Old Country Buffet rarely has featured menus any longer. They used to have them a lot but that stopped several years ago. They have just started a feature - "Shrimp - Five Ways!" Oh yes, I supposed to compete with Golden Corral's Pan Seared Seafood feature, OCB had brought back their worst feature selection - "shrimp, shrimp, shrimp".
I like shrimp. I eat a lot of shrimp. But what is the big deal about a feature that puts the usual buffet shrimp out and call it a feature. This feature offers popcorn shrimp, butterfly shrimp, shrimp scampi over pasta, and two new shrimp dishes coconut shrimp and buffalo shrimp. OCB has no mention of this feature on their website or their Facebook page, but there was a big sign at the restaurant and they did send out an email about it.
The popcorn shrimp, the shrimp scampi, and the butterfly shrimp are regularly on the OCB buffet. The buffalo shrimp is just like the regularly served buffalo chicken poppers which is a buffalo wings bread coating this time on fried shrimp. If you like spicy then you will like this. If you like fried shrimp then you will like the butterfly shrimp. The popcorn shrimp is mostly breading. The coconut shrimp was interesting but it just was a coconut flavored batter on fried shrimp. There were no bits of coconut. It tasted like eating fried shrimp with a coconut cookie at the same time. All of the featured shrimp is fried with the exception of the scampi which is in a heavy butter (or butter-like) sauce with garlic.
In the past OCB had great features. The best would come out each summer and be around for July and August. It was a barbecue feature and it had real good, fall off the bone BBQ baby back ribs, beef brisket, their well known and no longer to be found beef ribs, and smoked sausage. This was their best feature. They don't bring it back any longer. Pity.
If you love shrimp, there are probably better buffets to go to. I can think of several Asian buffets that offer so much better shrimp dishes. If you are going to OCB and you like shrimp, then you will probably be happy with this new feature.
The feature is only with dinner and will be there for an undisclosed limited time.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Pan Seared Seafood at Golden Corral - New Feature
I was near Philadelphia, PA on business and decided that I would go back to the Golden Corral in Bensalem, PA and look closely over the dessert selections so that I could tell the readers who were disappointed in my last Golden Corral article that I did not make a big deal about the dessert selections there all about what you will find at Golden Corral for dessert. I also was looking forward to enjoying their rib feature again. It is very rare that I am somewhere that has a Golden Corral restaurant.
We got to the Golden Corral and to my surprise - and at first, disappointment that the rib feature had ended - and this was the first day of a new feature - Pan Seared Seafood - made to order at the grill. Interesting... Well, I would have more to write about.
I am not going to go into the details of this buffet or the location. I did that in my last article just a short time ago. You can read all about it there. What I do want to tell you about is this new feature - and like all other features at Golden Corral it is only at the restaurants for a limited time. And this feature is with dinner only. It is not available at lunch. This is an unusual feature as it is based completely at the grill and each dish is made to order for you. There are nine choices - and here is how it works (according to the sign at the grill). First, you select your fish - shrimp, scallops, or talapia fish. Next you select your "base" - what the fish will sit upon. You have a choice of white rice, linguine, or mixed sauteed vegetables. Finally, you select your sauce - and there are three of those - scampi sauce, spicy Alfredo sauce, or lemon picata. You step up to the grill - where the steaks are cooked and tell the chef your choices. The chef has three pans of seafood bubbling away next to him on the grill - shrimp, scallops, and talapia. The chef then takes a scoop of ONE of the seafood - shrimp, scallops, or talapia - BUT NOT a combination of them - "ONLY ONE" - and places it into another dry fry pan on the griddle and adds a bit of liquid butter or butter like sauce. The chef then lets your order saute. There are places for two pans to cook at the same time - so expect a bit of a wait if there is a crowd. While your seafood is "pan searing" you are asked what base and what sauce. You can leave any of these out if you wish. Why did I emphasize above ONLY ONE - because I made the mistake of asking for shrimp and scallops and was told rather firmly that you can have only one at a time and if you want more you need to come back. Again, this was the first day and the two chefs who were alternately working this new feature at the grill were both commenting that this was all new to them and they were not quite getting the process easily down yet. So perhaps, this only one business was just the rule of this chef to avoid his confusion - and then again, maybe not.
I went up to see what I would like to try on this new feature. I had decided on shrimp and scallops and as you see, that idea was shot down pretty quickly so I said that I wanted scallops. I did not want linguine right then. I have a problem eating rice. And when I looked at the tray of sauteed vegetables they looked extremely oily in the pan. I decided at that point that I would pass on those. I had thought that I would put my own sauce on top. The rice, linguine, mixed vegetables, and all three sauces are in the serving trays that face out to the public on the serving counter next to the grill and have serving utensils like all of the other buffet trays. In fact I was surprised that the chef had to assemble this all for you as I figured that you could get the seafood and assemble it yourself - BUT NO - the chef, here at least on this first night, had to do it all for you. I had thought that I would take my own sauce and try the lemon picata, but I had already had been handed the plate with several "seared" scallops and I did not dare touch the sauce spoon. :) By this time the spicy Alfredo sauce had run out - it must have been very popular as our server at our table had recommended that we try it. My first thought as I walked away from the grill with my plate was "Too many rules with this feature". What is the difference if you have one or all three seafood selections at the same time - it is a buffet and you will take more anyway. What is the difference if you take the "base" or sauce yourself- it is easily accessible from the front of the counter in serving trays situated to serve yourself as with all of the other buffet trays.
I got a few other things from the buffet to add to the scallops and went back to the table. They were fine. What had gone into the pan as scallops a little bigger than the size of a nickel came out smaller than the size of a dime. There were maybe nine or ten. They were not the best scallops that I have ever had but they were not bad.
Later, I went back to try the shrimp. As I walked up to the grill I decided that I would try it this time all the way - shrimp, sauteed vegetables - oily and all, and lemon picata sauce. When it was my turn to order, the same chef said to me "I know you only want the seafood - nothing else." I told him that this time I would try it all and he seemed delighted. He seared a pan of about eight small shrimp, scooped some of the mixed vegetables onto my plate and then spooned the lemon picata sauce on top of the vegetables. This was what he did with all of the sauces - they went on before the seafood despite the pictures on the wall showing the seafood and the "base" covered in sauce. I took my plate back to the table.
I have to tell you that this combination was very good. The lemon picata sauce had capers in it. The mixed vegetables were artichoke heart leaves, red peppers, and zucchini. All together they blended in a great tasting dish. I was impressed. This was probably one of the better tasting seafood dishes that I have had at any buffet. I went back again to do the same thing all over again but this time with scallops.
OK - for those who keep saying how can I eat so much - I don't eat so much. The serving size of these featured dishes are about the size of a typical side dish serving. You are not getting a plateful with this. When I eat at buffets, I eat a sampling of things - not whole portions. This feature is portioned out by the chef and he is not filling your plate. You can always go back for more.
Anyway, the scallops were just as good with the vegetable and lemon picata sauce as the shrimp - perhaps even better! I did not try the scampi sauce - it is garlic and butter and not different from any other scampi sauce. There was no more spicy Alfredo sauce. And I did not try the talapia. I have to tell you a little that I know about talapia. It is popular in restaurants because it is a mild tasting white flaky fish that is a less expensive substitute for flounder. What I have read - and don't debate me on this if you think differently - is that FARM raised talapia does not have the same omega health benefits as other fish and what it does have for some reason, some how takes away the benefits from you that other healthy types of fish give you. I like talapia. I used to order it a lot. I don't order it often any longer because of what I have read about it. Here is just one such article. I did not write it - I am just passing the information along.
Before I go on to the desserts, I give the new feature at Golden Corral a BIG thumbs up!
Now, the desserts. I wish that I could tell you that they had wonderful desserts at Golden Corral, but there really was nothing here worth boasting about. The best of the desserts was the soft ice cream and sundae bar and if you are into sundaes or ice cream cones, then there is a nice selection of four flavors (two machines) and a lot of sauces and toppings. As to cakes - there were two cakes - carrot cake and what they called German chocolate cake. German Chocolate cake usually has a light chocolate frosting - theirs had a hard dark chocolate frosting. There was also a sugar free Mocha cake. There was blueberry pie and the sign said apple pie but no apple pie was to be seen. There were chocolate covered macaroons. There was a fruit filled cookie bar and a chocolate filled cookie bar. There was diet chocolate pudding and diet jello. There were three different hot fruit cobblers and one overly gooey chocolate cobbler - the fruit cobblers were more appealing. There was a sign that said vanilla cupcakes and I have had Golden Corral's cupcakes in the past and they generally are good. There was also a banana pudding. Nothing looked wonderful- except the ice cream.
I went over to the salad bar to look for fresh fruit. Behind the salad bar is a whole display of fresh oranges, lemons, and watermelons. There were no oranges on the buffet server and the watermelon server was empty. A young boy came up looking for watermelon and asked the man behind the counter for some. One piece was placed into the serving bowl for him - and that was it. Others came up looking for it, now found no one to ask, and walked away.
A few don't believe me when I say that so often the desserts are not worth telling you about - and when there are great desserts you hear it from me. If you go to Golden Corral for the desserts you are going to be disappointed.
Before I close, I want to comment about the choices at Golden Corral and I like Golden Corral very much - it may just be the best of the remaining chain buffet restaurants. There is not a lot of choices at Golden Corral if you want to eat plain or low fat. Most vegetables are seasoned or are in some form of sauce. The meats are beef, pork, or chicken - and only the rotisserie chicken and the cold chicken breast strips on the salad bar are not fried or highly seasoned. There are no carvings. There were at one time but not any more. This is a high fat selection buffet. My wife does not like Golden Corral because it is hard for her to choose what to eat there. She does eat low fat and likes plain things. She winds up eating the cold chicken from the salad bar and salad selections for most of her meal. So if you are not a meat eater and you are one who wants to eat lower fat foods this is not the place for you. Even this new feature has butter in everything and the seafood was cooked twice in butter (or some type of butter sauce).
So - pan seared seafood feature - Yeah!
Desserts - hardly worth the calories.
We got to the Golden Corral and to my surprise - and at first, disappointment that the rib feature had ended - and this was the first day of a new feature - Pan Seared Seafood - made to order at the grill. Interesting... Well, I would have more to write about.
I am not going to go into the details of this buffet or the location. I did that in my last article just a short time ago. You can read all about it there. What I do want to tell you about is this new feature - and like all other features at Golden Corral it is only at the restaurants for a limited time. And this feature is with dinner only. It is not available at lunch. This is an unusual feature as it is based completely at the grill and each dish is made to order for you. There are nine choices - and here is how it works (according to the sign at the grill). First, you select your fish - shrimp, scallops, or talapia fish. Next you select your "base" - what the fish will sit upon. You have a choice of white rice, linguine, or mixed sauteed vegetables. Finally, you select your sauce - and there are three of those - scampi sauce, spicy Alfredo sauce, or lemon picata. You step up to the grill - where the steaks are cooked and tell the chef your choices. The chef has three pans of seafood bubbling away next to him on the grill - shrimp, scallops, and talapia. The chef then takes a scoop of ONE of the seafood - shrimp, scallops, or talapia - BUT NOT a combination of them - "ONLY ONE" - and places it into another dry fry pan on the griddle and adds a bit of liquid butter or butter like sauce. The chef then lets your order saute. There are places for two pans to cook at the same time - so expect a bit of a wait if there is a crowd. While your seafood is "pan searing" you are asked what base and what sauce. You can leave any of these out if you wish. Why did I emphasize above ONLY ONE - because I made the mistake of asking for shrimp and scallops and was told rather firmly that you can have only one at a time and if you want more you need to come back. Again, this was the first day and the two chefs who were alternately working this new feature at the grill were both commenting that this was all new to them and they were not quite getting the process easily down yet. So perhaps, this only one business was just the rule of this chef to avoid his confusion - and then again, maybe not.
I went up to see what I would like to try on this new feature. I had decided on shrimp and scallops and as you see, that idea was shot down pretty quickly so I said that I wanted scallops. I did not want linguine right then. I have a problem eating rice. And when I looked at the tray of sauteed vegetables they looked extremely oily in the pan. I decided at that point that I would pass on those. I had thought that I would put my own sauce on top. The rice, linguine, mixed vegetables, and all three sauces are in the serving trays that face out to the public on the serving counter next to the grill and have serving utensils like all of the other buffet trays. In fact I was surprised that the chef had to assemble this all for you as I figured that you could get the seafood and assemble it yourself - BUT NO - the chef, here at least on this first night, had to do it all for you. I had thought that I would take my own sauce and try the lemon picata, but I had already had been handed the plate with several "seared" scallops and I did not dare touch the sauce spoon. :) By this time the spicy Alfredo sauce had run out - it must have been very popular as our server at our table had recommended that we try it. My first thought as I walked away from the grill with my plate was "Too many rules with this feature". What is the difference if you have one or all three seafood selections at the same time - it is a buffet and you will take more anyway. What is the difference if you take the "base" or sauce yourself- it is easily accessible from the front of the counter in serving trays situated to serve yourself as with all of the other buffet trays.
I got a few other things from the buffet to add to the scallops and went back to the table. They were fine. What had gone into the pan as scallops a little bigger than the size of a nickel came out smaller than the size of a dime. There were maybe nine or ten. They were not the best scallops that I have ever had but they were not bad.
Later, I went back to try the shrimp. As I walked up to the grill I decided that I would try it this time all the way - shrimp, sauteed vegetables - oily and all, and lemon picata sauce. When it was my turn to order, the same chef said to me "I know you only want the seafood - nothing else." I told him that this time I would try it all and he seemed delighted. He seared a pan of about eight small shrimp, scooped some of the mixed vegetables onto my plate and then spooned the lemon picata sauce on top of the vegetables. This was what he did with all of the sauces - they went on before the seafood despite the pictures on the wall showing the seafood and the "base" covered in sauce. I took my plate back to the table.
I have to tell you that this combination was very good. The lemon picata sauce had capers in it. The mixed vegetables were artichoke heart leaves, red peppers, and zucchini. All together they blended in a great tasting dish. I was impressed. This was probably one of the better tasting seafood dishes that I have had at any buffet. I went back again to do the same thing all over again but this time with scallops.
OK - for those who keep saying how can I eat so much - I don't eat so much. The serving size of these featured dishes are about the size of a typical side dish serving. You are not getting a plateful with this. When I eat at buffets, I eat a sampling of things - not whole portions. This feature is portioned out by the chef and he is not filling your plate. You can always go back for more.
Anyway, the scallops were just as good with the vegetable and lemon picata sauce as the shrimp - perhaps even better! I did not try the scampi sauce - it is garlic and butter and not different from any other scampi sauce. There was no more spicy Alfredo sauce. And I did not try the talapia. I have to tell you a little that I know about talapia. It is popular in restaurants because it is a mild tasting white flaky fish that is a less expensive substitute for flounder. What I have read - and don't debate me on this if you think differently - is that FARM raised talapia does not have the same omega health benefits as other fish and what it does have for some reason, some how takes away the benefits from you that other healthy types of fish give you. I like talapia. I used to order it a lot. I don't order it often any longer because of what I have read about it. Here is just one such article. I did not write it - I am just passing the information along.
Before I go on to the desserts, I give the new feature at Golden Corral a BIG thumbs up!
Now, the desserts. I wish that I could tell you that they had wonderful desserts at Golden Corral, but there really was nothing here worth boasting about. The best of the desserts was the soft ice cream and sundae bar and if you are into sundaes or ice cream cones, then there is a nice selection of four flavors (two machines) and a lot of sauces and toppings. As to cakes - there were two cakes - carrot cake and what they called German chocolate cake. German Chocolate cake usually has a light chocolate frosting - theirs had a hard dark chocolate frosting. There was also a sugar free Mocha cake. There was blueberry pie and the sign said apple pie but no apple pie was to be seen. There were chocolate covered macaroons. There was a fruit filled cookie bar and a chocolate filled cookie bar. There was diet chocolate pudding and diet jello. There were three different hot fruit cobblers and one overly gooey chocolate cobbler - the fruit cobblers were more appealing. There was a sign that said vanilla cupcakes and I have had Golden Corral's cupcakes in the past and they generally are good. There was also a banana pudding. Nothing looked wonderful- except the ice cream.
I went over to the salad bar to look for fresh fruit. Behind the salad bar is a whole display of fresh oranges, lemons, and watermelons. There were no oranges on the buffet server and the watermelon server was empty. A young boy came up looking for watermelon and asked the man behind the counter for some. One piece was placed into the serving bowl for him - and that was it. Others came up looking for it, now found no one to ask, and walked away.
