It is Going to Take a Lot

When I am in southeastern/central Pennsylvania I make a point to get to Shady Maple Smorgasbord for dinner. I have written about this restaurant many times and it has been selected as Best Buffet - anywhere - for several years running by this site. I was recently there again and started wondering what would it take to top this? What would it take for another buffet to be the best?

I have been to many elaborate buffets - some in hotels, some in casinos. I have been to many family buffets. None come close to the size, consistency, quantity, and value as Shady Maple. It is almost embarrassing to find no competition. I have looked. I have tried and tasted. Entering a new buffet there is always hope - will this be the one? So far none have.

It does not matter what season or what night of the six days of the week that it is open, it is always full of people. This is a favorite of both locals and tourists and they line up to get in. We were recently there in the middle of the week - what usually is an off night for restaurants - even in an tourist area. There were lines - though short lines - at Shady Maple and while there really was no wait most of the large dining rooms - and they have several were full of happy diners.

This recent visit the feature of the night was Prime Rib. Full prime ribs being carved to order at several carving stations. If you wanted rare, there was a rare one to be had. If you wanted well done, there was a well one there too, as were medium done too. Who else does this? Most are "here is what we have" - it is rare or it is well done, not both,and usually it is well done.

The same is true when steaks are served. Order it as you like it and it will be cooked for you and shown to you to make sure it is how you want it. A few buffets will do this, but not many.

The number of different items being served at one time on the buffet is unchallenged. As I have pointed out before that many do not walk down to both ends of the buffet servers. In the middle it appears that the each side repeats what is on the other, but that is not true. Even the second salad bar and soup area will have a number of different offerings than on the first. There are different side dishes on each end and different entrees mixed in with some that repeat. Even the two dessert areas have different things assorted in.

I want to see the buffet that tops this one. It will have to be spectacular beyond imagination. It really is going to take a lot to top Shady Maple. If it is out there, I want to know about it.

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.

BUFFET EUROPA GONE

On June 4, 2010 I wrote an article here announcing that the wonderful buffet restaurant, Buffet Europa was sold to new owners. I have just been informed by one of our readers that there is now a sign on the front of the restaurant that says: "Coming Soon: Mediterranean and Turkish Restaurant". What was and had been Buffet Europa is now gone.

While this would not usually be deserving of its own article, but rather, perhaps, a comment on one of the other articles about this buffet, this little gem of a buffet was getting a following from our readers - perhaps too few and too late - but a following never the less, and it is important that all know that if they go there now, they are not going to find the buffet there any longer.

The website for Buffet Europa is still running. It has not been updated but when one looks at it it appears that all is open and the same. But this may be that the website was never transferred to the new owners or if it was it has not been maintained. The link to that site has been removed from the side of this page.

I could lament the loss of Buffet Europa but anyone who follows this site already knows how I and many feel. There really should be no surprise to any of us as we all have commented on the sad lack of business that this restaurant received despite how good the buffet was.

The new restaurant that is coming to this location may be very good. It doubt that it will be a buffet, but if it is we would all love to hear about it and please leave a comment below or contact me.

If the original owners ever do open a new "Buffet Europa" I hope that they will contact me through this site and let us know where it is. It will certainly become a priority trip!

So if you were heading to Aaron Road in North Brunswick, New Jersey for a meal at Buffet Europa you will not find it when you get there.

So sad...

IVY BUFFET, WEST NYACK, NEW YORK

I love finding small, non-chain buffets that are not Asian. There are many oriental independent buffets and in areas like Pennsylvania it is also not unusual to find one, but in New York it is very rare. I came across the Ivy Buffet on a trip many months ago. We had planned to dine there on our next trip to that area - and I must say going to this area is very rare for us - but in the past year we have gone three times. Well, on that second trip things just kept going wrong and we never made it to the Ivy Buffet. Just recently we found that we needed to go past this area again, and we knew that on our way back home we would definitely dine at Ivy Buffet.

The Ivy Buffet is located in West Nyack, New York. It is across from Palisades Mall, one of the largest malls in the United States. The mall is a location to see all on its own with a Ferris wheel inside and even a Chinese buffet in the mall itself. The Ivy Buffet is not in the mall or accessed from the malls many parking lots. It is across Route 303 from the mall and you must be on the north bound side of the route to get in which resulted in our passing it and pulling into a business parking lot to turn around as the road is no U turn sign after no U turn sign.

The restaurant is in a building that had been formerly one of the many chain restaurants before - not a buffet chain, but the outside of the building was very familiar looking though I am not certain which of the chains it had been before. There is a large enough parking lot and the building has been well maintained. There is a large sign outside - Ivy Buffet - so that you cannot miss it.

Inside you find a very nice decor. I am sure that whatever this had been before - this buffet has only been here less than a year - came from the former restaurant. There are three dining rooms and a private room for parties also. The first dining room is directly in front of the entrance doors and away from the buffet servers. The other two dining rooms are next to each other - separated by only a short, see over wall and right next to the buffet servers.

Dinner at the Ivy Buffet is $9.99 Monday through Sunday for dinner. Lunch is $5.99 from Monday to Saturday. Unlimited soft drinks are $1.49, served to you by your server and they have Pepsi products. There are children's prices that are split by two age ranges. The price of the meal is well worth it and the food as you will see as you read on is good.

The food at the Ivy Buffet is called "Continental" and I guess that is a good description. It is not Southern or country like many buffets - no fried chicken (at least not on the night that we went there). This is what could be called European (not like Europa Buffet had though) or basic American fare. There are three large double sided buffet servers and one smaller server against the back wall with desserts.

We were told when we came in to pick any table that we liked. It was about 7:30 on a Friday night. The restaurant was almost empty. There were about six tables full. As we were there other groups came in, but the restaurant was never really crowded with many empty tables. As we were dining I kept thinking about a similar situation at Buffet Europa in New Jersey. Though, I have seen reports that Ivy Buffet can get crowded at times - which is a good thing for business.

We gave the server our drink order and we went up to the buffet. We always start with soup and there was one server with chicken rice soup. There was an empty spot next to that for another soup. Almost as soon as we were back at the table with our soup the second soup was brought back out full of seafood chowder. I, of course, finished my chicken rice soup - it was very nice - and went up for a cup of seafood ch0wder. The chowder was a thin, red chowder very similarly seasoned to clam chowder but it was full of chunks of a white fish and shrimp. This soup was good too.

We next headed up to the salad bar. One entire server was a cold server with salads, greens, salad fixings, prepared salads, and also peel and eat shrimp on ice. The shrimp were large. This server also had several fresh fruits to choose from along with chocolate pudding and vanilla pudding. There were also Greek stuffed grape leaves with the salads. When we came in I was certain that I heard a Greek accent from the gentlemen who greeted us and in NY it is common for local restaurants to be owned by Greeks. The fruit included whole fresh peaches, grapes, and watermelon. It is not everyday that you find whole fresh peaches on a buffet. I chose the Caesar salad. It was pre-mixed and nicely full of dressing with seasoned croutons. This salad was very good. One of the best that I have had at buffets.

We moved on to the hot foods next. There was an interesting assortment. There was chicken Marsala, chicken parmigiana, meatloaf, hot wings, spare ribs, fried whole whiting (fish), broiled basa (fish), whole shrimp with the shell and head, meatballs in tomato sauce, Italian sausage and peppers, linguine, chicken in Spanish rice, chili, baked ziti with meat, fried chicken cutlets, pizza, and mixed vegetables and potatoes including whole red potatoes, french fries and mashed potatoes. While this is not an overwhelming number of entrees there certainly were enough to choose from. The food was good. The chicken Marsala - chicken lightly coated and sauteed in wine sauce with mushrooms had a good taste of the wine in the sauce. The chicken parmigiana was cut into half size pieces, each covered in mozzarella cheese with tomato sauce. This was good as well - and with the addition of a little extra tomato sauce on top of the cheese taken from the server of tomato sauce next to the linguine, this made it even better - though it was good on its own. The spare ribs were thick and meaty. They did not have a traditional barbecue sauce on them though they had a light sauce that had been brushed on before they were baked that cooked into the top of the ribs. There was a lot of meat on each rib. I would have preferred them in barbecue sauce but many prefer them plain. These were baked ribs and in the bottom of the server there was some oil that had come from the meat - at first I was concerned that the ribs would be greasy but they were not. They were very tender and tasty but not fall off the bone ribs. Basa is a catfish that comes from Vietnam and is very popular in Europe and was recently introduced to the market here in the US. I did not know this at the time and I do like catfish. The Basa had a mild taste, was less fatty than catfish, and was mildly seasoned when broiled. The surface of the fish was a little tough but the meat of the fish was tender. The sausage and peppers were nice, as were the meatballs. The meat loaf was not covered in ketchup as it is in some restaurants. It was good. The chicken cutlets were brought out later while we were dining and added to the tray that contained french fries. When the pizza was gone - and it did not come back out, the chicken came out in its place. I think that is a fair substitution. I want to make a comment also about the linguine. In many buffets the pasta is kept in water or oil to keep it "fresh". Here the linguine was kept nicely fresh without being soaked in water or oil. It was not dry at all. It was hot and fresh. I am not sure how they do it but it was done well.

There was a small dessert assortment that included chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, chocolate brownies, butter cookies, European style chocolate chip cookies, apple strudel cake, soft serve ice cream and cones with toppings, and all of the fresh fruits and puddings that I mentioned above that were on the salad bar. A woman at a nearby table commented on how good the ice cream was. It did look good - creamy and not icy.

I must point out that food was continually brought out and added to the buffet to replace anything that was even beginning to run out through out the time that we were there and there were not that many tables full of diners. A good effort was made to make sure that nothing was empty and that everything was hot and fresh.

