It has been five years since I have been to the Oregon Dairy Country Restaurant and Buffet in Lititz, PA. I am not sure why it has taken me this long to go back - other than perhaps the other buffets in this area that always come to mind first. This is a nice, small buffet that is just off the main tourist area in Lancaster County and one that like some other buffets in this area is located within a supermarket complex.
This buffet is located in the back of a menu restaurant that is in its own section of a building that is a supermarket. You can enter the restaurant from the supermarket or from its own door from the large parking lot. Adjacent to the restaurant and separate from the supermarket is an ice cream stand serving a large variety of fresh ice cream flavors made right there at the dairy. A scoop of this ice cream is available as a selection on the dessert offerings with the buffet meal.
We had intended to go to this buffet a few months back but just never got there. When we were back in the area, I was sure to make this one of the several buffets we had dinner at and I am very glad I did, as it reminded me that this is a buffet that should be visited more often. Selections for lunch and dinner on the buffet are partially listed on a menu download on the restaurant's website (linked at the side of this page). That menu does not include all that you will find on the buffet when you get there - which was a pleasant surprise. As you will see if you look at the buffet menu on the website, the dishes served rotate by night with some repeats.
On the night that we were there we found two soups - kale soup and New England Clam Chowder. The clam chowder was good. I did not try the kale soup and that is an unusual soup not usually found at a buffet. They have a large salad bar and one can just order the salad and soup bar for a meal. One can also just order the dessert bar. The salad bar as a variety of local prepared salads and also lettuce and the makings for a good salad. This buffet is in, of course, the Pennsylvania Dutch Country and much of what is on the buffet (but not all) are Pennsylvania Dutch foods. There was Chicken Bot Bie - a chicken stew with broad dough noodle squares that I have spoken about many times here on this site at PA Dutch buffets. This one was good. There was smoked sausage which is not particularly PA Dutch but here at the Oregon Dairy restaurant it is prepared in a different way and is a specialty item on the menu. It is fried - deep fried - so at first bite it seems overcooked but it is quite tasty and crispy. I have had smoked sausage served in a variety of ways - this is the only place that I have had it like this. The smoked sausage is a regular item on their menu but is not always found on the buffet. There were ham balls, another PA Dutch food item that is made from ground ham made like meatballs and traditionally served cooked in pineapple sauce. These are sweet and good. There was Pork and Kraut - pieces of pork cooked in sauerkraut - another PA Dutch food item and was also good here. There were two types of chicken - seasoned chicken and also barbecue chicken breasts. There was no fried chicken - which on a PA Dutch buffet is unusual not to find. There was stuffed cabbage. There was also fried shrimp and broiled Talapia. Of course there were side dishes as well including mashed potatoes, carrots, corn, macaroni and cheese, Pa Dutch potato filling (stuffing made with potatoes), and stewed tomatoes.
The meal was good and while the selection does not compare with some buffets in this area, it was more than enough and certainly it was local in variety. When you come to restaurants in this area - buffet or not - you are coming for local foods and recipes. This is what you are finding here.
Desserts included a variety of puddings and prepared desserts, a selection of cake slices and pies, warm cobbler, fresh fruit, jello, and a scoop (just one) of the Oregon Dairy's selection of 20 plus flavors of ice cream made at the dairy on the premises. In fact, the server goes into the ice cream stand to get the ice cream for you. There is a flavor of the month and then there are the flavors that are always on the menu and there are some unusual flavors among these. I decided on the ice cream. It was rich and creamy.
The price of dinner was very reasonable. Since prices tend to change lately, I am not going to quote the price but it was well within just about ANYONE's budget. The soft drinks are additional and include refills.
Our server was a young woman in training and she was very good. She was attentive. The dishes were cleared off the table and the drinks were refilled.
The decor is pleasant and typical of restaurants in this area. It is not overly fancy but it is what you would expect a family restaurant to look like. It was clean and the restrooms were also clean and well maintained. Also, there is no problem if someone at your table decides to order from the menu while others are ordering the buffet.
There is a breakfast buffet, a lunch buffet, and a dinner buffet. The restaurant is open seven days a week (until 2 pm on Sundays) BUT the buffet is only served Monday to Saturday. There is NO BUFFET ON SUNDAYS except breakfast buffet. The restaurant closes at 8:00 pm and this does not mean seating until 8:00 pm. The buffet is taken down at that time and they let you know that if there is anything else that you would like, you need to go up and get it right then. (They do this politely.)
I plan to go back more often. With so many buffets here to choose from this is hard when you are only in the area for a few days, but this is now "on the list" to go to. I recommend that you try it. Download the menu from the website and you will have some idea of what dishes to expect to find on the night that you decide to go.
The Oregon Dairy Country Restaurant and Buffet is located at 2900 Oregon Pike (Route 272) in Lititz, PA 17543. The phone number is
(717) 661-6804. There is a website and that is listed on this page at
the side of the articles.While this is the town of Lititz it is not near the center of what is thought of as the town of Lititz (where the old pretzel bakery and the Moravian settlement is located). It is also on the top of a hill with a large up hill driveway from Route 272. As you get up into the parking lot the restaurant is on the left, the supermarket part of the building is on the right, and the dairy/ice cream stand is on the far left. There is a little playground and "park" near the ice cream stand.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Friday, October 18, 2013
Refresher on the Rules of the Buffet
The more buffets that I go to the more I wish the restaurants would post our Rules of the Buffet. Here they are once again for all of our readers to take note of and remember. Recently #28 seems to be one that many need to know about...
RULES OF THE BUFFET
1. All you can eat is not a challenge. It is an offer!
2. There is no limit to the number of times that you can go up and get food.
3. Take your food in courses - as you would be served if ordering from a menu.
4. Everyone must pay!
5. No food is permitted to be taken out of the restaurant.
6. Take only what you will eat - do not waste food.
7. For a more social meal, it is polite to wait for the others at the table to finish their plates and then go up together to get more.
8. Take a clean plate every time that you go up to the buffet tables.
9. If you put it on your plate, leave it there. Never return food to the serving tray.
10. Never eat at the buffet tables!
11. Children under 12 should not be going up to the buffet tables alone.
12. The buffet table is not a cafeteria line.
13. Tip the server.
14. Never take a serving piece from one item and use it for another item.
15. Never place your dirty plates on someone else's table.
16. Never use your silverware to serve yourself from the buffet trays.
17. Once you have gotten what you want, don't stand around the buffet tables. Move on back to your table.
18. Children should remain seated through the meal.
19. Do not fill community plates for the "table". Each should take their own plate of what they wish to eat.
20. If you cough or sneeze into your hand, please do not use that hand to pick up the serving utensils.
21. In the buffet, as in any restaurant, children (and adults) should use their inside voices.
22. Don't talk on your cell phone while you are getting your food at the buffet tables.
23. Never bring an animal into the buffet. (this is not referring to medical guide dogs)
24. Never put your hands into a serving tray.
25. Tell your children not to put their hands into a serving tray - and make sure that they do not!
26. Do not carry on a conversation throughout dinner with the people at the tables around you.
27. Do not put anything back into a serving tray that has dropped onto the serving counter - and never put anything back into a serving tray (whether from the counter or your dish) with your fingers.
28. Never put the serving utensil, whether it a spoon, fork, or tongs, up to your nose to smell the food that you have taken out of the serving tray.
29. Do not eat while walking with your plate back to your table.
30. If you take a plate, bowl, cup, or piece of silverware and you decide you don't want it, do not put it back on the stack of clean dishes or back with the clean silverware. Take it back to your table or put it on the side of the stack where it will not be taken as clean.
RULES OF THE BUFFET
1. All you can eat is not a challenge. It is an offer!
2. There is no limit to the number of times that you can go up and get food.
3. Take your food in courses - as you would be served if ordering from a menu.
4. Everyone must pay!
5. No food is permitted to be taken out of the restaurant.
6. Take only what you will eat - do not waste food.
7. For a more social meal, it is polite to wait for the others at the table to finish their plates and then go up together to get more.
8. Take a clean plate every time that you go up to the buffet tables.
9. If you put it on your plate, leave it there. Never return food to the serving tray.
10. Never eat at the buffet tables!
11. Children under 12 should not be going up to the buffet tables alone.
12. The buffet table is not a cafeteria line.
13. Tip the server.
14. Never take a serving piece from one item and use it for another item.
15. Never place your dirty plates on someone else's table.
16. Never use your silverware to serve yourself from the buffet trays.
17. Once you have gotten what you want, don't stand around the buffet tables. Move on back to your table.
18. Children should remain seated through the meal.
19. Do not fill community plates for the "table". Each should take their own plate of what they wish to eat.
20. If you cough or sneeze into your hand, please do not use that hand to pick up the serving utensils.
21. In the buffet, as in any restaurant, children (and adults) should use their inside voices.
22. Don't talk on your cell phone while you are getting your food at the buffet tables.
23. Never bring an animal into the buffet. (this is not referring to medical guide dogs)
24. Never put your hands into a serving tray.
25. Tell your children not to put their hands into a serving tray - and make sure that they do not!
26. Do not carry on a conversation throughout dinner with the people at the tables around you.
27. Do not put anything back into a serving tray that has dropped onto the serving counter - and never put anything back into a serving tray (whether from the counter or your dish) with your fingers.
28. Never put the serving utensil, whether it a spoon, fork, or tongs, up to your nose to smell the food that you have taken out of the serving tray.
29. Do not eat while walking with your plate back to your table.
30. If you take a plate, bowl, cup, or piece of silverware and you decide you don't want it, do not put it back on the stack of clean dishes or back with the clean silverware. Take it back to your table or put it on the side of the stack where it will not be taken as clean.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Undercover Boss at Buffets Inc. Restaurants Next Week!
The television show Undercover Boss found on CBS network stations sends companies' top executives into their business location to learn first hand what it is like to work for them and work in their businesses. This show will have the boss from Buffets Inc. out in the restaurants undercover on Friday, October 18, 2013. The show will be on from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Buffets Inc. is the parent company of Old Country Buffet, Ryans, and Hometown Buffet. The restaurants visited for the filming of the show will not be known until the airing of the show.
An inside anonymous source shares that changes in the restaurants have already been ordered as a result of this show.Perhaps he has now seen what many of us have known as customers all along.
This article has been posted one week in advance of the airing of the show to give our readers an opportunity to see this show. This show may also be seen on CBS on demand after it airs on cable providers and also on the internet on the CBS.com website.
An inside anonymous source shares that changes in the restaurants have already been ordered as a result of this show.Perhaps he has now seen what many of us have known as customers all along.
This article has been posted one week in advance of the airing of the show to give our readers an opportunity to see this show. This show may also be seen on CBS on demand after it airs on cable providers and also on the internet on the CBS.com website.
Friday, October 04, 2013
Return to a KFC Buffet
There are not many KFC buffets - Kentucky Fried Chicken. These are KFC eat in and take out restaurants that in addition to the regular take out/eat in menu on the wall, offer a buffet at the front counter of select KFC items. These KFC restaurants will say "Buffet" on the sign in front of the restaurant. If it does not say "buffet" there is no buffet inside - and that is the majority of KFC locations. KFC will now identify KFC buffets on their restaurant location page of their website IF you check the "BUFFET" box on the location locator, but no where else on KFC's website is buffet mentioned. Here is the website for the chain. The buffet is served only from 4 pm to 8 pm, 7 days a week. The restaurants are open past 8, but the buffet will be closed down - and when it was being closed down one of the employees came over to us to inform us that it was about to be and if we wanted more we had to go up then to get it.
We went for the first time a year ago and were in that location again - Williamsburg, Virginia - and decided to go back. The food was good but the selection was not as good as it had been a year ago.
The buffet includes all you care to eat from the buffet counter and an unlimited refill soda or ice tea. The buffet is one price and you you are given a cup and one large and one small foam plate when you pay at the counter. When you are ready to go back for more, you go up to the counter at the registers and ask for another plate. If there is a line at the register you wait at the side and hope to be noticed or make yourself politely known and you are given the plate.