A few don't believe me when I say that so often the desserts are not worth telling you about - and when there are great desserts you hear it from me. If you go to Golden Corral for the desserts you are going to be disappointed.
Before I close, I want to comment about the choices at Golden Corral and I like Golden Corral very much - it may just be the best of the remaining chain buffet restaurants. There is not a lot of choices at Golden Corral if you want to eat plain or low fat. Most vegetables are seasoned or are in some form of sauce. The meats are beef, pork, or chicken - and only the rotisserie chicken and the cold chicken breast strips on the salad bar are not fried or highly seasoned. There are no carvings. There were at one time but not any more. This is a high fat selection buffet. My wife does not like Golden Corral because it is hard for her to choose what to eat there. She does eat low fat and likes plain things. She winds up eating the cold chicken from the salad bar and salad selections for most of her meal. So if you are not a meat eater and you are one who wants to eat lower fat foods this is not the place for you. Even this new feature has butter in everything and the seafood was cooked twice in butter (or some type of butter sauce).
So - pan seared seafood feature - Yeah!
Desserts - hardly worth the calories.
Friday, July 08, 2011
A Tale of Father's Day at OCB
I picked this up from the Old Country Buffet Facebook page and had experienced it myself. This took place the week leading up to Father's Day this year.
I don't expect anything really special at OCB for holidays and they usually put out the usual Sunday menu which consists of turkey, ham, and roast beef carvings, two pasta dishes, and then all of the usual sides, desserts, etc. (if you don't know what the usuals are at OCB then see some of my other OCB articles). And really, this is fine. But this year, OCB started to make a big deal about Father's Day on both Facebook and their emails. In fact they sent out an email to everyone on their email list several days before Father's Day talking about coming to OCB for Father's Day and then in the middle of the promo ad they wrote "Offer good only on June 19". This is what they put on coupons but there was no coupon there. What offer? What did this mean? This started a big stir on the OCB Facebook page with everyone wanting to know what the offer was - and where was the coupon? As I have recently written - everyone on the OCB Fan page clamors for coupons. I can understand not putting out a coupon for a holiday meal. It would overwhelm a potentially over crowded restaurant on a holiday - and the idea of a coupon is to bring in business when you generally don't expect to get a lot of business. So no coupon was no surprise. But what offer on this cryptic email promo was a big question.
Someone at OCB management - actually Buffets Inc. - must have realized the blunder because the next day another email went out that basically said - we goofed, there is no offer - just come and enjoy Father's Day with us. Ok - if it just stopped there.
What followed was another OCB posted Facebook thread - a poll - saying "
I don't expect anything really special at OCB for holidays and they usually put out the usual Sunday menu which consists of turkey, ham, and roast beef carvings, two pasta dishes, and then all of the usual sides, desserts, etc. (if you don't know what the usuals are at OCB then see some of my other OCB articles). And really, this is fine. But this year, OCB started to make a big deal about Father's Day on both Facebook and their emails. In fact they sent out an email to everyone on their email list several days before Father's Day talking about coming to OCB for Father's Day and then in the middle of the promo ad they wrote "Offer good only on June 19". This is what they put on coupons but there was no coupon there. What offer? What did this mean? This started a big stir on the OCB Facebook page with everyone wanting to know what the offer was - and where was the coupon? As I have recently written - everyone on the OCB Fan page clamors for coupons. I can understand not putting out a coupon for a holiday meal. It would overwhelm a potentially over crowded restaurant on a holiday - and the idea of a coupon is to bring in business when you generally don't expect to get a lot of business. So no coupon was no surprise. But what offer on this cryptic email promo was a big question.
Someone at OCB management - actually Buffets Inc. - must have realized the blunder because the next day another email went out that basically said - we goofed, there is no offer - just come and enjoy Father's Day with us. Ok - if it just stopped there.
What followed was another OCB posted Facebook thread - a poll - saying "
Friday, July 01, 2011
Skylon Tower Summit Suite Buffet Dining Room, Niagara Falls, Canada
The Skylon Tower restaurant offers a buffet with probably one of the most magnificent views in the world. Let me tell you right now that I have not been to this buffet - I cannot review the quality or taste of the food. As I often do, I want to share with you an unusual buffet experience - even if I have not been able to dine there.
I learned about this buffet from several people who have been to it and said how good it is. A comment was also made that it is expensive - and looking into it - yes, it is. The buffet costs $39.99 Canadian Dollars per adult and $15.00 per child for dinner. Lunch is $27.50 and $12.50 for children. So we shall set aside the price and concentrate on what you are getting - because not only are you having what I have been told is a fine buffet meal but you are also sitting in a restaurant up in the air on a tower that overlooks Niagara Falls. That alone has all buffets beat for atmosphere. There is a menu restaurant that revolves on Skylon Tower also. I do not believe that the buffet restaurant revolves - so if a revolving restaurant is not something you would enjoy (I know I would not) then give them a call before you go to make sure that the buffet restaurant is stationary and does not go around and around, no matter how slowly...
The dinner is served from 5 to 10 pm in "season". This generally means June to August, maybe September. All other times of the year there is a buffet brunch on Sundays.
The dinner includes a salad bar with mixed greens and salad toppings, a selection of prepared salads, mixed seafood salads, and Marinated Gravelax. Entrees on the buffet are Whole Poached Fresh Salmon, Crab Legs, Baby Shrimp with Seafood Sauce, Roast Prime Rib of Beef au Jus, a changing chicken entree, a pasta entree, rice pilaf, roasted potatoes, and assorted fresh vegetables.
On the dessert table there are assorted cheeses (this is very continental to have cheese for dessert), fresh fruit salad, fresh strawberries, and assorted cakes and pastries. I can't be more specific as I have not been there.
The beverage that is included with the buffet is coffee, tea, or milk. No unlimited sodas here.
The lunch buffet is exactly the same as the dinner offerings at the lower price and is served from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm.
With dinner you get free admission to the Skylon Tower attraction and also free admission to the indoor and outdoor observation decks. These have separate admissions to the general public so if you were planning on seeing this attraction on the Canadian side of the Falls then your dinner or lunch buffet is more reasonably priced as it includes those admissions.
Reservations are recommended and you can make them on their website which is listed at the side of this page.
The Summit Suite Buffet Dining Room is located in the Skylon Tower, 5200 Robinson Street, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada L2G 2A3 Phone 1-905-356-2651 and Toll Free in North America 1-877-4SKYLON (1-877-475-9566).
If any of our readers have dined here, please comment.
I learned about this buffet from several people who have been to it and said how good it is. A comment was also made that it is expensive - and looking into it - yes, it is. The buffet costs $39.99 Canadian Dollars per adult and $15.00 per child for dinner. Lunch is $27.50 and $12.50 for children. So we shall set aside the price and concentrate on what you are getting - because not only are you having what I have been told is a fine buffet meal but you are also sitting in a restaurant up in the air on a tower that overlooks Niagara Falls. That alone has all buffets beat for atmosphere. There is a menu restaurant that revolves on Skylon Tower also. I do not believe that the buffet restaurant revolves - so if a revolving restaurant is not something you would enjoy (I know I would not) then give them a call before you go to make sure that the buffet restaurant is stationary and does not go around and around, no matter how slowly...
The dinner is served from 5 to 10 pm in "season". This generally means June to August, maybe September. All other times of the year there is a buffet brunch on Sundays.
The dinner includes a salad bar with mixed greens and salad toppings, a selection of prepared salads, mixed seafood salads, and Marinated Gravelax. Entrees on the buffet are Whole Poached Fresh Salmon, Crab Legs, Baby Shrimp with Seafood Sauce, Roast Prime Rib of Beef au Jus, a changing chicken entree, a pasta entree, rice pilaf, roasted potatoes, and assorted fresh vegetables.
On the dessert table there are assorted cheeses (this is very continental to have cheese for dessert), fresh fruit salad, fresh strawberries, and assorted cakes and pastries. I can't be more specific as I have not been there.
The beverage that is included with the buffet is coffee, tea, or milk. No unlimited sodas here.
The lunch buffet is exactly the same as the dinner offerings at the lower price and is served from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm.
With dinner you get free admission to the Skylon Tower attraction and also free admission to the indoor and outdoor observation decks. These have separate admissions to the general public so if you were planning on seeing this attraction on the Canadian side of the Falls then your dinner or lunch buffet is more reasonably priced as it includes those admissions.
Reservations are recommended and you can make them on their website which is listed at the side of this page.
The Summit Suite Buffet Dining Room is located in the Skylon Tower, 5200 Robinson Street, Niagara Falls, ON, Canada L2G 2A3 Phone 1-905-356-2651 and Toll Free in North America 1-877-4SKYLON (1-877-475-9566).
If any of our readers have dined here, please comment.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Old Country Buffet on Facebook
Old Country Buffet has a "fan" page on Facebook. This should not be a surprise as all of the buffet chains have Facebook pages and many independent buffets have Facebook pages. What is interesting about the Old Country Buffet page are the comments that get posted by those who are fans and those who are not such good fans.
This is the only Facebook "fan" page that I have come across with a stipulation posted on one of the page's called "House Rules". Here is what it says: (the bold text is right from there)
"BUFFETS, INC.
This is the only Facebook "fan" page that I have come across with a stipulation posted on one of the page's called "House Rules". Here is what it says: (the bold text is right from there)
"BUFFETS, INC.
FACEBOOK "HOUSE RULES"
Welcome to the Old Country Buffet® Fan Page. We love connecting with our guests through Facebook and encourage you to post comments, photos, videos, and links here. However, we review all comments, and when necessary, remove anything that we find inappropriate or offensive.
In other words, play nice!
All users must comply with Facebook's Terms of Use. Additionally, users may not post, and Buffets, Inc. may remove, any comments or materials that:
- Defame, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights of others.
- Publish, post, distribute or disseminate any defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, misleading or unlawful material or information.
- Upload or attach files that contain software or other material protected by intellectual property laws (or by rights of privacy of publicity), unless the user owns or controls the rights thereto or has received all necessary consents.
- Upload or attach files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another's computer.
- Delete any author attributions, legal notices or proprietary marks or symbols.
- Falsify the origin or source of software or other material.
Finally, comments posted to this Page by users do not represent the opinions of, and do not constitute representations by, Buffets, Inc., or any of its parent companies or subsidiaries, or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, or agents."
Why would a "fan" page need such rules? Because the people who "fan" this page are the people who seem to love to hate Old Country Buffet - and they make that known every chance that they get. There are constant comments about how bad OCB is. There are a few who counter this with "I love OCB" but those are in the minority. And if OCB really is moderating the comments, given what appears on the site, I can only imagine what the ones that they take off say. Are the comments justified? Sometimes, yes, they are but many are not - at least they seem to have been left with no reason other than to be vindictive.
There is an old joke - Two old women are talking about a restaurant and one says to the other, "The food was terrible at that restaurant - the food was absolutely disgusting." And the friend answers, "Yes, that's right - and such small portions!" This is the way many of the comments go on the Old Country Buffet Facebook page. You will get a comment such as - "The food is terrible at your buffet - And how come you are not giving any free coupons this week?"
The pursuit of coupons on the OCB Facebook page is constant. People continually ask for coupons for buy one get one meals or dollars off a meal. On a not so regular basis, OCB does have coupons on their Facebook page for their fans to print out. These are in addition to those that they email to those on their email list. Some of the ones on Facebook are better than the offers that are emailed such as the buy one get one coupons. But people do not seem to understand that coupons are a marketing strategy to bring in customers when there would normally be slower business. There were no coupons given for Mother's Day and people on this Facebook page were outraged! Mother's Day is a day that restaurants generally have good business and there is no need to do anything special to bring in business - certainly not issue a coupon. But the never ending pursuit for coupons goes on. Hey, I like coupons too - and I print them out whenever they are offered - but I understand why they would not be giving it all away every day.
These are probably the most negative fans that I have seen on a fan page. OCB will answer some of the complaints - generally by saying that the person should report the problem to them on the comment form on their regular website. Sometimes - when there is a detailed complaint - naming the restaurant location, the date, and exactly what happened and was wrong - they still give that same stock answer to use the form, when they should be acknowledging that they have the details and will look into it. Even if there is a service running this page for OCB, they still could report the details to those who can do "something". (An aside - the comment form on their website is pretty much useless - they will take your complaint and forward it to the manager of the restaurant who generally was involved in the complaint to start with - and it then goes nowhere. This from experience.)
Well, it is an experience. Check it out - and they will have some coupons there - just be patient!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Tipping at Buffets
Through observation I have found that many people at buffet restaurants do not leave a tip on their table when they leave. These are people that would not think twice about tipping the waitress at a menu restaurant, tipping a cab driver, or tipping the guy who wheels your suitcases up to your room at a hotel. For some reason they do not think that they should leave a tip at a buffet.
Some buffets add the tip to the bill automatically and usually that is around 12%. Our favorite buffet - Shady Maple - does this. When you pay for your meal in advance the tip is included. This is not only because you are paying in advance, but because they are making sure that their service staff are getting a tip.
Why don't people leave a tip at a buffet? The most common answer that I hear is that because you are serving yourself, why should you leave a tip for the person who is assigned to your table - "they are not doing anything".
Actually, the wait person at your table is doing a lot - and generally much more than the waiter or waitress at the menu restaurant. Not saying anything about the job of waiters and waitresses - as I know this can be a very hard job (according to Woody Allen it is the worst job in the world). However, where the waiter or waitress comes to your table to take your order and then comes back and serves the plates to your table, the service person for your table at the buffet must come to your table regularly and take away your empty plates. In many buffets that person also must come and check on your drinks and bring you refills when you want them. They are actually working for you a lot more - AS LONG AS THEY ARE DOING THEIR JOB.
Hey - why did you just say that? I want to make it very clear that tips should not be just expected. They are not a given. Though many just expect that they will be given the full tip no matter what the quality of the service. Your tip is supposed to be your reward to the server for good service. Unfortunately, restaurants including buffets have made tips a part of salary and pay a lower salary with the expectation that a more compensating salary will be reached with the addition of tips - and frankly, between you and me - this is not right. This has also led to pooling of tips so that an equal distribution of wages can be made to the employees - and for some this is necessary to bring them to or just above the minimum wage requirements. But still - if you feel that you did not receive good service - or service at the level that was expected by you - you should either not leave a tip or leave less of a tip. (I tend to leave less of a tip in these infrequent situations - to indicate that I did not "forget" to leave a tip, but I was not satisfied with the service that I received - and then also let a manager know how the service was.
So, how much of a tip should you leave at a buffet? This can vary by the type of buffet. If you are at a high end buffet - one at a fancy hotel or at a restaurant that is considered "a cut above" you might leave a higher percentage than you might at one of the chain buffets. Generally, 12% is a fair tip at most buffets. I take this number as it is the same percentage that is most often added on when the tip is included when you pay. At some buffets I leave a little less and at others I leave more. If I feel that the service was very good I leave more. And if I feel that the service was not good at all - well, I told you what I do then above.
Bottom line - you should be tipping the server at your table at a buffet. Whether that tip is pooled or not - and that, as I said, is generally what is going to happen, that server represented the others working there for that meal for you.
Some buffets add the tip to the bill automatically and usually that is around 12%. Our favorite buffet - Shady Maple - does this. When you pay for your meal in advance the tip is included. This is not only because you are paying in advance, but because they are making sure that their service staff are getting a tip.
Why don't people leave a tip at a buffet? The most common answer that I hear is that because you are serving yourself, why should you leave a tip for the person who is assigned to your table - "they are not doing anything".
Actually, the wait person at your table is doing a lot - and generally much more than the waiter or waitress at the menu restaurant. Not saying anything about the job of waiters and waitresses - as I know this can be a very hard job (according to Woody Allen it is the worst job in the world). However, where the waiter or waitress comes to your table to take your order and then comes back and serves the plates to your table, the service person for your table at the buffet must come to your table regularly and take away your empty plates. In many buffets that person also must come and check on your drinks and bring you refills when you want them. They are actually working for you a lot more - AS LONG AS THEY ARE DOING THEIR JOB.
Hey - why did you just say that? I want to make it very clear that tips should not be just expected. They are not a given. Though many just expect that they will be given the full tip no matter what the quality of the service. Your tip is supposed to be your reward to the server for good service. Unfortunately, restaurants including buffets have made tips a part of salary and pay a lower salary with the expectation that a more compensating salary will be reached with the addition of tips - and frankly, between you and me - this is not right. This has also led to pooling of tips so that an equal distribution of wages can be made to the employees - and for some this is necessary to bring them to or just above the minimum wage requirements. But still - if you feel that you did not receive good service - or service at the level that was expected by you - you should either not leave a tip or leave less of a tip. (I tend to leave less of a tip in these infrequent situations - to indicate that I did not "forget" to leave a tip, but I was not satisfied with the service that I received - and then also let a manager know how the service was.