The meal was way beyond what one would expect to get in a buffet for $9.99. The food was better than some chain buffets and I must say was far superior to the buffet meal that I had a few weeks ago that I wrote about at the Mohegan Sun Casino high price buffet.

My only regret is that I am far from this buffet and it is in a location that I am not likely to return to very often. The trip back home took 90 minutes with several large tolls included. But I was there anyway and this was one of the high points of the day!

The food is good and the value is excellent. The location for anyone in this area is easy to get to. It is actually less than 30 minutes from New York City and it is also not far from the New Jersey state border (actually very near).

I recommend the Ivy Buffet. For those of you who had been to Buffet Europa before it was sold, do not expect to find a buffet on that same level, but judged on its own merits, Ivy Buffet is a find.

The Ivy Buffet is located at 78 North Route 303 in West Nyack, New York 10994. The phone number is 845-348-1110. There is an email address but no website. The email address is IvyBuffet@aol.com.

A Manager Can Make or Break a Buffet

As in any business, the manager - the man in charge at any particular moment - is a very important factor in the success or failure of a buffet restaurant. Through the years I have observed many good managers and a number of not so good managers. While it is the line staff that the public sees the most. It is the manager who oversees and directs that staff and that manager has to be visible for most of the time that the public is in the restaurant.

One of the best things that a manager can do is walk around the buffet and the dining room with wide open eyes. Are all the tables being attended to? Are there any dirty plates being left on tables? Are the floors clean? At the buffet tables are all of the trays full or near full? Does the kitchen know that any tray is about to empty? Are there serving pieces in all of the trays? And it can go on and on. If a manager has trained his/her staff well, that manager's job is much easier.

I realize that it is because of the economy but many buffets lately are understaffed. A dining room that should have a minimum of three table staff have one. A buffet area that should have several staff including a carver at the carving station or within a few steps has two or maybe three staff total - with the carver doing several other jobs other than carving. While we can blame the economy, this lack of service to the dining public is going to directly result in that restaurant losing customers and losing more money to its eventual demise.

Another important part of the manager's job is to anticipate the needs of the kitchen and the buffet for the day. I know of a buffet that never does this - holidays and significant days that will certainly bring out more patrons to the restaurant are treated as any other day and always results in shortages as the day moves into the dinner period and onto closing. Days like the last day of school, local school vacations, and, of course, holidays bring out an increase in dining out - and a family friendly buffet is always a choice of many with kids. Many of the large chain buffets will do increased advertising, run promotions, and let everyone knot that they want you there for holiday dinner. But recent visits to buffets on two family holidays were a major disappointment. Most, if not all businesses (and the chain buffets are certainly included in this) can go back into their records for that holiday the year before and see how much business was done, how many meals were served. This was easily done before there were computers so with the massive data at a businesses disposal now, this is certainly easy to do. Combined with the dining trend for the current year it is pretty straight forward to accurately predict how much food will need to be on hand, how many staff will be needed, and how to keep every customer who comes in that day feeling that they got what they came for. At one buffet that I have been to, sadly, if this were only the case. They never seem to know that the kids are home from school on a particular day and the dining room is more than full. On holidays things run out at a level that no anticipation or thought had gone into the preparation for the day. Here is an example of what took place at a buffet on a Sunday holiday in June. Long lines kept even early dinner diners from getting a table before hours later than usual - no problem here as if there are a lot of customers there are going to be lines and that cannot be helped. But once inside, these dinners who were out with their families for a holiday meal (one by the way that was well promoted by the buffet) found empty trays, carvings gone, a wait for dishes, cups, and glasses, and many of this not replenished at all. Had this manager (or team of managers) anticipated the needs for this holiday - based on previous holidays this should not have happened. Here is a conversation that was overheard between the manager of the buffet and a "concerned" customer. >>Customer - There are no coffee cups. Manager - There are supposed to be some out there. Customer - Obviously, but there are not. Manager - Oh.. Customer - Could you have some brought out. Manager - Ummm... I will have someone bring some out. << Then this manager walked into his office. It took twenty minutes before coffee cups were brought out. By then I am guessing this customer had given up. What should have this manager done? His immediate response should have been, "I will make sure that some are brought out right away. Thank you for alerting me." And then - just to show this customer that the concern presented was not being ignored, walk obviously over to the kitchen so that the customer could see that the manager was going to get this done. I have seen good managers in similar situations ask where the person is sitting and tell them they will bring whatever they are asking for right out to them - and do. That night continued on to have no more carved meat at an early enough time that there were still people at the cashier being let in, salad bowls empty for the entire night we were there, along with a number of entrees and side dishes empty. At one point earlier, for the lack of being able to find the carver, people were taking the carving knife and cutting their own meat with several just taking what should have been carved down but taking the piece. No wonder there was no more meat later on. Overheard from that same manager - who at this point was sitting at an empty table with an employee rather than tending to what was needed - "We are out of it all. No cake, no cookies, no nothing..." Yet people were still being let in. Why is this bad? Because everyone who pays the price for the meal is entitled to the full offerings of the day. There is no discount or even explanation given to say we are out of many items - be are glad to have you but expect that things will not be there when you come in.

I have seen managers at other buffets when things get to this point not let any more people in. I have seen managers who when a customer brings a concern will turn around and hand that customer either a money off coupon for the next visit or even a coupon for a free meal. While that customer may have still felt disappointed, they walked away knowing that the manager tried his/her best.

There are many managers who keep a close eye on their buffet. I have seen some taking temperature readings at the hot servers making sure that everything is properly kept hot. I have seen managers bring out a whole plate to a customer of an item that was empty on the buffet - just for that customer - while the tray was refilled for all. I have been greeted at my table - along with the guests at the other tables - by the owner of a buffet. He has sharp eyes on his entire operation and this is not a small restaurant and is often visible in the dining room along with his more than competent managers.

So, it is plain to see that a good manager will have a successful restaurant because he/she knows what the customers expect - good and plentiful food and quality service. Here is to all of the good managers out there!

The Phantom Returns

Two years ago I wrote an article called The Mystery of the Golden Corral. It was about a Golden Corral Restaurant in Lebanon, Pennsylvania that seems to come and go. One day there it is and then suddenly, poof. Since writing that article - POOF! It was gone! In the area a few times since I would drive by and there would be the empty building - restaurant sign gone. Closed.

Now, a reader just recently wrote to me and guess what - It's Baaack! Yes, out of the mists, the phantom restaurant has returned. Same location and same Golden Corral. This is really incredible. One can only imagine what happens with the owning of this franchise location.

This Golden Corral, I am told, has been redone inside to the "new" style - get your own plates design. This is a good thing because the only thing not great about Golden Corral is having to wait until your busy server comes around with more plates.

I have also been told that the food is good. It was when I was there last but that was BEFORE the disappearance AGAIN. So there is no telling if the cooks and staff disappear with the restaurant to another dimension and then reappear in mass when the restaurant fades back into existence. If you go now you can get the Ribs feature that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.

Of course, it just occurred to me, what if you are inside eating when the restaurant starts to fade away again - off into the netherworld of buffet restaurants... Nah, probably can't happen. Or can it?

The phantom Golden Corral is located at 1147 Quentin Road in Lebanon. PA. Or is it???

Sunburst Buffet at Mohegan Sun Casino Resort, Uncasville, Connecticut

The Mohegan Sun Casino Resort in Uncasville, Connecticut is an entertainment destination. Not only are there four or five full gambling casinos within the complex, there is an upscale, shopping mall, and a number of restaurants including two complete buffets. I have eaten at both (prior to starting to write about buffets) and the Sunburst Buffet - what is considered the "upscale" buffet here has always been a fond memory that I have longed to return to. I recently found myself in Connecticut and the Sunburst Buffet at Mohegan Sun was on my list of things to do.

Sometimes memories can be far better than reliving the experience again. And I am sorry to say that the Sunburst Buffet has changed a lot or I remember it a lot better than it is today. On our return it was a fine meal but nothing really that would stand out among other casino buffets that I have been to over the years.

The buffet is located just off of the shopping mall and the casino that is located where the big orange glass mountain is that is often shown in Mohegan Sun advertisements. Yes, there is a glass mountain. There are also two waterfalls nearby. You pay as you enter - as you do at most casino buffets. The price of the meal was $21.00 per person. Children are about half that price and there is no difference in price at various times of day - it is the same at lunch and dinner. The meal price includes unlimited soft drinks.

The buffet servers are set up in islands in the center of the restaurant with a carving station and the dessert bar along one wall. Each island is a tiled counter with hot serving trays on top or a cold area with cold selections. Every dish is marked above as to what it is - and this seemed to be consistent throughout and correct.

So what did I not see that I remember. As we go along now I will tell you more, but the thing that stuck in my mind the most were chefs at every station creating dishes to order. For example, a saute chef who would make a dish from a selection of dishes just for you. The stations were actually there, and with the exception of a woman boiling plain pasta at the Italian section, the chefs were not there anywhere to be found.

We started our meal with soup and there were six soup choices. Not bad, but several of the soups were variations of each other with slight modification. I tried the New England Clam Chowder which was a thick white cream chowder with noticeable clams. It had a nice taste. I also tried later in the meal the vegetarian vegetable soup which was a thin vegetable stock soup with a mixture of vegetables cooked in. This soup looked just like the Italian Wedding soup which was close by without the little meatballs. The vegetable soup was overly seasoned and salty. Overly seasoned is a phrase that you will see a lot in this article because that is how I can sum up the entire meal - overly seasoned.