On the buffet this year there was fried chicken - original recipe and extra crispy, mashed potatoes, green beans and an assortment of other vegetables, macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, a sweet potato casserole, rolls, potato salad, macaroni salad, cole slaw, pickles, hot pickled peppers, more side dishes and desserts that included banana pudding, jello, and other puddings. Missing from the buffet this time was the chicken and biscuits (chicken pot pie) that is still on the menu board but now, not on the buffet. None of the grilled chicken or new boneless chicken was on the buffet, however, when we were on the line first going up to the register a man in front of us ordered the buffet and asked to have the grilled chicken that was not on the buffet. He was handed a plate full of grilled chicken - at least four pieces. So if you ask, it MAY BE possible to get something not on the buffet that they have on the menu.
On this visit, all of the pieces of chicken regardless of crispy or original were chicken breasts. You can't really complain about that unless you like drumsticks and thighs. We do. At the end of our visit which was almost the time the buffet was to be shut down, some chicken thighs appeared mixed in. I would have liked to have taken a variety of chicken pieces just to vary the meal, especially as the chicken and biscuit dish was not there and fried chicken breasts were the only meat to be had.
This is KFC food. It is just the same food that is coming from the kitchen behind the counter and going into the buckets and orders that everyone else is getting. If you don't like KFC food then you will not like eating at a KFC buffet. We don't regularly go to KFCs to eat but we both like the food and the buffet is well worth the price - I am not going to say the price as it will vary by location but it is well under $10, includes the drink, and is cheaper than ordering off the menu board for a combination of some items that are on the buffet, even if you were just taking a one portion size and no more.
We certainly had all we wanted and we were very satisfied after the meal. I will definitely go back. And as it was different this time from last, it may be different again next time.
The KFC Buffet that we went to is located at 1545 Richmond Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185. Their phone number is(757) 229 - 7212.
We went for the first time a year ago and were in that location again - Williamsburg, Virginia - and decided to go back. The food was good but the selection was not as good as it had been a year ago.
The buffet includes all you care to eat from the buffet counter and an unlimited refill soda or ice tea. The buffet is one price and you you are given a cup and one large and one small foam plate when you pay at the counter. When you are ready to go back for more, you go up to the counter at the registers and ask for another plate. If there is a line at the register you wait at the side and hope to be noticed or make yourself politely known and you are given the plate.
On the buffet this year there was fried chicken - original recipe and extra crispy, mashed potatoes, green beans and an assortment of other vegetables, macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, a sweet potato casserole, rolls, potato salad, macaroni salad, cole slaw, pickles, hot pickled peppers, more side dishes and desserts that included banana pudding, jello, and other puddings. Missing from the buffet this time was the chicken and biscuits (chicken pot pie) that is still on the menu board but now, not on the buffet. None of the grilled chicken or new boneless chicken was on the buffet, however, when we were on the line first going up to the register a man in front of us ordered the buffet and asked to have the grilled chicken that was not on the buffet. He was handed a plate full of grilled chicken - at least four pieces. So if you ask, it MAY BE possible to get something not on the buffet that they have on the menu.
On this visit, all of the pieces of chicken regardless of crispy or original were chicken breasts. You can't really complain about that unless you like drumsticks and thighs. We do. At the end of our visit which was almost the time the buffet was to be shut down, some chicken thighs appeared mixed in. I would have liked to have taken a variety of chicken pieces just to vary the meal, especially as the chicken and biscuit dish was not there and fried chicken breasts were the only meat to be had.
This is KFC food. It is just the same food that is coming from the kitchen behind the counter and going into the buckets and orders that everyone else is getting. If you don't like KFC food then you will not like eating at a KFC buffet. We don't regularly go to KFCs to eat but we both like the food and the buffet is well worth the price - I am not going to say the price as it will vary by location but it is well under $10, includes the drink, and is cheaper than ordering off the menu board for a combination of some items that are on the buffet, even if you were just taking a one portion size and no more.
We certainly had all we wanted and we were very satisfied after the meal. I will definitely go back. And as it was different this time from last, it may be different again next time.
The KFC Buffet that we went to is located at 1545 Richmond Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185. Their phone number is(757) 229 - 7212.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Old Country Buffet, Ryans, Etc. Updates
Have you been to an Old Country Buffet or Ryans lately and noticed the absence of the Stir Fry station? This is now gone from the Buffets Inc. owned buffets after some locations went through construction to install a permanent station for what was to be a regular offering at the restaurants. An anonymous, inside source at Buffets Inc. tells me that this is only temporary and has been done due to poor overall earnings in the past quarter. It was implied that cutting out the stir fry would save on employee salaries and other expenses related to the stir fry area. An email survey sent out to some OCB customers on their email list makes me suspect that they have other plans.
The survey asked about having breakfast omelets available all day. These would include a variety of omelets containing your choice of a number of ingredients. To further enforce that this is likely going to happen, at a local OCB where a special area was constructed - taking away already limited table space - for the stir fry. That sign above that is now gone and a sign for omelets has taken its place. I am sure that area has been used all along since its installation for omelets for the breakfast buffet but suddenly this very large sign was put up over it. An earlier similar survey had asked about baby back ribs and those made an every night dinner appearance on the buffet several weeks later.
I am, frankly, not surprised that the Stir Fry is gone. It was very dependent on the skills of the people cooking at it, and that there was actually someone assigned there - and not that someone wandered over eventually when someone came up to the grill which I observed at several OCBs. The other problem was the ingredients. While the chicken was passable, the beef always looked like dried out scraps of left over roast beef and more than once I heard people ask with a face, "What is that?" pointing at the beef in the tray behind the counter. It was quite unappetizing in appearance.
So far, no omelets yet. But I suspect that you will be seeing them soon at an OCB, Hometown Buffet, or Ryans near you. Will I try one? It will depend upon how they are being cooked and what the ingredients look like. I have not been to an OCB for breakfast so I do not know how the omelets are made. If they are cracking fresh eggs then I will try one. If they are pouring an egg mixture from a pitcher, then no, I will stay clear.
The survey asked about having breakfast omelets available all day. These would include a variety of omelets containing your choice of a number of ingredients. To further enforce that this is likely going to happen, at a local OCB where a special area was constructed - taking away already limited table space - for the stir fry. That sign above that is now gone and a sign for omelets has taken its place. I am sure that area has been used all along since its installation for omelets for the breakfast buffet but suddenly this very large sign was put up over it. An earlier similar survey had asked about baby back ribs and those made an every night dinner appearance on the buffet several weeks later.
I am, frankly, not surprised that the Stir Fry is gone. It was very dependent on the skills of the people cooking at it, and that there was actually someone assigned there - and not that someone wandered over eventually when someone came up to the grill which I observed at several OCBs. The other problem was the ingredients. While the chicken was passable, the beef always looked like dried out scraps of left over roast beef and more than once I heard people ask with a face, "What is that?" pointing at the beef in the tray behind the counter. It was quite unappetizing in appearance.
So far, no omelets yet. But I suspect that you will be seeing them soon at an OCB, Hometown Buffet, or Ryans near you. Will I try one? It will depend upon how they are being cooked and what the ingredients look like. I have not been to an OCB for breakfast so I do not know how the omelets are made. If they are cracking fresh eggs then I will try one. If they are pouring an egg mixture from a pitcher, then no, I will stay clear.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Baby Back Ribs Seem to be Everywhere
Several buffets this summer have featured baby back ribs. This is unusual. I have not seen baby back ribs at a buffet in a number of years. What are baby back ribs? These are pork ribs that are taken from the top of the rib cage from market weight but young hogs. These are not taken from adult hogs. There is meat between the bones and on top.
I summer I have tried baby back ribs at Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earle, PA, several Golden Corrals, Ryans, Old Country Buffet, and while they were not labeled "baby back ribs" but just "ribs" at Dutch-Way Family Restaurant in Gap, PA. Some were very good, some were OK and some were not so good at all.
I will start with what I consider the best and this I am sure is going to surprise many of you with this coming from me. The best have been at Old Country Buffet. These have been consistently good over several visits. The sauce is not too sweet and not overly applied. Additional sauce is available on the condiments counter. The meat was tender and has fallen completely off the bones. There was sufficient meat on each rib but not so much meat that it was no longer like a rib but a chunk of pork with a bone. These ribs kept me going back for more with little interest in any other entree on the buffet. The baby back ribs were a summer special feature every night and by the time you read this article they may no longer exist - at least for this year - at Old Country Buffets - or maybe not and they are still being served.
The second best were at Dutch-Family Restaurant in Gap, PA where they were on the buffet on two different visits on different nights. At Dutch-Way the menu changes nightly and you may go in and find or not find ribs. At Dutch-Way the ribs, as I said above, were just labeled "Ribs" and not baby back ribs but the size, bone, and meat were consistent with what baby backs are. Here the sauce is a tomato based sauce that is barbecue sauce but more like tomato sauce. It is not overly sweet and it was good. The pork was tender and also fell off the bone. Had OCB not come out with their ribs mid-summer, these would top the list. With Dutch-Way there is a good chance that you will find these ribs showing up on the buffet throughout the year, but do not expect them to be there on any particular night.
One would think that since Ryans is owned by Buffets, Inc. as OCB is, that the baby back ribs there would be the same as at OCB, but on the two occasions on different nights that I tried them at Ryans they were not as good. This may be the fault of the particular Ryans, though as Ryans Buffets go this particular location is pretty good. The sauce here was sweeter. The meat was drier and the ribs were over done.
The baby back ribs at Shady Maple Smorgasbord were as feature on the Fourth of July dinner buffet and having been back several times for dinner over the summer I did not see them again. These baby back ribs had the most meat on them and that was the problem. These were like eating a chunk of pork with a bone in it. Eventually, the bone did come away from the meat. The sauce was OK but sweet. I was thrilled to see this on the buffet but was disappointed when I got them. They were served from the grill. It is odd to complain about too much meat, but that is what I found as fault with these ribs.
The worst of the baby back ribs were the ones at Golden Corral and I tried them at four different Golden Corral restaurants. These ribs from restaurant to restaurant were consistently dry and overcooked to the point of crunchy where you could not tell if you were biting into meat or bone and when what came away was just as indistinguishable - burnt meat or burnt bone - neither of which was easily chewed or swallowed. The baby back ribs were part of a summer feature of hot wings and baby back ribs. At one of the Golden Corrals they were being carved from the rack at the grill. At the others they were out on the buffet next to the grill in a tray. It did not matter how they were served. They were not good.
I am hoping that Old Country Buffet keeps the baby back ribs on the dinner buffet for a while longer - maybe even making them a regular on one particular night or more. OCB has served other ribs but these have always been like a pork roast sliced and served as ribs. What they call Country Ribs are not ribs at all and are hard to distinguish from what they just serve as pork. Those and the honey riblets are also overly sauced and excessively sweet. Nothing like the baby back ribs. If these are discontinued in the Fall, I very much hope that they make a come back again next summer!
I summer I have tried baby back ribs at Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earle, PA, several Golden Corrals, Ryans, Old Country Buffet, and while they were not labeled "baby back ribs" but just "ribs" at Dutch-Way Family Restaurant in Gap, PA. Some were very good, some were OK and some were not so good at all.
I will start with what I consider the best and this I am sure is going to surprise many of you with this coming from me. The best have been at Old Country Buffet. These have been consistently good over several visits. The sauce is not too sweet and not overly applied. Additional sauce is available on the condiments counter. The meat was tender and has fallen completely off the bones. There was sufficient meat on each rib but not so much meat that it was no longer like a rib but a chunk of pork with a bone. These ribs kept me going back for more with little interest in any other entree on the buffet. The baby back ribs were a summer special feature every night and by the time you read this article they may no longer exist - at least for this year - at Old Country Buffets - or maybe not and they are still being served.