So, how much of a tip should you leave at a buffet? This can vary by the type of buffet. If you are at a high end buffet - one at a fancy hotel or at a restaurant that is considered "a cut above" you might leave a higher percentage than you might at one of the chain buffets. Generally, 12% is a fair tip at most buffets. I take this number as it is the same percentage that is most often added on when the tip is included when you pay. At some buffets I leave a little less and at others I leave more. If I feel that the service was very good I leave more. And if I feel that the service was not good at all - well, I told you what I do then above.
Bottom line - you should be tipping the server at your table at a buffet. Whether that tip is pooled or not - and that, as I said, is generally what is going to happen, that server represented the others working there for that meal for you.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Desserts at Buffets
I have recently had readers ask me to be more descriptive of the dessert offerings at buffets. The problem is that desserts at many of the buffets are not much to write about. Now, that is not to say that there are some buffets with fabulous dessert offerings, but these are few and far between.
I have been to many buffets and over the years I have written about a few buffets that offer a great variety of good desserts. Just about every buffet in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has a decent dessert bar included with their buffet. This is the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country and the Amish and the Mennonites are known for specialty desserts among which are Shoo Fly Pie, Apple Dumplings, Cracker Pudding, Funeral Pie (raisin pie), Funny Cake, and more. Of these you will find Shoo Fly Pie in each of the buffets in the area. The other desserts mentioned will be found at various times at various buffets. Shoo Fly Pie is a pie shell filled with a wet and gooey mixture of molasses and table syrup (sugar syrup or corn syrup) that is thickened and poured into the shell. That is then covered with cake crumbs. The traditionally favorite of Shoo Fly Pie is called wet bottom and that means that the molasses syrup mixture is moist. It has been a long time since I have seen dry bottom Shoo Fly Pie - and never at a buffet. This version tends to be more cake-like at the bottom. As I say, you can go to any buffet in Lancaster and find Shoo Fly Pie. It is best served warm but few buffets do this. Top it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Another variation is Chocolate Shoo Fly Pie. This replaces the molasses with chocolate and is a real treat. The Bird in Hand Restaurant buffet has been known to serve this but don't expect to find it on every visit.
The Bird in Hand Restaurant has a dessert only buffet as an alternative to the full buffet and if you like to skip the "real" food that your mother wanted you to eat before you could have your dessert and get to the good stuff, you can go all you care to eat with desserts alone.
The ultimate dessert buffet is in Boston where you can have an entire meal of chocolate desserts. This has been featured in my article on Cafe Fleuri at the Langham Hotel. This is for the extreme dessert eater. I know I could not do it. I know that many do. And it is all done with elegance in one of Boston's top hotels.
The best dessert selection at a buffet that I have been to - and I have written about this several times - is at a small buffet in an out of the way town called Waynesboro in Pennsylvania. This is just above the Maryland border and the restaurant is called Mountain Gate Family Restaurant. The buffet at Mountain Gate is good and the food is American/Pennsylvania German. The desserts are given a section of the room all to themselves and there were more varieties of good cakes and pies than just about any other buffet that I have been to - and included with the buffet at a good price. There was nothing fancy here but the baking was good and there was just about every kind of pie and cake that one can think of. This is an out of the way place to go and there is little around it except a lot of nice scenery, but if one were on a trip to the meccas of dessert - this is the place to include. Of course, there was puddings, fruits, and ice cream, but with all of the things to try... well...
Casino buffets tend to go big on dessert offerings but they are not always so good. They may dazzle you with presentation, but the taste does not always stand up to the show. There are some that are very good. The two casinos in Connecticut - Mohegan Sun (with two buffets) and Foxwoods Casino - both have large and good dessert offerings. Both offer hot desserts and crepes filled with ice cream are the most tempting. Top that with syrups and whipped cream and eat it before it melts! At both you will find cheesecake, layer cakes, fruit pies, ice cream, pastries, and, of course, fresh fruit. While I have not been impressed by the taste of the Atlantic City casino buffets' desserts - I really can not say that any one of those have stood out and there are several casino buffets in the casinos in Atlantic City - the desserts at both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun deliver taste along with the presentation.
I wish that I could say that desserts are not to be missed at so many of the other buffets that I have written about and been to. When something stands out I do write about it - but too often they do not excel when it comes to dessert. The Chinese/Asian buffets are the worst when it comes to dessert and almost everyone - no matter where it is - serves the same or close to the same little, overly sweetened and commercially baked squares of cake. I have referred to these many times as the "Little Debbie" cakes. "Little Debbie" is a discount brand of snack cakes sold in supermarkets throughout the US. They are small squares of cake - and if you are in need of a sugar rush, well they fill that need quite well. The cakes at the Chinese buffets are just like that. And I have found out that they come from commercial, wholesale bakeries that cater to Chinese/Asian buffets. They are boxed sheet cakes that are cut into those little squares. I have yet to be at a Chinese/Asian buffet - all along the East Coast of the US that has not had these same cakes. Some of these cakes pretend to be something that they are not. If it says cheesecake it is yellow cake with a light spread of cheese and sugar on top. Not cheesecake.
I should note that the Japanese buffet chain - Minado (in NY and other locations) - does have hot crepes made to order with ice cream and toppings. They are good and a pleasant change from the sweet little cake squares that they also serve. Many Japanese buffets also serve green tea ice cream and that is something different to try. It is very refreshing after the meal.
Now, the chain buffets - Old Country Buffet, Ryans, and Golden Corral. Frankly, the desserts are not that great. At one time the desserts at Ryans were pretty good but since the take over by Buffets, Inc. that then turned Ryans into a carbon copy of the other buffet chain that it owns, Old Country Buffet, the desserts took a downturn. Golden Corral is not much different though I have on occasion have had a nice cupcake at Golden Corral. These are not always offered. There is always soft serve ice cream at all of them and with that a section of syrups, nuts, and candies to put on top. Golden Corral has fresh fruit - mostly melons of various types cut up and without syrup added. You will also find hot bread pudding at all three and some form of hot fruit cobbler - fruit filling in a pan with pie crust on top and kept hot in the steam server. At Old Country Buffet right next to the fruit cobbler you will find a hot chocolate dessert that is brownies mixed with hot chocolate syrup. While this sounds tempting, it is overly sweet. It is a good thing to mix in with vanilla ice cream. Do avoid the "haystacks" at OCB - these are canned Chinese snack noodles covered in chocolate and allowed to harden Not good at all though they look good and are tempting until you try one.
When the desserts merit talking about, I always talk about them. I just wish they were worth talking about more often. As I say, you really have to go out of your way to find a really good dessert selection at a buffet. The standard is fine to fill a sweet tooth and I know that many fill plates to the brim with more dessert than a family of six should eat together - and devour the whole thing, and if they enjoyed it then good. Keep in mind though that as I do with everything that I eat at buffets - take a small sample of what appeals to you and if you really want to, you can always go back and have a little more of what you really liked.
I have been to many buffets and over the years I have written about a few buffets that offer a great variety of good desserts. Just about every buffet in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has a decent dessert bar included with their buffet. This is the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country and the Amish and the Mennonites are known for specialty desserts among which are Shoo Fly Pie, Apple Dumplings, Cracker Pudding, Funeral Pie (raisin pie), Funny Cake, and more. Of these you will find Shoo Fly Pie in each of the buffets in the area. The other desserts mentioned will be found at various times at various buffets. Shoo Fly Pie is a pie shell filled with a wet and gooey mixture of molasses and table syrup (sugar syrup or corn syrup) that is thickened and poured into the shell. That is then covered with cake crumbs. The traditionally favorite of Shoo Fly Pie is called wet bottom and that means that the molasses syrup mixture is moist. It has been a long time since I have seen dry bottom Shoo Fly Pie - and never at a buffet. This version tends to be more cake-like at the bottom. As I say, you can go to any buffet in Lancaster and find Shoo Fly Pie. It is best served warm but few buffets do this. Top it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Another variation is Chocolate Shoo Fly Pie. This replaces the molasses with chocolate and is a real treat. The Bird in Hand Restaurant buffet has been known to serve this but don't expect to find it on every visit.
The Bird in Hand Restaurant has a dessert only buffet as an alternative to the full buffet and if you like to skip the "real" food that your mother wanted you to eat before you could have your dessert and get to the good stuff, you can go all you care to eat with desserts alone.
The ultimate dessert buffet is in Boston where you can have an entire meal of chocolate desserts. This has been featured in my article on Cafe Fleuri at the Langham Hotel. This is for the extreme dessert eater. I know I could not do it. I know that many do. And it is all done with elegance in one of Boston's top hotels.
The best dessert selection at a buffet that I have been to - and I have written about this several times - is at a small buffet in an out of the way town called Waynesboro in Pennsylvania. This is just above the Maryland border and the restaurant is called Mountain Gate Family Restaurant. The buffet at Mountain Gate is good and the food is American/Pennsylvania German. The desserts are given a section of the room all to themselves and there were more varieties of good cakes and pies than just about any other buffet that I have been to - and included with the buffet at a good price. There was nothing fancy here but the baking was good and there was just about every kind of pie and cake that one can think of. This is an out of the way place to go and there is little around it except a lot of nice scenery, but if one were on a trip to the meccas of dessert - this is the place to include. Of course, there was puddings, fruits, and ice cream, but with all of the things to try... well...
Casino buffets tend to go big on dessert offerings but they are not always so good. They may dazzle you with presentation, but the taste does not always stand up to the show. There are some that are very good. The two casinos in Connecticut - Mohegan Sun (with two buffets) and Foxwoods Casino - both have large and good dessert offerings. Both offer hot desserts and crepes filled with ice cream are the most tempting. Top that with syrups and whipped cream and eat it before it melts! At both you will find cheesecake, layer cakes, fruit pies, ice cream, pastries, and, of course, fresh fruit. While I have not been impressed by the taste of the Atlantic City casino buffets' desserts - I really can not say that any one of those have stood out and there are several casino buffets in the casinos in Atlantic City - the desserts at both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun deliver taste along with the presentation.
I wish that I could say that desserts are not to be missed at so many of the other buffets that I have written about and been to. When something stands out I do write about it - but too often they do not excel when it comes to dessert. The Chinese/Asian buffets are the worst when it comes to dessert and almost everyone - no matter where it is - serves the same or close to the same little, overly sweetened and commercially baked squares of cake. I have referred to these many times as the "Little Debbie" cakes. "Little Debbie" is a discount brand of snack cakes sold in supermarkets throughout the US. They are small squares of cake - and if you are in need of a sugar rush, well they fill that need quite well. The cakes at the Chinese buffets are just like that. And I have found out that they come from commercial, wholesale bakeries that cater to Chinese/Asian buffets. They are boxed sheet cakes that are cut into those little squares. I have yet to be at a Chinese/Asian buffet - all along the East Coast of the US that has not had these same cakes. Some of these cakes pretend to be something that they are not. If it says cheesecake it is yellow cake with a light spread of cheese and sugar on top. Not cheesecake.
I should note that the Japanese buffet chain - Minado (in NY and other locations) - does have hot crepes made to order with ice cream and toppings. They are good and a pleasant change from the sweet little cake squares that they also serve. Many Japanese buffets also serve green tea ice cream and that is something different to try. It is very refreshing after the meal.
Now, the chain buffets - Old Country Buffet, Ryans, and Golden Corral. Frankly, the desserts are not that great. At one time the desserts at Ryans were pretty good but since the take over by Buffets, Inc. that then turned Ryans into a carbon copy of the other buffet chain that it owns, Old Country Buffet, the desserts took a downturn. Golden Corral is not much different though I have on occasion have had a nice cupcake at Golden Corral. These are not always offered. There is always soft serve ice cream at all of them and with that a section of syrups, nuts, and candies to put on top. Golden Corral has fresh fruit - mostly melons of various types cut up and without syrup added. You will also find hot bread pudding at all three and some form of hot fruit cobbler - fruit filling in a pan with pie crust on top and kept hot in the steam server. At Old Country Buffet right next to the fruit cobbler you will find a hot chocolate dessert that is brownies mixed with hot chocolate syrup. While this sounds tempting, it is overly sweet. It is a good thing to mix in with vanilla ice cream. Do avoid the "haystacks" at OCB - these are canned Chinese snack noodles covered in chocolate and allowed to harden Not good at all though they look good and are tempting until you try one.
When the desserts merit talking about, I always talk about them. I just wish they were worth talking about more often. As I say, you really have to go out of your way to find a really good dessert selection at a buffet. The standard is fine to fill a sweet tooth and I know that many fill plates to the brim with more dessert than a family of six should eat together - and devour the whole thing, and if they enjoyed it then good. Keep in mind though that as I do with everything that I eat at buffets - take a small sample of what appeals to you and if you really want to, you can always go back and have a little more of what you really liked.
Friday, June 03, 2011
I Knew I Would Regret It
Over the years I have been pretty hard on Old Country Buffet but the fact of the matter is that it is not the overall chain of Old Country Buffets that I have a problem with but just one location. Since this location is nearby to me, it is the one that I have visited the most and the one that I have come to call - "the worst Old Country Buffet in the country". It would take one extremely bad to be any worse. I pull no punches and will tell you - as I have told you before - that this is the Levittown, New York Old Country Buffet.
Despite its location I do not go to this Old Country Buffet any longer. We drive about a half hour into the next county to go - regularly, I might add - to the other Old Country Buffet on Long Island which compares favorably to other Old Country Buffets that I have been to outside of New York. I have written about the managers at the two and the differences. Others who have been to the Levittown OCB have left comments and have written to me and have agreed. There is a problem at this location - and despite changes in managers, the problem persists.
I recently had a week where I had been physically ill - not due to eating at any buffet or food poisoning, though I will admit that the thought passed through my mind as I went through this stomach virus. But, it was a stomach virus and nothing more. It came and went but I spent the week not eating much but it got to the point toward the end of the week that I had to start eating regular again and have full meals once more. It was a Friday and we generally go out to dinner on Friday nights - either to a Chinese buffet or OCB. I was not yet up to a Chinese buffet and decided that OCB would be fine.
It was time to head out for dinner and I did not really feel like driving the distance out to the other Old Country Buffet - the good Old Country Buffet. I told this to my wife and I suggested that we give Levittown a try. As soon as I said that to her, I also said, "Somehow I know that I am going to regret this."
We arrived at a little after 7 pm which for this area and OCB on a Friday night is not late (people were still coming in to start eating here at 9 pm). There was no line and we went in and got a table. We went up to the buffet for soup. I passed the salad bar and noticed that the Caesar salad bowl was empty. I brought my soup bowl back to the table and while my wife collected silverware to bring to the table, I went up to the "beverage bar" to get our soft drinks. The "beverage bar" costs $1.99 each now and has for a while. With the introduction of paying for your drinks separately from the meal price they lowered the price of the meal to $10.99, BUT the beverage and the meal now costs more than it did before. Yes, prices are going up all over but this price went up before everyone else's did and before there was any real reason for the jump. This is true now at all OCB's and has nothing really to do with any one location. Back to my tale - so I went to get our beverages. I went up to the ice tea dispenser, put my glass of ice under the spigot and pulled the handle and nothing came out. OK. It happens. I looked around for someone to tell and there was no one. (Let me add one more fact about the Levittown OCB - if the majority of those working speak English, they pretend not to - if they really don't speak English, well there is one of the problems that many encounter at this OCB. So even if you try to tell someone about any problem, you get very little response or resolution.) I took soda instead, but I really do prefer a non-carbonated beverage with my meal and if I am paying $1.99 for it and it is not there, well... I figured that sooner or later it would be refilled.
We finished our soup and went up for salad. Again, I went to the empty bowl of Caesar salad. No one had noticed and there was no one to tell. I got back to the table and said to my wife, "I said I was going to regret coming here, didn't I?" Big deal? More of an annoyance, but an annoyance that is being paid for - and therein lies the rub! I am a strong believer in value - as those of you who read this site regularly know from my reviews of buffets. I have said many times that if you get something of value, it is not a problem paying a little extra for it, but you must get value for the money that is so hard to earn these days.
Finished with our soup, and now finished with our salad plates, the soiled plates were stacking up on our table. I looked around for the person who is supposed to clear the plates away. She was cleaning a table across the room that a group had just left. When she was finished with that I expected that she would start to make the rounds of the tables that were occupied and clear away the stacks of dirty dishes. No, she didn't. She seemed to disappear for a bit and then when she reappeared she was off cleaning another table that was no longer occupied. Now, don't write and tell me that she had to get tables ready for new guests because there were few coming in and there were plenty of clean tables. It was not until we were well into the hot entrees that she came by for the first time and picked up the plates off our table.