We next went to the salad bar. There is an extensive salad bar, perhaps the most impressive that I have seen. It stretched around one island and then on the "Italian" island there is a second area with Italian themed salads. When we got to where the lettuce was put out - several varieties, they boasted on the sign that the lettuce was "bagged greens" from Dole. Hmm. I am not sure I would boast about bagged lettuce. Even if this may be common in the industry - and I am not so sure it is - I would at least give the impression that the lettuce was freshly cut from whole. Bagged lettuce often has preservatives added. My wife saw this and almost did not take the salad. There were many, many toppings to add to your salad and there were many, many prepared salads as well. Of note, at the Italian island there was a mozzarella salad that was fresh and good with the cheese not dry. There was also a pitted olive salad that was an assortment of Greek and Italian olives - and all with not pits.

Entrees were where we began to be disappointed. The sign in front of the restaurant listing a description of things to be found inside talked about a Mongolian grill where a chef would create entress - the grill was there but no chef - and not just no chef to be found because he was off somewhere - no chef and the grill was closed down. At the carving area there was a large steamship round of beef. There was a carver who just about understood what was being requested. She had to places to cut from for differently cooked beef - what should have been medium rare and well done turned out to be well done and more well done. On the side were caramelized onions and mushrooms together to put on top of the beef. My wife got all excited because she saw turkey gravy and went to get herself some turkey. The turkey being carved was "cajun turkey". This was a flat slap of turkey that had a thick black outside. My wife passed on the turkey. I tried it. It was dry, tough, and somewhat cajun-seasoned on the outside - but the outside was so thick that it was not really edible. I had to wonder why bother and why not just put out a nice turkey breast (I will tell you why later). This was the extent of the carvings offered. The carving area outside on the sign was described as the "Rotisserie". There was a large rotisserie behind the carver. We presumed - one should never presume - that something would be cooking on the rotisserie that would belong on a rotisserie such as chicken. No, we were wrong. Perhaps when the Cajun turkey had been cooked it came from there but there was nothing there now. Along the side of the carving station there were potato dishes and also a tray of St. Louis Ribs. The ribs were thick and meaty but over-sauced and again a bit too much seasoning. Even the steamship round of beef was seasoned with something that did not quite belong with the taste of the beef.

Over where the Mongolian grill was there were several more entrees around the counter top. There was a seafood fra diavlo - in Italian, Seafood from the Devil. In other words, spicy hot seafood and it certainly was that. The only seafood to be distinguished in the dish were shrimps. There were other fish in there but there was no telling what they were. There was mahi-mahi in a sauce with vegetables. There was a tray of "Summer Vegetable Melody" was was mostly zucchini but again with an odd taste that hinted that the vegetables were grilled but there was some seasoning there that overwhelmed the taste.

Around the far side of the salad bar - almost hidden were more hot dishes. There was beef barbecue that was overly sweet in barbecue sauce. There was also a tofu and cranberries dish. Tofu has no real flavor on its own and takes it taste from the foods that it is cooked with- this one tasted just of dry tofu.

The Italian island was the best of the selections with the ability to have the chef boil you pasta or spaghetti and add your own Alfredo sauce of Marinara sauce. There were also several Italian dishes. There was ravioli which were good but were in a thick cream sauce that again was over-seasoned. The most intriguing dish to me was an Italian sausage stew. Pieces of sweet Italian sausage with potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables in a thin brown stew gravy. When I saw this I was reminded of a wonderful version that I had many years a go in a very, very fine Italian restaurant in New York City. It looked the same. It tasted good - again, less seasoning would have made it much better. This was the dish that I went back to have several times. Though on the ride home from Connecticut I must say that this was the taste that continued to repeat on me with each belch. Also at the Italian Island was focaccia , which basically is thick pizza without any tomato sauce - just cheese. This looked very good but dry so I added the marinara sauce on top from next to the pasta - it made a so-so pizza.

Dessert may be the best part of the meal here. There is an extensive dessert bar with large pieces of real cheesecake, pastries, cakes, a variety of puddings, fresh fruit and hard ice cream. There are also waffle makers to make thick waffles to put toppings and/ or ice cream on. No one seemed to be getting any but the waffle makers and the ladies to use them were there. Next to the ice cream was an extensive sundae bar.

So, I said that I would tell you why no regular turkey. There are two buffets at Mohegan Sun - this one and one off one of the casinos called Seasons Buffet. Seasons Buffet is the less expensive and so-called "plainer" of the two. The big features at Seasons are carved roast beef and turkey - along with made to your order pizza and a variety of dishes from the various menu restaurants in the complex. I had been to Seasons once before and was disappointed there in the plainness of what was offered and the cafeteria feel that the whole buffet had. But apparently if you wanted turkey and roast beef (which had to be the same beef in a smaller version) that was the place to go that night and paid five dollars per person for dinner less.

Service though the night was fine. Our dishes were cleared away promptly. My wife's soda was refilled but when I emptied my glass of ice tea our server walked past our table - there were very few other tables he was waiting on - five times before he stopped when we were just about to leave and asked if I wanted a refill.

Overall, I had to apologize to my picky eater wife who mostly ate salad for her $21 as there was nothing really plain or not spiced for her to eat. I guess the past is always better in memory than in reality. But I truly do remember a wonderful meal here several years ago and I have been looking forward to that meal again. I still am.

The Sunburst Buffet is not open every day. It is closed on Tuesday and Wednesdays. Sunday, Monday, and Thursday it is open from 11am to 9pm. On Friday and Saturday it is open from 11 am to 11 pm. There is a full alcohol bar available in the restaurant at additional charge.

Would I recommend this if you are at this casino? Let me say this - go check out both buffets here first before you decide which to go into. Ask first to go inside and walk around and look. If you are happy with spiced and highly seasoned food you may like this. If not and you are a "plain" eater - skip this and go to the Seasons Buffet - but again, walk around inside first and see what is being offered. Frankly, if you want something different skip the buffets and check out the variety of other restaurants. There was an Asian food court restaurant - the whole Asian restaurant is the food court - that looked interesting.

There is a link to the Sunburst Buffet at the side of this article.

Golden Corral New Feature - Babyback Ribs!

There are now two major buffet chains - Golden Corral and Buffets, Inc, which operates Old Country Buffet and what is left of Ryans. There was a time that all of the chains would have special menu features - and make a big deal about these. Only Golden Corral does this any longer. And they do it very well.

There is a new feature currently at the Golden Corral buffet restaurants across the US. The feature is babyback ribs. That is what is being advertised on television and on the posters, but this feature actually consists of a lot more and it will please barbecue fans! As with most features, this is offered for a limited time and I hope that I can get to a Golden Corral while it is still offered.

Let's start with the main feature, the babybacks. Golden Corral has taken babyback ribs and seasoned them with dry rub. Then they cook them until they fall off the bone - my sign of the best cooked ribs! Once cooked like that they are brushed with barbecue sauce and then flame-grilled. When you get the ribs you are offered three sauces to put on them yourself - more traditional barbecue sauce, sweet hickory bourbon sauce, or spicy habenero bbq sauce. Oh my! I love babybacks when they are cooked right. These sound perfect!

Another part of this feature are Kansas City Full Rack Spare Ribs. Here the ribs are seasoned with a barbecue blend and then slathered in traditional barbecue sauce and flame grilled.

If that all was not enough the feature keeps going with Hawaiian Glazed Split Pork Ribs. The same ribs that are used for the Kansas City ribs are covered in a Pineapple Dijon sauce and flame grilled. They are then hand cut and served hot.

Had enough barbecue? I hope not because there is more - North Carolina Slow Roasted Pulled Pork and Kentucky Hickory Bourbon Smoked Beef Brisket. The a whole pork roast is seasoned with a special barbecue blend and then cooked for five hours! It is then hand pulled and seasoned with the barbecue sauce that is well known in eastern North Carolina - a vinegar-based sauce. This is served up hot on the buffer server. North Carolina style barbecue is a bit different from the sweeter barbecue in other regions. But if you crave the sweeter style then go for the Brisket which is hand carved at the buffet. This brisket is first cooked until tender and then flame broiled with hickory bourbon sauce.

Of course, all great barbecue needs a great side dish and Golden Corral has added Homemade BBQ Potato Chips. What? Potato chips that don't come in a bag? Yes! Hand slice whole potatoes very thin and then fry them up. The chips are then sprinkled with BBQ seasoning. They are fresh and they are crispy! I have had homemade chips before but I have never seen them offered on a buffet.

It all sounds great and readers report that it all tastes great! This feature will not last forever. If you want to enjoy this do not wait. This is a summer time feast that is served along with all of the other Golden Corral favorites including flame grilled steak. This is the season to eat barbecue and Golden Corral lets you enjoy for very little money! AND OF COURSE, IT IS ALL YOU CAN EAT! Or perhaps we should say - all you care to eat!

Another Old Country Buffet

I had an opportunity to have dinner at a different Old Country Buffet and though I eat at OCB often, I decided to see what happens at another location. I went on Memorial Day night to see this OCB on a night when the day would have been busier than normal. As it happened there was a carnival going on in the parking lot that day and night right outside the restaurant so business that day was good.

We went in, paid our $10.99 each plus the now additional $1.69 for beverages, and sat down. Immediately, looking around the dining room, the floors were clean. If there had been spills or things dropped during that busy day, and their must have been, they certainly had been cleaned up promptly. As soon as we were seated our server came over quickly and greeted us. Asked if if there was anything we needed and invited us to go up to the buffet. Now, this is a scene that takes place thousands of times at buffets everywhere, but this was certainly different for me at an Old Country Buffet. I watched as this same server went from table to table as people were eating, picking up dirty dishes almost as soon as they were put down, and asking the diners if they needed anything. Amazing!

We went up to the buffet and most serving trays were full enough and those that were low were being replaced by several people working at the buffet table area - in addition to the woman who was at the carving station. Throughout the rest of the night while we were there trays of food kept coming from the kitchen to replace what was "beginning" to empty out.

Even the food was prepared better. The pizza was not incinerated. The macaroni and cheese was not macaroni floating in liquid cheese. There were noodles in the chicken noodle soup. The Caesar salad had the proper amount of dressing on it.