The second best were at Dutch-Family Restaurant in Gap, PA where they were on the buffet on two different visits on different nights. At Dutch-Way the menu changes nightly and you may go in and find or not find ribs. At Dutch-Way the ribs, as I said above, were just labeled "Ribs" and not baby back ribs but the size, bone, and meat were consistent with what baby backs are. Here the sauce is a tomato based sauce that is barbecue sauce but more like tomato sauce. It is not overly sweet and it was good. The pork was tender and also fell off the bone. Had OCB not come out with their ribs mid-summer, these would top the list. With Dutch-Way there is a good chance that you will find these ribs showing up on the buffet throughout the year, but do not expect them to be there on any particular night.
One would think that since Ryans is owned by Buffets, Inc. as OCB is, that the baby back ribs there would be the same as at OCB, but on the two occasions on different nights that I tried them at Ryans they were not as good. This may be the fault of the particular Ryans, though as Ryans Buffets go this particular location is pretty good. The sauce here was sweeter. The meat was drier and the ribs were over done.
The baby back ribs at Shady Maple Smorgasbord were as feature on the Fourth of July dinner buffet and having been back several times for dinner over the summer I did not see them again. These baby back ribs had the most meat on them and that was the problem. These were like eating a chunk of pork with a bone in it. Eventually, the bone did come away from the meat. The sauce was OK but sweet. I was thrilled to see this on the buffet but was disappointed when I got them. They were served from the grill. It is odd to complain about too much meat, but that is what I found as fault with these ribs.
The worst of the baby back ribs were the ones at Golden Corral and I tried them at four different Golden Corral restaurants. These ribs from restaurant to restaurant were consistently dry and overcooked to the point of crunchy where you could not tell if you were biting into meat or bone and when what came away was just as indistinguishable - burnt meat or burnt bone - neither of which was easily chewed or swallowed. The baby back ribs were part of a summer feature of hot wings and baby back ribs. At one of the Golden Corrals they were being carved from the rack at the grill. At the others they were out on the buffet next to the grill in a tray. It did not matter how they were served. They were not good.
I am hoping that Old Country Buffet keeps the baby back ribs on the dinner buffet for a while longer - maybe even making them a regular on one particular night or more. OCB has served other ribs but these have always been like a pork roast sliced and served as ribs. What they call Country Ribs are not ribs at all and are hard to distinguish from what they just serve as pork. Those and the honey riblets are also overly sauced and excessively sweet. Nothing like the baby back ribs. If these are discontinued in the Fall, I very much hope that they make a come back again next summer!
Friday, September 13, 2013
DJ's International Buffet, Carle Place, Long Island, New York
It has been about three years since I have been to D.J.'s International Buffet located in Carle Place on Long Island in New York. This primarily Asian buffet is local to me but it is a lot more expensive than other Chinese buffets in this area. We used to come here more regularly. Now, this is one of the buffets that we save for a special occasion. We had such an occasion recently and had dinner at D.J.'s International Buffet on a Monday night.
Had we come on Sunday which was the day of our special occasion it diner would have cost us $25 each. We decided to wait until Monday night when the price is $18.99 per person. Soda is an additional $2 each. It was supposed to be Coke products and came from a Coke dispenser but it did not taste like Diet Coke.
The restaurant has been well maintained. The dining room and the buffet area have been nicely kept up. There has been an effort to keep this restaurant nice. There are two dining rooms that sit behind the buffet area which can be seen from the dining room through large doorways and windows. There is also a party room in the restaurant. There is a separate section that has a bar and nightclub and when something is happening in there it can be heard in the dining room. On this Monday night there was nothing going on there. There also were not a lot of people here - and this was mid-August. There were a few large groups and a few couples at tables along with us. Monday nights are not very busy in most restaurants.
The emphasis on the food served on the buffet has become much less on International and much more focused on Asian and in particular, Chinese. Gone are the Italian dishes and American dishes. On the weeknights there are crab legs but no lobster. At one time there was lobster served on the buffet and at the grill on weekends - I do not know if that is still served. A lot of seafood is served on the buffet and there are a number of dishes that are not found at the less expensive buffets. While my wife does not eat seafood, she had no problem finding plenty of dishes to choose from that had no seafood.
There is a large sushi bar here and there are sushi chefs (two) behind the sushi bar continually replenishing dishes. The sushi here is a cut above the other Chinese/Asian buffets in this area. The fish seemed fresher and there was a broad variety of types of fish - similar in some ways to the large Japanese sushi buffets - one of which is this buffet's competition (though there you will pay a lot more for dinner).
I am not going to list everything that we found. There are six large buffet servers with hot and cold foods in addition to the sushi bar, a raw bar, a grill, a soup bar, a dessert bar and a dessert crepe station. They still serve lobster bisque which is good. It has been thicker at times here in the long past when I have had it but the taste was just as pleasing on this visit.
I tried the raw oysters and even a raw clam on the half shell. They were very fresh, cold and had a clean taste with no sand or pieces of shell. There is also peel and eat shrimp. There is someone behind the raw bar counter who shucks and replenishes.
The grill has several trays of items such as overly sauced spare ribs, skewered grilled beef, skewered shrimp, lobster balls, and tempura. There was a sign on the grill that said, we have steaks, ask us to grill one to order for you. I decided to wait until I had sampled some of the Asian dishes before I came back to try a steak. I never did try a steak and I will tell you why. This restaurant is open until 10:00 pm on weeknights and they were still seating people at 9:30 pm when we were finishing. At about 9:00 when I was thinking about going up for a steak, I looked from our table through to the grill and there was the grill chef with a wet broom/brush cleaning the overhead vents over the grill and then moved down to the wall right behind and over the grill. I got up to take a closer look and he had large basin of soapy water on the fry grill and was cleaning the wall with the soapy water on the broom behind the char-grill. Whatever was dripping down from the wall and the overhead vent was coming down on the grill. So much for asking for a steak cooked on that grill. Even if he would do it - I now did not want it considering what was dripping down from the greasy wall and vent onto and into the grill. The restaurant had people in it dining and it was at least an hour to closing. Maybe he wanted to get home early but what he was doing would certainly been frowned upon by the Board of Health.
I tried a variety. The steamed flounder in ginger sauce was very good. It was a huge whole flounder. The sauce was very light. I prefer the thin sauce with more taste, but the fish was good. The bones just peeled away. Do be aware that these whole fish still have the bones in them. You scooped a section of fish out of the tray from the whole fish for yourself. There was a "King" seafood roll that was mostly crab meat though I am not sure if it was real crab or mock "Krab" and it was rolled in a batter with crumbs and fried. This was good. The stuffed crab - a section of a rock crab that was stuffed with crabmeat was good.There were steamed crab legs that could have been hotter. These were partial clusters. They could have been hotter and took mine from a recently put out tray so they were not sitting long. When a crab leg is no longer hot or warm, it is harder to open and the meat will not come out of the shell without a struggle. These were just that way. There were small crab cakes that were not real crab meat. They were too dense, chewy, and did not have the texture of real crab cakes. I tried two different beef dishes - one was Chinese Steak served from the hot buffet and the other was grilled beef on skewers served at the grill. With both dishes the beef was tough and difficult to bite and chew. No matter how good they might have been, it was not worth trying to chew them. A dish called "seafood hot pot" was a mixture of steamed seafood including shrimp and vegetables. My wife liked the shrimp from this but she likes very plain dishes. I felt that the same shrimp when I tried this were tasteless. There was a stuffed scallop shell - a large shell that was covered in melted cheese. Inside there was a sweet milky sauce with little bits of what must have been chopped scallops and undercooked corn.
While there were not many people dining in the restaurant, there were too many dishes that were drying out on the buffet. Some needed some attention from the staff and some just needed to be taken away and replaced - which, of course, they never did. After a while no one will take from them to eat in this condition.
There was a lot of hidden sugar in the dishes that were served here. Some dishes were sweet that did not need to be and I found after the meal that my blood glucose level was much higher than this meal elsewhere should have put it - so if you need to watch your glucose level (and those of you who do know that you do) then beware of eating here.
Desserts are a slight step above the usual little squared of commercial cake. There are still little squares of cakes but they are not what you usually find. There is hard, scoop yourself ice cream. There is a large assortment of fresh fruits and also - still remaining from the old days at this buffet - creme caramel (egg custard with a thin caramel sauce). There are large signs at the dessert bar that say if you take any dessert out the door you will be charged for it at the per pound take out rate. The same sign was at the ice cream case and said if you walk out with an ice cream cone you will be charged $5 for it.
The meal was OK. The atmosphere was nice. The bill came to $50 for two including soda, tax and tip. This is a lot for a weeknight dinner at a buffet - particularly in this area. It is less than the big Japanese seafood buffet nearby. For us it is something that will be reserved for special occasions, but I have to admit that I have enjoyed much less expensive buffet meals a lot more - around here and in our travels. Perhaps on a busier night - which means a weekend night and another $6 per person coming to about $75 for the meal for two - the food may have been better tended and the selection may have included more. I have to say that many buffets push off Krab (fake crab) as real crabmeat but at this price that is really wrong. If I had a star system to rate buffets this would get a 3 out of 5, which is right in the middle - neither great or bad. They are missing a lot of what there was back in 2010 when I was last there.
D.J.'s International Buffet is located at 1100 Stewart Avenue in Garden City, New York. Their phone number is 516-227-2472. The hours of the restaurant are Lunch Monday to Friday, 11:00am to 3:00pm;Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11:30am to 3:00pm; Dinner Monday to Thursday, 4:00pm to 10:00pm, Friday to Sunday, 4:00pm to 10:00pm. There is no website.
Had we come on Sunday which was the day of our special occasion it diner would have cost us $25 each. We decided to wait until Monday night when the price is $18.99 per person. Soda is an additional $2 each. It was supposed to be Coke products and came from a Coke dispenser but it did not taste like Diet Coke.
The restaurant has been well maintained. The dining room and the buffet area have been nicely kept up. There has been an effort to keep this restaurant nice. There are two dining rooms that sit behind the buffet area which can be seen from the dining room through large doorways and windows. There is also a party room in the restaurant. There is a separate section that has a bar and nightclub and when something is happening in there it can be heard in the dining room. On this Monday night there was nothing going on there. There also were not a lot of people here - and this was mid-August. There were a few large groups and a few couples at tables along with us. Monday nights are not very busy in most restaurants.
The emphasis on the food served on the buffet has become much less on International and much more focused on Asian and in particular, Chinese. Gone are the Italian dishes and American dishes. On the weeknights there are crab legs but no lobster. At one time there was lobster served on the buffet and at the grill on weekends - I do not know if that is still served. A lot of seafood is served on the buffet and there are a number of dishes that are not found at the less expensive buffets. While my wife does not eat seafood, she had no problem finding plenty of dishes to choose from that had no seafood.
There is a large sushi bar here and there are sushi chefs (two) behind the sushi bar continually replenishing dishes. The sushi here is a cut above the other Chinese/Asian buffets in this area. The fish seemed fresher and there was a broad variety of types of fish - similar in some ways to the large Japanese sushi buffets - one of which is this buffet's competition (though there you will pay a lot more for dinner).
I am not going to list everything that we found. There are six large buffet servers with hot and cold foods in addition to the sushi bar, a raw bar, a grill, a soup bar, a dessert bar and a dessert crepe station. They still serve lobster bisque which is good. It has been thicker at times here in the long past when I have had it but the taste was just as pleasing on this visit.
I tried the raw oysters and even a raw clam on the half shell. They were very fresh, cold and had a clean taste with no sand or pieces of shell. There is also peel and eat shrimp. There is someone behind the raw bar counter who shucks and replenishes.