I counted the tables that she was responsible for - about twenty five. This really is too many tables for one person in this buffet. There need to be more employees AND that is the main reason why there are so many problems at the Levittown Old Country Buffet.
Looking around at who or the lack of who is doing what - there are too few people working to handle jobs that absolutely require more employees and this goes from the table people to the people working at the buffet servers to the people cooking in the kitchen. There is no one looking after the salad bar. There is one person who comes to the refill trays that are empty on the buffet - and when that person goes to the heating unit that is in the wall between the serving floor and the kitchen what they need is rarely waiting for them to put out. Next to that unit is an intercom and repeatedly you hear the person covering the buffet tables ask for the same item - over and over again. This is not just this one night but on so many other occasions when we would go there semi-regularly - before we decided to go to the next county. On this night a "new" manager came out and started carving as there was no one else to do it. Between carving and during carving she would run over to look at a near empty or empty tray and then dash to the intercom to ask for that item to be brought out. A long while later - still nothing to refill that tray and she was still the one carving. I have to wonder if there is actually anyone paying attention or listening to the other end of that intercom. This one worked hard on this night - and the restaurant was not that busy. But little was accomplished. Another recently new manager was going in and out of the kitchen - most times with empty hands, but every so often he was filling trays. At one point a guest asked for a dessert item that was empty. She was told it would be out as soon as HE went into the kitchen to make it. Business here is not that bad that the managers are doing all of the jobs. There needs to be people hired - and with the unemployment rate there is no reason why there are not more people - and responsible, responsive people working here.
In comparison, the other OCB has none of these problems. For one thing the manager sees something is empty on the buffet and he goes into the kitchen directly and with a booming voice that can be heard in the buffet area tells the kitchen crew exactly what he wants sent out and he wants it immediately - and comes out very quickly after that with several people coming in and out of the kitchen refilling trays. Yes, on some nights I have seen management help where needed. But this is not often needed - and there are weeks that I have been there on more than one night.
Well, the ice tea was never made. The Caesar salad finally came out as we were finishing dinner - about an hour and a half after we arrived to see the empty salad bowl. There were a few points that we went up to take food and were at a loss for what to take as there was little there.
Another typical night at Old Country Buffet in Levittown. I am not sure why but it continues to live up to the name of Worst Old Country Buffet in the Country. To correct that I believe it needs a clean sweep of employees and management. It needs a newly trained staff of employees who actually care about working and have a desire to do a good job and there needs to be a strong manager with equal commitment to the guests. Over the years there had been good employees and there had been some good, but short-time spent managers. Whenever they seem to get a good one that makes some improvements, he/she is shortly gone and it all slips back again. Yes, I should have made the drive out to the next county on this night, no matter how I felt about driving. I would have been much happier.
Threatening emails and comments from employees of this OCB - as I have received in the past - will not be acknowledged. Legitimate comments are always welcome.
Despite its location I do not go to this Old Country Buffet any longer. We drive about a half hour into the next county to go - regularly, I might add - to the other Old Country Buffet on Long Island which compares favorably to other Old Country Buffets that I have been to outside of New York. I have written about the managers at the two and the differences. Others who have been to the Levittown OCB have left comments and have written to me and have agreed. There is a problem at this location - and despite changes in managers, the problem persists.
I recently had a week where I had been physically ill - not due to eating at any buffet or food poisoning, though I will admit that the thought passed through my mind as I went through this stomach virus. But, it was a stomach virus and nothing more. It came and went but I spent the week not eating much but it got to the point toward the end of the week that I had to start eating regular again and have full meals once more. It was a Friday and we generally go out to dinner on Friday nights - either to a Chinese buffet or OCB. I was not yet up to a Chinese buffet and decided that OCB would be fine.
It was time to head out for dinner and I did not really feel like driving the distance out to the other Old Country Buffet - the good Old Country Buffet. I told this to my wife and I suggested that we give Levittown a try. As soon as I said that to her, I also said, "Somehow I know that I am going to regret this."
We arrived at a little after 7 pm which for this area and OCB on a Friday night is not late (people were still coming in to start eating here at 9 pm). There was no line and we went in and got a table. We went up to the buffet for soup. I passed the salad bar and noticed that the Caesar salad bowl was empty. I brought my soup bowl back to the table and while my wife collected silverware to bring to the table, I went up to the "beverage bar" to get our soft drinks. The "beverage bar" costs $1.99 each now and has for a while. With the introduction of paying for your drinks separately from the meal price they lowered the price of the meal to $10.99, BUT the beverage and the meal now costs more than it did before. Yes, prices are going up all over but this price went up before everyone else's did and before there was any real reason for the jump. This is true now at all OCB's and has nothing really to do with any one location. Back to my tale - so I went to get our beverages. I went up to the ice tea dispenser, put my glass of ice under the spigot and pulled the handle and nothing came out. OK. It happens. I looked around for someone to tell and there was no one. (Let me add one more fact about the Levittown OCB - if the majority of those working speak English, they pretend not to - if they really don't speak English, well there is one of the problems that many encounter at this OCB. So even if you try to tell someone about any problem, you get very little response or resolution.) I took soda instead, but I really do prefer a non-carbonated beverage with my meal and if I am paying $1.99 for it and it is not there, well... I figured that sooner or later it would be refilled.
We finished our soup and went up for salad. Again, I went to the empty bowl of Caesar salad. No one had noticed and there was no one to tell. I got back to the table and said to my wife, "I said I was going to regret coming here, didn't I?" Big deal? More of an annoyance, but an annoyance that is being paid for - and therein lies the rub! I am a strong believer in value - as those of you who read this site regularly know from my reviews of buffets. I have said many times that if you get something of value, it is not a problem paying a little extra for it, but you must get value for the money that is so hard to earn these days.
Finished with our soup, and now finished with our salad plates, the soiled plates were stacking up on our table. I looked around for the person who is supposed to clear the plates away. She was cleaning a table across the room that a group had just left. When she was finished with that I expected that she would start to make the rounds of the tables that were occupied and clear away the stacks of dirty dishes. No, she didn't. She seemed to disappear for a bit and then when she reappeared she was off cleaning another table that was no longer occupied. Now, don't write and tell me that she had to get tables ready for new guests because there were few coming in and there were plenty of clean tables. It was not until we were well into the hot entrees that she came by for the first time and picked up the plates off our table.
I counted the tables that she was responsible for - about twenty five. This really is too many tables for one person in this buffet. There need to be more employees AND that is the main reason why there are so many problems at the Levittown Old Country Buffet.
Looking around at who or the lack of who is doing what - there are too few people working to handle jobs that absolutely require more employees and this goes from the table people to the people working at the buffet servers to the people cooking in the kitchen. There is no one looking after the salad bar. There is one person who comes to the refill trays that are empty on the buffet - and when that person goes to the heating unit that is in the wall between the serving floor and the kitchen what they need is rarely waiting for them to put out. Next to that unit is an intercom and repeatedly you hear the person covering the buffet tables ask for the same item - over and over again. This is not just this one night but on so many other occasions when we would go there semi-regularly - before we decided to go to the next county. On this night a "new" manager came out and started carving as there was no one else to do it. Between carving and during carving she would run over to look at a near empty or empty tray and then dash to the intercom to ask for that item to be brought out. A long while later - still nothing to refill that tray and she was still the one carving. I have to wonder if there is actually anyone paying attention or listening to the other end of that intercom. This one worked hard on this night - and the restaurant was not that busy. But little was accomplished. Another recently new manager was going in and out of the kitchen - most times with empty hands, but every so often he was filling trays. At one point a guest asked for a dessert item that was empty. She was told it would be out as soon as HE went into the kitchen to make it. Business here is not that bad that the managers are doing all of the jobs. There needs to be people hired - and with the unemployment rate there is no reason why there are not more people - and responsible, responsive people working here.
In comparison, the other OCB has none of these problems. For one thing the manager sees something is empty on the buffet and he goes into the kitchen directly and with a booming voice that can be heard in the buffet area tells the kitchen crew exactly what he wants sent out and he wants it immediately - and comes out very quickly after that with several people coming in and out of the kitchen refilling trays. Yes, on some nights I have seen management help where needed. But this is not often needed - and there are weeks that I have been there on more than one night.
Well, the ice tea was never made. The Caesar salad finally came out as we were finishing dinner - about an hour and a half after we arrived to see the empty salad bowl. There were a few points that we went up to take food and were at a loss for what to take as there was little there.
Another typical night at Old Country Buffet in Levittown. I am not sure why but it continues to live up to the name of Worst Old Country Buffet in the Country. To correct that I believe it needs a clean sweep of employees and management. It needs a newly trained staff of employees who actually care about working and have a desire to do a good job and there needs to be a strong manager with equal commitment to the guests. Over the years there had been good employees and there had been some good, but short-time spent managers. Whenever they seem to get a good one that makes some improvements, he/she is shortly gone and it all slips back again. Yes, I should have made the drive out to the next county on this night, no matter how I felt about driving. I would have been much happier.
Threatening emails and comments from employees of this OCB - as I have received in the past - will not be acknowledged. Legitimate comments are always welcome.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Yoders - New Holland, PA
I was recently in Pennsylvania. When I am there in the Lancaster area for the day, I find it hard to resist going back to Shady Maple - so that is where I usually wind up. But there is another great buffet nearby and this time, as I had been to Shady Maple on my last three trips, I decided that Yodors was due a visit. I have written about Yoders many times. Yoders is a restaurant/buffet located in a building with Yoders Supermarket. Yes, this is a buffet in (really adjacent to) a supermarket - which in the PA Dutch area is not so unusual. I consider Yoders as one of the best buffets - it is smaller and simpler but the food is good and it is plentiful. And it is geared to local food specialties.
We went on a Tuesday night for dinner. The a number of tables were full but the restaurant was not a busy as we have seen it in the past. Of course, this is early week dinner before the tourist season - though Yoders tends to attract local diners more than tourists due to its location and that tourists would not understand how a restaurant in a supermarket can be so good. We arrived a little later than usual - after 7 pm and they close at 8 pm - so there may have been much more of a crowd earlier. Never the less, the food was fresh on the buffet servers and kept properly so at Yoders I am not concerned when there is not a crowd. It should be noted that Yoders is not a JUST a buffet but also has menu dining. The buffet was $13.99 which is about a dollar more than it had been - but every price seems to be going up everywhere these days. Soft drinks are an additional $1.49 and these are refillable. These prices cannot be compared to chain buffet prices - the food here is a cut above the chains. We also came across a 20% off coupon in a local tourist publication - so we had a great meal at an even better price.
There were two soups on the buffet on this night that we were there. An unusual cheesy vegetable soup - a thick cheese soup with mixed vegetables - and beef vegetable soup were offered. Soups change from visit to visit. I tried the cheesy vegetable. It was interestingly good. This was not a soup I would have on a regular basis - cream and cheese based soups are a cardiologist's sports car in waiting. Once in a while though, it is something to try.
There is a full cold buffet server with a salad bar and prepared salads - local Pennsylvania Dutch prepared salads. The salad bar has the fixings to make a Caesar salad and I assembled one of those. There were several choices of salad greens and a wide variety of toppings including real bacon bits (which seem to be replacing the dried bacon bits at a number of buffets lately). There are a number of things to try on the salad bar that will be just a bit different from what you expect - unless you are from this area and are familiar with Pennsylvania Dutch style cooking. Try the pepper cabbage - a sweet and sour mixture of chopped peppers and cabbage. Even the macaroni salad and the potato salad will be different from what you may be used to - it is all good. On the salad bar you will also find cottage cheese - no big deal, right? But take a spoon of this and then add on top a spoonful of apple butter - a sweet, thin apple puree that is brown in color. This is an old and traditional PA Dutch combination and it is very, very good.
On this night - and I believe on Tuesday nights in general - at the grill area there was Prime Rib. It was sliced to order and a nice large slice was sliced for me by the chef. The meat was moist and not overdone. It had a very nice flavor and I enjoyed it. The problem with Prime Rib at most buffets is that you get so much that you barely want to have much more of anything else. But I managed to fit in several more tastes of entrees.
I know that you have heard of pork barbecue but how about ham barbecue. There was hot pulled chunks of ham in a thick barbecue sauce. It was a bit sweet (for me) but good. Ham balls (or ham loaf - same but sliced) are a local specialty. These are meat balls made with ham (or meat loaf made with ham) and covered in a thick pineapple hot sauce. I prefer it without the sauce but it is good.
On the grill with the prime rib there was also stir-fry shrimp terriaki and a few other items. The grill is always attended by a chef and there are two sides to accommodate lines of guests. On busy nights that I have been at Yoders it is a good thing that there are two serving lines.
There was sliced turkey and sliced ham out on the hot buffet. While the turkey was pre-sliced there was both white and dark meat mixed in - which to me indicates that it is "real" turkey and not a commercial turkey breast.
Broasted chicken is served here instead of fried chicken. I have written an entire article about broasted chicken. It looks like fried chicken but it is moister. It is fried under pressure and while in appearance could be fried chicken it is much better. There was also broiled chicken.
Side dishes are local specialties here and they have a terrific macaroni and cheese with a thick crust on top. There is buttered noodles, mashed potatoes, and potato filling - potato filling is stuffing made with potatoes. Along the side there were two types of baked oatmeal. Of course, there are string beans, baked lima beans, carrots, and mixed vegetables. All are good. The baked oatmeal is a favorite here for my wife. If you are looking for "plain" vegetables, it is not hard to find them here - and I say this in a good way. This is all "honest" farm food with a country slant.
There is so much that I am having a hard time remembering it all - and as I have written about this before you will find more possibilities of what you will find on the buffet at Yoders in my other articles. The buffet serving area here is substantial for what looks at first to be a small restaurant.
For dessert there is an assortment of pies and cakes including shoofly pie and shoofly cake - both molasses based. There is fresh fruit cut up, puddings, and prepared desserts. There is also soft serve ice cream which is excellent and is complemented with a full sundae bar. Yoders also owns and operates a dairy and the fresh cream must be what makes this ice cream so good. You will also find some PA Dutch specialties in the dessert area including something called Cracker Pudding. Cracker pudding is a little like bread pudding and a little like rice pudding. It is made with crackers - the usual, boxed saltine-type crackers - and these are cooked with an egg mixture, milk and coconut shreds. This is something that you will not find at many buffets in this area. It is a common Amish dessert. It is excellent. They also make a very good egg custard and there is both tapioca pudding and sugar-free tapioca pudding. (There are just as many carbs in most things labeled "sugar-free" as the sugar originals - no matter where you get them - so do not think that you can eat more of these - you will still gain weight and your blood sugar will be just as effected.) One thing to know about Yoders is that the earlier you go, the more you will find when it comes to cakes and pies, so if dessert is the highlight of your meal, don't get there late. They will still have things out but you will not see the variety that you might see at the earlier dinner hours.
We were there until closing time. One of the servers came to our table toward the end of the evening and asked if we would like any more hot foods. Had we said yes, they would have stopped closing the hot buffet down. As it was we had "eaten ourselves full". See if that would happen at one of the chain buffets. There when it is time to close, they close. Here, they ask your permission.
I always enjoy the meals that I have at Yoders. I really should go back there more often. I highly recommend it. Don't expect anything fancy. The restaurant is all booths and looks just like what it is - a restaurant in a supermarket complex. It is the food and the selection of food that makes Yoders special.
There is a website for Yoders listed at the side of this article. The restaurant is located at Yoder's Supermarket or perhaps, more properly, Yoder's Country Market, Route 23, New Holland, Pennsylvania. The phone number is (717) 354-4748.
We went on a Tuesday night for dinner. The a number of tables were full but the restaurant was not a busy as we have seen it in the past. Of course, this is early week dinner before the tourist season - though Yoders tends to attract local diners more than tourists due to its location and that tourists would not understand how a restaurant in a supermarket can be so good. We arrived a little later than usual - after 7 pm and they close at 8 pm - so there may have been much more of a crowd earlier. Never the less, the food was fresh on the buffet servers and kept properly so at Yoders I am not concerned when there is not a crowd. It should be noted that Yoders is not a JUST a buffet but also has menu dining. The buffet was $13.99 which is about a dollar more than it had been - but every price seems to be going up everywhere these days. Soft drinks are an additional $1.49 and these are refillable. These prices cannot be compared to chain buffet prices - the food here is a cut above the chains. We also came across a 20% off coupon in a local tourist publication - so we had a great meal at an even better price.
There were two soups on the buffet on this night that we were there. An unusual cheesy vegetable soup - a thick cheese soup with mixed vegetables - and beef vegetable soup were offered. Soups change from visit to visit. I tried the cheesy vegetable. It was interestingly good. This was not a soup I would have on a regular basis - cream and cheese based soups are a cardiologist's sports car in waiting. Once in a while though, it is something to try.