When we went up for our beverages there was ice in both machines and not only were there plenty of clean glasses, there were also coffee cups as well. Why I am so surprised to even mention this? This is not something that I have often encountered at the usual OCB.

Now, I am not writing this to knock the usual OCB that I go to and I know a lot of you may take some of my other articles and say look, he is doing it again, but as I suspected all along it is not the chain - it is the location. And this pleasant meal at another OCB just goes to prove that. Perhaps refresher courses are required for some OCB restaurant management staff. A good manager trains good employees and makes a restaurant stand out.

I know that there are other OCB's out there just as good as this one. I have heard from a number of readers recommending OCB's all over the country. Again, it is not the chain, but the location.

BUFFET EUROPA UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP

I have been informed by one of our readers that on a very recent visit to Buffet Europa, he discovered the restaurant was sold. The restaurant remains in business but the original owners are gone, and apparently have moved to Jersey City, New Jersey.

This reader reports that they went into the restaurant, immediately learned that there were new owners and then they looked around at the buffet to decide if they wanted to stay and try it. They had been to Buffet Europa before and saw nothing of what they expected. As the reader put it to me, they did not like what they saw and left.

For all of you have been to Buffet Europa - the restaurant that this site chose as the "Best Small Buffet of 2oo9" - this is a real tragedy. I say this because it was the two people who ran this restaurant all on their own who made this the unique and wonderful place that it was.

I cannot judge the new owners or their cooking or the food that they are serving. It may be very nice - though as I say, I reported above what a reader encountered when he and his wife went their. I have been told that the ethnicity of the new owner is not the same as the original owners who were Italian and Polish - and the reason why this European cuisine featuring buffet was so good. Whether that should make any difference remains to be seen.

I have looked at the website and it remains exactly the same as it always has - the site shows the same hours, days, and menu items on the buffet. There is no mention of new owners and the links to all of the reviews remain from various media including ours. Of course, that review no longer holds true without the people who made this restaurant so special.

I look upon this is just one more notch in this bad economy's belt. We have speculated for a few months now how they could remain in business with the few customers that would be there on nights that several of our readers and I have been there in 2010. A month or so ago we learned that they had closed for renovations - and from the description of the person who spoke to our reader that time and the person who spoke to the reader who informed us of the new owner - well, that had to be the same person.

For now, I can no longer recommend Buffet Europa until some of our readers report back to me - if they try it - how the food is now. Maybe they will be pleasantly surprised. I hope so. Whether I will return any time soon remains to be seen - and if I do, I, too, would go in prepared to walk right back out if I don't see what I think is a quality meal being served. If you go to Buffet Europa after you see this article please leave a comment. If you have been there before - even within the last few months it was likely you were there with the original owners - so to be current with this restaurant - only comment on the food if you are there from here on.

Buffet Europa is located at 1000 Arron Road, North Brunswick, New Jersey 08902.

Farewell, Buffet Europa. Maybe the nice couple who started this restaurant will open another just as good in a location deserving of the food that they serve and they get the business that they should.

Dedicated To Buffet Employees

I decided to write this article after reading some of what was said by an employee at OCB who commented on the article that I wrote two weeks ago. Aside from the reaction to my criticism of the restaurant that he/she works at, there was a lot that he/she said about being abused and mistreated by customers who come to the restaurant. This is something that I have seen for myself - at a number of buffets. And it is just not right to do.

Some people who go to buffet restaurants feel that the table staff are nothing but, what are referred to in the restaurant business, bus boys. They do not regard these employees on the same level as waiters or waitresses in menu restaurants. Since these people do not take your order and carry out your meal from the kitchen, course by course, these people are not given the same regard. Which is wrong. What many do not realize is that these table staff do a lot more than a waiter or waitress in just the prompt recognition that your plates need clearing and, in some buffets, your drinks need refilling. They are actually working a lot harder than some waiters or waitresses. Now, I don't want to be hearing from waitresses and waiters, who are going to say, hey, we do a hard job too. Yes, you do, but so do the buffet table staff and the same respect that is afforded to waiters and waitresses - and the same level of tips - should be afforded to the buffet table staff.

Tips - many people feel that there is no need to tip anyone at a buffet - after all you have to go and fill your own plates and get your own food. Well, right from the beginning of this site we said that a tip should always be left at a buffet and it should be left in an amount equivalent to what you would have left the waiter or waitress in a menu restaurant. Now, I am one who believes that if the staff does not do a good job the tip should be lowered accordingly. It should not be an expectation that a certain amount based upon the cost of the meal should be given. But when the service is average to good a proper tip should reflect that.

Often at a buffet the fault of the management or a slow kitchen staff is taken out on the employees working around the buffet servers. It is not their fault that they do not have something to put out if that item is not coming out of the kitchen. They can only bring what is available to them to bring. It is their job to report to the kitchen what is needed and also to the manager if the food is not coming out as it should, but beyond that they do not control what comes out and when. As they are right there it is easy to feel that they are the ones to complain to - but the one that you should be seeking out and complaining to is the manager. It is only the manager that is actually going to do something about it. A good manager will respond immediately and direct the staff responsible to not repeat what went wrong. Hopefully, after several warnings, there will be a change for the better - or the manager will make changes in employees.

So when you go to a buffet, make sure you smile and be pleasant to all of the staff. Say hello to the person who comes to your table. Greet the workers at the buffet servers. Be polite to the carver at the carving station. We always are. We go out of our way to be polite and nice to the employees at the buffets and expect the same in return - which we often get. And when your meal is done, leave a tip. Appreciate the people working at the restaurant and do not treat them as if they are servants (who should be treated with respect as well - for those who have servants). These are hardworking people who are not earning nearly enough for the work that they do.

Big Ed's BBQ, Old Bridge, New Jersey

A few weeks ago we found a barbecue restaurant in New York City that has an "all you can eat" feature. One of our readers has shared with us another barbecue restaurant in New Jersey that also offers all you can eat barbecue.

The restaurant is Big Ed's BBQ and it is located in Old Bridge, New Jersey. Understand that this is not a buffet restaurant, but a menu service restaurant. They do have All You Can Eat Barbecue Ribs every day at lunch. They also have a special Fall feature of All You Can Eat Barbecue Ribs every night during the months of October and November.

I have not eaten at this restaurant - yet. But one of our readers has and described Big Ed's in glowing terms along with the great barbecue he has eaten there. Big Ed's gets glowing reviews from such publications as the New York Times all the way to Zaggets. They claim to be the "best ribs in New Jersey".

Lunch at Big Ed's features All you can eat ribs - listed as BBQ, Honey BBQ, Cajun Dry Rub or Hot & Spicy and this comes with one side dish and a salad for just $9.99. I am told that you have your choice of baby backs, St. Louis, or Spare. That is pretty good - even if it is lunch. This is served from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm. The food is served to you - you do not go up and get it yourself. When you want more you have to ask for it and it will be brought to you at your table.

The big event of the year is an annual occurrence that they call "Ribtoberfest" and is from October 1 to November 30. This is an all you can eat dinner that includes a side dish and salad and either BBQ Baby Backs or Spare Ribs. It includes soda and everything is refilled as you ask for it - again, served to you at your table. There is no sharing, of course. I do not know a price for this meal. If you are going and concerned about price I would call first.

The food really does sound good. The sign of good barbecue ribs - to me at least - is that the meat just fall off the rib bones - no gnawing, no scraping. Just melt in your mouth fall off the bone. Listen to what our reader told me "I eat the baby backs with a knife and fork, and when I'm done, the bones are ready for a museum display. They're that clean." Yes, that is exactly how they should be.

The restaurant has a menu that has a lot of other types of barbecue and also chicken, seafood, and beef. There are combination platters along with entrees. There is also a kid's menu. But the reason that we are writing about this here is their ALL YOU CAN EAT RIBS.

The photos of the restaurant show this to be a fun and typical BBQ place for the whole family with a country theme. The building is made to look like a farm/red barn with lots of country cut outs, a tractor, and such outside. There are outdoor tables in addition to the dining room.

Can't wait to try it!

As this is not a regular buffet or AYCE restaurant I am not including the link to their website on the side list of buffets but I am putting it right here - BIG ED'S BBQ . Check the website for money-off coupons.

Big Ed's BBQ is located at 305 Route 34, Old Bridge, New Jersey. The phone number is (732) 583-2626.

Not So Hot New Deal at Old Country Buffet

We had not been to the local OCB in a few weeks and when we went in there were signs at the entrance - one about lunch and one about dinner. These large bold signs said "New Price $10.99 for Dinner" and then at the bottom in much smaller writing it said "Beverage Bar NOT included". There was a similar sign for lunch at $7.99. As we went in and a long the line we came to another sign - order the "unlimited beverage bar - unlimited choices". There was NO price on that sign. Hmm. I was a bit annoyed. The lower price sounded good as the price here had come close to $13 on weeknights and over $13 on Friday and weekend nights. I immediately thought of the prices and the ads at Golden Corral - but those ads are for dinner under $10 so this was not quite as good. Of course, Golden Corral and Ryans have always priced the beverages separate from the meal and what set Old Country Buffet off was the inclusion of the beverages. Of course, my experience at OCB has been some nights all of the soda flavors are working on the machine, some nights the ice tea container has tea, and some nights there is no ice in the machine the entire night. So having the drinks included tended to be a bit better psychologically when you were not getting the drink you went up to get.

We were still on the line and real curious as to how this would work. How could they not charge everyone for the beverages automatically? Who was going to "police" this in the dining room? Certainly not the table cleaners who barely are around to take the dirty plates off the table. And still no sign with the price for the drinks.
We got up to the cashier and started looking for the price for the drinks. On the side wall in small print there it was - "Beverage Bar - $1.69". So, the illusion of a wonderful deal for dinner at $10.99 plus the $1.69 for the beverage brought the new price within ten cents of the old price. Weekends would be a savings of about 70 cents. But still how was this going to work?

