce.
The last cold buffet server is full of fruit and pudding. There is raw fruit and fresh fruit. Unusual here are fresh sliced mango and kiwi fruit. Gone from the puddings and cold desserts are the flan, tapioca, and rice pudding. This server leads you over to the dessert server that sits against the front wall. There used to be a vast assortment of cakes. Now you only find an abbreviated assortment of Chinese buffet "Little Debbie" cakes - two inch squares of commercial sheet cake with a thin icing coating. There are also cookies. Two soft serve machines have ice cream and sherbet. No more soft serve sugar free ice cream with a sign on the machine that says "Sugar Free for Diabetic Only - Too Expensive". (Thank goodness!) Anyway, this is not the dessert selection that this buffet was known for - before the "renovations".
How was the food? It was ok. There was nothing special. This buffet was always extra special. It is not any longer. When you came here you could see and taste why the price was more than other local Chinese buffets. NO LONGER! There is nothing that sets this buffet apart. All of the offerings can be found at the other Chinese buffets that charge almost half of what this buffet charges.
There seem to be different employees here - I suppose that when you close for two months you are going to lose your staff. All of the staff were prompt in clearing plates and in refilling soda. The restaurant was clean. My wife said that the ladies room looks like it has new tile, but she said that the fixtures are the same.
The buffet tables needed tending. This is what I say when I see serving trays drying out, needing stirring, and being kept appetizing. There were too many items that needed tending. There was a manager acting gentleman at the grill several times during the evening tell the cooks behind he counter reminding them to put out more oysters, etc. He never did seem to get around to the buffet servers, and if he did, he paid no attention to making sure that they were "tended". Food did not go without replacement. As some items got low - the crab legs, for instance - they were replaced. Items that were not taken often were left to sit.
About half way through the meal my wife asked me if they were under new ownership. I said that I was not sure because I thought that I saw the same lady at the cash register that had been here before. I also said that there certainly is a new chef and not one for the better. There were some signs though - one of which are the signs. There used to be signs on every table taped to the napkin dispensers (which are still on the tables) that warned you that leaving seafood on your plate would result in an addition charge and that you were expected to eat and be gone in a certain time period. These signs are gone. Good! When the check came I was not so sure that the restaurant was still run by the same owner. The cash register receipt clearly has "DJ's International Buffet" boldly printed across the top. This was not there before. This had always been just "International Buffet". That would explain it all. New owner or new management - new decor- and not so special buffet.
This had been intended as a special night out - a holiday celebration of sorts for just the two of us. We looked forward to the return of The International Buffet. We were both disappointed. If this was a buffet charging the local usual of $13.99 on the weekends and $10.99 or $11.99 on weeknights, it would be fine. It offers nothing that the buffets charging those prices offer - several of them do it better for that money in many ways. There is nothing wrong with this restaurant except the value. It simply is not worth $16.99 on weeknights and $23.99 on Friday to Sunday. Though an hour after the meal both my wife and I had MSG headaches - something that has not happened from other Chinese buffets.
The restaurant is located just off the Stewart Avenue exit of the Meadowbrook Parkway in Garden City, Long Island New York. They now have a website which is listed at the side of this page. The website is new and has lots of nice photos of the food - along with an extensive listing of dishes on the menu, many of which you will not see when you get to the restaurant. (At least I did not see most of them!) The panoramic photos of the dining room on the website were taken before the renovations. The walls do not look like that any more. The prices, as mentioned, are $16.99 Monday to Thursday nights starting at 4:00 pm, $23.99 Friday through Sunday nights, $7.99 for lunch Monday to Friday and $10.99 for "Brunch" Saturday and Sunday. There are fairly priced children's prices with an amount multiplied by age - $1.00 per year of age for weeknights and $1.25 for year of age on the weekend nights.
Should you go to the newly "renovated" International Buffet? Only if you do not care about the price. For myself, this is not a special place to look forward to any more. How sad!
Friday, December 28, 2007
THE BEST BUFFET 2007
This site has chosen THE BEST BUFFET for the year 2007. This buffet surpasses all others. It has been chosen on the basis of consistency over repeated visits, the quality of food, the quantity of food, the quality of service, the quality of cleanliness, the friendliness of staff, and the value received for the money paid for a meal. To be sure that the buffet to be chosen continues to this day to meet the criteria applied I have dined at the restaurant again as recently as this month of December 2007.
The BEST buffet for 2007 is SHADY MAPLE SMORGASBORD located in East Earl, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
I have written about Shady Maple many times on this site. We have had a number of comments written that have agreed with my praise for this restaurant. This is a well known restaurant in an area with a strong tourist trade. It is as much a favorite with local patrons as it is with tourists.
For the benefit of our readers who may not have read the other articles about this buffet and in keeping with this fine distinction as THE BEST, I will describe and review the restaurant and point out what makes this buffet stand out so far beyond the rest.
Shady Maple Smörgåsbord has been in business for many, many years. The current location is just feet away from its origins as a farm stand and then a restaurant. The smaller (yet quite large) original building was closed several years back and a newly built much, much larger building was opened on the same property. The facility that you dine at now is very elegant. It is far beyond what one would expect to find in the middle of a farming and Amish/Old Order Mennonite community. The restaurant is huge with a very large building, a circular drive and more than ample parking for the large crowds that dine here regularly. Enter through the several front entrance doors and you are greeted with a lobby with crystal chandeliers, a large brick fire place, and elegant furnishings that include sofas and side chairs that you would expect to find in the finest furnished home or fanciest hotel. In front of the dining room, separated from the lobby by a half wall partition, there are several cashiers who easily handle the lines of people coming in. At Shady Maple you pay as you enter and your meal and beverage is all inclusive for the price. Shady Maple removes the question of what should I tip by adding a small gratuity to the price when you pay. You leave the cashier and go to a second line to be seated. You are always seated by a hostess - your choice, table or booth (if available).
The dining rooms are spacious. There is a large dining room with two large sections of booths and a large section between with tables. There are private dining rooms along the rear wall for private parties or they are opened when there is a large crowd. There is a second very large dining room beyond the first that is opened whenever needed and not only can this dining room accommodate many more diners, it is also the area that bus groups are seated in. Yes, people come here by the bus load and the restaurant can accommodate a number of buses along with the other diners and you would never know it. The decor of the dining rooms rivals the fanciest of ballrooms. More huge crystal chandeliers light the rooms. In addition to the buffet dining rooms, there are also banquet facilities completely separate from the buffet. Weddings and special occasions are catered here.
Shady Maple serves buffet breakfast, buffet lunch, and buffet dinner. This is only a buffet (though there is menu breakfast Monday to Friday during certain times of the year). If you would like a cafeteria-style dining experience go down to the lower level where you will find a complete and large cafeteria restaurant at the back of the gift shop. Shady Maple opens at 5:00 AM. It closes at 8:00 pm - though the dining room and buffet servers remain open until 9:00 pm. The restaurant is always closed on Sundays and it is also closed on Christmas, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, and Labor Day. These last two days are unusual for a restaurant in the middle of a tourist area which attracts many visitors on those two Monday holidays.