There is a full cold buffet server with a salad bar and prepared salads - local Pennsylvania Dutch prepared salads. The salad bar has the fixings to make a Caesar salad and I assembled one of those. There were several choices of salad greens and a wide variety of toppings including real bacon bits (which seem to be replacing the dried bacon bits at a number of buffets lately). There are a number of things to try on the salad bar that will be just a bit different from what you expect - unless you are from this area and are familiar with Pennsylvania Dutch style cooking. Try the pepper cabbage - a sweet and sour mixture of chopped peppers and cabbage. Even the macaroni salad and the potato salad will be different from what you may be used to - it is all good. On the salad bar you will also find cottage cheese - no big deal, right? But take a spoon of this and then add on top a spoonful of apple butter - a sweet, thin apple puree that is brown in color. This is an old and traditional PA Dutch combination and it is very, very good.
On this night - and I believe on Tuesday nights in general - at the grill area there was Prime Rib. It was sliced to order and a nice large slice was sliced for me by the chef. The meat was moist and not overdone. It had a very nice flavor and I enjoyed it. The problem with Prime Rib at most buffets is that you get so much that you barely want to have much more of anything else. But I managed to fit in several more tastes of entrees.
I know that you have heard of pork barbecue but how about ham barbecue. There was hot pulled chunks of ham in a thick barbecue sauce. It was a bit sweet (for me) but good. Ham balls (or ham loaf - same but sliced) are a local specialty. These are meat balls made with ham (or meat loaf made with ham) and covered in a thick pineapple hot sauce. I prefer it without the sauce but it is good.
On the grill with the prime rib there was also stir-fry shrimp terriaki and a few other items. The grill is always attended by a chef and there are two sides to accommodate lines of guests. On busy nights that I have been at Yoders it is a good thing that there are two serving lines.
There was sliced turkey and sliced ham out on the hot buffet. While the turkey was pre-sliced there was both white and dark meat mixed in - which to me indicates that it is "real" turkey and not a commercial turkey breast.
Broasted chicken is served here instead of fried chicken. I have written an entire article about broasted chicken. It looks like fried chicken but it is moister. It is fried under pressure and while in appearance could be fried chicken it is much better. There was also broiled chicken.
Side dishes are local specialties here and they have a terrific macaroni and cheese with a thick crust on top. There is buttered noodles, mashed potatoes, and potato filling - potato filling is stuffing made with potatoes. Along the side there were two types of baked oatmeal. Of course, there are string beans, baked lima beans, carrots, and mixed vegetables. All are good. The baked oatmeal is a favorite here for my wife. If you are looking for "plain" vegetables, it is not hard to find them here - and I say this in a good way. This is all "honest" farm food with a country slant.
There is so much that I am having a hard time remembering it all - and as I have written about this before you will find more possibilities of what you will find on the buffet at Yoders in my other articles. The buffet serving area here is substantial for what looks at first to be a small restaurant.
For dessert there is an assortment of pies and cakes including shoofly pie and shoofly cake - both molasses based. There is fresh fruit cut up, puddings, and prepared desserts. There is also soft serve ice cream which is excellent and is complemented with a full sundae bar. Yoders also owns and operates a dairy and the fresh cream must be what makes this ice cream so good. You will also find some PA Dutch specialties in the dessert area including something called Cracker Pudding. Cracker pudding is a little like bread pudding and a little like rice pudding. It is made with crackers - the usual, boxed saltine-type crackers - and these are cooked with an egg mixture, milk and coconut shreds. This is something that you will not find at many buffets in this area. It is a common Amish dessert. It is excellent. They also make a very good egg custard and there is both tapioca pudding and sugar-free tapioca pudding. (There are just as many carbs in most things labeled "sugar-free" as the sugar originals - no matter where you get them - so do not think that you can eat more of these - you will still gain weight and your blood sugar will be just as effected.) One thing to know about Yoders is that the earlier you go, the more you will find when it comes to cakes and pies, so if dessert is the highlight of your meal, don't get there late. They will still have things out but you will not see the variety that you might see at the earlier dinner hours.
We were there until closing time. One of the servers came to our table toward the end of the evening and asked if we would like any more hot foods. Had we said yes, they would have stopped closing the hot buffet down. As it was we had "eaten ourselves full". See if that would happen at one of the chain buffets. There when it is time to close, they close. Here, they ask your permission.
I always enjoy the meals that I have at Yoders. I really should go back there more often. I highly recommend it. Don't expect anything fancy. The restaurant is all booths and looks just like what it is - a restaurant in a supermarket complex. It is the food and the selection of food that makes Yoders special.
There is a website for Yoders listed at the side of this article. The restaurant is located at Yoder's Supermarket or perhaps, more properly, Yoder's Country Market, Route 23, New Holland, Pennsylvania. The phone number is (717) 354-4748.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Ribs are the New Feature at Golden Corral - and I was THERE
It has been a year and a half since I have been to Golden Corral. I love Golden Corral but there are none local. I recently had an opportunity to go to Golden Corral and to my good fortune I was able to try the new, limited time menu feature - Ribs. The Golden Corral that I visited is the location in Bensalem, Pennsylvania - the same Golden Corral that I had been to in September, 2010. At that time I reported on some problems during my visit. I am happy to say that this visit was just fine!
Golden Corral restaurants have been changing from their system of a table server bringing you plates to go back up to the buffet for more food to putting the plates out in stands in the buffet area as most other buffet restaurants do. This is a big improvement overall for the chain. The pitfall of the old system was that your dining experience was totally dependent upon how good your server was. You could sit and wait for plates with a poor server. Now, that is a thing of the past - and, hopefully, the change will be made at all locations, if it has not already. The change over has been made in Bensalem in the past year and a half and that made a great difference. Your server still brings you refills of your soft drinks, but this is common at buffets. And, on this visit we had a good server who was visible and available.
The price for the adult dinner at Golden Corral is $9.99. They advertise that at Golden Corral you can get a great meal for under $10 and so you can. The soft drink price is $1.99 and is unlimited. This is a bit high but equal with the price of soft drinks at Old Country Buffet. With the meal priced a dollar less, this makes for a better deal. And you could always skip the soda and drink water instead, keeping your dinner check under $10.
I recently wrote about the last limited time feature which was seafood. Shortly after, I received a note from one of our readers that a Golden Corral manager told him that the next feature would be baby back ribs. And so it is!
This limited time feature menu consists of baby back ribs, smoked beef brisket, sweet and spicy BBQ pork ribs, BBQ pork ribs, boneless pork ribs and apple fritters. The first thing that I went for was the baby back ribs. It is not often that I find these on any buffet and they are a favorite.
The baby backs were served next to the grill by the chef at the grill. The ribs were cut into sections of about four ribs each. They were lightly coated in barbecue sauce and next to the serving tray within reach were two types of barbecue sauce to add on, if you wanted your ribs wetter. Back at my table the ribs were cooked just right - once you cut a rib from the section, the meat pulled right off the bone clean. To me this is the best indication that the ribs are good, besides taste. The taste did not disappoint. The baby back ribs were good!
I took some of the brisket next. Again, this is next to the grill and served by the grill chef who slices off piece at your request. The outside of the brisket had a thick dark "bark". The meat was a bit fatty, but that is expected with brisket and the meat was nicely moist. Again, the barbecue sauces were right there to add on, if you wanted to. I enjoyed the brisket - but I must admit, that I enjoyed the baby backs more. Perhaps this is because, again, I don't get to eat baby back ribs often and brisket does appear at times at other buffets. This is nothing against these wonderful items at Golden Corral.
Something that I found on the side of the buffet were kitchen-made potato chips. I have had these at festivals and fairs, but I have not seen them at a buffet. I had to try one of these thin slices of potato, deep fried. What is the big deal about potato chips? Nothing - unless they are fresh made. They are much better than what you pour out of a chip bag. I don't know if this is an item that you will find at all Golden Corral buffets but if you see them, try them.
One of the things that I like a lot at Golden Corral is their flame grilled steak that is served to your request for how done it is cooked. I like steak rare, but not raw. I asked for a rare steak and without hesitation the grill chef picked one off the grill and cut a piece off for me. The steak was nicely rare inside with a good, crisp crust on the outside. The steak served at Golden Corral is a good inch thick. It has a good flavor and I consider it to be the best of the buffet chain steaks. Since Ryans became a subsidiary of Buffets, Inc and now serves the same steak as Old Country Buffet, the steak at Golden Corral has moved up to the top of the buffet chain steaks. The steak was so good that I had to go back for another piece.
I enjoyed my meal at Golden Corral but my wife had a hard time finding things to eat. One of her observations at Golden Corral is that there is very little that is served that is "plain". The meats and the vegetables are served in some type of sauce or are seasoned. Where there are carvings and such at buffets like OCB, at Golden Corral the grill and steak pretty much take that place on the menu. My picky eater wife does not like sauced ribs or brisket and she is not much of a steak eater - so her meal pretty much consisted of roasted/rotisserie chicken. She circled the buffet several times each time she went up for something to find something that she would eat. On the salad bar there is grilled chicken strips for the Caesar salad and she wound up taking some of that when she no longer wanted more of the rotisserie chicken. Looking around the buffet I had to agree with her. While, for someone (like me) who will eat a broad variety of foods - sauced, seasoned or whatever, for someone looking for something "plain" it was not an easy selection. So she was not happy - and I understand why - but I had a great meal.
So, I had a good meal. The new BBQ ribs feature is great - and I hope that they keep it around for a while! And I must add that my experience this time at the Bensalem Golden Corral was very nice. If you are in the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania, this is a meal worth going to.
If you are near any Golden Corral in the very near future go for the ribs! Don't wait because, Golden Corral changes their features over time - but at least they have features - the other buffet chains no longer do.
The Golden Corral in Bensalem, Pennsylvania (one of the most eastern Golden Corrals in the Northeast that there is) is located at 1465 Street Road in Bensalem, PA 19020 and their phone number is (215) 245-5301. There is a link at the side of this page to the Golden Corral chain.
Golden Corral restaurants have been changing from their system of a table server bringing you plates to go back up to the buffet for more food to putting the plates out in stands in the buffet area as most other buffet restaurants do. This is a big improvement overall for the chain. The pitfall of the old system was that your dining experience was totally dependent upon how good your server was. You could sit and wait for plates with a poor server. Now, that is a thing of the past - and, hopefully, the change will be made at all locations, if it has not already. The change over has been made in Bensalem in the past year and a half and that made a great difference. Your server still brings you refills of your soft drinks, but this is common at buffets. And, on this visit we had a good server who was visible and available.
The price for the adult dinner at Golden Corral is $9.99. They advertise that at Golden Corral you can get a great meal for under $10 and so you can. The soft drink price is $1.99 and is unlimited. This is a bit high but equal with the price of soft drinks at Old Country Buffet. With the meal priced a dollar less, this makes for a better deal. And you could always skip the soda and drink water instead, keeping your dinner check under $10.
I recently wrote about the last limited time feature which was seafood. Shortly after, I received a note from one of our readers that a Golden Corral manager told him that the next feature would be baby back ribs. And so it is!
This limited time feature menu consists of baby back ribs, smoked beef brisket, sweet and spicy BBQ pork ribs, BBQ pork ribs, boneless pork ribs and apple fritters. The first thing that I went for was the baby back ribs. It is not often that I find these on any buffet and they are a favorite.
The baby backs were served next to the grill by the chef at the grill. The ribs were cut into sections of about four ribs each. They were lightly coated in barbecue sauce and next to the serving tray within reach were two types of barbecue sauce to add on, if you wanted your ribs wetter. Back at my table the ribs were cooked just right - once you cut a rib from the section, the meat pulled right off the bone clean. To me this is the best indication that the ribs are good, besides taste. The taste did not disappoint. The baby back ribs were good!
I took some of the brisket next. Again, this is next to the grill and served by the grill chef who slices off piece at your request. The outside of the brisket had a thick dark "bark". The meat was a bit fatty, but that is expected with brisket and the meat was nicely moist. Again, the barbecue sauces were right there to add on, if you wanted to. I enjoyed the brisket - but I must admit, that I enjoyed the baby backs more. Perhaps this is because, again, I don't get to eat baby back ribs often and brisket does appear at times at other buffets. This is nothing against these wonderful items at Golden Corral.
Something that I found on the side of the buffet were kitchen-made potato chips. I have had these at festivals and fairs, but I have not seen them at a buffet. I had to try one of these thin slices of potato, deep fried. What is the big deal about potato chips? Nothing - unless they are fresh made. They are much better than what you pour out of a chip bag. I don't know if this is an item that you will find at all Golden Corral buffets but if you see them, try them.
One of the things that I like a lot at Golden Corral is their flame grilled steak that is served to your request for how done it is cooked. I like steak rare, but not raw. I asked for a rare steak and without hesitation the grill chef picked one off the grill and cut a piece off for me. The steak was nicely rare inside with a good, crisp crust on the outside. The steak served at Golden Corral is a good inch thick. It has a good flavor and I consider it to be the best of the buffet chain steaks. Since Ryans became a subsidiary of Buffets, Inc and now serves the same steak as Old Country Buffet, the steak at Golden Corral has moved up to the top of the buffet chain steaks. The steak was so good that I had to go back for another piece.
I enjoyed my meal at Golden Corral but my wife had a hard time finding things to eat. One of her observations at Golden Corral is that there is very little that is served that is "plain". The meats and the vegetables are served in some type of sauce or are seasoned. Where there are carvings and such at buffets like OCB, at Golden Corral the grill and steak pretty much take that place on the menu. My picky eater wife does not like sauced ribs or brisket and she is not much of a steak eater - so her meal pretty much consisted of roasted/rotisserie chicken. She circled the buffet several times each time she went up for something to find something that she would eat. On the salad bar there is grilled chicken strips for the Caesar salad and she wound up taking some of that when she no longer wanted more of the rotisserie chicken. Looking around the buffet I had to agree with her. While, for someone (like me) who will eat a broad variety of foods - sauced, seasoned or whatever, for someone looking for something "plain" it was not an easy selection. So she was not happy - and I understand why - but I had a great meal.
So, I had a good meal. The new BBQ ribs feature is great - and I hope that they keep it around for a while! And I must add that my experience this time at the Bensalem Golden Corral was very nice. If you are in the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania, this is a meal worth going to.
If you are near any Golden Corral in the very near future go for the ribs! Don't wait because, Golden Corral changes their features over time - but at least they have features - the other buffet chains no longer do.
The Golden Corral in Bensalem, Pennsylvania (one of the most eastern Golden Corrals in the Northeast that there is) is located at 1465 Street Road in Bensalem, PA 19020 and their phone number is (215) 245-5301. There is a link at the side of this page to the Golden Corral chain.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Birthday Buffet
It was my birthday and I had to decide where I would have my "free" birthday buffet. There were several choices. I try when I am able to spend my birthday in Lancaster County, PA and of course, with that being the buffet capital there were some great buffets to choose from and a tough choice. I could have gone to The Family Cupboard, Yoders, or Shady Maple, to name a few. Each offers a free buffet meal on your birthday. Nothing against Family Cupboard but my choice narrowed down to Yoders or Shady Maple - and somehow, I just cannot resist Shady Maple even though I had been there less than a month before.
Getting your free birthday dinner at Shady Maple is easy. All you need to do is go up to the cash register and prove it is your birthday. It must be that exact day - unless your birthday falls on a Sunday, in which case you get your free buffet on the Monday right after. You don't have to belong to any clubs or get any coupons (the same holds true for Yoders and Family Cupboard). Shady Maple has a registration service that will remind you that your birthday buffet is waiting for you on your birthday - they send you an email. I don't need to be reminded that it is my birthday. But it is a nice gesture on their part.
So we went to Shady Maple for my birthday dinner. All in all I traveled eight hours round trip and about 450 miles round trip to do so, but I enjoyed the day in this beautiful part of the country and would have come even if there was not a free meal waiting.
You get more than a meal on your birthday at Shady Maple. They hand you a stack of coupons too. The coupons are good in local stores including their gift shop and a small department store next door named Good's Store. Good's Store is a very nice place to shop and you can often find things there that you don't see in the larger stores. So in addition to your great free meal, you get a little birthday present in discounts.
The meal was as good as always. They had Maryland Crab Soup which I have written about before and I think is one of the best soups that Shady Maple serves. This is a thick tomato based soup full of shredded real crab meat and vegetables. The soup has a great flavor and just a little spice from the Maryland crab seasoning in the soup. When I go to Shady Maple I always look for this soup and there it was on my birthday!