We paid and instead of the familiar strip of color paper with the number of guests written on in crayon to put on your table to show that you both paid and the table is occupied we got a very large, full color printed half page stapled to our receipt that showed - still written in crayon - 2 dinners 2 beverages. And in two languages.
An interesting idea, but still who " is minding the mint" so to speak - who is watching that I paid and I am not taking beverages without paying. As we discovered, NO ONE.

This was something that was tried at OCB and failed with the just order the salad bar idea. No one was watching. We observed many order the salad bar and help themselves to the whole meal. I have even seen people order the take out container at the lower price for take out and then sit down at a table - with the container - and eat dinner and return back to the buffet servers for more - in the container! No, at least in this location, no one is minding the store.

Then, again, I have written about the Levittown, NY OCB before as the "worst OCB in the country" and despite a change in mangers who were actually pretty good for a while and then disappeared and now new managers who are as bad as the usual management that they get at this location this remains the "Worse OCB in the country". A bunch went on that night in addition to this new "deal". Here the meat carver (there is no grill here) is located at the end of a buffet server and from the start people would line up on both sides of the server to go up to the carver which correctly made for shorter lines. On this night the woman who was carving was only serving one side - and ignoring the other side. Since she did not speak or understand English the comments to her went acknowledged. When you got to the side she was serving the portions of meat that she was carving were hardly wait the wait. The pieces of steak were no larger than two inches square. In addition, no one explains to the people who refill the buffet trays with food that the Board of Health requires that you take the old food in the tray and transfer it to the top of the new tray of food - so that the bottom of the tray does not always remain with food that is not taken and increasingly getting older with each refill. NO here they just dump the new on top of the old.

Now, for those of you who are going to say - and I hear from many of you - why are you dumping on this particular restaurant? Well, I am not the only one who encounters what goes on here and I get more email and comments from readers who agree with everything I say about this particular OCB. And with this site - I am the one to speak out. And for those who say why do you go back there. It is the only game for many many miles and you can't eat Chinese Buffet all of the time - so I go back and keep hoping. Some nights I am pleasantly surprised and then there are nights like this one.

So don't be surprised if you go now to OCB and see the NEW LOW PRICE - but you know now that it really is not "low" at all!

Ole Times Country Buffet - Georgia and Florida

I am often asked about buffets in areas that I have not gotten to or cannot get to. I am always looking for buffets located all over the world to share with you. I have happened across a chain that has locations all over Georgia and two in Florida called Ole Times Country Buffet.

Now, as always, when I have not been there I tell you right up front - so here it is - I have not been to any of the locations of Ole Times Country Buffet. Hopefully some of you who have will comment on this article and share with all of us how it is. If a photo means anything these buffets look good.

Ole Times Country Buffet (I just want to write Old Times Country Buffet and know that OCB must hate the name of this chain because it brings OCB to mind = which is not necessarily a good thing) has restaurants in Valdosta, Macon, Brunswick, Albany, Dublin, Tifton and Warner Robins, Georgia and in Tallahassee and Lake City, Florida. The prices at these buffets seem incredibly good (though they say prices may vary by location due to the economy) - $7.79 for dinner including Top Sirloin Steaks, $6.79 for lunch (no steak), what they call a Thanksgiving Spread on Sundays for $7.79,$8.99 Seafood dinner buffet Friday and Saturday nights, and $1.49 for unlimited soft drinks (Pepsi products - a surprise for Georgia (if you don't know why ask in a comment)). This has most chains beat in price.

So what are you getting for the money? The spread seems considerable and I have seen photos of the buffet setups in of several of the locations. There are long buffet servers accessed from both sides. There are hand cut top sirloin steaks after 5 pm. There is the assortment of country favorites of baked chicken, beef, pork, and chicken - all claimed to be home cooking and "Southern-style". With the five meats that are served on the buffet are seasoned country vegetables that include creamed corn and green beans. They state that the vegetables are "well seasoned" which to most is an attraction - however, to my picky eater wife who likes things plain, this would be a problem. The Sunday Thanksgiving Spread includes Sliced Roast Beef, Sliced Baked Ham, Baked Chicken, Sliced Turkey, and Stuffing with Chicken. I see no mention of fried chicken on any of the menus. There is a dessert bar with "made from scratch banana pudding", fresh baked cobblers, cookies, muffins, and lemon squares. Their baked goods include biscuits and corn muffins. Along with the Pepsi drinks there is the Southern favorite Sweet Tea, lemonade, and fruit punch - and of course, coffee and hot tea. There are salad bars also with a nice assortment of prepared salads and salad fixings for tossed salads. It all looks good and I am getting hungry just writing about it.

The restaurants are opened from 10:30 am to 9:00 pm every day. There is no breakfast so they are opening for an early lunch or a very hearty lunch buffet for breakfast. There is a website and that is linked at the side of this page. Each restaurant location is linked at the side of the main website.

If you have been to Ole Times Country Buffet tell us about it and please say which location. If I am ever near one I will try it!

Broasted Chicken - What is it?

At a number of buffet restaurants when you go up to the fried chicken on the hot buffet server, there is a sign above that says BROASTED CHICKEN. Shady Maple is a buffet that serves "Broasted Chicken". It looks like fried chicken but it is "broasted", what the heck?

I always wondered. In fact, I wondered about this for a lot longer than when I started go to eat at buffets. When I was a kid a take out restaurant opened in a nearby community called the "Broaster House". Always seemed to be just fried chicken, but they had the slogan, "It's not fried, its broasted!" Hmmm. So broasted - broiled roasted? No actually, not at all.

Broasted is a cooking process that has been around for more than 50 years. It is a pressure deep frying process. It requires special equipment that is made by and distributed by one company - Broaster. Only food that comes from their equipment may be called Broasted and the process can be used on not just chicken, but other meats and fish as well. The name is trademarked and the process must be done in their equipment with the Broaster Company's marinades and seasonings.

So what is the difference between Broasted Chicken and Fried Chicken? The machine is a pressure cooker deep fryer - frying the food under great pressure. Regular fried chicken is either put in a wire basket and sunk into a vat of hot oil or put in a frying pan with a layer of oil in it. The Broaster Company claims that chicken made by their process contains less carbs than fried chicken such as KFC, etc. They also claim there are less calories and less fat in Broasted Chicken. The process results in a more tender, juicy, and flavorful piece of chicken. Sinking the chicken into a plain vat of hot oil as is usually done will toughen the meat of the chicken. Some people think that the chicken when cooked under pressure will have the oil pushed into the chicken, but the company has proven that this is not true and in fact, results in less fat than open frying.

I recently went to Shady Maple Smorgasbord just to check out the broasted chicken. (I hope you don't believe that was the only reason that I went to Shady Maple - there was a lot more that I wanted there than just the Broasted Chicken, but I figured it was a chance to enjoy and critically taste Broasted Chicken with this article in mind.) So, is there a difference. The Broasted Chicken is moister than fried chicken that I have had at other buffets - OCB comes to mind. It is also cooked properly - not over done (as is often the case, again at OCB). The taste is good. Is it the best fried chicken that I have ever had - no, Mrs. Rowe's fried chicken gets that honor - see my article about Mrs. Rowe's a few weeks back. But the Broasted Chicken is good and it should be consistent due to the cooking process.

So next time that you go to Shady Maple or any buffet that has Broasted Chicken over the fried chicken being served, take a bite and know exactly how that chicken was made and why it is not "fried" but "broasted".

Broaster is a registered trademark of the Broaster Company.

All You Can Eat BBQ in New York City

New York City - Manhattan to be exact - is one of the last places that you might expect to find two things - good barbecue and all you can eat at a reasonable price. On Monday nights you can find both at Hill Country Barbecue Market. This is a restaurant in downtown Manhattan that serves Texas Barbecue and Country Music all week from the menu, but on Mondays they offer something special.

The Hill Country Barbecue Market has three restaurant locations - Austin, Texas, Fort Worth, Texas and,of all places, New York City. The restaurants are known for their brisket, pork, and country sides. On Monday nights they are calling this a Recession Special and from 5 pm to 10 pm you are getting unlimited portions of sliced beef brisket, pork ribs, and chicken. All of this for just $25 per person. As is typical of NY restaurants the sides are extra but are served unlimited as well and cost $2.00 each for Mac and Cheese, Chili, and Beans. Now, add all of the sides and you just increased you meal price to $31.00. But if you are willing to pass on the extras, you can leave more room for the Barbecue meats.

As I always tell my readers when I have not been there to try a restaurant but want to share a good all you can eat or buffet possibility - I have not eaten here. I am told it is very good. The All You Can Eat deal is only Monday nights and everyone at the table must be eating the unlimited special. You can not mix menu diners with all you can eat dinners at one table, and of course, you may not take food out of the restaurant that is leftover. There is live country music starting at 8:00 pm.

All you can eat Barbecue is hard to find anywhere - all you can eat restaurants in New York City are very hard to find. If you are in Manhattan on a Monday night and crave a Barbecue feast this is the place to try. If you go or have been for this special dinner, let us know!

The Hill Country Barbecue Market is located at 30 West 26th Street, NY, NY 10010. You may need a reservation so call in advance - perhaps well in advance - 212-255-4544. There is a website. I will link here but not at the side as this is not a regular buffet restaurant.