I am going to concentrate on dinner. I have also been here for lunch - see my article earlier this month. It is equally as good as dinner. Lunch ends at 3:15 pm and is cheaper than dinner by several dollars. Dinner is the main attraction here and each day has a different feature. These features have remained consistent over time and you can be pretty certain to know what to expect on each night of the week and Saturday. Monday night is Steak Night and on the fry grills are Delmonico steaks and New York strip steaks. All of the prices that I will quote include tax and the charged gratuity. All children's prices for ages 4 to 10 years are half of the adult price. Seniors over 60 get a ten percent discount. If it is your birthday, just prove it, and you will eat for FREE. Monday night's price is $14.29. Tuesday night the feature is assorted seafood. This is the most expensive night of the week at $21.65 but the seafood is plentiful! Wednesday night is prime rib and it is cut to your order - rare, medium, or well. The price on Wednesday night is $17.43. Thursday once was called Family Value Night. Now they have dropped that name but it remains the most inexpensive night of the week at $15.99. The feature Thursdays includes grilled, boneless, chicken breasts and breaded shrimp. The feature on Friday includes fried shrimp, salmon, Cajun catfish, and a selection of grilled meats on the grills. The Friday night price is $16.75. Saturday night brings crab cakes, salmon, Cajun catfish, and a selection of grilled meats. From many visits, I know that you will also find other fish being grilled and smoked sausage. The price on Saturday night is $19.03. Now, remember, I said that all of these prices include the sales tax and tip. Take about $2.00 off each price for the actual price of the dinners.
When you go up to the buffet serving area which runs the length of this huge building at the front of the dining rooms you will find four grill areas, two very long double sided salad bars, and then more very long double sided buffet servers that stretch in two directions with the salad bars at the middle. There are five long, double sided buffet servers times two plus two dessert sections at the ends and around the side walls. Each wall in front of the servers holds beverages. You can look at this as two complete buffet service areas next to each other. Many think at first glance that the two sides each have the same items, but that is not correct. While many items are duplicated and the same, there are just as many different items on each side which multiplies the offerings.
When you look for the featured items you are going to find most of them on the four grills - and those grills are cooking several different items each. When you move on to the hot and cold buffet servers you are going to find much, much more. There are a number of more meats, entrees, many vegetables, real mashed potatoes, four soups, chili, a large assortment of salads, both prepared and greens with every imaginable topping. There are carvings - even at lunch including ham and beef briscuit. As this restaurant is located in the heart of the "Pennsylvania Dutch Country" there are a number of local specialties that will change each night. There is always something for everyone to like. If you do not care for the local dishes move on to the many selections of country and American fare. We have never been disappointed at Shady Maple. Even buffet pizza - always on one at of the grill areas - is great here. (Take a half slice - the slices are huge and thick with cheese.) We have never had any difficulty finding several things to fill up on. This is the one buffet that you have to keep remembering that you must not eat so much that you will not be able to walk out comfortably. It is very easy to over indulge here.
Dessert here is no exception to the bounty of everything else. There is always an assortment of cakes, pies, sugar-free fruit pies (that actually taste really good), puddings, cream dessert concoctions, fruit, jello, apple dumplings, other sugar-free desserts, soft serve ice cream, whipped cream topping for what ever you like, and more.
Beverages are self-serve and there is no soft drink that I can think of that is not here. Both Coke and Pepsi products, Icees, iced tea, hot tea, iced mint tea, iced tea drink with lemonade (real good), orange juice, apple juice, fruit drinks, coffee, flavored coffees, cappuccino, milk and chocolate milk. If I have left something out, it is there - just look for it.
Shady Maple Smörgåsbord was the first buffet that I went to that had a system to reserve your table effectively -this was years ago but a variation still exists. They used to put a plastic plaque on your table that said "reserved". When you were finished you turn that plaque over to the opposite side that said "open". The service staff then knew to clear away the table and prepare it for the next guests. The hostess then knew the table was available to seat at. The plastic plaques were replaced by paper slips that work the same way when they opened this "new" building. You turn the slip over to the back when you leave.
Service is excellent. Dishes are cleared away very quickly by the abundant service staff in the dining rooms. The dining rooms and the serving areas are spotless. Even the restrooms are ultra-fancy and kept very clean. There are little anterooms in both the ladies room and the mens room that are carpeted and furnished with plush chairs and sofas.
In the Spring and Fall there are special nights with some specialty served. I have been there for a buffalo night with buffalo served in many different ways. I have been there for an Angus beef night and I have been there for a Philly Cheese steak night. The Friday before Christmas there is always a special event going on with late night dining and discounts in the gift shop for "last minute" shoppers. A grand staircase in the middle of the lobby takes you down to a gift shop that is the size of the restaurant.
This is a destination buffet. I have traveled here, out of my way, when I am in other areas of Pennsylvania just so that I could dine here. I have routed trips home past this restaurant from other states just to include a meal here. I know that others have as well. This is the one. This is truly the best. You must go to this buffet.
Shady Maple Smorgasbord is located at 129 Toddy Drive in East Earl, PA. Take Route 23 East or Route 322 South to get to the restaurant. The phone numbers are 1-800-238-7363 and 717-354-8222. There is a website and it is listed at the side of this page.
The Art of the Buffet names Shady Maple Smorgasbord as THE BEST BUFFET for 2007. Shady Maple Smorgasbord will be receiving a certificate naming them as the BEST which we hope they will proudly display in their lobby. When you go there look for it and let them know that you read about them here!
The BEST buffet for 2007 is SHADY MAPLE SMORGASBORD located in East Earl, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
I have written about Shady Maple many times on this site. We have had a number of comments written that have agreed with my praise for this restaurant. This is a well known restaurant in an area with a strong tourist trade. It is as much a favorite with local patrons as it is with tourists.
For the benefit of our readers who may not have read the other articles about this buffet and in keeping with this fine distinction as THE BEST, I will describe and review the restaurant and point out what makes this buffet stand out so far beyond the rest.
Shady Maple Smörgåsbord has been in business for many, many years. The current location is just feet away from its origins as a farm stand and then a restaurant. The smaller (yet quite large) original building was closed several years back and a newly built much, much larger building was opened on the same property. The facility that you dine at now is very elegant. It is far beyond what one would expect to find in the middle of a farming and Amish/Old Order Mennonite community. The restaurant is huge with a very large building, a circular drive and more than ample parking for the large crowds that dine here regularly. Enter through the several front entrance doors and you are greeted with a lobby with crystal chandeliers, a large brick fire place, and elegant furnishings that include sofas and side chairs that you would expect to find in the finest furnished home or fanciest hotel. In front of the dining room, separated from the lobby by a half wall partition, there are several cashiers who easily handle the lines of people coming in. At Shady Maple you pay as you enter and your meal and beverage is all inclusive for the price. Shady Maple removes the question of what should I tip by adding a small gratuity to the price when you pay. You leave the cashier and go to a second line to be seated. You are always seated by a hostess - your choice, table or booth (if available).