The grill has several trays of items such as overly sauced spare ribs, skewered grilled beef, skewered shrimp, lobster balls, and tempura. There was a sign on the grill that said, we have steaks, ask us to grill one to order for you. I decided to wait until I had sampled some of the Asian dishes before I came back to try a steak. I never did try a steak and I will tell you why. This restaurant is open until 10:00 pm on weeknights and they were still seating people at 9:30 pm when we were finishing. At about 9:00 when I was thinking about going up for a steak, I looked from our table through to the grill and there was the grill chef with a wet broom/brush cleaning the overhead vents over the grill and then moved down to the wall right behind and over the grill. I got up to take a closer look and he had large basin of soapy water on the fry grill and was cleaning the wall with the soapy water on the broom behind the char-grill. Whatever was dripping down from the wall and the overhead vent was coming down on the grill. So much for asking for a steak cooked on that grill. Even if he would do it - I now did not want it considering what was dripping down from the greasy wall and vent onto and into the grill. The restaurant had people in it dining and it was at least an hour to closing. Maybe he wanted to get home early but what he was doing would certainly been frowned upon by the Board of Health.
I tried a variety. The steamed flounder in ginger sauce was very good. It was a huge whole flounder. The sauce was very light. I prefer the thin sauce with more taste, but the fish was good. The bones just peeled away. Do be aware that these whole fish still have the bones in them. You scooped a section of fish out of the tray from the whole fish for yourself. There was a "King" seafood roll that was mostly crab meat though I am not sure if it was real crab or mock "Krab" and it was rolled in a batter with crumbs and fried. This was good. The stuffed crab - a section of a rock crab that was stuffed with crabmeat was good.There were steamed crab legs that could have been hotter. These were partial clusters. They could have been hotter and took mine from a recently put out tray so they were not sitting long. When a crab leg is no longer hot or warm, it is harder to open and the meat will not come out of the shell without a struggle. These were just that way. There were small crab cakes that were not real crab meat. They were too dense, chewy, and did not have the texture of real crab cakes. I tried two different beef dishes - one was Chinese Steak served from the hot buffet and the other was grilled beef on skewers served at the grill. With both dishes the beef was tough and difficult to bite and chew. No matter how good they might have been, it was not worth trying to chew them. A dish called "seafood hot pot" was a mixture of steamed seafood including shrimp and vegetables. My wife liked the shrimp from this but she likes very plain dishes. I felt that the same shrimp when I tried this were tasteless. There was a stuffed scallop shell - a large shell that was covered in melted cheese. Inside there was a sweet milky sauce with little bits of what must have been chopped scallops and undercooked corn.
While there were not many people dining in the restaurant, there were too many dishes that were drying out on the buffet. Some needed some attention from the staff and some just needed to be taken away and replaced - which, of course, they never did. After a while no one will take from them to eat in this condition.
There was a lot of hidden sugar in the dishes that were served here. Some dishes were sweet that did not need to be and I found after the meal that my blood glucose level was much higher than this meal elsewhere should have put it - so if you need to watch your glucose level (and those of you who do know that you do) then beware of eating here.
Desserts are a slight step above the usual little squared of commercial cake. There are still little squares of cakes but they are not what you usually find. There is hard, scoop yourself ice cream. There is a large assortment of fresh fruits and also - still remaining from the old days at this buffet - creme caramel (egg custard with a thin caramel sauce). There are large signs at the dessert bar that say if you take any dessert out the door you will be charged for it at the per pound take out rate. The same sign was at the ice cream case and said if you walk out with an ice cream cone you will be charged $5 for it.
The meal was OK. The atmosphere was nice. The bill came to $50 for two including soda, tax and tip. This is a lot for a weeknight dinner at a buffet - particularly in this area. It is less than the big Japanese seafood buffet nearby. For us it is something that will be reserved for special occasions, but I have to admit that I have enjoyed much less expensive buffet meals a lot more - around here and in our travels. Perhaps on a busier night - which means a weekend night and another $6 per person coming to about $75 for the meal for two - the food may have been better tended and the selection may have included more. I have to say that many buffets push off Krab (fake crab) as real crabmeat but at this price that is really wrong. If I had a star system to rate buffets this would get a 3 out of 5, which is right in the middle - neither great or bad. They are missing a lot of what there was back in 2010 when I was last there.
D.J.'s International Buffet is located at 1100 Stewart Avenue in Garden City, New York. Their phone number is 516-227-2472. The hours of the restaurant are Lunch Monday to Friday, 11:00am to 3:00pm;Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11:30am to 3:00pm; Dinner Monday to Thursday, 4:00pm to 10:00pm, Friday to Sunday, 4:00pm to 10:00pm. There is no website.
Friday, September 06, 2013
Shady Maple at the Height of Tourist Seaon
We were at Shady Maple Smorgasbord, in East Earle, PA at the end of July on a Saturday night - and this is a Saturday night at the height of the summer tourist season in Lancaster, PA. I love Shady Maple, but I have to say that I love it much more when it is not overwhelmingly crowded with tourists.
There is usually some line and wait to get in and be seated but there were more people here on this night than there were on the Fourth of July when we had been there before this. And so many people that were here were on this night must never have been to a buffet before. And given the many places that people come from to visit this area and those that dine at Shady Maple - on this night some of the rudest people found there way here. To avoid waiting on the longest line, we opted to wait on a shorter line and sit at a booth. We very much always prefer to sit at a table no mater where we are dining. Well, the booth was fine but there was a man in the booth behind us that had to keep his arm over the back of the booth and next to me sitting there the whole time he was there (and there was absolutely nothing wrong with his arm). I am not sure how he could eat without this arm - though he did not seem to be doing much of that. Going around to the buffet servers was pretty much an exercise in avoiding those who wandered aimlessly perhaps in a daze from all the good food around them and those who had to line up cafeteria style at the end of one of the very long counters with the idea that everyone will just follow behind them as they go along tray by tray as they come. No - a buffet is not a cafeteria. You walk up to a tray, wait your turn if someone is there, and then take what you want and move to another part of the buffet and do the same. Oh and the "plate pilers" - the ones that start filling the plate from the bottom up and keep stacking everything that they are going to eat until it is a foot high - they were all around on this night. One guy had a plate stacked high and from what I could see the foundation was potato salad and covering that for several inches was mashed potatoes. Another had a soup bowl of soup balanced on the edge next to the steak. It is really sad that people come to a buffet and forget that it is going to be there all night (at this buffet there is no doubt about that) and that you can take some and eat it like a person and come back and take another course or some more. Oh, and then there were the "touchers" - at the dessert area - who had to touch every piece of cake and pie that was out - picking the plate up, looking at it, and then putting it back. And the guy as he is being seated who is saying loudly to the people he is with - "Do you think they will give us styrofoam containers so we can take it home with us?"
So what did I have? I have written about Shady Maple and its good food so much that it is a given that I will tell you about good things to be found at Shady Maple - at any time of the year. Well, even during tourist season this buffet shines like the brightest star. One of my favorite Shady Maple soups was on the buffet - Maryland Crab. This is a red tomato based crab soup with plenty of REAL crabmeat in it.
I did something on this night I don't usually do. I ate mostly what was on the grills with little from the buffet tables. I have been to Shady Maple many times but I have not been there (not sure how) when they were serving their own Shady Maple made country sausage on the grill. This was wonderful and I went back several times for more - taking just one at a time. There was New York Strip Steak on the chargrill and while I prefer the Delmonico they also serve on Monday nights, I had a NY Strip. It is not my favorite cut of steak but the lady behind the grill had one rare and it was pretty good! There was also kielbasa on the grill and I have not had that before at Shady Maple. That was pretty good also but the country sausage was a winner for me on this night and that was the main focus of this meal. I did take a few things from the buffet servers as side dishes but the only thing entree item I took from there was the cod cakes - which were not like the cod cakes that I had here on my last visit that were called Portuguese cod cakes and were made on the grill iron. Those were spicy. These were not spicy and very tasty.
Service was excellent as always. The servers here are top notch!
You already know that I am going to say that the food and the meal itself was excellent - and it was. It was just the tourists - the buffet noobies - that I, for one, would rather avoid. Well, if you want an excellent meal in Lancaster County in the middle of the summer you have to put up with this almost everywhere - especially on a Saturday night!
Please take note - I am not mentioning prices because prices change but at Shady Maple always be aware that the price listed is the price you pay in total at the register and it includes a pre-added tip and the local sales tax. It may look high but it already includes what would usually be added on top. There is always value here for your money and compared to other buffets and the overwhelming amount of good food you are offered here it is well worth the price!
Shady Maple is open from Monday to Saturday until 8:00 pm. They are closed on Sundays and certain holidays. Shady Maple Smorgasbord is located at 129 Toddy Drive in East Earl, PA. Take Route 23 East from Lancaster or Route 322 South to get to the restaurant. (Put the name in your GPS and it will know it.) 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.There is also a very active Facebook page!
There is usually some line and wait to get in and be seated but there were more people here on this night than there were on the Fourth of July when we had been there before this. And so many people that were here were on this night must never have been to a buffet before. And given the many places that people come from to visit this area and those that dine at Shady Maple - on this night some of the rudest people found there way here. To avoid waiting on the longest line, we opted to wait on a shorter line and sit at a booth. We very much always prefer to sit at a table no mater where we are dining. Well, the booth was fine but there was a man in the booth behind us that had to keep his arm over the back of the booth and next to me sitting there the whole time he was there (and there was absolutely nothing wrong with his arm). I am not sure how he could eat without this arm - though he did not seem to be doing much of that. Going around to the buffet servers was pretty much an exercise in avoiding those who wandered aimlessly perhaps in a daze from all the good food around them and those who had to line up cafeteria style at the end of one of the very long counters with the idea that everyone will just follow behind them as they go along tray by tray as they come. No - a buffet is not a cafeteria. You walk up to a tray, wait your turn if someone is there, and then take what you want and move to another part of the buffet and do the same. Oh and the "plate pilers" - the ones that start filling the plate from the bottom up and keep stacking everything that they are going to eat until it is a foot high - they were all around on this night. One guy had a plate stacked high and from what I could see the foundation was potato salad and covering that for several inches was mashed potatoes. Another had a soup bowl of soup balanced on the edge next to the steak. It is really sad that people come to a buffet and forget that it is going to be there all night (at this buffet there is no doubt about that) and that you can take some and eat it like a person and come back and take another course or some more. Oh, and then there were the "touchers" - at the dessert area - who had to touch every piece of cake and pie that was out - picking the plate up, looking at it, and then putting it back. And the guy as he is being seated who is saying loudly to the people he is with - "Do you think they will give us styrofoam containers so we can take it home with us?"
So what did I have? I have written about Shady Maple and its good food so much that it is a given that I will tell you about good things to be found at Shady Maple - at any time of the year. Well, even during tourist season this buffet shines like the brightest star. One of my favorite Shady Maple soups was on the buffet - Maryland Crab. This is a red tomato based crab soup with plenty of REAL crabmeat in it.
I did something on this night I don't usually do. I ate mostly what was on the grills with little from the buffet tables. I have been to Shady Maple many times but I have not been there (not sure how) when they were serving their own Shady Maple made country sausage on the grill. This was wonderful and I went back several times for more - taking just one at a time. There was New York Strip Steak on the chargrill and while I prefer the Delmonico they also serve on Monday nights, I had a NY Strip. It is not my favorite cut of steak but the lady behind the grill had one rare and it was pretty good! There was also kielbasa on the grill and I have not had that before at Shady Maple. That was pretty good also but the country sausage was a winner for me on this night and that was the main focus of this meal. I did take a few things from the buffet servers as side dishes but the only thing entree item I took from there was the cod cakes - which were not like the cod cakes that I had here on my last visit that were called Portuguese cod cakes and were made on the grill iron. Those were spicy. These were not spicy and very tasty.
Service was excellent as always. The servers here are top notch!
You already know that I am going to say that the food and the meal itself was excellent - and it was. It was just the tourists - the buffet noobies - that I, for one, would rather avoid. Well, if you want an excellent meal in Lancaster County in the middle of the summer you have to put up with this almost everywhere - especially on a Saturday night!