Looking for Corned Beef on St. Patrick's Day

It was St. Patrick's Day and I decided I wanted corned beef. I enjoy good corned beef. Lately I have been on a kick to have a decent corned beef sandwich. Now, there are places that I could drag my wife for what I know is going to be a good sandwich, but she does not appreciate it as much as I so I have been trying to make do with one in the local restaurants that we go to - when we are not going to buffets. Primarily they are diners - and at one time, in this area, one could get a fairly decent corned beef on rye at one of them. Not any more. What I have been given is commercial, sliced cold cut corned beef put into a microwave to make it "hot". What comes to the table is far less than is expected. At one such establishment I tried a " hot open corned beef sandwich". It arrived covered in brown beef gravy. Ycch. At another I ordered a hot corned beef on rye which around here means hot corned beef on fresh and NOT toasted rye bread. It came to the table toasted - and the corned beef had been laid on the griddle to make it hot. No, not what I had expected.

We have just had some really bad rain storms - really bad. In the midst of these storms a local town was to have a St. Patrick's Day Parade in which a group that I belong to was to march. Following that march every year, my group gets together for corned beef and cabbage made by one of the members. She makes a good corned beef - and I (and several others) were looking forward to that corned beef. The rains came and the parade did go on, but our group wisely decided to stay home and not brave the high powered winds and rain. So much for the corned beef.

So as I said in my first sentence - it was St. Patrick's Day and I wanted corned beef. I did not just want a serving of corned beef. I wanted corned beef on a buffet. Lots of luck I thought.

I started by going to the website of the buffet who in the past has had a one day feature of corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day - Old Country Buffet. I had received no email from them on their email list about this for this year. I hoped that the website would say so. Nothing. Not a mention. Not the words, corned beef. In fact, they have not had a featured menu in quite some time of any kind. Maybe they were just not mentioning it. Maybe they were afraid of the massive hoards of corned beef lovers, Irish, and the Irish at heart. Maybe. It seemed like I would have to look further.

I started doing an internet search. Corned beef + buffet + my area. Lots of references came up to each of those phrases (well not much ever comes up about buffet). And with most buffet searches that I do - there was one of my articles in the list of results - "a one day feature of corned beef at Old Country Buffet on St. Patrick's Day" - as part of another article a few years old about features. Anything else? A few local clubs were having private parties featuring this sought after meal, but other than that nothing. I tried adding "all you can eat" and the letters "AYCE" to my search. Still the same results.

When my wife got home from work I told her about my desire and suggested that we go to OCB. She said that even if they did not have corned beef, Wednesday is one of their better menu nights. She is right - as always - and the plan was set to go to OCB and hope for corned beef.

When we got to OCB it was very crowded for a Wednesday night. There were a number of people wearing green shirts and I began to gather some hope. After we found a table - which was no easy thing, I went to look at the carving area. On a carving board were the shreds and remnants of what had been a corned beef. I met up with my wife at the soup pots and she asked, "Well did you find corned beef?" I said that I found what once was corned beef and we probably missed it. Now, why would I say that? Because this OCB is notorious for not replacing something with the same item - and often the replacement is not even close to the same type of item, like rolls for chicken. We got our soup and I watched the carving station from our table to see if another corned beef would be brought out. When we had finished out bowls of soup it had not been.

We went up to the buffet servers and I went to that carving board - no employee to be seen.There were pieces of fat with some edible meat present and a few very well done pieces that had been on the ends. I took what I could find that was edible and headed back to table. As small amounts as it was after taking away what should not be eaten, I had a few bites of what was pretty good. All the while I kept my eye on that carving station.

I was not the only person there that night craving this meat. a crowd started forming around the carving area - yet, nothing had changed. It was still empty except for the few scraps that I had not taken - and no one else was taking either. But then... then... a tray came out with a whole corned beef! Those around the counter descended upon the woman who set it down on the carving board and picked up the carving knife ready to serve. We had both finished our plates and were ready to go up so I headed directly there, picked up a plate along the way and got on line. It was a large corned beef and there was plenty for the crowd that was waiting. My wife came up behind me on the line - she likes corned beef but does not eat anything with that much fat for health reasons. She asked me if it was any good. I told her that what little I had tasted was actually pretty good. She waited behind me for a slice. When I got up to the server, I asked for two slices - no sense in taking any chances. No problem, the large corned beef was still more than half there. My wife took a small slice. To go with the corned beef was the traditional cabbage and wedged boiled potatoes with a light butter sauce. I took some potatoes. I passed on the cabbage - I like it, but after my eating it, no one around me appreciates that I did. So I passed on the cabbage, both as a public service and to avoid the physical discomforts.

Corned beef is actually beef brisket that is spiced with pickle seasons and traditionally either boiled or, as some specialty delis do, steamed. It can be baked - and that is how OCB makes it. This corned beef was coated with the seasonings (much like a pastrami) and baked or roasted in an oven. This method of cooking results in corned beef that is thick and crusted on the outside. The remains of the seasonings baked onto the black and crusty surface. It is tasty but at the edge tastes more like pastrami than corned beef. Further inside, beyond the crust it gets moister and more like the traditional corned beef. I have had corned beef made this way in other parts of the country - one place was Boston (though this may just be the way that this one particular restaurant in Boston prepared it). Cut away the fat while you eat it and cut away the crusty outside, and what you have at OCB is some pretty good corned beef. Not the best, but far better than the excuses for corned beef that I have experienced locally recently.

When I looked up from my plate over toward the carving station just a few minutes after starting on that first slice, I saw that once again the carving board was left with just remnants and shreds. But, shortly, another whole corned beef was brought out - and they actually kept on coming out through the time that we were there. I would say that at least five were brought out while we were eating - and each time there was a crowd at the carving station to get the first slices from each new one.

That first whole one that I had slices from was the moistest of all of the rest that I tried. Other slices from others that I had were drier - more well done. But they were still good.

One thing that goes along with corned beef for many is mustard - except for my wife who hates mustard. With those first shreds that I took, I went to the condiment bar to fill a small serving cup with mustard. The tray of mustard was empty with the exception of a thin coating at the bottom, which also happened to be coating a lemon that someone had dropped in from the condiment tray behind the mustard. I scraped what I could into my cup. Later that tray was even emptier, with many trying to do the same as I had - and of course, that lemon remained there at the bottom - more visible now. I must say that one dip of my fork of corned beef into the mustard cup came up with mustard and a lemon pit. I spit the pit into my plate and continued eating - nothing was going to spoil this. At one point I went up for more mustard. Some time had passed and I figured that it had been replaced - especially since several very large men were telling the women working around the buffet servers that the mustard tray was empty. Mostly it looked like the women were ignoring them - or did not understand what the men were saying to them in English - as this is a problem at this particular OCB. As I approached the mustard tray - still empty - another man was there looking for the same thing. He had tried communicating the need to one of the women who went about wiping up the counter below the drink machines there behind the condiment bar. After about five minutes we walked away in frustration - never getting any acknowledgment of what was needed. A while later I went back to see if anything had changed and in fact, someone had made the need known well enough that the tray was now brimming full of mustard. As I took some I wondered if the lemon was still there at the bottom.

I ate more corned beef than I should have. I had a good time doing it. I satisfied the urge, at least for the time being.

So despite the lack of anything on OCB's website, next St. Patrick's Day if you are looking for all you can eat corned beef (and all of the rest) you will probably find it at Old Country Buffet.

One of my Favorite Buffets - Good Taste Buffet, Commack, NY

One of my favorite "local" buffets is a Chinese buffet in Commack, NY - about twenty miles each way from my home. I wrote about this buffet first in 2006 and since I have been there a number of times since that first happy discovery, I keep thinking that I have updated the review. I have mentioned the buffet in several articles, but I have not actually gone through a re-visit review. Since gas prices are lower than they were in 2006 I have been able to go to this buffet more frequently.

In November 2009 we set out one night on this long drive to go to Good Taste, arrived in the parking lot, got out of the car and walked up to what seemed to be a dark restaurant. In the restaurant next door on this "strip" mall, we saw that there had what appeared to be a serious fire in that restaurant with the windows and front all boarded up. Good Taste was closed and a sign on the window said nothing more than that. Oh boy. Some time later we were in the area again and drove past and it was still closed.

On this night I decided to try calling and see if they had reopened. Someone answered the phone! Yes, they are open again. No question about where we were going to go to eat!

Why do I like this restaurant so much? The quality of the food, the selection of the dishes, the spare ribs, and the value in the price make this Chinese buffet stand out from all others on Long Island - including the big, high priced Chinese, so called international buffets. Now, you notice out of all the foods I could mention, I mention the spare ribs. I wrote an article in April 2009 about these ribs. Yes, they are that good. But it is more than the spare ribs here.

Let's talk about the restaurant. First thing to note is that there is no evidence inside of any damage that may have resulted from the fire in the restaurant next door (that restaurant is still boarded up and does not look like it will ever reopen). There is no odor of smoke inside. The wall touching the wall of the other restaurant looks freshly painted white - but the very large, lighted photographs of Hong Kong and China on the wall look untouched. Everything inside is just as I described back in 2006. The layout of the buffet servers and the dining room is the same.

There has been a price increase - add a dollar to the prices that I listed in 2006. In three years that is not too bad an increase considering the increases in the other buffets in this area.

Food selection is has pretty much stayed the same as well over the past three years - with some new dishes added or substituted. There is a nice selection of sushi - a number of rolls and fish on rice. There are several vegetable rolls and a few spicy rolls. In addition there is sliced raw salmon on ice - nice to take if you like the fish and don't want to fill up on all of that rice.

Hot appetizers are plenty here. I do not see shrimp toast at any other buffet but here. There are several types of steamed dumplings still including the shrimp dumplings with whole shrimp inside and there is a variety of pan fried dumplings as well. I must still complain that there is no dumpling sauce to be found anywhere in this restaurant. There is a tray in the condiments section that is marked dumpling sauce, but this (after trying it countless times) is only soy sauce and in no way tastes like dumpling sauce. There is tempura, fried lobster balls (I resist making any joke here), sweet dumplings, and more along with the standards like egg rolls (nice ones) and spring rolls.