The dining rooms are spacious. There is a large dining room with two large sections of booths and a large section between with tables. There are private dining rooms along the rear wall for private parties or they are opened when there is a large crowd. There is a second very large dining room beyond the first that is opened whenever needed and not only can this dining room accommodate many more diners, it is also the area that bus groups are seated in. Yes, people come here by the bus load and the restaurant can accommodate a number of buses along with the other diners and you would never know it. The decor of the dining rooms rivals the fanciest of ballrooms. More huge crystal chandeliers light the rooms. In addition to the buffet dining rooms, there are also banquet facilities completely separate from the buffet. Weddings and special occasions are catered here.
Shady Maple serves buffet breakfast, buffet lunch, and buffet dinner. This is only a buffet (though there is menu breakfast Monday to Friday during certain times of the year). If you would like a cafeteria-style dining experience go down to the lower level where you will find a complete and large cafeteria restaurant at the back of the gift shop. Shady Maple opens at 5:00 AM. It closes at 8:00 pm - though the dining room and buffet servers remain open until 9:00 pm. The restaurant is always closed on Sundays and it is also closed on Christmas, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, and Labor Day. These last two days are unusual for a restaurant in the middle of a tourist area which attracts many visitors on those two Monday holidays.
I am going to concentrate on dinner. I have also been here for lunch - see my article earlier this month. It is equally as good as dinner. Lunch ends at 3:15 pm and is cheaper than dinner by several dollars. Dinner is the main attraction here and each day has a different feature. These features have remained consistent over time and you can be pretty certain to know what to expect on each night of the week and Saturday. Monday night is Steak Night and on the fry grills are Delmonico steaks and New York strip steaks. All of the prices that I will quote include tax and the charged gratuity. All children's prices for ages 4 to 10 years are half of the adult price. Seniors over 60 get a ten percent discount. If it is your birthday, just prove it, and you will eat for FREE. Monday night's price is $14.29. Tuesday night the feature is assorted seafood. This is the most expensive night of the week at $21.65 but the seafood is plentiful! Wednesday night is prime rib and it is cut to your order - rare, medium, or well. The price on Wednesday night is $17.43. Thursday once was called Family Value Night. Now they have dropped that name but it remains the most inexpensive night of the week at $15.99. The feature Thursdays includes grilled, boneless, chicken breasts and breaded shrimp. The feature on Friday includes fried shrimp, salmon, Cajun catfish, and a selection of grilled meats on the grills. The Friday night price is $16.75. Saturday night brings crab cakes, salmon, Cajun catfish, and a selection of grilled meats. From many visits, I know that you will also find other fish being grilled and smoked sausage. The price on Saturday night is $19.03. Now, remember, I said that all of these prices include the sales tax and tip. Take about $2.00 off each price for the actual price of the dinners.
When you go up to the buffet serving area which runs the length of this huge building at the front of the dining rooms you will find four grill areas, two very long double sided salad bars, and then more very long double sided buffet servers that stretch in two directions with the salad bars at the middle. There are five long, double sided buffet servers times two plus two dessert sections at the ends and around the side walls. Each wall in front of the servers holds beverages. You can look at this as two complete buffet service areas next to each other. Many think at first glance that the two sides each have the same items, but that is not correct. While many items are duplicated and the same, there are just as many different items on each side which multiplies the offerings.
When you look for the featured items you are going to find most of them on the four grills - and those grills are cooking several different items each. When you move on to the hot and cold buffet servers you are going to find much, much more. There are a number of more meats, entrees, many vegetables, real mashed potatoes, four soups, chili, a large assortment of salads, both prepared and greens with every imaginable topping. There are carvings - even at lunch including ham and beef briscuit. As this restaurant is located in the heart of the "Pennsylvania Dutch Country" there are a number of local specialties that will change each night. There is always something for everyone to like. If you do not care for the local dishes move on to the many selections of country and American fare. We have never been disappointed at Shady Maple. Even buffet pizza - always on one at of the grill areas - is great here. (Take a half slice - the slices are huge and thick with cheese.) We have never had any difficulty finding several things to fill up on. This is the one buffet that you have to keep remembering that you must not eat so much that you will not be able to walk out comfortably. It is very easy to over indulge here.
Dessert here is no exception to the bounty of everything else. There is always an assortment of cakes, pies, sugar-free fruit pies (that actually taste really good), puddings, cream dessert concoctions, fruit, jello, apple dumplings, other sugar-free desserts, soft serve ice cream, whipped cream topping for what ever you like, and more.
Beverages are self-serve and there is no soft drink that I can think of that is not here. Both Coke and Pepsi products, Icees, iced tea, hot tea, iced mint tea, iced tea drink with lemonade (real good), orange juice, apple juice, fruit drinks, coffee, flavored coffees, cappuccino, milk and chocolate milk. If I have left something out, it is there - just look for it.
Shady Maple Smörgåsbord was the first buffet that I went to that had a system to reserve your table effectively -this was years ago but a variation still exists. They used to put a plastic plaque on your table that said "reserved". When you were finished you turn that plaque over to the opposite side that said "open". The service staff then knew to clear away the table and prepare it for the next guests. The hostess then knew the table was available to seat at. The plastic plaques were replaced by paper slips that work the same way when they opened this "new" building. You turn the slip over to the back when you leave.
Service is excellent. Dishes are cleared away very quickly by the abundant service staff in the dining rooms. The dining rooms and the serving areas are spotless. Even the restrooms are ultra-fancy and kept very clean. There are little anterooms in both the ladies room and the mens room that are carpeted and furnished with plush chairs and sofas.
In the Spring and Fall there are special nights with some specialty served. I have been there for a buffalo night with buffalo served in many different ways. I have been there for an Angus beef night and I have been there for a Philly Cheese steak night. The Friday before Christmas there is always a special event going on with late night dining and discounts in the gift shop for "last minute" shoppers. A grand staircase in the middle of the lobby takes you down to a gift shop that is the size of the restaurant.
This is a destination buffet. I have traveled here, out of my way, when I am in other areas of Pennsylvania just so that I could dine here. I have routed trips home past this restaurant from other states just to include a meal here. I know that others have as well. This is the one. This is truly the best. You must go to this buffet.
Shady Maple Smorgasbord is located at 129 Toddy Drive in East Earl, PA. Take Route 23 East or Route 322 South to get to the restaurant. The phone numbers are 1-800-238-7363 and 717-354-8222. There is a website and it is listed at the side of this page.