My birthday fell this year on a Monday and it just so happens that Monday's are my favorite meal day at Shady Maple because steak is the feature of the night. On three grills they were preparing Delmonico steaks, New York Strip steaks, and chopped steaks. They make the steak to your order - you want rare, medium, or well done just ask for it. If it is not ready that way they will make one for you. To top your steak there are trays out of sauteed onions and also sauteed mushrooms. OF course, on the buffet there are a myriad of things to go along with your steak and I found onion rings to add on top.
There was not just steak - of course - on the buffet and on the grill there was so much more. On the grill they were also grilling smoked pork chops. On the buffet I found the most flavorful turkey sausages. I eat turkey almost every night (heart healthy, you know) in many forms at home. We often have turkey sausages, but what we get where we live are Italian seasoned turkey sausages. Here at Shady Maple the turkey sausages were German style. They were very good. There was also Salisbury steak which was a very thick beef patty, seasoned inside, with a thick white mushroom gravy on top.
I have written so many times about the great food at this wonderful buffet that I am not going to repeat most of it here. What is important to know is that if it is your birthday, it is all for you FREE!
While I am writing about birthday buffets, I should note a change at Old Country Buffet which now includes Ryan's for your birthday buffet. OCB no longer offers a free buffet on your birthday - something that many, many are complaining about on OCB's Facebook page. No, they now only give you three dollars off a meal - one meal - with which you must purchase another adult meal and beverages. It is nice to get three dollars off - but really - this is a lot less than some of their feature coupons throughout the year. For this three dollar discount, you must be registered in their email club. Not a bad idea to be the email club if you like eating at OCB, but between you and me - you get MORE coupons more often if you "like" their Facebook page. Anyway - if you show up at OCB or Ryan's on your birthday you better have a coupon and don't expect a free meal.
If you want to go to Shady Maple for your birthday here is where they are. 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.
Happy Birthday!
Getting your free birthday dinner at Shady Maple is easy. All you need to do is go up to the cash register and prove it is your birthday. It must be that exact day - unless your birthday falls on a Sunday, in which case you get your free buffet on the Monday right after. You don't have to belong to any clubs or get any coupons (the same holds true for Yoders and Family Cupboard). Shady Maple has a registration service that will remind you that your birthday buffet is waiting for you on your birthday - they send you an email. I don't need to be reminded that it is my birthday. But it is a nice gesture on their part.
So we went to Shady Maple for my birthday dinner. All in all I traveled eight hours round trip and about 450 miles round trip to do so, but I enjoyed the day in this beautiful part of the country and would have come even if there was not a free meal waiting.
You get more than a meal on your birthday at Shady Maple. They hand you a stack of coupons too. The coupons are good in local stores including their gift shop and a small department store next door named Good's Store. Good's Store is a very nice place to shop and you can often find things there that you don't see in the larger stores. So in addition to your great free meal, you get a little birthday present in discounts.
The meal was as good as always. They had Maryland Crab Soup which I have written about before and I think is one of the best soups that Shady Maple serves. This is a thick tomato based soup full of shredded real crab meat and vegetables. The soup has a great flavor and just a little spice from the Maryland crab seasoning in the soup. When I go to Shady Maple I always look for this soup and there it was on my birthday!
My birthday fell this year on a Monday and it just so happens that Monday's are my favorite meal day at Shady Maple because steak is the feature of the night. On three grills they were preparing Delmonico steaks, New York Strip steaks, and chopped steaks. They make the steak to your order - you want rare, medium, or well done just ask for it. If it is not ready that way they will make one for you. To top your steak there are trays out of sauteed onions and also sauteed mushrooms. OF course, on the buffet there are a myriad of things to go along with your steak and I found onion rings to add on top.
There was not just steak - of course - on the buffet and on the grill there was so much more. On the grill they were also grilling smoked pork chops. On the buffet I found the most flavorful turkey sausages. I eat turkey almost every night (heart healthy, you know) in many forms at home. We often have turkey sausages, but what we get where we live are Italian seasoned turkey sausages. Here at Shady Maple the turkey sausages were German style. They were very good. There was also Salisbury steak which was a very thick beef patty, seasoned inside, with a thick white mushroom gravy on top.
I have written so many times about the great food at this wonderful buffet that I am not going to repeat most of it here. What is important to know is that if it is your birthday, it is all for you FREE!
While I am writing about birthday buffets, I should note a change at Old Country Buffet which now includes Ryan's for your birthday buffet. OCB no longer offers a free buffet on your birthday - something that many, many are complaining about on OCB's Facebook page. No, they now only give you three dollars off a meal - one meal - with which you must purchase another adult meal and beverages. It is nice to get three dollars off - but really - this is a lot less than some of their feature coupons throughout the year. For this three dollar discount, you must be registered in their email club. Not a bad idea to be the email club if you like eating at OCB, but between you and me - you get MORE coupons more often if you "like" their Facebook page. Anyway - if you show up at OCB or Ryan's on your birthday you better have a coupon and don't expect a free meal.
If you want to go to Shady Maple for your birthday here is where they are. 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.
Happy Birthday!
Friday, May 06, 2011
The Dishes are Not TO GO
This is one of the more bizarre things that I have observed at buffets and it has happened several times in the past few months at different buffets. People are taking the dishes out the door.
I want to make a new buffet rule out of this but it is so absurd that it would be just to weird to include. People are actually taking plates of food with them when they leave in the plates. Now, this is wrong on two counts:
1. You are not supposed to take food out when you leave.
and
2. The plates are supposed to remain in the restaurant.
I am not talking about foam or disposable plates. I am talking about china dishes - plates and bowls. I have also seen drinking glasses go out the door. It is so bizarre. The first time that I saw this someone had a plate full of ice cream. They took it to their table from the dessert bar, put on their coat, and with their family walked out the door to leave while holding the plate and eating the ice cream - oh yes, the silverware has accompanied the dishes too. This is a new twist on "take out".
Another time I watched a full glass of soda travel out the door openly in someone's hand. And the topper was a plate of food - out the door. What are people thinking? Never would it occur to any rational person that the china plates and bowls, drinking glasses, and silverware are meant to be taken out of the restaurant. Are people so acclimated to fast food that they think that like the paper wrapper around the cheeseburger from McDonald's, the dinnerware at the buffet is there to go out too? There is no reasonable explanation.
And this results in higher prices for the rest of us. The restaurant expects a certain amount of breakage but for the dinnerware to be carried out the door?
This is a strange world - and it is getting stranger every day!
I want to make a new buffet rule out of this but it is so absurd that it would be just to weird to include. People are actually taking plates of food with them when they leave in the plates. Now, this is wrong on two counts:
1. You are not supposed to take food out when you leave.
and
2. The plates are supposed to remain in the restaurant.
I am not talking about foam or disposable plates. I am talking about china dishes - plates and bowls. I have also seen drinking glasses go out the door. It is so bizarre. The first time that I saw this someone had a plate full of ice cream. They took it to their table from the dessert bar, put on their coat, and with their family walked out the door to leave while holding the plate and eating the ice cream - oh yes, the silverware has accompanied the dishes too. This is a new twist on "take out".
Another time I watched a full glass of soda travel out the door openly in someone's hand. And the topper was a plate of food - out the door. What are people thinking? Never would it occur to any rational person that the china plates and bowls, drinking glasses, and silverware are meant to be taken out of the restaurant. Are people so acclimated to fast food that they think that like the paper wrapper around the cheeseburger from McDonald's, the dinnerware at the buffet is there to go out too? There is no reasonable explanation.
And this results in higher prices for the rest of us. The restaurant expects a certain amount of breakage but for the dinnerware to be carried out the door?
This is a strange world - and it is getting stranger every day!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Easter Buffet at the Milleridge Inn, Jericho, NY
In January I wrote about the Christmas Eve buffet at which I was a guest for dinner. I ended that review by saying that I could not recommend any buffet on any holiday at this restaurant. To recall, that article, the buffet dinners served at this menu restaurant on holidays in their catering building as special holiday dinners. This is not a buffet restaurant and the restaurant has been around for years and years. In fact, the holiday buffets have been around for years and years. So what happened this Easter? The same people invited us to holiday dinner again and again at the holiday buffet at this restaurant.
I must say that the experience was considerably better. But read on to my conclusion of whether you should spend a holiday dinner here.
The restaurant was crowded, both the menu dining and the holiday buffet. We were at the last seating and I anticipated a meal of empty trays, but that was not the case. Food was continually replenished. One of the problems at the Christmas Eve dinner was that our party of five was seated at a table that was barely large enough for three. This time we were seated at a table for eight and we had plenty of room.
Another problem at Christmas was that the dirty dishes were never picked up from our table and the service was terrible. For Easter the service was much better and dishes were picked up on a regular basis.
So with these improvements the meal must have been good. Well, yes and no. The meal was OK. The meal cost in the vicinity of $45 a person. Remember we were guests, so it is not polite to ask your host what they are paying for your meal. What surprised me was that soft drinks and coffee were included with the meal - and when you could grab a waiter you could get more soda (which is coming from the bar).
The meal was very similar to the menu served at Christmas. There was a large cold salad area that included prepared salads consisting of either pasta or rice. There were mozzarella cheese balls with tomatoes in a vinaigrette dressing. There was a chopped antipasto salad consisting of salamis, peppers, and olives. There was also a large spread of iced shrimp that had the shells removed. These were very sizable shrimp and would have made for a very expensive shrimp cocktail in a menu restaurant. The shrimp did taste as though they had been on ice too long. They were fine but they did not stand out as to what one might say were "tasty" shrimp. This is what I found to be the problem with most of the food served. For lack of a better way of putting it, the food did not "pop"! There was nothing that you would say, "Wow! That was marvelous X, Y, or Z!"
There was a bowl of mixed salad greens that appeared to be mostly spinach. There were two dressings next to it - a balsamic that was overly oily and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.
Next to the salad area there was a table set up with hot trays of "kid" food. There were small pieces of hot dogs wrapped in dough. There were chicken fingers. There were French fries and there was macaroni and cheese.
The main hot food tables held chicken parmigiana, ziti ala vodka, eggplant rollatini, thin sliced beef with peppers and onions over rice, salmon in cream sauce, string beans, and roast potatoes. Carvings followed next. There was leg of lamb, ham, and for a short time there was pork roast which when it ran out was followed by a roll of beef.
Dessert is brought to your table by the waiter - one per person - and there was cheesecake, strawberry shortcake, and ice cream to pick from.
All of the food was fine, but nothing stood out. Nothing was exceptionally tasty. In fact, I have had tastier food at chain buffets at a quarter the price. This is a restaurant that does these dinners as a way to show off their catering. The object is to have me think that the food is so wonderful that I want to have a large party there. Would I to have a party to plan, I would not come here if I wanted to impress my guests with the food.
Again, I must say that the service was much, much better. I just wish the food was better. I still cannot recommend this holiday buffet, this time on the basis of the food. For this much money it really does need to "pop". There should be some "wow" for something during the meal.
Do I now recommend this to anyone to try? If you want food that is just OK and you want to take a chance that they don't go back to the poor service that has been experienced here in the past - well, you decide.
Of course, if I am invited again, I can't really say no. This remains to be seen until next Christmas. We shall see. And obviously they do not read my articles.
Friday, April 22, 2011
More Ryans Being Closed
I recently received this comment from a reader on an article that I wrote in 2008 about Ryan's buffets being closed by the parent company, Buffets, Inc. (Old Country Buffet). This is the recent comment in its entirety.
"They're at it again. On March 15 more stores are being closed Ryans in Gadsden, Al. and Ryans in Lancaster, SC were closed. Trying to find out if anymore were closed today. This is not a stable company. I worked for them twice - Once as Ryans and once as Old Country Buffets. Ryans had direction, cared about the customer and the employees and cared about their store's condition. OCB just looks at the bottom line. They don't care about anything but money - unfortunately that is the trend today. Companies look at the bottom line and all they think is close the store and cut the loss. When in reality, the under-performing stores are a mirror image of their direction or lack of and company practices. It shows up in smaller stores and markets quicker than in larger ones. OCB needs to look at themselves instead of their stores. Find their problems, correct them, then put proper practices in their stores. They want to compete with newer, fancier stores - but don't want to make the improvements at store level to make them competitive. They put fancy spice racks in old run down stores and don't know why it didn't work. They are constantly changing recipes that customers like to ones that are labor intensive and not that good and wonder why a cook that makes a tad more than minimum wage - can't adhere to the recipe. They make cashiers (minimum wage again)to force customers to buy beverages (high profit) to add $2 each to a bill. If they fail to maintain a sales quotas, they are replaced. I can tell you from experience that you can go to work for McDonalds and make more money and have 1/2 the responsibility. These under-performing stores are a sign of things to come and I don't feel the sign will be read."
I have since received other contacts as well about Ryans buffets being closed location by location. I will make no editorial comments. I believe that this comment from our reader speaks for itself. I do feel that it is important for our readers to be aware of what is going on. I like Ryans Buffet. There are none near me and I have not been to one in more than two years because of distance and lack of travel to where there is one. I do know from comments that they are now more like OCB than they are like the former, pre-Buffets, Inc. Ryans. That is a shame and what is commented above appears to be the result.
"They're at it again. On March 15 more stores are being closed Ryans in Gadsden, Al. and Ryans in Lancaster, SC were closed. Trying to find out if anymore were closed today. This is not a stable company. I worked for them twice - Once as Ryans and once as Old Country Buffets. Ryans had direction, cared about the customer and the employees and cared about their store's condition. OCB just looks at the bottom line. They don't care about anything but money - unfortunately that is the trend today. Companies look at the bottom line and all they think is close the store and cut the loss. When in reality, the under-performing stores are a mirror image of their direction or lack of and company practices. It shows up in smaller stores and markets quicker than in larger ones. OCB needs to look at themselves instead of their stores. Find their problems, correct them, then put proper practices in their stores. They want to compete with newer, fancier stores - but don't want to make the improvements at store level to make them competitive. They put fancy spice racks in old run down stores and don't know why it didn't work. They are constantly changing recipes that customers like to ones that are labor intensive and not that good and wonder why a cook that makes a tad more than minimum wage - can't adhere to the recipe. They make cashiers (minimum wage again)to force customers to buy beverages (high profit) to add $2 each to a bill. If they fail to maintain a sales quotas, they are replaced. I can tell you from experience that you can go to work for McDonalds and make more money and have 1/2 the responsibility. These under-performing stores are a sign of things to come and I don't feel the sign will be read."
I have since received other contacts as well about Ryans buffets being closed location by location. I will make no editorial comments. I believe that this comment from our reader speaks for itself. I do feel that it is important for our readers to be aware of what is going on. I like Ryans Buffet. There are none near me and I have not been to one in more than two years because of distance and lack of travel to where there is one. I do know from comments that they are now more like OCB than they are like the former, pre-Buffets, Inc. Ryans. That is a shame and what is commented above appears to be the result.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Seafood is the New Feature at Golden Corral
Just when I thought that I might get a chance to try to the steak feature at Golden Corral, their feature menu has now changed to seafood. That is the way it is with featured menus - don't delay because a new one will be coming soon. But the important thing is that a new feature menu does come at Golden Corral. They are one of the last chains to vary their buffet with limited time features of dishes that are new.
Seafood is done well at Golden Corral. I always enjoy their fried fish. The new feature is called Seafood Lover's Paradise. The name, itself, is inviting! And one of the things that Golden Corral is advertising with this feature is that you are getting seafood for $10! Seafood in restaurants is expensive - even a simple fried fish platter can get close to $20 in a basic restaurant. So an all you care to eat (AYCE) seafood meal for ten bucks - and one that is good, is something to advertise.
The feature adds a few new seafood items to the buffet. One of the new items is grilled jalapeno glazed talapia. This is a spicy grilled fish dish. Another of the new items is sweet pecan breaded talapia. Talapia fillets are breaded in a crunchy mix of bread crumbs with a bit of heat. They are topped when served with pecan pieces.
Included in the feature also are Seafood Newberg with puff pastry. Like a pot pie, a puff pastry crust is placed over a mixture of seafood in a cheese sauce. There is seafood salad - a regular on the buffet. There is salt and pepper flounder - deep fried flounder fillets. (I have had those in the past and they are good!) Add on to the buffet New England Calm Chowder and hush puppies (fried corn meal dumplings) and you have the new Seafood Lover's Paradise.
I have not been to Golden Corral to try the new dishes added to this feature. I have had some of the dishes that are included that have been around before. I like Golden Corral's cooking so I am pretty sure that this feature is worth a try.