Please take note - I am not mentioning prices because prices change but at Shady Maple always be aware that the price listed is the price you pay in total at the register and it includes a pre-added tip and the local sales tax. It may look high but it already includes what would usually be added on top. There is always value here for your money and compared to other buffets and the overwhelming amount of good food you are offered here it is well worth the price!
Shady Maple is open from Monday to Saturday until 8:00 pm. They are closed on Sundays and certain holidays. Shady Maple Smorgasbord is located at 129 Toddy Drive in East Earl, PA. Take Route 23 East from Lancaster or Route 322 South to get to the restaurant. (Put the name in your GPS and it will know it.) 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.There is also a very active Facebook page!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Return to Dutch-Way Family Restaurant, Myerstown, PA
I first tried the "other" Dutch-Way buffet restaurant located in Myerstown, PA a year ago. At that time, I did not enjoy this location as much as I enjoy the Gap restaurant. We were in this area again and we decided that we would go back. We actually decided to come back to give this buffet another chance over trying the buffet at the Hollywood Casino near Hershey, PA.
We went on a Friday night which offers the same buffet features as Saturday night. Like the Dutch-Way restaurant in Gap, Pa, this restaurant is not open on Sundays and the nightly features are the same at each location.
The best way to describe this restaurant in comparison to the Gap restaurant is to say that it is an abbreviated version of the Gap location. I would say from the look of the age of the restaurant that this existed before the other. There is less buffet serving area here and as a result less food is offered - and that with some differences.
I will go through what was being served on the buffet on this night. There were four soups - and they were good ones! There was chicken noodle soup with rivels (rivels are long dumplings), shrimp bisque, creamy vegetable soup, and chili. My wife had the chicken noodle with rivels and told me that it was very good. I had the shrimp bisque and that was exceptional.
Moving to the salad bar there was lettuce and toppings but less so than at Gap and there were a few prepared salads - but nothing like the assortment at Gap. There was Ceasar dressing for the salad and on the hot buffet there is hot bacon dressing - yes, hot bacon dressing which is a local delicacy.
Should I be comparing the two restaurants like this - I am not sure how to describe my reaction to this buffet without that comparison. Let me say that had we never been to the Gap buffet, I would be saying that this is a nice little buffet - and we might go back if we were in the area again. But this is a sister buffet to one that exceeds it and it is only fair to you the reader who may come expecting as we did to find what we found in Gap to know this.
Anyway, let me go on. The hot entrees and side dishes included baked chicken, fried chicken, meatloaf in tomato sauce, ham balls, chicken bot bie, spaghetti and meatballs, baked haddock, turkey in gravy, taco macaroni, pork and kraut, and cold peel and eat shrimp that were spiced with Old Bay seasoning. At the carving station was Prime Rib and pork roast. The side dishes included pineapple filling, green beans, brown butter noodles, potato filling, beets, stewed tomatoes, macaroni and cheese, corn pie, mashed potatoes, kernel corn, scalloped potatoes with ham, Calico Beans (baked lima beans with pieces of what looked like hot dogs but could have been small pieces of smoked sausage) and with the Prime Rib at the carving station there were sauteed mushrooms and sauteed onions.
There is an area with bread near the soup and instead of the assortment of breads as found at Dutch-Way Gap, there was just raisin bread but this was commercial raisin bread from a bag (distinctly not from a bakery even if just the attached supermarket bakery). Taking up one of the trays on the hot buffet was hot corn bread. There were also wrapped in plastic wrap muffins.
All of the food is good! There is no question about that. There were two Prime Ribs being carved - one rare and one well done. The Prime Rib was good. The meatloaf in tomato sauce was good but the tomato sauce overwhelmed the meatloaf. The ham balls were good. The chicken bot bie was good. The pork and kraut was good. My wife had the corn pie and felt that it was more corn than corn pie (really a corn casserole). We both had a good meal and there was plenty of food. It was the selection - again, compared to Gap (and we were recently at Gap a few weeks before this on a Saturday night with the same feature buffet) was lacking. The selection here - now and a year ago - was a step below, how can I put this without sounding food snobbish, in class. Maybe I should just say that the dishes here are plainer in food style. To be fair, counting the entrees on this night, there were ten and counting the entrees on the recent Saturday night at Gap there were eleven. Not really a significant difference in number but for some reason it just feels as if there is. While I can't wait to go back to Gap, I am very fine with not getting back here for another year when I may be in norther PA again.
Dessert follows suit with the same idea - similar desserts but less of them. There were half donuts (which really do make me happy - and I did have one), little danish, cookies, a few types of pie, a few slices of cake from the supermarket bakery, squares of chocolate peanut butter cake, soft serve ice cream and sundae toppings, and a few drink cups covered in plastic wrap each with a different type of cold prepared dessert pudding inside. This was odd and we could not figure why this was served this way - as if it was left from something else, rather than serving trays of puddings. But dessert space is very limited here though I don't think, for instance, that if I took the cup with the chocolate eclair pudding dessert, there was going to be another put out for someone else to take.
Service this time was much better than it had been. The server was experienced and attended to us well. The people at the buffet servers were also much more attentive than they had been a year ago and every tray was well tended and quickly replenished.
The price of the dinner here on Friday and Saturday night is $13.99 just like at the Gap restaurant buffet. And there is a discount for seniors over 60.
As I said here a year ago - wonderful buffet but not special as its sister restaurant is. That one is a hidden gem, this one is a nice buffet. I will go back and if you are in the area you should try it. This is way off the tourist area and this very much is a local restaurant.
The Dutch Way Family Restaurant in Myerstown, PA is located at 649 East Lincoln Avenue, Route 422 East in Myerstown, PA 17067. The phone number is 717-866-5758. There is a website for the three locations (only two are buffets) at the side of this page.My GPS put this address past its location so watch for the supermarket as you drive down Route 422 and the restaurant is on the right side of the same building as you face it from the road in the same parking lot.
An aside - I have not know what the recent feature for Monday nights is at the two Dutch-Way Family restaurants and here there was a sign. On Monday nights it is create your own pizza and a pasta station. Sounds interesting.
We went on a Friday night which offers the same buffet features as Saturday night. Like the Dutch-Way restaurant in Gap, Pa, this restaurant is not open on Sundays and the nightly features are the same at each location.
The best way to describe this restaurant in comparison to the Gap restaurant is to say that it is an abbreviated version of the Gap location. I would say from the look of the age of the restaurant that this existed before the other. There is less buffet serving area here and as a result less food is offered - and that with some differences.
I will go through what was being served on the buffet on this night. There were four soups - and they were good ones! There was chicken noodle soup with rivels (rivels are long dumplings), shrimp bisque, creamy vegetable soup, and chili. My wife had the chicken noodle with rivels and told me that it was very good. I had the shrimp bisque and that was exceptional.
Moving to the salad bar there was lettuce and toppings but less so than at Gap and there were a few prepared salads - but nothing like the assortment at Gap. There was Ceasar dressing for the salad and on the hot buffet there is hot bacon dressing - yes, hot bacon dressing which is a local delicacy.
Should I be comparing the two restaurants like this - I am not sure how to describe my reaction to this buffet without that comparison. Let me say that had we never been to the Gap buffet, I would be saying that this is a nice little buffet - and we might go back if we were in the area again. But this is a sister buffet to one that exceeds it and it is only fair to you the reader who may come expecting as we did to find what we found in Gap to know this.
Anyway, let me go on. The hot entrees and side dishes included baked chicken, fried chicken, meatloaf in tomato sauce, ham balls, chicken bot bie, spaghetti and meatballs, baked haddock, turkey in gravy, taco macaroni, pork and kraut, and cold peel and eat shrimp that were spiced with Old Bay seasoning. At the carving station was Prime Rib and pork roast. The side dishes included pineapple filling, green beans, brown butter noodles, potato filling, beets, stewed tomatoes, macaroni and cheese, corn pie, mashed potatoes, kernel corn, scalloped potatoes with ham, Calico Beans (baked lima beans with pieces of what looked like hot dogs but could have been small pieces of smoked sausage) and with the Prime Rib at the carving station there were sauteed mushrooms and sauteed onions.
There is an area with bread near the soup and instead of the assortment of breads as found at Dutch-Way Gap, there was just raisin bread but this was commercial raisin bread from a bag (distinctly not from a bakery even if just the attached supermarket bakery). Taking up one of the trays on the hot buffet was hot corn bread. There were also wrapped in plastic wrap muffins.
All of the food is good! There is no question about that. There were two Prime Ribs being carved - one rare and one well done. The Prime Rib was good. The meatloaf in tomato sauce was good but the tomato sauce overwhelmed the meatloaf. The ham balls were good. The chicken bot bie was good. The pork and kraut was good. My wife had the corn pie and felt that it was more corn than corn pie (really a corn casserole). We both had a good meal and there was plenty of food. It was the selection - again, compared to Gap (and we were recently at Gap a few weeks before this on a Saturday night with the same feature buffet) was lacking. The selection here - now and a year ago - was a step below, how can I put this without sounding food snobbish, in class. Maybe I should just say that the dishes here are plainer in food style. To be fair, counting the entrees on this night, there were ten and counting the entrees on the recent Saturday night at Gap there were eleven. Not really a significant difference in number but for some reason it just feels as if there is. While I can't wait to go back to Gap, I am very fine with not getting back here for another year when I may be in norther PA again.
Dessert follows suit with the same idea - similar desserts but less of them. There were half donuts (which really do make me happy - and I did have one), little danish, cookies, a few types of pie, a few slices of cake from the supermarket bakery, squares of chocolate peanut butter cake, soft serve ice cream and sundae toppings, and a few drink cups covered in plastic wrap each with a different type of cold prepared dessert pudding inside. This was odd and we could not figure why this was served this way - as if it was left from something else, rather than serving trays of puddings. But dessert space is very limited here though I don't think, for instance, that if I took the cup with the chocolate eclair pudding dessert, there was going to be another put out for someone else to take.
Service this time was much better than it had been. The server was experienced and attended to us well. The people at the buffet servers were also much more attentive than they had been a year ago and every tray was well tended and quickly replenished.
The price of the dinner here on Friday and Saturday night is $13.99 just like at the Gap restaurant buffet. And there is a discount for seniors over 60.
As I said here a year ago - wonderful buffet but not special as its sister restaurant is. That one is a hidden gem, this one is a nice buffet. I will go back and if you are in the area you should try it. This is way off the tourist area and this very much is a local restaurant.
The Dutch Way Family Restaurant in Myerstown, PA is located at 649 East Lincoln Avenue, Route 422 East in Myerstown, PA 17067. The phone number is 717-866-5758. There is a website for the three locations (only two are buffets) at the side of this page.My GPS put this address past its location so watch for the supermarket as you drive down Route 422 and the restaurant is on the right side of the same building as you face it from the road in the same parking lot.
An aside - I have not know what the recent feature for Monday nights is at the two Dutch-Way Family restaurants and here there was a sign. On Monday nights it is create your own pizza and a pasta station. Sounds interesting.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Golden Corral, Whitehall, Pennsylvania
We were off Route I-22 in Pennsylvania and found a fairly new Golden Corral in the Lehigh Valley Mall in the town of Whitehall, PA. The restaurant is on the outskirts of the mall in the back. It is necessary to drive around the mall from the mall entrance to the rear to find this Golden Corral. The building looked new outside and in.
We went on a Thursday night in late July and the restaurant was crowded. We were seated in just a few minutes. Like OCB, at Golden Corral you pay as you enter. At other Golden Corrals that I have been to you give your soft drink order at the cash register and someone behind the counter hands you your drinks. Here the soda/drink machines were facing out from the entrance counter and you took your own drinks and paid for them with your meal as you got up to the cashier. I wondered if this meant that there were similar setups in the dining room where you now would get your own drink refills but it did not. You still ask your server for drink refills.