The Art of the Buffet names Shady Maple Smorgasbord as THE BEST BUFFET for 2007. Shady Maple Smorgasbord will be receiving a certificate naming them as the BEST which we hope they will proudly display in their lobby. When you go there look for it and let them know that you read about them here!
Friday, December 21, 2007
THE BEST Asian Buffet 2007
I will choose two buffets that are THE BEST for 2007. One will be a Asian/Chinese buffet, as these tend to have their own class of buffet, and the other will be THE BEST BUFFET. In choosing these two buffets I have dined in them several times and have been to each as recently as this month of December. The choice was made on many criteria but one of the most important was that the restaurants maintained consistent from visit to visit continuing to please and delight.
This week I will name the Best Asian/Chinese Buffet for 2007 and that is PEKING RESTAURANT located in Williamsburg, Virginia. I have written about this buffet in several articles on this site and because I am awarding this deserving restaurant this significantly important distinction I will go back to the beginning and provide you with a complete description and review of this buffet.
The Peking Restaurant in Williamsburg, Virginia is located at 120 Waller Mill Road in the Big Kmart Shopping Center. (Kingsgate Green Shopping Center – Bypass Road (Rt.60)) This is an individually owned restaurant and not a chain. The restaurant fills four store fronts in a strip mall with a KMart. The decor is Chinese palace. It is reminiscent of fancy Chinese restaurants that existed many years ago. There are three sections of large rooms separated by room dividers that fit in with the decor and are such that you can see around them and over them across the spacious restaurant. Each room is filled with tables - no booths here. There is a modern accent of large screen televisions set up at the ceiling throughout the restaurant but there are no sports tuned in here - each set is playing a video of Chinese music, acrobats, or travel scenes. There are two videos playing at the same time alternating on the various screens. The sound is turned low so there is no disturbance from the screens and they can be completely ignored or you may delight in the flow of Chinese culture and scenery.
The buffet is served across the entire rear wall of the restaurant from one end to the other. The buffet is divided into three sections and your meal includes it all. At the far left is a long counter section with a sushi chef behind the far most corner, followed by a soup chef, followed by a grill chef. In the middle of the wall are two long double sided buffet servers. The one to the left is full of Chinese entrees, side dishes, and appetizers. The one to the right is the vegetarian bar and contains hot vegetarian selections. At the right of the rear wall is a large, round Mongolian grill with one to two chefs. Around the grill is the salad bar, cold dessert bar, pizza, and all of the meat, vegetables, and sauces for the create your own Mongolian barbecue.
So where should you start your meal? There is a small salad bar and there are your basic selections of greens and toppings. There is soup. Soup is found two ways here. There is soup that has been made and out in servers on the hot entrees buffet server. There you will find egg drop soup and hot and sour soup. The usual choices for Chinese restaurants and buffets. But look around and you will not see wonton soup. For won ton soup and a whole selection of noodle soups you need to go to the counter to the soup chef. He stands beside a large cauldron of soup broth and a selection of noodles from a variety of oriental countries. There is a sign to guide you selection describing what each type of noodle there is. You will find noodles from China, potato noodles from Korea, Vietnamese Pho noodles, Japanese noodles, and wontons. You tell the chef what you would like and he will assemble the ingredients for your soup in a wire basket. He will then take that basket and dunk it into boiling water cooking it all together. He then places the hot contents into a large bowl and adds the soup broth. The soup is served steaming hot and is overflowing with noodles. We have found that it is best to get the soup and let it sit on the table while we enjoy something else to allow the steaming soup to cool off to a temperature easier to enjoy. This is a large bowl of soup and can be a meal in itself - but there is SO much more to enjoy.
The sushi chef is making sushi rolls and placing them out for you to take. The sushi here is beyond the usual piece of salmon or tuna on a bed of sticky rice. There is a nice variety of sushi rolls of fish and rolls of vegetables. The spicy salmon rolls are wonderful. I have come a long way in my taste for sushi since I first reviewed this restaurant in 2005 and I have come to delight in sushi beyond the basic raw salmon and tuna.
Do you like dumplings? There are dumplings and dim sum in steamers next to the soup area. Further along the counter there are also fried dumplings that are actually made on the grill. The dumplings, both steamed and fried, are excellent.
Chinese appetizers are plentiful here. You will find the usual appetizers and then you will find some that are different. They make an onion pancake at the grill. On the vegetarian buffet server there is a folded, seasoned bread. Back at the grill there are fried shrimp balls.
To start your entree course it is hard to decide what to try first. At the grill there is a chef cooking steak and chicken in the Japanese hibachi style. Along the grill there are other grilled meats and fried fish. At the buffet servers there are meat dishes and, as I said, vegetarian dishes. The selection of Chinese dishes is varied and not just the usual chicken and broccoli and beef and peppers that seem to be the staple at many Chinese buffets now. There is even Chow Mein and Egg Foo Yung. There are noodle dishes and there are three types of fried rice to be found - the traditional, a house special fried rice full of strips of meat, and Japanese fried rice cooked on the hibachi grill.
Now suppose you look at all of the hot entrees and you do not see what you like. What will you do? You will make your own. Go over to the large Mongolian Grill and start on the line filling a bowl with raw vegetables of your choice, noodles, and then meats and seafood. You can put beef, pork, shrimp, sea legs, chicken, and lamb into your creation. You then come to tubs of sauces and ladles. Spoon on one of a mixture of sauces both plain or hot and spicy. If you like, put some garlic in. Put as much as you want or leave it out - it is all your creation. At the end of the line when it is your turn you hand this to the chef who places it on top of the domed griddle. He moves around the round grill pushing your food with a large paddle which he uses to mix and make sure that each piece of meat is thoroughly cooked. He may go around twice until your dish is done. When there is a crowd there are two chefs working around the grill. When your dish is done it is placed in a clean bowl and handed to you. You watch the whole process so you get a little entertainment along with a great dish of your design.
If you visit and eat from each station you will probably find it difficult to move after dinner, but there is desert to be found too. There are hot steamed desserts next to the steamed dumplings. These are steamed cakes and sweet buns. There are cold fresh fruits, jello, pudding, and one of the jellos is traditional Chinese almond jello (which I had only had before this in Chinatown in NYC). There is ice cream, of course. A soft serve ice cream machine is in the back corner.
The service a this restaurant is excellent. The dishes were cleared immediately, sodas were refilled regularly, and we did not even ask for a knife - two were brought to us as we brought food to the table that required one. The tables each have a unique dispenser on each one - a clear acrylic holder with full of extra napkins, chopsticks, straws, and sweeteners. Other restaurants should have these!
Dinner price every night at the Peking Restaurant is $10.99. Let me repeat that - $10.99! Unbelievable for the amount and quality of food that you are getting. The lunch price is $6.99 and $7.99 on the weekend. There are children's prices. Soda is $1.25 for unlimited soft drinks. There is a bar and alcohol drinks are available.