Allow me to talk a moment about the fish, talapia. There is nothing wrong with it. I like the taste and I have had it many time. It is important to note that farm raised talapia, which is most of the talapia that is served, does not have the Omega-3 health factors that we are told fish has. In fact it does just the opposite and takes the benefit away from what you may gain from the other fish. This is not everyone's concern but if you think eating a lot of talapia is heart-healthy - well, it isn't. I will not go into this in detail - Google talapia to see for yourself. This would not stop me from eating it - but do be aware of this.
I am hoping that I will get to a Golden Corral before this feature ends. How likely that is I am not sure as there are none near me and require travel of a couple of hundred miles. BUT - if you have one near by, try it and let us know how the Seafood Lover's Paradise is!
Seafood is done well at Golden Corral. I always enjoy their fried fish. The new feature is called Seafood Lover's Paradise. The name, itself, is inviting! And one of the things that Golden Corral is advertising with this feature is that you are getting seafood for $10! Seafood in restaurants is expensive - even a simple fried fish platter can get close to $20 in a basic restaurant. So an all you care to eat (AYCE) seafood meal for ten bucks - and one that is good, is something to advertise.
The feature adds a few new seafood items to the buffet. One of the new items is grilled jalapeno glazed talapia. This is a spicy grilled fish dish. Another of the new items is sweet pecan breaded talapia. Talapia fillets are breaded in a crunchy mix of bread crumbs with a bit of heat. They are topped when served with pecan pieces.
Included in the feature also are Seafood Newberg with puff pastry. Like a pot pie, a puff pastry crust is placed over a mixture of seafood in a cheese sauce. There is seafood salad - a regular on the buffet. There is salt and pepper flounder - deep fried flounder fillets. (I have had those in the past and they are good!) Add on to the buffet New England Calm Chowder and hush puppies (fried corn meal dumplings) and you have the new Seafood Lover's Paradise.
I have not been to Golden Corral to try the new dishes added to this feature. I have had some of the dishes that are included that have been around before. I like Golden Corral's cooking so I am pretty sure that this feature is worth a try.
Allow me to talk a moment about the fish, talapia. There is nothing wrong with it. I like the taste and I have had it many time. It is important to note that farm raised talapia, which is most of the talapia that is served, does not have the Omega-3 health factors that we are told fish has. In fact it does just the opposite and takes the benefit away from what you may gain from the other fish. This is not everyone's concern but if you think eating a lot of talapia is heart-healthy - well, it isn't. I will not go into this in detail - Google talapia to see for yourself. This would not stop me from eating it - but do be aware of this.
I am hoping that I will get to a Golden Corral before this feature ends. How likely that is I am not sure as there are none near me and require travel of a couple of hundred miles. BUT - if you have one near by, try it and let us know how the Seafood Lover's Paradise is!
Friday, April 08, 2011
Unthinking, Stupid, or Just Rude?
We have the Rules of the Buffet on this site. All of the rules stem from common sense and just plain courtesy when dining out at a buffet. But - there are somethings that I have witnessed at buffet restaurants that just go beyond the rules - and to make a new rule would just make you wonder where did that come from.
Lately, I saw some really over the top things at buffets - all having to do with customers. The buffets are in no way at fault. These are the things that you say that make you wonder - is that person unthinking about what they are doing, is he/she just plain stupid, or is he/she just rude?
I was almost going to tell you about this first one in the article that I wrote about the buffet but I thought to myself that this has nothing to do with the buffet and no one should get the idea that the buffet was not good because of this. I am not going to identify the restaurant - but it could have been anywhere in any restaurant - even one that is not a buffet, though people seem to act differently in menu restaurants. I will start from when we were first brought to our table to be seated. The hostess is goes to the table that she is going to seat us at and I think that this table must be occupied. On the table there are personal belongings - a cigarette lighter and some other personal things. Across one of the seats (this was a booth) was a coat. The hostess looked down at these things knowing that the table was "supposed" to be available. She looked at the table across from this one that was filled with people. She asked at that table if these things belonged to anyone there. "Oh", said one woman, "those are mine." She made no move to retrieve them. The hostess had to ask - would you please take them so that we may use the table. The woman seemed put out and picked up her things off the table and the coat from the seat. Really? I had not seen anything quite like this before. It was not as if this buffet was empty and there were plenty of open tables. This restaurant was crowded.
Is this all that is bothering me? Need I tell you that this story continues? We went through the entire meal. It was just before we were about to leave. In fact, my wife had gone off to the restroom and I was at our table alone. That same table across from us still had the same people at it. This same woman had a toddler - about two years old. I see her pick up this child and lay him down on the bench seat of the booth behind us. Hmm. This booth had been occupied before and the people there had just left. The restaurant was still crowded so the table would certainly be needed again. Was she putting this child down to sleep on this seat? Much as she had left her coat on the seat of our booth? No worse. She proceeded to take down this child's pants and change the child's diaper! What a pleasant dining experience and odor! Not only did she change the diaper, but in doing so she took the dirty diaper and PUT IT ON TOP OF THE TABLE! After she finished with the child, pulled the pants back up and picked him up she picked up the dirty diaper off the table, balled it up in her hand and started talking to someone at her table while she stood in the aisle between our two tables waving this dirty diaper around in her hand. Eventually she took it and put it down on her chair.
When my wife got back she could see that I was perturbed by something and I told her that I would explain outside when we left. I told her and she told me that the ladies room had a very nice baby changing area. So there certainly was no reason why this woman could not have taken the child there to do this. This really was incredible. On our way out, people were brought to that table. The table had been wiped down before so there was no reason that the restaurant would wipe it down again. There was no one to tell in time and those people sat down to have their meal on a table that was just holding a poop filled diaper. This is really a disgusting thought - to me at least. In this case I think that all three of the words in the title of this article apply to this woman. I have seen a lot of nasty things in my times over the years at buffets - hamsters put on the table, dogs at a table, etc. This was the worst so far.
I wish that this was the only recent tale like this to tell. At another buffet, when it was time to leave a couple with another toddler, picked the child up and stood him on the table - in his dirty boots - so that they could put his coat on him. I am sure that all buffets are supposed to use a disinfectant in that spray bottle that they use to give the table a cursory wipe down between guests. Often I think and in some places I am sure that all that is used is plain water. It is intended to clear the remains of the meal away - not to wash off the remains of dirty boots. So the next person to sit down to eat and some food comes off the edge of the plate and unthinkingly that person lifts it back to the plate and eats it - yuck when there had been a child's boots on the table.
Another tale is not so extreme but goes directly into the rude category. I was at still another buffet, and went up to the salad bar to get some Caesar salad. In front of the bowl of salad is a large man, his wife and two daughters. They are standing there having a conversation. Ok - ordinary and no big deal. But he has one filled plate down on the counter of the salad bar and another plate in his hand. While he is talking with his family he is eating from that plate in his hand. The daughters are eating like this too. They have a table but evidently they thought that this was a good place to have their meal. I came up next to him and he did not budge. I tried to say excuse me and he paid no attention. I had to reach over the plate that he had on the counter to get to the tongs for the salad and started taking salad. His reaction was one of indignation and the look he gave me was as if to say how dare you lean over my plate and interrupt my meal. I returned the look and proceeded to take my salad. He finally got the idea to move - a little further down. What is going on with people?!? All too often I see people at the buffet servers eating. It is like a cocktail party as they carry their plates from one serving tray to the other and eat what is on the plate at the same time. Are they so hungry that they cannot wait?
Or are they unthinking, stupid or just rude?
Lately, I saw some really over the top things at buffets - all having to do with customers. The buffets are in no way at fault. These are the things that you say that make you wonder - is that person unthinking about what they are doing, is he/she just plain stupid, or is he/she just rude?
I was almost going to tell you about this first one in the article that I wrote about the buffet but I thought to myself that this has nothing to do with the buffet and no one should get the idea that the buffet was not good because of this. I am not going to identify the restaurant - but it could have been anywhere in any restaurant - even one that is not a buffet, though people seem to act differently in menu restaurants. I will start from when we were first brought to our table to be seated. The hostess is goes to the table that she is going to seat us at and I think that this table must be occupied. On the table there are personal belongings - a cigarette lighter and some other personal things. Across one of the seats (this was a booth) was a coat. The hostess looked down at these things knowing that the table was "supposed" to be available. She looked at the table across from this one that was filled with people. She asked at that table if these things belonged to anyone there. "Oh", said one woman, "those are mine." She made no move to retrieve them. The hostess had to ask - would you please take them so that we may use the table. The woman seemed put out and picked up her things off the table and the coat from the seat. Really? I had not seen anything quite like this before. It was not as if this buffet was empty and there were plenty of open tables. This restaurant was crowded.
Is this all that is bothering me? Need I tell you that this story continues? We went through the entire meal. It was just before we were about to leave. In fact, my wife had gone off to the restroom and I was at our table alone. That same table across from us still had the same people at it. This same woman had a toddler - about two years old. I see her pick up this child and lay him down on the bench seat of the booth behind us. Hmm. This booth had been occupied before and the people there had just left. The restaurant was still crowded so the table would certainly be needed again. Was she putting this child down to sleep on this seat? Much as she had left her coat on the seat of our booth? No worse. She proceeded to take down this child's pants and change the child's diaper! What a pleasant dining experience and odor! Not only did she change the diaper, but in doing so she took the dirty diaper and PUT IT ON TOP OF THE TABLE! After she finished with the child, pulled the pants back up and picked him up she picked up the dirty diaper off the table, balled it up in her hand and started talking to someone at her table while she stood in the aisle between our two tables waving this dirty diaper around in her hand. Eventually she took it and put it down on her chair.
When my wife got back she could see that I was perturbed by something and I told her that I would explain outside when we left. I told her and she told me that the ladies room had a very nice baby changing area. So there certainly was no reason why this woman could not have taken the child there to do this. This really was incredible. On our way out, people were brought to that table. The table had been wiped down before so there was no reason that the restaurant would wipe it down again. There was no one to tell in time and those people sat down to have their meal on a table that was just holding a poop filled diaper. This is really a disgusting thought - to me at least. In this case I think that all three of the words in the title of this article apply to this woman. I have seen a lot of nasty things in my times over the years at buffets - hamsters put on the table, dogs at a table, etc. This was the worst so far.
I wish that this was the only recent tale like this to tell. At another buffet, when it was time to leave a couple with another toddler, picked the child up and stood him on the table - in his dirty boots - so that they could put his coat on him. I am sure that all buffets are supposed to use a disinfectant in that spray bottle that they use to give the table a cursory wipe down between guests. Often I think and in some places I am sure that all that is used is plain water. It is intended to clear the remains of the meal away - not to wash off the remains of dirty boots. So the next person to sit down to eat and some food comes off the edge of the plate and unthinkingly that person lifts it back to the plate and eats it - yuck when there had been a child's boots on the table.
Another tale is not so extreme but goes directly into the rude category. I was at still another buffet, and went up to the salad bar to get some Caesar salad. In front of the bowl of salad is a large man, his wife and two daughters. They are standing there having a conversation. Ok - ordinary and no big deal. But he has one filled plate down on the counter of the salad bar and another plate in his hand. While he is talking with his family he is eating from that plate in his hand. The daughters are eating like this too. They have a table but evidently they thought that this was a good place to have their meal. I came up next to him and he did not budge. I tried to say excuse me and he paid no attention. I had to reach over the plate that he had on the counter to get to the tongs for the salad and started taking salad. His reaction was one of indignation and the look he gave me was as if to say how dare you lean over my plate and interrupt my meal. I returned the look and proceeded to take my salad. He finally got the idea to move - a little further down. What is going on with people?!? All too often I see people at the buffet servers eating. It is like a cocktail party as they carry their plates from one serving tray to the other and eat what is on the plate at the same time. Are they so hungry that they cannot wait?
Or are they unthinking, stupid or just rude?
Friday, April 01, 2011
Southern Smokehouse - Second Try - Weeknight
It has not happened before that I have returned to a new to me buffet so soon after my first visit, but five days after I went to Southern Smokehouse in Linden New Jersey, I went back. After a long two part article about that first visit you may be tired of hearing about this buffet, but often a weeknight experience is very different than a weekend night at the restaurant and it is worth sticking around to hear a little more about his buffet.
We had business in New Jersey again shortly after our trip on the past Saturday. We decided we would go on a Thursday and started looking for another buffet to try. I had a couple of recommendations from readers but while they were in New Jersey they were fifty to seventy miles in the wrong direction. It would mean adding a hundred to a hundred and forty miles to the trip and that did not make sense to me. I did a few searches to see what I could find that might be closer but came up with a few Chinese buffets that when I looked at patron reviews were not appearing too promising. In the past when we have come to this area we have gone to Buffet Europa - which is now gone - and Makkoli, a very good Japanese sushi and seafood buffet. Makkoli on a weeknight is $20 a person and now that I am unable to eat rice and can eat very little of noodles, this was just not really going to be worth it for us. I enjoy that buffet but felt that I was only going to be frustrated now if I could not partake in what I enjoy so much there. My good wife and I discussed what to do. I jokingly said that we could go back to Southern Smokehouse. She said fine. I said, really after just five days. She pointed out that this would be a chance to try it on a weeknight and we rarely go down to that area other than on a Friday or Saturday. This would be an opportunity. I actually had been thinking about when we would go back because remembering the meal there kept enticing me. So that was the plan.
We arrived at Southern Smokehouse at 7:00 pm and as I said it was a Thursday night. The parking lot was not very full though there were a good number of cars. There was no line inside and we were told to sit where ever we wanted. Walking into the restaurant there were a number of tables full and while it was not crowded it was doing good business for a Thursday night - and the temperatures were dropping again toward freezing so people often stay home rather than go out into the cold for dinner (on a weeknight especially during a work week). The price on a weeknight is one dollar per person less - $11.95. (Cheaper than at Old Country Buffet considering that the drink in included in the price here.)
As you recall on my first visit my first impressions were almost spoiled by the location of the table that we were seated at. On this night we had the pick of two dining rooms. We took a table that was in the open and comfortable.
The server came over right away as we were getting settled at the table and asked for our soft drink orders. We told her and she was off to get them. We went up to the buffet to start the meal.
Last time there were two soups - one labeled chicken noodle soup and that turned out to really be chicken rice soup - and the other labeled New England clam chowder. On this night one soup was labeled cream of mushroom and the other had no label at all - it could have been either chicken noodle or chicken rice. With a swirl of the ladle as my wife took her soup she told me that is was chicken rice. I filled my bowl with the cream of mushroom. The cream soup had a skin formed on top - which can happen with cream soups. I mixed it well with the ladle and took the soup. The cream of mushroom soup was tasty. It was not very thick but it seemed just right. There were some lumps that settled to the bottom of the bowl that would come up with the spoon every so often. These seemed to be small lumps of the flour used to thicken the soup. The were not bad but should not have been there - actually this is another indication that this restaurant is making most of what they are serving from scratch and not from a mix or from a can. There were large pieces of mushroom in the soup and small bits of onion. Good taste was there and that is what is important.
When I wrote about this restaurant and what I "thought" the differences were between the weeknight menu and the weekend menu on the buffet I was going by the menus listed on their website. There were some differences that made the weekend menu "enhanced". I have to tell you right now that going back on a weeknight I could only find one difference on what was out being served and that difference is very, very small - and just about insignificant. The difference is on the salad bar.
We went up for salad and where the tray of romaine lettuce to make Caesar salad on the Saturday night, there was a tray of mixed lettuce. There may have been some romaine mixed in but it was mixed with iceberg lettuce. Next to that tray was a tray of mixed dark greens. The website menu says "Caesar Salad" on the weekend - and that was correct in a "technical" way. Except that the Caesar dressing was out in the same place as was the Parmesan cheese to put on top. So I made myself a "pseudo-Caesar" salad and really could not tell the difference. Romaine lettuce tends to be more expensive than iceberg - but those mixed greens tend to more expensive than both - so I have no idea why this difference other than the technicality that it is really Caesar with romaine on the weekend. Anyway, the salad was just as good.
It was time to go up for the start of the "main" course and I went right over to the grill and carving area. The flame grill was empty and that seemed to make sense as I was under the impression that the steaks were a weekend buffet item. There was a large tray of spare ribs, a whole roast turkey, and a tray of salmon that had a crust of what looked like cheese and breadcrumbs on top. This was exactly as it had been on Saturday night- so the number of carvings did not change.
As you may recall, I was somewhat disappointed in the ribs on the first visit. I looked carefully at the stacked tray. These ribs looked meaty and moist. They did not appear as those ribs on Saturday night had been - and at that meal none but one of six ribs was moist and meaty. I asked the server behind the counter for ribs and he placed two meaty ribs on my plate. I went over to the hot buffet servers and took some meatloaf. There was a tray of very nice looking onion rings near by and I could not resist and took one of those also. Just because - I took a few sweet potato fries - just a taste.