We were sat at a table with tables around us that had not had their plates picked up. I wondered if this was a bad sign. Until about a quarter of the way into the meal it was.
I am not going to go through everything that was on the buffet. I will talk about the features, but the main offerings at Golden Corral are usually the same and I have written about that many times in the past about various Golden Corral locations. I will focus on the highlights - and lowlights.
The overall arrangement of the food counters were the same as most Golden Corrals but this one had distinct signs over each section - the Hacienda where the taco bar is, the Wok where the Chinese Section is, and so on. Maybe because it was all new here it stood out more than it may be at older Golden Corrals.
The feature at the time of our visit was Wings and Baby Back Ribs. This was a pleasant surprise as the website was only showing Wings as the feature. The features at Golden Corral are always after 4 pm. An earlier feature of Wings had included Baby Back Ribs and I wanted to try them at Golden Corral. Now I could.
The Baby Back Ribs were in a serving tray at the grill along with a tray of pulled pork barbecue. I took some ribs and some pulled pork. The ribs were a disappointment. They were dry and not tender. it was hard to bite the meat that came off the bones with some coaxing. At one point I thought that I was chewing bone but it was just the stringy overcooked meat. Just in case it was just this batch that was out, I tried a couple of ribs from another batch that came out later. It was not much different. The pulled pork was much better. Too bad. It may be this location. It may be just how these ribs are made at Golden Corral. They are not, of course, coming out of a smoker, but they can be cooked so that they stay moist and tender. Here they were not.
I like the steak that Golden Corral serves and have considered it the best steak of the chain buffets since Ryans was taken over by Buffets, Inc.. The first piece of steak that I got had a bit of a charcoal lighter fluid taste. I order it rare and perhaps it had not cooked over the flames long enough to loose that taste. I had another peice of steak later in the meal and this time I ordered it "medium rare". It was cooked much more medium than rare. It did not have that same taste but it was tough and far too well done for what I ordered. As I have said before the grill at Golden Corral (and any buffet with a grill really) very much depends on the grill chef doing the cooking. Some know exactly how to judge how the meat is cooked - and some do not. This may have just been this chef working that night and another night another chef would have done much better.
The salad bar was well stocked and everything was kept stocked and fresh by the people behind the counter. The hot food trays were kept replenished but not promptly and then some items were replaced with duplicates and triplicates of other items already out. My wife tried both the fried rice and the Lo Mein in the Chinese section and both were spicy. These dishes were not labeled as spicy and one does not expect to find hot peppers in either of these Chinese dishes. She did try the chicken meat that was out to create your own chicken fajitas and she was very happy to tell me that it was not spicy at all and she enjoyed that.
Gone is the seafood stir fry and good riddance. It is possible to get close to the grill area again. Sadly gone is the carved whole turkey that was at a Golden Corral that we were at just a couple of months before. That is something that adds a lot to the offerings and if it is now gone from all Golden Corrals, it should be brought back.
When we were ready for dessert we both had a desire for something for dessert. I don't usually take dessert, but my wife will if there is something that tempts her. What tempts me at Golden Corral are the cupcakes and there were vanilla cupcakes out. My wife decided to take one and there was one last one on the tray as we were walking over to the dessert counter. A little girl and her mother got there first and it was gone. I heard a young boy ask the woman behind the counter if she would bring out more and I told my wife that more were coming out. We waited and a few minutes later a tray was put out which was descended upon by several unsupervised children who were touching everyone on the tray. This put my off from taking one. I was going to take ice cream and decided to take one of the remaining cupcakes instead. When I picked it up from the tray I knew that was a mistake as it was ice cold. I ate part of it and had it been fresh it would have been nice - but cold it was not very good. I should have taken the ice cream.
As I started out saying, the server for this section was not good at the beginning but got better as the meal progressed. She did not come to clean the surrounding tables for awhile and our dishes were beginning to stack up. She also had not been around to put her name on our receipt as the servers at Golden Corral do fairly quickly once you are seated. She eventually did come around to put her name on our receipt and after that things started to get better. I did have to ask her for drink refills - she did not offer.
Everything that I took to eat for this meal was fine - but it could have been better and has been better at other Golden Corrals. But I will not judge this buffet negatively on this one visit because it was on the border that night. This restaurant is located in an area that I can get back to on occasion and I will go back to try it again at some future date.
I will go back to try again. Should you? Try it, but I am not making any promises. It may just have been this night. Many of the standard Golden Corral buffet items were as they are in other Golden Corrals. And by the time you read this the feature will have changed - perhaps twice as Golden Corral features do not stay around very long.
This Golden Corral is located at 900 Lehigh Valley Mall Drive in Whitehall, PA 18052. The phone number is (610) 443-0866. The chain's website is linked on the side of this page. This restaurant is just northeast of Allentown, PA. If coming west on I78 it is easiest to go to past to where I22 and I78 join and come back a short distance to the exit for the mall and this restaurant rather than drive north through the streets of the City of Allentown.
We went on a Thursday night in late July and the restaurant was crowded. We were seated in just a few minutes. Like OCB, at Golden Corral you pay as you enter. At other Golden Corrals that I have been to you give your soft drink order at the cash register and someone behind the counter hands you your drinks. Here the soda/drink machines were facing out from the entrance counter and you took your own drinks and paid for them with your meal as you got up to the cashier. I wondered if this meant that there were similar setups in the dining room where you now would get your own drink refills but it did not. You still ask your server for drink refills.
We were sat at a table with tables around us that had not had their plates picked up. I wondered if this was a bad sign. Until about a quarter of the way into the meal it was.
I am not going to go through everything that was on the buffet. I will talk about the features, but the main offerings at Golden Corral are usually the same and I have written about that many times in the past about various Golden Corral locations. I will focus on the highlights - and lowlights.
The overall arrangement of the food counters were the same as most Golden Corrals but this one had distinct signs over each section - the Hacienda where the taco bar is, the Wok where the Chinese Section is, and so on. Maybe because it was all new here it stood out more than it may be at older Golden Corrals.
The feature at the time of our visit was Wings and Baby Back Ribs. This was a pleasant surprise as the website was only showing Wings as the feature. The features at Golden Corral are always after 4 pm. An earlier feature of Wings had included Baby Back Ribs and I wanted to try them at Golden Corral. Now I could.
The Baby Back Ribs were in a serving tray at the grill along with a tray of pulled pork barbecue. I took some ribs and some pulled pork. The ribs were a disappointment. They were dry and not tender. it was hard to bite the meat that came off the bones with some coaxing. At one point I thought that I was chewing bone but it was just the stringy overcooked meat. Just in case it was just this batch that was out, I tried a couple of ribs from another batch that came out later. It was not much different. The pulled pork was much better. Too bad. It may be this location. It may be just how these ribs are made at Golden Corral. They are not, of course, coming out of a smoker, but they can be cooked so that they stay moist and tender. Here they were not.
I like the steak that Golden Corral serves and have considered it the best steak of the chain buffets since Ryans was taken over by Buffets, Inc.. The first piece of steak that I got had a bit of a charcoal lighter fluid taste. I order it rare and perhaps it had not cooked over the flames long enough to loose that taste. I had another peice of steak later in the meal and this time I ordered it "medium rare". It was cooked much more medium than rare. It did not have that same taste but it was tough and far too well done for what I ordered. As I have said before the grill at Golden Corral (and any buffet with a grill really) very much depends on the grill chef doing the cooking. Some know exactly how to judge how the meat is cooked - and some do not. This may have just been this chef working that night and another night another chef would have done much better.
The salad bar was well stocked and everything was kept stocked and fresh by the people behind the counter. The hot food trays were kept replenished but not promptly and then some items were replaced with duplicates and triplicates of other items already out. My wife tried both the fried rice and the Lo Mein in the Chinese section and both were spicy. These dishes were not labeled as spicy and one does not expect to find hot peppers in either of these Chinese dishes. She did try the chicken meat that was out to create your own chicken fajitas and she was very happy to tell me that it was not spicy at all and she enjoyed that.
Gone is the seafood stir fry and good riddance. It is possible to get close to the grill area again. Sadly gone is the carved whole turkey that was at a Golden Corral that we were at just a couple of months before. That is something that adds a lot to the offerings and if it is now gone from all Golden Corrals, it should be brought back.
When we were ready for dessert we both had a desire for something for dessert. I don't usually take dessert, but my wife will if there is something that tempts her. What tempts me at Golden Corral are the cupcakes and there were vanilla cupcakes out. My wife decided to take one and there was one last one on the tray as we were walking over to the dessert counter. A little girl and her mother got there first and it was gone. I heard a young boy ask the woman behind the counter if she would bring out more and I told my wife that more were coming out. We waited and a few minutes later a tray was put out which was descended upon by several unsupervised children who were touching everyone on the tray. This put my off from taking one. I was going to take ice cream and decided to take one of the remaining cupcakes instead. When I picked it up from the tray I knew that was a mistake as it was ice cold. I ate part of it and had it been fresh it would have been nice - but cold it was not very good. I should have taken the ice cream.
As I started out saying, the server for this section was not good at the beginning but got better as the meal progressed. She did not come to clean the surrounding tables for awhile and our dishes were beginning to stack up. She also had not been around to put her name on our receipt as the servers at Golden Corral do fairly quickly once you are seated. She eventually did come around to put her name on our receipt and after that things started to get better. I did have to ask her for drink refills - she did not offer.
Everything that I took to eat for this meal was fine - but it could have been better and has been better at other Golden Corrals. But I will not judge this buffet negatively on this one visit because it was on the border that night. This restaurant is located in an area that I can get back to on occasion and I will go back to try it again at some future date.
I will go back to try again. Should you? Try it, but I am not making any promises. It may just have been this night. Many of the standard Golden Corral buffet items were as they are in other Golden Corrals. And by the time you read this the feature will have changed - perhaps twice as Golden Corral features do not stay around very long.
This Golden Corral is located at 900 Lehigh Valley Mall Drive in Whitehall, PA 18052. The phone number is (610) 443-0866. The chain's website is linked on the side of this page. This restaurant is just northeast of Allentown, PA. If coming west on I78 it is easiest to go to past to where I22 and I78 join and come back a short distance to the exit for the mall and this restaurant rather than drive north through the streets of the City of Allentown.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Return to Ruby Buffet, Massapequa, New York
On my first visit to Ruby Buffet - a new buffet that had opened in Massapequa, New York on Long Island in the winter of 2013 I was disappointed. I had decided that I was not going back again. It took a $2.00 off coupon to get us to go back and try all of these months later. Our second experience there was much better than our first.
The buffet dinner here is priced at $14.99 per person with soda at $1.99. As I said in my first article this is in the upper price range of mid-priced buffets in this area and there are larger buffets with lower prices. The big issue last February was taste and value. And when I left I felt that I had gotten neither.
When we saw the coupon in a mailed coupon collection from various local businesses we discussed going back. We both felt that we should give it another chance as they have now had many months to break in, so to speak. This is part of a chain of Ruby Buffets and they are located in various parts of the US. A chain should not need any real break in period as it should be a turn key operation with recipes and selections already established in the other locations. This one has shown that over time it could improve and it did.
We went on a Friday night and it was fairly crowded. There was no wait to come in but the dining room was full and we were seated in a small dining room off to the side that has about six tables. I was not thrilled to be set off from the main dining room as one can often get lost and not receive the attention of the wait staff that you want in a buffet. I have to say that the service on this second visit was fine - it could have been better especially had we ordered soft drinks other than water as while dishes were cleared promptly, no one ever offered to refill our water glasses and I was seeing the same thing happen at tables around us who were paying for soft drinks. Refills are included in the $2 price for the soda.