This restaurant is located in the middle of a major tourist destination in Southeastern Virginia. Here you will find Colonial Williamsburg - the nation's foremost historic attraction - and Busch Gardens theme park. This restaurant does much more than attract the tourists. This is known and patronized by all of the locals as well. It is not unusual to be dining here and sit next to Colonial Williamsburg employees dressed in colonial clothing or members of the Busch Gardens show casts. We had dinner one night next to the Irish Dance Troupe from Busch Gardens. We have dined here during tourist season and off tourist season. Even on a weeknight the restaurant is busy. It is large enough that it is ever so busy that you will not get in shortly but if you do have a short wait there is a great little gift shop inside next to the entrance with wonderful jade and oriental imports.
The restaurant has a good website and a link may be found at the side of this article.
This is a must go to buffet. There is a lot in this area to see so take a vacation and make sure that this is on your list of where to go!
The Art of the Buffet names the Peking Restaurant as the BEST ASIAN/CHINESE BUFFET for 2007. Another Chinese buffet has got to go far to be any better in 2008. I suspect that this will hold this title next year as well. The Peking Restaurant will be receiving a certificate naming them as the BEST which we hope they will proudly display with other certificates of merit that they have hanging next to their door.
This week I will name the Best Asian/Chinese Buffet for 2007 and that is PEKING RESTAURANT located in Williamsburg, Virginia. I have written about this buffet in several articles on this site and because I am awarding this deserving restaurant this significantly important distinction I will go back to the beginning and provide you with a complete description and review of this buffet.
The Peking Restaurant in Williamsburg, Virginia is located at 120 Waller Mill Road in the Big Kmart Shopping Center. (Kingsgate Green Shopping Center – Bypass Road (Rt.60)) This is an individually owned restaurant and not a chain. The restaurant fills four store fronts in a strip mall with a KMart. The decor is Chinese palace. It is reminiscent of fancy Chinese restaurants that existed many years ago. There are three sections of large rooms separated by room dividers that fit in with the decor and are such that you can see around them and over them across the spacious restaurant. Each room is filled with tables - no booths here. There is a modern accent of large screen televisions set up at the ceiling throughout the restaurant but there are no sports tuned in here - each set is playing a video of Chinese music, acrobats, or travel scenes. There are two videos playing at the same time alternating on the various screens. The sound is turned low so there is no disturbance from the screens and they can be completely ignored or you may delight in the flow of Chinese culture and scenery.
The buffet is served across the entire rear wall of the restaurant from one end to the other. The buffet is divided into three sections and your meal includes it all. At the far left is a long counter section with a sushi chef behind the far most corner, followed by a soup chef, followed by a grill chef. In the middle of the wall are two long double sided buffet servers. The one to the left is full of Chinese entrees, side dishes, and appetizers. The one to the right is the vegetarian bar and contains hot vegetarian selections. At the right of the rear wall is a large, round Mongolian grill with one to two chefs. Around the grill is the salad bar, cold dessert bar, pizza, and all of the meat, vegetables, and sauces for the create your own Mongolian barbecue.
So where should you start your meal? There is a small salad bar and there are your basic selections of greens and toppings. There is soup. Soup is found two ways here. There is soup that has been made and out in servers on the hot entrees buffet server. There you will find egg drop soup and hot and sour soup. The usual choices for Chinese restaurants and buffets. But look around and you will not see wonton soup. For won ton soup and a whole selection of noodle soups you need to go to the counter to the soup chef. He stands beside a large cauldron of soup broth and a selection of noodles from a variety of oriental countries. There is a sign to guide you selection describing what each type of noodle there is. You will find noodles from China, potato noodles from Korea, Vietnamese Pho noodles, Japanese noodles, and wontons. You tell the chef what you would like and he will assemble the ingredients for your soup in a wire basket. He will then take that basket and dunk it into boiling water cooking it all together. He then places the hot contents into a large bowl and adds the soup broth. The soup is served steaming hot and is overflowing with noodles. We have found that it is best to get the soup and let it sit on the table while we enjoy something else to allow the steaming soup to cool off to a temperature easier to enjoy. This is a large bowl of soup and can be a meal in itself - but there is SO much more to enjoy.
The sushi chef is making sushi rolls and placing them out for you to take. The sushi here is beyond the usual piece of salmon or tuna on a bed of sticky rice. There is a nice variety of sushi rolls of fish and rolls of vegetables. The spicy salmon rolls are wonderful. I have come a long way in my taste for sushi since I first reviewed this restaurant in 2005 and I have come to delight in sushi beyond the basic raw salmon and tuna.
Do you like dumplings? There are dumplings and dim sum in steamers next to the soup area. Further along the counter there are also fried dumplings that are actually made on the grill. The dumplings, both steamed and fried, are excellent.
Chinese appetizers are plentiful here. You will find the usual appetizers and then you will find some that are different. They make an onion pancake at the grill. On the vegetarian buffet server there is a folded, seasoned bread. Back at the grill there are fried shrimp balls.
To start your entree course it is hard to decide what to try first. At the grill there is a chef cooking steak and chicken in the Japanese hibachi style. Along the grill there are other grilled meats and fried fish. At the buffet servers there are meat dishes and, as I said, vegetarian dishes. The selection of Chinese dishes is varied and not just the usual chicken and broccoli and beef and peppers that seem to be the staple at many Chinese buffets now. There is even Chow Mein and Egg Foo Yung. There are noodle dishes and there are three types of fried rice to be found - the traditional, a house special fried rice full of strips of meat, and Japanese fried rice cooked on the hibachi grill.
Now suppose you look at all of the hot entrees and you do not see what you like. What will you do? You will make your own. Go over to the large Mongolian Grill and start on the line filling a bowl with raw vegetables of your choice, noodles, and then meats and seafood. You can put beef, pork, shrimp, sea legs, chicken, and lamb into your creation. You then come to tubs of sauces and ladles. Spoon on one of a mixture of sauces both plain or hot and spicy. If you like, put some garlic in. Put as much as you want or leave it out - it is all your creation. At the end of the line when it is your turn you hand this to the chef who places it on top of the domed griddle. He moves around the round grill pushing your food with a large paddle which he uses to mix and make sure that each piece of meat is thoroughly cooked. He may go around twice until your dish is done. When there is a crowd there are two chefs working around the grill. When your dish is done it is placed in a clean bowl and handed to you. You watch the whole process so you get a little entertainment along with a great dish of your design.
If you visit and eat from each station you will probably find it difficult to move after dinner, but there is desert to be found too. There are hot steamed desserts next to the steamed dumplings. These are steamed cakes and sweet buns. There are cold fresh fruits, jello, pudding, and one of the jellos is traditional Chinese almond jello (which I had only had before this in Chinatown in NYC). There is ice cream, of course. A soft serve ice cream machine is in the back corner.