Then there are the spare ribs. I will not go on again about how good these spare ribs are, but I am not the only one in this restaurant that makes a meal out of these spare ribs and little else of the many excellent dishes that are offered. These are old fashioned, Chinese restaurant spare ribs. They are thick and full of meat, crispy on the outside and no sauce on them of any kind. None of that gloppy red sugar sauce that all other Chinese buffets have a need to saturate their spare ribs in is found here on these ribs. If you really want that sauce, there is a tray of boneless ribs close by and they are graced with this over-sweet sauce. There is real Chinese duck sauce and real hot mustard at the condiment section if you want to sauce your spareribs to taste. None is needed, but if you want sweet you can have it and if you want hot and spicy you can do that too.

If you are a crab leg lover there are substantial, snow crab legs on the hot buffet. One night that we were here they used the cluster tops to make salt and pepper crab - the cluster is coated in a batter with salt and pepper and fried. Break through the shell and suck out the crab meat with the taste of the salt in the batter on the shell and it is very good. There are also salt and pepper blue crabs - usually in the same serving tray. These are good too, but blue crabs only have meet in the sides and usually this is just a small nugget of crab meat.

There are a variety of hot entrees from the common chicken with broccoli - a staple at all Chinese buffets - to more exotic dishes ranging from Cantonese to the spicy dishes of China. There is a very nice shrimp with lobster sauce with meaty shrimp and a mild and egg filled lobster sauce. There are often additional entree dishes brought out on dishes and placed between the filled hot server trays. These tend to be the more unusual dishes. When you see one come out go up to get it while it remains hot. These special dishes do stay warm while on the hot server but they do tend to cool down some if they sit. There are also carvings at the end of the last hot buffet server. There is ham and a carved steak. You carve these yourself. Also here is Peking Duck. Overall, there is a good assortment of meats and seafood to choose from in the entrees.

Deserts take up a long buffet server along the back wall and there is a soft serve ice cream machine at the end of that counter. The desserts are a mix of the usual little squares of sheet cake common to most Chinese and Asian buffets and some of their own backing. There are home-baked almond cookies. The dessert is adequate but the meal is the focus is here.

Service is good. There are plenty of napkins brought to your table and if they are not there when you sit down, just ask your server for some. Dishes are picked up quickly. Soda dispensers are at the buffet counter and while this is not to be a serve yourself soda station, if your server is busy and you want more soda, I have seen many go up and fill their glass. I have found that the server will bring you refills promptly anyway.

This is a restaurant worth going out of your way for. It may just be the best Chinese buffet on Long Island and maybe in other areas as well. Many agree with me.

The restaurant is open seven days a week and the hours are until 10 pm on weeknights and 11 on Friday and Saturday. The last dinners are let in up to an hour before closing. There is no website, but the telephone number is 631-543-9583.

A Reader Speaks Out to Support Buffet Europa

I get a lot of comments and emails telling me how those of you near Buffet Europa have enjoyed this buffet. I just received an email from one of our readers who is passionate about keeping this restaurant going and had some ideas to share. Since this is my forum arena for such as that I want to share with you what this reader wrote. Now, please understand, that there is NO indication what so ever that there is any idea that Buffet Europa is not doing just as fine as it can - and may be very happy with how business is. But, not seeing this gem of a restaurant packed as it SHOULD BE we have concern - and we do not want to lose this wonderful place. So - here is what this reader wrote -

I live about 20 minutes away from Buffet Europa. First let me say I almost never go on e-mail and it's taking a great effort for me to type this. That being said, you can tell I feel passionately about Buffet Europa!!!!

Buffet Europa is AWESOME and everything you say about it is true: food authentic, fresh, hot and delicious; owners warm and friendly; restaurant clean (including bathrooms); atmosphere nice with soft, pleasant music playing in the background; and EVERYTHING included for about $16!!! ( I go on weekends). I can't understand why there aren't more people enjoying this FABULOUS restaurant :( It makes me sooooo sad because I fear it will close and we will lose this gem.

I have had the same experience as you i.e. being almost the only (and often THE only) occupied table in the restaurant no matter what time of night I go whether it be a Friday or Saturday. I "psych" myself up to go in even if I feel it will be awkward. When I peek through the window just before I enter, I hope there will be some other diners there to take the "spotlight" off my family and me. We continue to go despite the awkwardness because the food is so spectacular!!!

Now..what to do about this..one would think "word of mouth" advertising might be enough..apparently not so. They do advertise locally but that doesn't seem to have helped either. When I asked about putting up a sign on Route 1, they said that they weren't allowed to ( I don't remember the reason). Maybe the LOCATION i.e. New Brunswick is the problem!!

I'm certainly not a city planner nor do I claim to know anything about the restaurant business BUT maybe they should move to a place where they would be more greatly appreciated. A sign of a good Chinese restaurant is that it is populated by Chinese people, so perhaps in that same way, a GREAT Polish restaurant like Buffet Europa would benefit by being in a Polish area. For example, Linden N.J. has a BIG Polish population who would really appreciate FABULOUS Polish food without having to cook, clean, etc. I know Buffet Europa's concept is to provide new dining experiences for the general public, but this idea apparently isn't working too well and we all don't want them to close!! ( Also, selfishly speaking, Linden is close enough to us so we could still eat there!!).

Of course, I haven't discussed this with the owners; it is kind of awkward, and in addition, I don't know the conditions of their lease or any other factors that might affect their decision with respect to the business. BUT pardon the pun, it is definitely food for thought.

Here's to saving Buffet Europa!!!
-----

Great ideas and certainly all true. I know that this site has had some influences and I am hoping that what this reader has written and what I have written about this wonderful restaurant will have some positive influence on business at Buffet Europa. I also know that the owners have read some of the articles here about their restaurant and hopefully some of the ideas here - and our support will reach them. No matter what we want to be able to continue to enjoy this restaurant for a long time to come! (Now, I have to go and check to see if Linden is easy for me to get to when I go to NJ...)

Buffet Europa is located at 1000 Arron Road, North Brunswick, New Jersey 08902. Their telephone number is 732-940-1122. They do have a website and the link is listed at the side of this page.

Dilemma in New Jersey

We had a trip planned to mid-New Jersey - basically the area west and a bit north of New York City. There are two buffets in this area that I enjoy very much - Buffet Europa and Makkoli Japanese. I had just recently been to Buffet Europa and despite the strong temptation to go again, I felt that it would be good to find a new buffet to try and share with everyone. On my previous trip - when I went to Buffet Europa - we saw another Japanese Sushi buffet (which I will not name). It looked nice as we passed it on the road and at that time thought that we might try it on the next trip through. One of my readers is close enough to this area to make recommendations and has been in contact with me through this site giving me suggestions for over a year now. I went back to his emails to check his recommendations and found this one on the list. I sent him an email and asked if he had been back there in the year since his first visit. He had not - but he liked it. I highly respect his opinion and I know from other recommendations that he has given that what I will find will be good.

I decided several days before the trip that I would check out as much as I could about this buffet to find recent opinions - a lot of things can change about a buffet in a year. I also wanted to check on what to expect being served since, as regular readers know, my wife is a very picky eater - the only seafood that she will eat is shrimp - and there should be some variety of non-seafood dishes for her as well. All that I could find with exhaustive searches on this restaurant were reviews all over a year old and consistently they were poor reviews. (This is why I am not naming the restaurant.) And each one said, "Skip this place and go to Makkoli." Yet, my email friend told me that the restaurant is good - and I did see his review on line to this effect as well as the recommendation that he gave me. I got a little nervous - it is one thing to eat and not feel so well close to home, but when there is a two hour trip between you and your house on roads without rest-stop restrooms, you have to give where and what you are eating careful c0nsideration. Still his recommendations have been reliable so I searched some more for information. The restaurant does have a website and I went there - turned off the annoying music that it insisted on playing for me and took a look around. Nice photos and what looked to me to be a nice restaurant as it is shown. I looked at the on-line menu. There was a variety of sushi and sashimi- even a bit more extensive than people had described in their poor reviews. The entree list was a bit short - and it was just about all fish - no shrimp listed - and two beef dishes, one of which is prime rib (which to most would be welcomed - but not by my wife). I still was not discouraged. I looked for a price. No prices were listed. There was a way to contact the restaurant manager by email so I clicked on that link and sent the manager an email asking what the dinner prices are and if three is an hibachi grill (which would resolve any selection problems for my wife). Shortly later, my email bounced back to me with a server message from the restaurant stating that they would not accept my email. Hmm. I use a standard email address when I contact restaurants - nothing that should be filtered out. If there was no way to email this restaurant or they were bouncing back emails - perhaps this is a sign.

I went back to some of the results that I had found on searches for this restaurant to see if somewhere I missed a price. I came across another customer review site that I had not come across before and found still more poor reviews of the place. One of them mentioned a price- around $20.00. Again, reviewers said, "Skip this place and go to Makkoli." Was somebody - everybody trying to tell me something?

I still spoke with my wife and told her what we would find on the buffet and asked her what she would eat. She is very good to me and said not to worry about her, she will find something to eat - but I know what she will and will not eat and to pay $20 a person for her not to eat or to eat very little was just not right. So I decided to look for someplace else new in the area.

I started to search restaurants in this area - buffet restaurants to be specific. After I eliminated results for reviews on THIS site and from my readers at other sites quoting or referring to my reviews of the restaurants that I have written about in the area, I came down to a very small handful of Chinese buffets. If I was willing to travel a distance further in the direction away from home there was a really nice looking Italian buffet, but this was just too far in the wrong direction and even an independent pizza buffet - again too far. There was one of the lobster buffets that I have written about but never gone to but the price is just too far above my current means. There was also a really nice looking Japanese buffet that got great reviews, but when I looked at their website found out that they are well over $30 for a meal which is a bit over my budget for a non-special occasion. So I started looking at those few Chinese buffets remaining on the list of possibilities. Each had so-so reviews. I am never sure if bad reviews are the result of someone with a chip on thier shoulder because of something that may have happened when they were at the restaurant that has really nothing to do with the actual quality of the restaurant or the food - or the review is on the level and not biased beyond being unhappy with the meal. When I see several this way from various customers I do take notice. The one most likely candidate had fair reviews and some not so good reviews - and many said - "Skip this place and go to Makkoli."