I am going to list what we found on the main buffet servers - mostly focusing on the main entrees and accompanying dishes. There were the same four soups that we found on our first visit. There was wonton, egg drop, hot and sour, and seafood bisque. I took the seafood bisque and while it had a heavy pepper under taste, it was thick and rich. It was an orange red color and there were pieces of some type of fish, some small pieces of shrimp, and what must have been pieces of Krab legs (not real crab legs but the fish formed into Krab legs type). There were some small bits of shell in the soup and it took some picking out. The soup was good and throughout the meal I thought about getting more - which I did do at the end of the meal.
On the salad bar there was a seafood salad with lemon olive oil, crabmeat salad (that may have been real crabmeat), edame (soy beans), a cucumber and tomato salad with light Italian dressing on top, and lettuce with dressings. There was cold peel and eat shrimp, raw oysters, raw clams, and raw mussels.
The sushi bar had a good assortment of sushi and this was beyond the usual Chinese buffet sushi bar. Different from our first visit, this time the dishes were full of sushi and they kept replenishing them. If you like sushi and like more than the usual salmon and tuna, you will like this sushi bar. In addition to sushi on the sushi bar there was seaweed salad. My wife likes this and she said it was good. One thing that did concern her was that the tongs that were placed on plates as they are at most sushi bars along the counter, were getting soiled from one item and carrying that into other items on the bar - particularly the seaweed salad. To the credit of the restaurant, when the soiled tongs were seen they were taken away and replaced.
The hot buffet servers are a mix of Chinese appetizers, Chinese side dishes, and entrees. Over on the hot buffet there was steamed dim sum, steamed stuffed buns, steamed red bean buns, egg rolls, spring rolls, fried shrimp, chicken on a stick, ribs, chicken wings, curly fries, pizza, chicken teriyaki, New York Steak with a sauce on the side, crab legs, sweet and sour chicken, vegetable lo mein, vegetable fried rice, white rice, sauteed green beans, cabbage with hot red peppers, shrimp stuffed with crab, crab cakes, chicken with broccoli, pepper steak, fried wonton with cheese and crab, baby clams with black bean sauce, spicy shrimp and scallops with honey, seafood scampi, corn on the cob, stuffed seafood in clam shell with pork, shrimp, and vegetable, sweet cheese pie puffs, garlic bread, steak with teriyaki sauce, General Tso chicken, honey chicken, crispy duck, chicken and shrimp with black bean sauce, Texas fried fish, red snapper with fruit and dill, seafood cheese pasta, plantains, fried donuts, bourbon chicken, and boneless ribs.
I took a small amount of several things to try and some dishes stood out as particularly good. Of all things, the chicken in the chicken with broccoli was very good. It was lightly battered and the sauce for the dish was very light in flavor which made for a delicate taste and texture of this chicken. I did go back for more of this. The red snapper with fruit and dill was very good also. This was a white fish (red snapper) in a light clear sauce that was not sweet. There was no whole fruit of any kind but the fruit was in the sauce. This dish had a good flavor.
Of course, I had to try the ribs again that I had found so disappointing on the first visit. These are not in any way Chinese restaurant spare ribs or even Chinese buffet spare ribs. These are in a type of barbecue spareribs. They are sauced with a brown barbecue sauce. I first took two ribs on my plate. The first was meaty and soft. The taste was pretty good. The second rib that I took was overdone. More ribs came out and I took two more. These both were overdone. Before the end of the meal I took two more and these were like the first rib that I had - meaty and not overdone. So the ribs are hit and miss. The ones that were not so well done that they were almost just bone and char, were not good at all, but trays did come out with ribs that tasted good and ate well. So for pseudo-BBQ ribs they were OK.
Some of the dishes do not appear to be hot and spicy until you look closely for the peppers. The vegetable lo mein was a little on the greasy side. The fried rice was light and very good. I tried the seafood in clam shell with pork, shrimp, and vegetable. This looked like a stuffed baked clam and I am sure that if someone ignored the sign would think that they were taking stuffed baked clams. There was no clam in this other than the shell. The filling was dry and dense with little taste of pork, shrimp, or vegetables. The shrimp stuffed with crab on the other hand was very good - a broiled shrimp wrapped around clam and bread stuffing.
I went over to the raw shell fish and looked at the oysters. I hesitated because the oysters look slightly dry on the surface. With raw shell fish you want it to be continually being taken and replenished right there on the spot - so that it is absolutely fresh when you eat it. When it is stacked in advance on a bed of ice you have no idea how long it may have been sitting out. I found three small oysters that looked the freshest and that were moist all around. The first two had a good taste, the last was slightly off from the rest. I started to wonder if I had made a mistake that I was going to regret. I was fine later on - but I am not sure I would take the oysters again under the same conditions. The oyster was also not cut all the way from the shell which is not how they should be served. The shucking knife should go all around and break the muscle that holds the oyster to the shell. The raw shell fish is off to one end of the salad bar and it would have been much better if they were at the sushi bar where they could have been shucked on the spot.
There were two steak dishes - teriyaki steak and steak with teriyaki sauce on the side. Both dishes seemed to be using the same cut of steak and it was very, very tough - to the point of hard to chew. The sauce that was on the side was A1 sauce. The crab cakes has more crab in them this time and they were much better. The crab legs depended on how fast you got to the tray when they were brought out. People just fill their plates with crab legs and what is left are the small broken legs that are left behind. The crab legs were properly served at the correct temperature. They came out of the shells easily. What they are serving are two leg clusters with parts of the tops.
Desserts were your standard Chinese buffet desserts with the little squares cakes, almond cookies, soft serve ice cream with a few toppings and cones, assorted puddings, jellos, fresh fruit, and banana pudding.I tried the soft serve ice cream and it was not bad. It was not icy in texture though it was the type of soft serve that one would usually get icy. This may not have had a chance to get icy as it was popularly being taken by many on this hot night.
Items on the buffet never went empty. As soon as a tray was getting down to the bottom a new tray was brought out to replace it. The food was also served at all of the correct temperatures which is very important.
Service was just OK. All of our plates were gone almost each time that we went up for another plate and returned. It would have been nice if we were offered to refill our water glasses. They put a large wood bowl on the table for your crab leg shells and also a nut cracker. This bowl was never emptied and my shells remained with us for the rest of the meal in the bowl.
We had no problem in finding things to eat here on this visit and a lot has improved. I am glad that they put out this coupon as it enticed me to come back and try this buffet again. If another coupon comes we will go back again. At $14.99 I have to decide to come here or go to another $14.99 Chinese buffet that is further east on Long Island but has some particularly good selections. This buffet is not out of the running however - and it is likely we will come back.
I can recommend this buffet now. If you are on or are visiting Long Island, come and try Ruby Buffet in Massapequa on the outside of the mall building next to the food court of the Sunrise Mall shopping center.
Ruby Buffet is located at Westfield's Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, New York off of Sunrise Highway. The address is 1 Sunrise Mall Suite 2152, Massapequa, NY 11758. The phone number is (516) 882 - 0300. There is a website and it is linked at the side of this page. I have no idea if my meal at this location is any indication of the food at the other Ruby Buffet locations.
****
We went back to Ruby a couple of weeks later (again with a coupon) and the experience was the same. This time we were seated in the main dining room and the service was better. They have also given the seaweed salad its own set of tongs. The same items that were good the first time were good the next and those that were not so good have not changed - the two steak dishes are still extremely tough and I did not finish either of the two because it was not worth the chewing. I would still go back again. I am sure there will be more mailers with coupons.
The buffet dinner here is priced at $14.99 per person with soda at $1.99. As I said in my first article this is in the upper price range of mid-priced buffets in this area and there are larger buffets with lower prices. The big issue last February was taste and value. And when I left I felt that I had gotten neither.
When we saw the coupon in a mailed coupon collection from various local businesses we discussed going back. We both felt that we should give it another chance as they have now had many months to break in, so to speak. This is part of a chain of Ruby Buffets and they are located in various parts of the US. A chain should not need any real break in period as it should be a turn key operation with recipes and selections already established in the other locations. This one has shown that over time it could improve and it did.
We went on a Friday night and it was fairly crowded. There was no wait to come in but the dining room was full and we were seated in a small dining room off to the side that has about six tables. I was not thrilled to be set off from the main dining room as one can often get lost and not receive the attention of the wait staff that you want in a buffet. I have to say that the service on this second visit was fine - it could have been better especially had we ordered soft drinks other than water as while dishes were cleared promptly, no one ever offered to refill our water glasses and I was seeing the same thing happen at tables around us who were paying for soft drinks. Refills are included in the $2 price for the soda.
I am going to list what we found on the main buffet servers - mostly focusing on the main entrees and accompanying dishes. There were the same four soups that we found on our first visit. There was wonton, egg drop, hot and sour, and seafood bisque. I took the seafood bisque and while it had a heavy pepper under taste, it was thick and rich. It was an orange red color and there were pieces of some type of fish, some small pieces of shrimp, and what must have been pieces of Krab legs (not real crab legs but the fish formed into Krab legs type). There were some small bits of shell in the soup and it took some picking out. The soup was good and throughout the meal I thought about getting more - which I did do at the end of the meal.
On the salad bar there was a seafood salad with lemon olive oil, crabmeat salad (that may have been real crabmeat), edame (soy beans), a cucumber and tomato salad with light Italian dressing on top, and lettuce with dressings. There was cold peel and eat shrimp, raw oysters, raw clams, and raw mussels.
The sushi bar had a good assortment of sushi and this was beyond the usual Chinese buffet sushi bar. Different from our first visit, this time the dishes were full of sushi and they kept replenishing them. If you like sushi and like more than the usual salmon and tuna, you will like this sushi bar. In addition to sushi on the sushi bar there was seaweed salad. My wife likes this and she said it was good. One thing that did concern her was that the tongs that were placed on plates as they are at most sushi bars along the counter, were getting soiled from one item and carrying that into other items on the bar - particularly the seaweed salad. To the credit of the restaurant, when the soiled tongs were seen they were taken away and replaced.
The hot buffet servers are a mix of Chinese appetizers, Chinese side dishes, and entrees. Over on the hot buffet there was steamed dim sum, steamed stuffed buns, steamed red bean buns, egg rolls, spring rolls, fried shrimp, chicken on a stick, ribs, chicken wings, curly fries, pizza, chicken teriyaki, New York Steak with a sauce on the side, crab legs, sweet and sour chicken, vegetable lo mein, vegetable fried rice, white rice, sauteed green beans, cabbage with hot red peppers, shrimp stuffed with crab, crab cakes, chicken with broccoli, pepper steak, fried wonton with cheese and crab, baby clams with black bean sauce, spicy shrimp and scallops with honey, seafood scampi, corn on the cob, stuffed seafood in clam shell with pork, shrimp, and vegetable, sweet cheese pie puffs, garlic bread, steak with teriyaki sauce, General Tso chicken, honey chicken, crispy duck, chicken and shrimp with black bean sauce, Texas fried fish, red snapper with fruit and dill, seafood cheese pasta, plantains, fried donuts, bourbon chicken, and boneless ribs.
I took a small amount of several things to try and some dishes stood out as particularly good. Of all things, the chicken in the chicken with broccoli was very good. It was lightly battered and the sauce for the dish was very light in flavor which made for a delicate taste and texture of this chicken. I did go back for more of this. The red snapper with fruit and dill was very good also. This was a white fish (red snapper) in a light clear sauce that was not sweet. There was no whole fruit of any kind but the fruit was in the sauce. This dish had a good flavor.
Of course, I had to try the ribs again that I had found so disappointing on the first visit. These are not in any way Chinese restaurant spare ribs or even Chinese buffet spare ribs. These are in a type of barbecue spareribs. They are sauced with a brown barbecue sauce. I first took two ribs on my plate. The first was meaty and soft. The taste was pretty good. The second rib that I took was overdone. More ribs came out and I took two more. These both were overdone. Before the end of the meal I took two more and these were like the first rib that I had - meaty and not overdone. So the ribs are hit and miss. The ones that were not so well done that they were almost just bone and char, were not good at all, but trays did come out with ribs that tasted good and ate well. So for pseudo-BBQ ribs they were OK.