The service a this restaurant is excellent. The dishes were cleared immediately, sodas were refilled regularly, and we did not even ask for a knife - two were brought to us as we brought food to the table that required one. The tables each have a unique dispenser on each one - a clear acrylic holder with full of extra napkins, chopsticks, straws, and sweeteners. Other restaurants should have these!
Dinner price every night at the Peking Restaurant is $10.99. Let me repeat that - $10.99! Unbelievable for the amount and quality of food that you are getting. The lunch price is $6.99 and $7.99 on the weekend. There are children's prices. Soda is $1.25 for unlimited soft drinks. There is a bar and alcohol drinks are available.
This restaurant is located in the middle of a major tourist destination in Southeastern Virginia. Here you will find Colonial Williamsburg - the nation's foremost historic attraction - and Busch Gardens theme park. This restaurant does much more than attract the tourists. This is known and patronized by all of the locals as well. It is not unusual to be dining here and sit next to Colonial Williamsburg employees dressed in colonial clothing or members of the Busch Gardens show casts. We had dinner one night next to the Irish Dance Troupe from Busch Gardens. We have dined here during tourist season and off tourist season. Even on a weeknight the restaurant is busy. It is large enough that it is ever so busy that you will not get in shortly but if you do have a short wait there is a great little gift shop inside next to the entrance with wonderful jade and oriental imports.
The restaurant has a good website and a link may be found at the side of this article.
This is a must go to buffet. There is a lot in this area to see so take a vacation and make sure that this is on your list of where to go!
The Art of the Buffet names the Peking Restaurant as the BEST ASIAN/CHINESE BUFFET for 2007. Another Chinese buffet has got to go far to be any better in 2008. I suspect that this will hold this title next year as well. The Peking Restaurant will be receiving a certificate naming them as the BEST which we hope they will proudly display with other certificates of merit that they have hanging next to their door.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Green Olive Buffet and Grill - Second Time Around
In September 2006 I wrote about a buffet in Arlington, Virginia called the Green Olive Buffet and Grill. It is a Chinese buffet but as I will elaborate here, it is much more. I had an opportunity to return there a week ago. We went in on a Friday night. The buffet price is still $12.99 every night - no extra for Fridays or the weekend. This is unusual for a Chinese buffet. For this buffet $12.99 is an excellent price!
What struck me most on this second visit to the Green Olive is the abundance of seafood - and not just seafood Chinese dishes but SEAFOOD in every which way. If you are looking for a great seafood buffet at an unbelievable price this is the place! You will find everything that you could want here - with one exception, lobster. And for this price who needs the lobster!
You can start your seafood meal here with raw shellfish. There are clams and oysters on the half shell on ice. The oysters were good and they were fresh - they had been opened and refrigerated before they came out as was evidenced by the dry tops, but the oyster meat was moist throughout. There is also cold cocktail shrimp. You can follow this cold selection up with sushi which was being made by a sushi chef behind the long counter that also becomes a flame grill.
Soups included clam chowder along with the selection of Chinese soups. There is a salad bar, of course, which I have already described in my first review of this restaurant (See September 29, 2006).
The hot seafood out on the buffet was overwhelming. There were the usual steamed king crab legs that you will find in many Chinese buffets, but there were also whole, steamed blue crabs - famous in this area from the nearby Chesapeake Bay. These are an art to crack and eat the lumps of meat in the sides of the shell. In this area people like to spice them up with "Old Bay Seasoning" - a commercial product that gives crabs and most seafood a pleasant kick. There were cans of Old Bay at the grill for you to shake on what you'd like. If you would like to be a little courageous you can have the grill cook you large, whole shrimp on a skewer with the heads still on. I am sure to many of our readers around the world this is no big deal, but in the United States folks don't like to see shrimp with the heads on. These shrimp cook fast on the grill and the shell gets nicely charred. The shrimp meat is deliciouses this way but a bit of a struggle to get out of the shell - especially while the little shrimp eyes watch you. There was fried shrimp and fried clams. There was fried fish. There was broiled salmon. There was a whole broiled fish that you cut away from to serve yourself that was great. I am not certain what type of fish it was but I am guessing from the look of the head it was a sea bass. There were fried scallops. There were fried frogs legs. There were steamed clams. There was steam shrimp spiced with Old Bay Seasoning.
There were also prepared seafood dishes. Some of these were Chinese dishes, but many of them were regional seafood dishes. Crab mixed with other shellfish meats in a butter sauce, a spicy dish of crab and stuffing, pasta and seafood dishes, stuffed crab shells, and baked clams were among the many to be found.
This is a seafood lovers delight, but wait, if you don't like seafood (my wife does not) what will you do? In addition to all of the seafood there were as many selections of meats and Chinese dishes. There are also steaks grilled to your order on the chargrill. Everyone is going to be happy at the Green Olive.
Dessert are typical of Chinese buffets. Ice cream here is served hard in "dixie" cups in a freezer case with an assortment of flavors.
Service is good. The entire restaurant is well maintained.
There was one drawback that was very noticeable on this visit that was not on my first visit. There was a smell of cigarette smoke near the buffet servers. I looked around the restaurant to see if there was a smoking section of tables and I did not see one, BUT there is a sit down liqueur bar with full bar stools on the side of the room with the buffet servers and, evidently, they permit smoking at the bar. I am not a smoker, and it has been a long time since I have been around people who smoke. Most places that I go to do not permit smoking so I have become sensitive to the smell when it is around. It surprised me to find this here now, because all of the buffets that I have been to do not allow smoking. To have smoking in the same area as the food tables is not good. Now, it did not flavor the food, as I could tell and it could not be detected in the dining area where our tables were - which was just adjacent to the room with the food tables (and the smoke). It was very noticeable when I was at the food tables nearest the bar. I would wonder why they would allow this - but I guess that bar brings them the business of people who want to sit at a bar and drink. I would not jeopardize my buffet business for that, but this is Virginia and Virginia is the original place that tobacco came from. Unless you are very sensitive to smoke - and it may just be by chance that a smoker is sitting at the bar - don't let this keep you from this great buffet. AS I said, this did not happen the first time we ate there in 2006.
If you want to read more in detail about the Green Olive, read my September 29, 2006 descriptions and review. The Green Olive Buffet and Grill is located on US1. The address is 7405 Richmond Highway in Alexandria, Virginia. The restaurant looks a little like a road house from the outside but do not that put you off from going inside. There is plenty of free parking in their lot surrounding the restaurant. The phone number is 703-765-5899. There is a website which is listed at the side of the page.
What struck me most on this second visit to the Green Olive is the abundance of seafood - and not just seafood Chinese dishes but SEAFOOD in every which way. If you are looking for a great seafood buffet at an unbelievable price this is the place! You will find everything that you could want here - with one exception, lobster. And for this price who needs the lobster!