The ribs were as they should have been Saturday night. They were full of meat and they were moist. The meat still did not fall off the bone but it was not a struggle getting a good amount of it off. They were tasty. At the grill next to the tray of ribs this time there was a serving dish of barbecue sauce to add on top. I did not add any. The ribs have sauce cooked on which is fine for me. If you like a lot of sauce, it is there for the taking. I will tell you now that I went back later for more ribs - the tray had been refilled and piled high again. I asked for two more and, again, got nice meaty ribs.
The meatloaf was good too! The meatloaf is served sitting in a tray filled deep with tomato sauce. The meatloaf is under it. The meatloaf soaks up the tomato sauce and it comes onto your plate with the serving spoon covered in tomato sauce. The meatloaf was very good - different from some - not like the OCB meatloaf (which can be good too). It was not over seasoned. My wife describes it as tasting like "home-style" meatloaf. This is a good thing. (Growing up in my Italian American household, my mother made meatloaf with raisins and pine nuts mixed inside along with cheese. I never really liked meatloaf very much until I found out what meatloaf is like outside of my mother's kitchen - she was a good cook - I just did not like Italian meatloaf. So this is not like my "home-style" meatloaf and to me that is a very good thing!)
The onion rings tasted as good as they looked. They were crisp and the onion inside was moist.
I mentioned the steaks. I went up to the grill on my second entree trip up to the buffet and there was a man cooking steaks. I went over to the grill and stood there with my plate waiting for him to look up. He was picking each steak up off the grill and putting them on one plate. There must have been ten or fifteen steaks. I asked him for a steak and he said something that I could not understand and he took his plate full of steaks and headed off into the buffet area and then into a service area. Hmm? Were they just cooking steak for the staff? No one came over to me at the grill and I thought that perhaps he had said that the steaks were out on one of the hot tables. I left the grill to look. Did not find any steak and got tempted by something else. On my third trip up there were more steaks cooking on the grill. I went over to the server behind the counter and asked for one. He went over and took two steaks and put them on my plate. I really only wanted one but they are good and I sometimes have eyes for food that are too big for my stomach. The skirt steaks were just as tasty as Saturday night - AND they do serve grilled steak during the weeknight dinners.
I tried a few things on this visit that I had not tried on the first. I took some fried fish. It was good and clearly battered and fried in the kitchen. I took some fried okra which was very good. I also took some collard greens. I have had collards a few times in the past but I have not cared very much for them. They were always bitter in taste. These were different - they were made differently. They were large leaves not chopped up but cut into medium size bites - some were larger and folded. They were also in an sauce that was either butter or oil or both. They were not bitter at all. They were very tasty. I would describe the pleasant taste as a mix of salt and pepper and would not say that they were either too salty or two peppery. The texture was different from what I have had also. They were not cooked very soft but had a bit of a chew to them. My wife asked what I meant when I told her this during the meal and I said "stiffer". That is not a very foodie way to describe them but it fits. And that was OK. I enjoyed them and while I would not take them in some other places again, I would definitely have them here again.
Just about all of the rest on the buffet is as I described before. Every tray was full. As this night was not crowded as Saturday night had been packed, some dishes out on the hot buffet were there longer than they had been Saturday night. There was not anything wrong with them. I tried the great macaroni and cheese again, and it tasted just the same. It was a bit thicker and not as light as it had been because the tray of it had been out longer in the heat of the steam table.
The service on this weeknight was OK. The server could have been around our table more considering that there were not that many tables that she was taking care of. She tended to be in the corner of beverage service station which is at the far corner of the dining room. The plates remained on the table a little longer than they should, and once we had to get her attention to bring her over to the table - this is why ->
On our first visit there had been a problem with my wife's soft drink order. She ordered "Diet Coke" and what was brought to her was a regular sugar soda. It was corrected once we could get the server over which then took some time - and I told you all about. This time it happened again - only to me. I ordered an unsweetened ice tea and I was brought exactly that when it first came. No problem. During the meal on one of her trips around to dining room the server asked if I would like more. I said yes, I will have another ice tea. Maybe it was my fault for saying "unsweetened" iced tea but I have never had to say that in other restaurants once the first iced tea had been ordered. Sometimes they ask on the refill - she did not. I got my refill - another glass of iced tea. There was no lemon on the glass and I should have been suspicious as the first glass had one. I noticed that but took it as having been forgotten to be added and to me that is no big deal - lemon or no lemon, I don't really care. It had been a bit of time to get that second iced tea and I took a small drink and then another and realized that I was drinking sweetened iced tea. I can't do that. I am a diabetic. I had not drank much but enough to make me wonder what my blood sugar reading would be in two hours. This was when we had to find her to get her over to bring the correct drink. She took the sweetened tea away and came back with an unsweetened tea - this time with a lemon on the glass (this must be the clue, Watson!). So - two visits, two different servers - and the same problem. Not good. Dangerous in fact. I know better not to keep drinking. A diabetic child would just keep drinking the sugar filled drink (delighted in this new found sweetness) and then possibly be in big physical trouble. So when you order soft drinks here and you need diet or unsweetened - sip small first and make sure that what you get is what you want.
Was I happy on this second visit? Oh yes! The food is very good here. I ate too much and I knew it as I was leaving. I had that too stuffed at the buffet feeling. It is a good feeling but not one that you really want to have. You want to be satisfied and full but not STUFFED. I felt stuffed. I broke my own rule about that - and that is because it was too good not to go back for just one more try of something. Will I go back? Yes, I will. I am not in this part of New Jersey often - it tends to be twice a year at the same time of the year - one or two weeks apart. So it may be another year before I go back. But I will go back eagerly!
I still recommend it! Go and try it!
Southern Smokehouse is located at Aviation Plaza Shopping Center which is at 611 West Edgar Road (Route 1 and 9) in Linden, New Jersey 07036. The phone number is 908-862-1883. The hours on Friday and Saturday are until 10 pm. Weeknights and Sunday nights they are open until 9 pm. They seem to open each day at 11 am for lunch. There is a website and it is listed at the side of this page.
We had business in New Jersey again shortly after our trip on the past Saturday. We decided we would go on a Thursday and started looking for another buffet to try. I had a couple of recommendations from readers but while they were in New Jersey they were fifty to seventy miles in the wrong direction. It would mean adding a hundred to a hundred and forty miles to the trip and that did not make sense to me. I did a few searches to see what I could find that might be closer but came up with a few Chinese buffets that when I looked at patron reviews were not appearing too promising. In the past when we have come to this area we have gone to Buffet Europa - which is now gone - and Makkoli, a very good Japanese sushi and seafood buffet. Makkoli on a weeknight is $20 a person and now that I am unable to eat rice and can eat very little of noodles, this was just not really going to be worth it for us. I enjoy that buffet but felt that I was only going to be frustrated now if I could not partake in what I enjoy so much there. My good wife and I discussed what to do. I jokingly said that we could go back to Southern Smokehouse. She said fine. I said, really after just five days. She pointed out that this would be a chance to try it on a weeknight and we rarely go down to that area other than on a Friday or Saturday. This would be an opportunity. I actually had been thinking about when we would go back because remembering the meal there kept enticing me. So that was the plan.
We arrived at Southern Smokehouse at 7:00 pm and as I said it was a Thursday night. The parking lot was not very full though there were a good number of cars. There was no line inside and we were told to sit where ever we wanted. Walking into the restaurant there were a number of tables full and while it was not crowded it was doing good business for a Thursday night - and the temperatures were dropping again toward freezing so people often stay home rather than go out into the cold for dinner (on a weeknight especially during a work week). The price on a weeknight is one dollar per person less - $11.95. (Cheaper than at Old Country Buffet considering that the drink in included in the price here.)
As you recall on my first visit my first impressions were almost spoiled by the location of the table that we were seated at. On this night we had the pick of two dining rooms. We took a table that was in the open and comfortable.
The server came over right away as we were getting settled at the table and asked for our soft drink orders. We told her and she was off to get them. We went up to the buffet to start the meal.
Last time there were two soups - one labeled chicken noodle soup and that turned out to really be chicken rice soup - and the other labeled New England clam chowder. On this night one soup was labeled cream of mushroom and the other had no label at all - it could have been either chicken noodle or chicken rice. With a swirl of the ladle as my wife took her soup she told me that is was chicken rice. I filled my bowl with the cream of mushroom. The cream soup had a skin formed on top - which can happen with cream soups. I mixed it well with the ladle and took the soup. The cream of mushroom soup was tasty. It was not very thick but it seemed just right. There were some lumps that settled to the bottom of the bowl that would come up with the spoon every so often. These seemed to be small lumps of the flour used to thicken the soup. The were not bad but should not have been there - actually this is another indication that this restaurant is making most of what they are serving from scratch and not from a mix or from a can. There were large pieces of mushroom in the soup and small bits of onion. Good taste was there and that is what is important.
When I wrote about this restaurant and what I "thought" the differences were between the weeknight menu and the weekend menu on the buffet I was going by the menus listed on their website. There were some differences that made the weekend menu "enhanced". I have to tell you right now that going back on a weeknight I could only find one difference on what was out being served and that difference is very, very small - and just about insignificant. The difference is on the salad bar.
We went up for salad and where the tray of romaine lettuce to make Caesar salad on the Saturday night, there was a tray of mixed lettuce. There may have been some romaine mixed in but it was mixed with iceberg lettuce. Next to that tray was a tray of mixed dark greens. The website menu says "Caesar Salad" on the weekend - and that was correct in a "technical" way. Except that the Caesar dressing was out in the same place as was the Parmesan cheese to put on top. So I made myself a "pseudo-Caesar" salad and really could not tell the difference. Romaine lettuce tends to be more expensive than iceberg - but those mixed greens tend to more expensive than both - so I have no idea why this difference other than the technicality that it is really Caesar with romaine on the weekend. Anyway, the salad was just as good.
It was time to go up for the start of the "main" course and I went right over to the grill and carving area. The flame grill was empty and that seemed to make sense as I was under the impression that the steaks were a weekend buffet item. There was a large tray of spare ribs, a whole roast turkey, and a tray of salmon that had a crust of what looked like cheese and breadcrumbs on top. This was exactly as it had been on Saturday night- so the number of carvings did not change.
As you may recall, I was somewhat disappointed in the ribs on the first visit. I looked carefully at the stacked tray. These ribs looked meaty and moist. They did not appear as those ribs on Saturday night had been - and at that meal none but one of six ribs was moist and meaty. I asked the server behind the counter for ribs and he placed two meaty ribs on my plate. I went over to the hot buffet servers and took some meatloaf. There was a tray of very nice looking onion rings near by and I could not resist and took one of those also. Just because - I took a few sweet potato fries - just a taste.
The ribs were as they should have been Saturday night. They were full of meat and they were moist. The meat still did not fall off the bone but it was not a struggle getting a good amount of it off. They were tasty. At the grill next to the tray of ribs this time there was a serving dish of barbecue sauce to add on top. I did not add any. The ribs have sauce cooked on which is fine for me. If you like a lot of sauce, it is there for the taking. I will tell you now that I went back later for more ribs - the tray had been refilled and piled high again. I asked for two more and, again, got nice meaty ribs.
The meatloaf was good too! The meatloaf is served sitting in a tray filled deep with tomato sauce. The meatloaf is under it. The meatloaf soaks up the tomato sauce and it comes onto your plate with the serving spoon covered in tomato sauce. The meatloaf was very good - different from some - not like the OCB meatloaf (which can be good too). It was not over seasoned. My wife describes it as tasting like "home-style" meatloaf. This is a good thing. (Growing up in my Italian American household, my mother made meatloaf with raisins and pine nuts mixed inside along with cheese. I never really liked meatloaf very much until I found out what meatloaf is like outside of my mother's kitchen - she was a good cook - I just did not like Italian meatloaf. So this is not like my "home-style" meatloaf and to me that is a very good thing!)
The onion rings tasted as good as they looked. They were crisp and the onion inside was moist.
I mentioned the steaks. I went up to the grill on my second entree trip up to the buffet and there was a man cooking steaks. I went over to the grill and stood there with my plate waiting for him to look up. He was picking each steak up off the grill and putting them on one plate. There must have been ten or fifteen steaks. I asked him for a steak and he said something that I could not understand and he took his plate full of steaks and headed off into the buffet area and then into a service area. Hmm? Were they just cooking steak for the staff? No one came over to me at the grill and I thought that perhaps he had said that the steaks were out on one of the hot tables. I left the grill to look. Did not find any steak and got tempted by something else. On my third trip up there were more steaks cooking on the grill. I went over to the server behind the counter and asked for one. He went over and took two steaks and put them on my plate. I really only wanted one but they are good and I sometimes have eyes for food that are too big for my stomach. The skirt steaks were just as tasty as Saturday night - AND they do serve grilled steak during the weeknight dinners.
I tried a few things on this visit that I had not tried on the first. I took some fried fish. It was good and clearly battered and fried in the kitchen. I took some fried okra which was very good. I also took some collard greens. I have had collards a few times in the past but I have not cared very much for them. They were always bitter in taste. These were different - they were made differently. They were large leaves not chopped up but cut into medium size bites - some were larger and folded. They were also in an sauce that was either butter or oil or both. They were not bitter at all. They were very tasty. I would describe the pleasant taste as a mix of salt and pepper and would not say that they were either too salty or two peppery. The texture was different from what I have had also. They were not cooked very soft but had a bit of a chew to them. My wife asked what I meant when I told her this during the meal and I said "stiffer". That is not a very foodie way to describe them but it fits. And that was OK. I enjoyed them and while I would not take them in some other places again, I would definitely have them here again.
Just about all of the rest on the buffet is as I described before. Every tray was full. As this night was not crowded as Saturday night had been packed, some dishes out on the hot buffet were there longer than they had been Saturday night. There was not anything wrong with them. I tried the great macaroni and cheese again, and it tasted just the same. It was a bit thicker and not as light as it had been because the tray of it had been out longer in the heat of the steam table.
The service on this weeknight was OK. The server could have been around our table more considering that there were not that many tables that she was taking care of. She tended to be in the corner of beverage service station which is at the far corner of the dining room. The plates remained on the table a little longer than they should, and once we had to get her attention to bring her over to the table - this is why ->
On our first visit there had been a problem with my wife's soft drink order. She ordered "Diet Coke" and what was brought to her was a regular sugar soda. It was corrected once we could get the server over which then took some time - and I told you all about. This time it happened again - only to me. I ordered an unsweetened ice tea and I was brought exactly that when it first came. No problem. During the meal on one of her trips around to dining room the server asked if I would like more. I said yes, I will have another ice tea. Maybe it was my fault for saying "unsweetened" iced tea but I have never had to say that in other restaurants once the first iced tea had been ordered. Sometimes they ask on the refill - she did not. I got my refill - another glass of iced tea. There was no lemon on the glass and I should have been suspicious as the first glass had one. I noticed that but took it as having been forgotten to be added and to me that is no big deal - lemon or no lemon, I don't really care. It had been a bit of time to get that second iced tea and I took a small drink and then another and realized that I was drinking sweetened iced tea. I can't do that. I am a diabetic. I had not drank much but enough to make me wonder what my blood sugar reading would be in two hours. This was when we had to find her to get her over to bring the correct drink. She took the sweetened tea away and came back with an unsweetened tea - this time with a lemon on the glass (this must be the clue, Watson!). So - two visits, two different servers - and the same problem. Not good. Dangerous in fact. I know better not to keep drinking. A diabetic child would just keep drinking the sugar filled drink (delighted in this new found sweetness) and then possibly be in big physical trouble. So when you order soft drinks here and you need diet or unsweetened - sip small first and make sure that what you get is what you want.
Was I happy on this second visit? Oh yes! The food is very good here. I ate too much and I knew it as I was leaving. I had that too stuffed at the buffet feeling. It is a good feeling but not one that you really want to have. You want to be satisfied and full but not STUFFED. I felt stuffed. I broke my own rule about that - and that is because it was too good not to go back for just one more try of something. Will I go back? Yes, I will. I am not in this part of New Jersey often - it tends to be twice a year at the same time of the year - one or two weeks apart. So it may be another year before I go back. But I will go back eagerly!
I still recommend it! Go and try it!
Southern Smokehouse is located at Aviation Plaza Shopping Center which is at 611 West Edgar Road (Route 1 and 9) in Linden, New Jersey 07036. The phone number is 908-862-1883. The hours on Friday and Saturday are until 10 pm. Weeknights and Sunday nights they are open until 9 pm. They seem to open each day at 11 am for lunch. There is a website and it is listed at the side of this page.
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