I decided that I must take everyone's advice and we were going to go to Makkoli. I have been to Makkoli several times. We both have always enjoyed Makkoli - and despite my great desire to find another buffet to share with you, we were not going to find one in that area.

I will tell you a little about that night at Makkoli. The restaurant is as good as it has been. There was a big crowd for a Friday night, but no waiting to get in. There is a large assortment of sushi and sashimi - including a number of unusual (at least buffet sushi unusual) fish. On the selection of prepared Japanese salads there was a fish that I have only had once before - jelly fish. I do not know if this was raw and marinated in the saled or cooked at all. It was gelatinous and cold so it may have been raw. I had it once many, many years ago in a Chinese buffet where it was deep and crispy fried. I did take a very tiny bit on my plate to try. It was very neutral in flavor and mildly chewy. I was not enjoying the texture or the lack of an identifiable taste so I only ate the one piece.

My wife had no problem finding things that she likes. We both started the meal with a bowl of Udon Noodle Soup - which is just wonderful. I thought all through the meal about going back at the end for another bowl, but as I wrote just recently, I found that if I did that, I would be going for "one udon soup too far" - AGAIN. No, this meal was more than filling and in my zest to try a bit of everything that I like I eventually found myself too full for anything else even to try another sampling of a favorite.

Now, I did have something that IF I wanted to have eaten more at this meal, I should not have had because of the quantity that you are giving. We both went up to the hibachi grill. I asked the chef for steak and vegetables and my wife asked for chicken and vegetables. He took out a whole steak - about a half inch thick and at least seven or eight inches long and four inches wide. This went on the grill all for me. He took out what was the equivalent of a full chicken breast or more and put that on the grill for my wife. She said to me, I hope that is not all for me. It was. With the vegetables added to the grill and then these portions put on plates for us - we each were given a dinner plate full and piled up. As a meal in itself fine. As a complement to all of the rest that we has eaten and were planning on eating, it was really too much. (I have to say, too, that the steak was very tough and not a good choice. It tasted great but was hard to chew. Her chicken was much better.)

All and all we had another great meal at Makkoli. In the year since we were there last the price has not gone up at all. The food is good and the meal is certainly more than one can eat.

It will be some time before we are in this area of New Jersey again - but my first choice - is Buffet Europa. If you are in the mood for Japanese - go to Makkoli.

THEY ARE TRYING HARD TO ENTICE YOU AT BUFFT EUROPA

Our pick for Best Small Buffet for 2009 was Buffet Europa, located in North Brunswick, NJ. (See article) As I have said many times before, this is a buffet experience unlike most others. The food! The Food! THE FOOD!

I had an opportunity to be there again recently. I was very surprised to see that they are in need of customers and support. The restaurant is still wonderful. The food is still excellent. The atmosphere is unlike the chain buffets. The cuisine in European with a leaning toward Polish on Friday nights and a leaning toward Italian on Saturday nights. The owners - who as I have mentioned in my other articles, work the whole place themselves - are trying extremely hard to get customers in the door. They have lowered the weeknight buffet price - Tuesday to Thursday to $8.99! This is unbelievable. This is the FULL buffet from soup to salad to hot entrees and sides to wonderful desserts and it even includes the soft drinks. Why have they done this? It is obvious. They need to increase their business.

They have cut their weeknight - Tuesday to Thursday - hours to close at 7:00 pm. Friday and Saturday nights are still until 9:00 pm. They no longer are opened at all on Mondays. They had been closed for dinner on Mondays - now they are closed. They are still closed on Sundays, but do catering on Sundays in the restaurant. They have also added teen and adult dances on some Friday and Saturday nights after 10:00 pm.

We went in this time on a Friday night. When we entered there was just one other diner in the whole restaurant. We were warmly and personally welcomed by the owner and offered any table we wished. My heart sank a bit as I had hoped to find the place jumping. I have had readers contact me to say that they are going there and have been there - and each has has wonderful things to say about the restaurant. To find really no one in the restaurant at a little after 6:00 pm - dinner time - on a Friday night - I sigh when I think of it. I want so much for this restaurant to succeed because it is THAT GOOD and that different.

If this were a buffet that I had never been to before I might have hesitated to go in seeing no one inside. My concern always is if the food is out on the buffet server and no one is taking it, it may be sitting too long. I had no reluctance to go in and sit down here. I knew that with the personal attention that the food here gets it would be fresh and wonderful as always - AND IT WAS! Everything was moist, stirred, and hot.

As we dined other tables filled but there never really were more than three tables occupied the whole time we were there. This is not as it had been on previous visits - and my first visit had been at this same time of the year. Before while the small restaurant was never full, there were a number of tables occupied.

The price on Friday and Saturday nights for the buffet is $15.99. This includes unlimited soft drinks that you take yourself. This is the price that all nights had once been. At this price you are getting excellent value for the quality and taste of the food served. At the new lower price of $8.99 you are practically eating for free. There are fast food restaurants that you cannot eat at for this low a price.

Let me try to entice you with my meal and maybe you will say I have to go there. Now, I know that many of you are no where near the state of New Jersey, but maybe you know someone there or near there that you can call and say - Go right now to Buffet Europa! So, anyway, I started with the seafood bisque - chunks of fresh fish in a pink thin/thick cream broth. Just as I remembered it was very good. My wife had the chicken noodle soup which you might say is no big deal, but this one does not taste like buffet chicken noodle soup or diner chicken noodle soup. It tastes like fine restaurant chicken noodle soup. I know I am repeating myself from other articles about this buffet, but there is a point to be made here about the food. It is not buffet food. It is fine restaurant food.

I followed the soup with a plate of assorted cold vegetables from the salad bar. I am not a lettuce salad eater, but all of the fixings were there for one. I had a bit of Italian vegetable salad - pieces of carrot, cauliflower, red peppers, etc. in white vinegar. I also had some pickles and olives. Just a small bit to taste. I added a dinner roll - because they looked good.

Entrees on this evening were similar to the first night that I had been to this restaurant. There were Polish Perigees - a ravioli-like dumpling of pasta folded around mashed potato and skillet fried with onions. They are served with sour creme on the side. There were sweet cheese blintzes - folds of sweet, thin pancakes (crepes) folded flat around a sweetened cheese mixture and dusted with powdered sugar. There was something different this evening - fried potato pancakes - ground potatoes and onions formed into flat patties and deep fried - served with apple sauce on the side. There was also a different entree added to the selection - fried veal cutlets. This is something that I have not had since I was a child growing up in my Italian-American home.

Other entrees were as they had been - Polish kielbasa in sauerkraut, barbecue ribs, Swedish meatballs, small pieces of fried pollack, stuffed cabbage, Penne ala Vodka, chicken Francais, roasted and sauteed vegetables, mashed potatoes, and I am sure that I am forgetting some other things. All were as I remembered. All were wonderful. Long, long ago, I had a Polish girlfriend - and the kielbasa here reminded me of what her mother made. In addition to this all, there was a roast of beef to carve that was nicely crispy on the outside.

I had to stop eating entrees when I realized that I was getting too full to enjoy dessert. Oh the deserts! This night there was something that I have never seen in any buffet- and rarely is it found in restaurants. They had Sfogliatelle! I had at first been disappointed that I did not see Tiramisu out on the counter, but my wife pointed out to me that the sfogliatelle was there and something really unusual. So what is Sfogliatelle? It is a pastry of crispy layers of thin sweet dough in the shape of a seashell. The dough is such that it breaks apart as you eat it in thin strips - just hard enough to give it a crunch and the need to chew. Inside this seashell of layers of pastry dough is sweetened, baked ricotta cheese mixed with sugar and tiny pieces of candied dried fruits to give a hint of citrus to the taste. This is a pastry that I have, maybe once a year, with family at Christmas dinner. At an Italian bakery this is an expensive pastry - at a minimum $3.00 and often more a piece. Here at Buffet Europa there was a tray full out on the dessert counter, each covered in powdered sugar. The taste was spot on to what it should be! Whether they made them here or brought them in, I don't know, but if they brought them in, they paid quite a bit for them to just have them out as a buffet dessert! In addition, for those who want just the ordinary - but here the ordinary is extraordinary - there was sections of coffee cake, muffins, brownies with chocolate chunks inside, chocolate chip cookies, and cheesecake. Of course, I had to have a piece of the cheesecake! I was happy - Sfogliatelle and cheesecake at a buffet!

We left happy and full. There is not more that you can ask of any restaurant.

Have I enticed you? These people are trying hard to do that! They need your business. I don't know how else that I can say that this restaurant must continue because it sets a new and higher standard for buffets - family friendly and affordable buffets - with food that does not originate in some chain restaurant warehouse with directions to cook it exactly this way and serve so that it will be the same at any of the chain's locations.

I was delighted to see our Best Buffet Certificate professionally matted and framed on hung prominently on the wall to the right of the cashier's desk! It looked like they were proud to receive this award and they certainly went out of their way to display it! When you go in, mention it, and tell them that you heard about them right here!

So, go to Buffet Europa! If you are nearby, keep going back! I wish I could but I am more than 90 miles and $20 in tolls away. If I was nearby I would be a regular.

Buffet Europa is located at 1000 Arron Road, North Brunswick, New Jersey 08902. Their telephone number is 732-940-1122. They do have a website and the link is listed at the side of this page. Please take note of their new hours listed above in this article.