You can start your seafood meal here with raw shellfish. There are clams and oysters on the half shell on ice. The oysters were good and they were fresh - they had been opened and refrigerated before they came out as was evidenced by the dry tops, but the oyster meat was moist throughout. There is also cold cocktail shrimp. You can follow this cold selection up with sushi which was being made by a sushi chef behind the long counter that also becomes a flame grill.
Soups included clam chowder along with the selection of Chinese soups. There is a salad bar, of course, which I have already described in my first review of this restaurant (See September 29, 2006).
The hot seafood out on the buffet was overwhelming. There were the usual steamed king crab legs that you will find in many Chinese buffets, but there were also whole, steamed blue crabs - famous in this area from the nearby Chesapeake Bay. These are an art to crack and eat the lumps of meat in the sides of the shell. In this area people like to spice them up with "Old Bay Seasoning" - a commercial product that gives crabs and most seafood a pleasant kick. There were cans of Old Bay at the grill for you to shake on what you'd like. If you would like to be a little courageous you can have the grill cook you large, whole shrimp on a skewer with the heads still on. I am sure to many of our readers around the world this is no big deal, but in the United States folks don't like to see shrimp with the heads on. These shrimp cook fast on the grill and the shell gets nicely charred. The shrimp meat is deliciouses this way but a bit of a struggle to get out of the shell - especially while the little shrimp eyes watch you. There was fried shrimp and fried clams. There was fried fish. There was broiled salmon. There was a whole broiled fish that you cut away from to serve yourself that was great. I am not certain what type of fish it was but I am guessing from the look of the head it was a sea bass. There were fried scallops. There were fried frogs legs. There were steamed clams. There was steam shrimp spiced with Old Bay Seasoning.
There were also prepared seafood dishes. Some of these were Chinese dishes, but many of them were regional seafood dishes. Crab mixed with other shellfish meats in a butter sauce, a spicy dish of crab and stuffing, pasta and seafood dishes, stuffed crab shells, and baked clams were among the many to be found.
This is a seafood lovers delight, but wait, if you don't like seafood (my wife does not) what will you do? In addition to all of the seafood there were as many selections of meats and Chinese dishes. There are also steaks grilled to your order on the chargrill. Everyone is going to be happy at the Green Olive.
Dessert are typical of Chinese buffets. Ice cream here is served hard in "dixie" cups in a freezer case with an assortment of flavors.
Service is good. The entire restaurant is well maintained.
There was one drawback that was very noticeable on this visit that was not on my first visit. There was a smell of cigarette smoke near the buffet servers. I looked around the restaurant to see if there was a smoking section of tables and I did not see one, BUT there is a sit down liqueur bar with full bar stools on the side of the room with the buffet servers and, evidently, they permit smoking at the bar. I am not a smoker, and it has been a long time since I have been around people who smoke. Most places that I go to do not permit smoking so I have become sensitive to the smell when it is around. It surprised me to find this here now, because all of the buffets that I have been to do not allow smoking. To have smoking in the same area as the food tables is not good. Now, it did not flavor the food, as I could tell and it could not be detected in the dining area where our tables were - which was just adjacent to the room with the food tables (and the smoke). It was very noticeable when I was at the food tables nearest the bar. I would wonder why they would allow this - but I guess that bar brings them the business of people who want to sit at a bar and drink. I would not jeopardize my buffet business for that, but this is Virginia and Virginia is the original place that tobacco came from. Unless you are very sensitive to smoke - and it may just be by chance that a smoker is sitting at the bar - don't let this keep you from this great buffet. AS I said, this did not happen the first time we ate there in 2006.
If you want to read more in detail about the Green Olive, read my September 29, 2006 descriptions and review. The Green Olive Buffet and Grill is located on US1. The address is 7405 Richmond Highway in Alexandria, Virginia. The restaurant looks a little like a road house from the outside but do not that put you off from going inside. There is plenty of free parking in their lot surrounding the restaurant. The phone number is 703-765-5899. There is a website which is listed at the side of the page.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Lunch at Shady Maple Smorgasbord, East Earl, PA
I generally save my buffet dining for dinner but, while in PA for the day on my way back home the weather turned to snow and my original plan to drive back at night after dinner was quickly changing as the light snow turned to ice on the roads. It was not going to chance the 150 plus miles in the dark on icy roads so we decided to have our buffet dinner for lunch.
I have written here many times about Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the best - wait - not one of the best - THE BEST buffet. I have had dinner there many, many times. I have had lunch there only once before, and that was on a Saturday. Saturday lunch buffets are often set to be the same as Saturday dinner buffet. At Shady Maple the Saturday lunch buffet is just one dollar less than the dinner buffet price - $15.99 instead of $16.99. BUT during the week at Shady Maple, the lunch buffet is just $9.99 and that includes the beverage! This is from $4 to $9 less than the evening dinner buffet prices. So if you are paying that much less you must be getting a lot less - right? Wrong!
Our lunch at Shady Maple was on a Wednesday afternoon. Lunch buffet is served until 3:15 pm. We were seated immediately. The restaurant was far from empty. Many of the diners were seniors. There were also a few tour bus groups seated in a separate dining room. Shady Maple is a very large buffet restaurant - and that is all that it is - buffet. There are two very long buffet servers that spread out to each side of the center of the serving area with four separate grills to the front. At dinner there are two to four grills running with several different items on each. On this Wednesday afternoon there were two grills running.
We went up to the buffet servers to find that both sides were completely full of food - and all of the serving trays had items that would usually be found at dinner. Nothing was missing. This $9.99 lunch buffet was offering us everything that we would find had we been there on Wednesday night for $15.99 with the only exception being found at the grill area. Wednesday night is Prime Rib Night with full Prime Ribs of Beef cut to your order. The Prime Rib is featured on two of the grill areas. On Wednesday afternoon at lunch you are not going to get Prime Rib, however, there was a lot to be found on the two grills. There was beef brisket being carved, there were hot dogs, Angus beef burgers and cheeseburgers, and marinated chicken breasts all being grilled, along with pizza at the grill station.
Now you might say that those grill items sound like lunch menu items, but when you get to the hot servers you will find all of the same hot meats and dishes that are found at dinner. There are four different soups. There is the extensive salad bar and prepared salads on the cold servers. Also found at the salad bar were small, cold shrimp. Meats included fried , really "broasted", chicken - if you can tell the difference from "fried", sliced beef in gravy, turkey, roast pork, bbq ribs, chicken croquettes, and fried shrimp along with a number of others. Then there are the area specialty dishes - pigs stomach (ok, I always had an aversion toward this too until I tried it recently - it is made into a sausage and served in bread stuffing (here called "filling") - it is really good), pork with sauerkraut, and chicken bot pie (pot pie with dumplings and no crust - Wonderful!). Of course, you can't have meat with out great side dishes and there are many, many side dishes of vegetables, potatoes, and noodles to choose from. There were very crispy french fries, au gratin potatoes, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, plus dishes with potatoes in them. There are buttered noodles and macaroni and cheese. There were so many different types of vegetables and side dishes that I can't remember them all. There are local specialty side dishes as well including something locally called "Snitz and Knepp" which means in German - Dried Apples and Dumplings - which is simply what this is, a hot dish of dried apples cooked to a preserve-like consistency with large flour dumplings. Sweet and hearty! And remember this is the weekday lunch buffet!
Soft drinks are included in the price of the meal and there are both Coke and Pepsi sodas, three types of ice tea, flavored coffees, icys, coffee, tea, milk, chocolate milk, fruit juices, and fruit drinks. After all of this to eat and drink, would you like dessert?
The dessert areas have both hot and cold desserts, ice cream, cakes, puddings, pies, sugar free pies, and sugar free desserts. There were also several donuts left from the breakfast buffet earlier that morning - and I took a jelly donut at the same time that I took my salad - just to make sure that I had one. (There are lots of things that I don't usually eat - and should not eat. Well, jelly donuts are on that list - but I could not resist!). I have to tell you that this jelly donut was not just filled with a bit of jelly but the entire donut was overflowing with cherry jelly filling that you could eat from the center with a spoon. Oh my!
There is nothing negative to say in any way. Everything is clean. The food is excellent. The service staff are friendly and do their jobs well.
One thing to remember at Shady Maple is to look down both directions of the buffet servers - while there are many items repeated on both sides there are also many items that are only found on one side or the other - increasing your selections!
So, if you can't get to Shady Maple for dinner, try lunch! And if it is your birthday - lunch or dinner - your meal is FREE! (If you go there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on your birthday - all three would be free!) If you can manage to move about after this meal, go downstairs to the huge gift shop for some interesting and fun finds.
Shady Maple Smorgasbord is located at 129 Toddy Drive in East Earl, PA. Take Route 23 East or Route 322 South to get to the restaurant. The phone numbers are 1-800-238-7363 and 717-354-8222. There is a website and it is listed at the side of this page. Shady Maple is always closed on Sundays and it closes for a few holidays including Memorial Day and Labor Day. Closing is 8:00 pm - and the restaurant opens at 5:00 am (this is farm country!).
I have written here many times about Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the best - wait - not one of the best - THE BEST buffet. I have had dinner there many, many times. I have had lunch there only once before, and that was on a Saturday. Saturday lunch buffets are often set to be the same as Saturday dinner buffet. At Shady Maple the Saturday lunch buffet is just one dollar less than the dinner buffet price - $15.99 instead of $16.99. BUT during the week at Shady Maple, the lunch buffet is just $9.99 and that includes the beverage! This is from $4 to $9 less than the evening dinner buffet prices. So if you are paying that much less you must be getting a lot less - right? Wrong!
Our lunch at Shady Maple was on a Wednesday afternoon. Lunch buffet is served until 3:15 pm. We were seated immediately. The restaurant was far from empty. Many of the diners were seniors. There were also a few tour bus groups seated in a separate dining room. Shady Maple is a very large buffet restaurant - and that is all that it is - buffet. There are two very long buffet servers that spread out to each side of the center of the serving area with four separate grills to the front. At dinner there are two to four grills running with several different items on each. On this Wednesday afternoon there were two grills running.
We went up to the buffet servers to find that both sides were completely full of food - and all of the serving trays had items that would usually be found at dinner. Nothing was missing. This $9.99 lunch buffet was offering us everything that we would find had we been there on Wednesday night for $15.99 with the only exception being found at the grill area. Wednesday night is Prime Rib Night with full Prime Ribs of Beef cut to your order. The Prime Rib is featured on two of the grill areas. On Wednesday afternoon at lunch you are not going to get Prime Rib, however, there was a lot to be found on the two grills. There was beef brisket being carved, there were hot dogs, Angus beef burgers and cheeseburgers, and marinated chicken breasts all being grilled, along with pizza at the grill station.
Now you might say that those grill items sound like lunch menu items, but when you get to the hot servers you will find all of the same hot meats and dishes that are found at dinner. There are four different soups. There is the extensive salad bar and prepared salads on the cold servers. Also found at the salad bar were small, cold shrimp. Meats included fried , really "broasted", chicken - if you can tell the difference from "fried", sliced beef in gravy, turkey, roast pork, bbq ribs, chicken croquettes, and fried shrimp along with a number of others. Then there are the area specialty dishes - pigs stomach (ok, I always had an aversion toward this too until I tried it recently - it is made into a sausage and served in bread stuffing (here called "filling") - it is really good), pork with sauerkraut, and chicken bot pie (pot pie with dumplings and no crust - Wonderful!). Of course, you can't have meat with out great side dishes and there are many, many side dishes of vegetables, potatoes, and noodles to choose from. There were very crispy french fries, au gratin potatoes, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, plus dishes with potatoes in them. There are buttered noodles and macaroni and cheese. There were so many different types of vegetables and side dishes that I can't remember them all. There are local specialty side dishes as well including something locally called "Snitz and Knepp" which means in German - Dried Apples and Dumplings - which is simply what this is, a hot dish of dried apples cooked to a preserve-like consistency with large flour dumplings. Sweet and hearty! And remember this is the weekday lunch buffet!
Soft drinks are included in the price of the meal and there are both Coke and Pepsi sodas, three types of ice tea, flavored coffees, icys, coffee, tea, milk, chocolate milk, fruit juices, and fruit drinks. After all of this to eat and drink, would you like dessert?
The dessert areas have both hot and cold desserts, ice cream, cakes, puddings, pies, sugar free pies, and sugar free desserts. There were also several donuts left from the breakfast buffet earlier that morning - and I took a jelly donut at the same time that I took my salad - just to make sure that I had one. (There are lots of things that I don't usually eat - and should not eat. Well, jelly donuts are on that list - but I could not resist!). I have to tell you that this jelly donut was not just filled with a bit of jelly but the entire donut was overflowing with cherry jelly filling that you could eat from the center with a spoon. Oh my!
There is nothing negative to say in any way. Everything is clean. The food is excellent. The service staff are friendly and do their jobs well.
One thing to remember at Shady Maple is to look down both directions of the buffet servers - while there are many items repeated on both sides there are also many items that are only found on one side or the other - increasing your selections!
So, if you can't get to Shady Maple for dinner, try lunch! And if it is your birthday - lunch or dinner - your meal is FREE! (If you go there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on your birthday - all three would be free!) If you can manage to move about after this meal, go downstairs to the huge gift shop for some interesting and fun finds.
Shady Maple Smorgasbord is located at 129 Toddy Drive in East Earl, PA. Take Route 23 East or Route 322 South to get to the restaurant. The phone numbers are 1-800-238-7363 and 717-354-8222. There is a website and it is listed at the side of this page. Shady Maple is always closed on Sundays and it closes for a few holidays including Memorial Day and Labor Day. Closing is 8:00 pm - and the restaurant opens at 5:00 am (this is farm country!).
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