Some of the dishes do not appear to be hot and spicy until you look closely for the peppers. The vegetable lo mein was a little on the greasy side. The fried rice was light and very good. I tried the seafood in clam shell with pork, shrimp, and vegetable. This looked like a stuffed baked clam and I am sure that if someone ignored the sign would think that they were taking stuffed baked clams. There was no clam in this other than the shell. The filling was dry and dense with little taste of pork, shrimp, or vegetables. The shrimp stuffed with crab on the other hand was very good - a broiled shrimp wrapped around clam and bread stuffing.
I went over to the raw shell fish and looked at the oysters. I hesitated because the oysters look slightly dry on the surface. With raw shell fish you want it to be continually being taken and replenished right there on the spot - so that it is absolutely fresh when you eat it. When it is stacked in advance on a bed of ice you have no idea how long it may have been sitting out. I found three small oysters that looked the freshest and that were moist all around. The first two had a good taste, the last was slightly off from the rest. I started to wonder if I had made a mistake that I was going to regret. I was fine later on - but I am not sure I would take the oysters again under the same conditions. The oyster was also not cut all the way from the shell which is not how they should be served. The shucking knife should go all around and break the muscle that holds the oyster to the shell. The raw shell fish is off to one end of the salad bar and it would have been much better if they were at the sushi bar where they could have been shucked on the spot.
There were two steak dishes - teriyaki steak and steak with teriyaki sauce on the side. Both dishes seemed to be using the same cut of steak and it was very, very tough - to the point of hard to chew. The sauce that was on the side was A1 sauce. The crab cakes has more crab in them this time and they were much better. The crab legs depended on how fast you got to the tray when they were brought out. People just fill their plates with crab legs and what is left are the small broken legs that are left behind. The crab legs were properly served at the correct temperature. They came out of the shells easily. What they are serving are two leg clusters with parts of the tops.
Desserts were your standard Chinese buffet desserts with the little squares cakes, almond cookies, soft serve ice cream with a few toppings and cones, assorted puddings, jellos, fresh fruit, and banana pudding.I tried the soft serve ice cream and it was not bad. It was not icy in texture though it was the type of soft serve that one would usually get icy. This may not have had a chance to get icy as it was popularly being taken by many on this hot night.
Items on the buffet never went empty. As soon as a tray was getting down to the bottom a new tray was brought out to replace it. The food was also served at all of the correct temperatures which is very important.
Service was just OK. All of our plates were gone almost each time that we went up for another plate and returned. It would have been nice if we were offered to refill our water glasses. They put a large wood bowl on the table for your crab leg shells and also a nut cracker. This bowl was never emptied and my shells remained with us for the rest of the meal in the bowl.
We had no problem in finding things to eat here on this visit and a lot has improved. I am glad that they put out this coupon as it enticed me to come back and try this buffet again. If another coupon comes we will go back again. At $14.99 I have to decide to come here or go to another $14.99 Chinese buffet that is further east on Long Island but has some particularly good selections. This buffet is not out of the running however - and it is likely we will come back.
I can recommend this buffet now. If you are on or are visiting Long Island, come and try Ruby Buffet in Massapequa on the outside of the mall building next to the food court of the Sunrise Mall shopping center.
Ruby Buffet is located at Westfield's Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, New York off of Sunrise Highway. The address is 1 Sunrise Mall Suite 2152, Massapequa, NY 11758. The phone number is (516) 882 - 0300. There is a website and it is linked at the side of this page. I have no idea if my meal at this location is any indication of the food at the other Ruby Buffet locations.
****
We went back to Ruby a couple of weeks later (again with a coupon) and the experience was the same. This time we were seated in the main dining room and the service was better. They have also given the seaweed salad its own set of tongs. The same items that were good the first time were good the next and those that were not so good have not changed - the two steak dishes are still extremely tough and I did not finish either of the two because it was not worth the chewing. I would still go back again. I am sure there will be more mailers with coupons.
Friday, August 09, 2013
A Second Visit During the Same Week to Dutch-Way Family Restaurant, Gap, PA
Of all of the Lancaster, PA buffets that we could have gone to or gone back to within a week's visit to the area, we decided to go back to Dutch-Way Family Restaurant in Gap, PA. We like this buffet that much! This was a Saturday night.
The feature on Friday and Saturday nights is Carved Roast Beef and Carved Ham. The price on Friday and Saturday is one dollar more ($12.99) than the Monday to Wednesday dinners which are $11.99. Thursdays is Seafood Night and the price increases a few more dollars. If you are over 60, tell them at the cashier when you are paying your check and you will get a discount.
This was the Saturday of a holiday weekend. The dining room was busy but not packed. As I have said many times before, this is a local restaurant and not a tourist restaurant and is way off out of the tourist area. We were seated at a table not far from a large group of Amish people who were also having the buffet.
The buffet not only varies day to day but also dishes vary week to week. There is generally something that we have not had before here each time that we come. Some dishes are found almost every night.
Starting with soup we had a choice of four - generally there are always four to choose from here. The soups included Beef Vegetable, Chili, Chicken Corn, and Corn Chowder. I chose the Chicken Corn and my wife chose the Beef Vegetable. The Chicken Corn soup was one of the thin varieties of this local soup that there seem to be many recipes for. It was a light chicken stock and loaded with noodles, corn, and chicken. This was a very satisfying soup. My wife chose the Beef Vegetable and she compared it favorably to one that she makes at home for holidays from a PA Dutch recipe.
The salad bar is just as I have described before, but I should say that the arrangement of the items on the salad bar were back to their normal places as they have always been in the past except for the last night we were here this week on Tuesday - when not only we were surprised that items had been moved around. Perhaps it was an experiment and someone finally said, "Put it back the way it was!"
The entrees on this Saturday night in addition to a large roast of Beef and a large baked Ham at the carving counter were Turkey in Gravy, Slices of Roast Beef in Gravy, Ham Balls, Dutch-Loaf, Barbecue Ribs, Pork and Kraut, Cajun Catfish, Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole, what the sign said was Tortellini with Tomato and Basil but was actually Ravioli and not Tortellini, and Henny Penny Chicken. The side dishes included Dried Corn, Clam Filling, Potato Filling, Baked Lima Beans, Creamy Brussels Sprouts, Mashed Potatoes, Macaroni and Cheese, Herb Roasted Potatoes with Cheese, Stewed Tomatoes, Honey Carrots, and Beets.
I have to take talk about the Barbecue Ribs. I had ribs on at another buffet on this trip and they did not hit the spot to satisfy my rib craving. They were good but much too meaty. These ribs looked like they were going to make me happy - and they did. I am sure these were not ribs cooked in a smoker but they were tender, enough meat per rib and not too much, had a sauce that was tomato based but not overly sweet and not overwhelming - just right, and when I was eating them, the meat just fell right off the bones. These ribs were wonderful! I almost concentrated my whole meal on those ribs. I don't think that I have had ribs here before - maybe - but on this night these ribs were just right!
I did try other things. I had a small slice of carved beef and while it was more done than I might have liked it had great taste and was very tender. The Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole was just what it is called - chicken with ham covered in a cream sauce and melted cheese. It was gooey to scoop out of the tray and it was very good. The Ravioli was also good and there were chunks of tomatoes in the light tomato sauce and leaves of fresh basil. The Cajun Catfish looked good but looked spicy (as it should be if it is Cajun) and I did not try it. Henny Penny chicken is like Broasted Chicken and since the Broasted name is copyrighted it seems that the Henny Penny company also has a process like Broasting (frying under pressure) and this is their copyrighted name for what looks like and is very much like fried chicken. The Dried Corn was very good. The Clam Filling was very different and good. In this area filling is another name for "stuffing" and it is baked in a pan and served as a side dish. This filling was a bread filling and it was flavored with clams. The clams were in there - not obvious (in other words you were not chewing on clams as you ate this) but you could taste the clams. Similarly, potato filling uses potato for the filling instead of bread and here, as I have said before, you can taste the potatoes. The Herb Roasted Potatoes with Cheese were small whole white potatoes that were roasted and seasoned with herbs and the whole tray was layered with cheese which made a great addition to what was already a good dish.
For dessert there were slices of chocolate and vanilla cakes, fruit and cream pies, Shoo Fly pie, fresh fruits, and a number of prepared desserts. There was Hawaiian Wedding Cake in one of the prepared dessert pans - a whipped cream covered, pineapple cake. There is also Turkey Hill (a large East Coast brand of Ice Cream which is located in this area) soft serve ice cream and sundae bar.
I looked at all of the desserts and decided that I had indulged enough in desserts over this past week and went over to the bread bar. There I took a slice of pumpkin bread and it was delicious. It was dense and tasted like pumpkin and spice. It was just like some excellent pumpkin muffins that I have had in the past in a non-buffet restaurant in Virginia. This was as good as any dessert I could have taken.
Service was excellent as always. Every dish was cleared away whenever we went up for more, and drinks were refilled promptly.
We did not regret going back a second time just four nights after our visit earlier. This restaurant/buffet is one that I cannot resist.
I obviously recommend Dutch-Way Family Restaurant in Gap, PA. As I have said, this is a local restaurant for the local community. If you decide to go there - and you should - just don't act like a tourist.
The Dutch-Way Family Restaurant is located at the Dutch-Way Farm Market Supermarket at 365 Gap Newport Pike (Route 41), Gap, Pennsylvania 17527. The buffet is served from 4 pm to 8 pm Monday to Saturday. The restaurant is closed on Sundays. This is about two and a half miles south of Route 30. There is a web site and that is linked at the side of this page. The phone number is 610-593-6080.Yes, you are out of the Lancaster area code here - that is how far off it is.
The feature on Friday and Saturday nights is Carved Roast Beef and Carved Ham. The price on Friday and Saturday is one dollar more ($12.99) than the Monday to Wednesday dinners which are $11.99. Thursdays is Seafood Night and the price increases a few more dollars. If you are over 60, tell them at the cashier when you are paying your check and you will get a discount.
This was the Saturday of a holiday weekend. The dining room was busy but not packed. As I have said many times before, this is a local restaurant and not a tourist restaurant and is way off out of the tourist area. We were seated at a table not far from a large group of Amish people who were also having the buffet.
The buffet not only varies day to day but also dishes vary week to week. There is generally something that we have not had before here each time that we come. Some dishes are found almost every night.
Starting with soup we had a choice of four - generally there are always four to choose from here. The soups included Beef Vegetable, Chili, Chicken Corn, and Corn Chowder. I chose the Chicken Corn and my wife chose the Beef Vegetable. The Chicken Corn soup was one of the thin varieties of this local soup that there seem to be many recipes for. It was a light chicken stock and loaded with noodles, corn, and chicken. This was a very satisfying soup. My wife chose the Beef Vegetable and she compared it favorably to one that she makes at home for holidays from a PA Dutch recipe.
The salad bar is just as I have described before, but I should say that the arrangement of the items on the salad bar were back to their normal places as they have always been in the past except for the last night we were here this week on Tuesday - when not only we were surprised that items had been moved around. Perhaps it was an experiment and someone finally said, "Put it back the way it was!"
The entrees on this Saturday night in addition to a large roast of Beef and a large baked Ham at the carving counter were Turkey in Gravy, Slices of Roast Beef in Gravy, Ham Balls, Dutch-Loaf, Barbecue Ribs, Pork and Kraut, Cajun Catfish, Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole, what the sign said was Tortellini with Tomato and Basil but was actually Ravioli and not Tortellini, and Henny Penny Chicken. The side dishes included Dried Corn, Clam Filling, Potato Filling, Baked Lima Beans, Creamy Brussels Sprouts, Mashed Potatoes, Macaroni and Cheese, Herb Roasted Potatoes with Cheese, Stewed Tomatoes, Honey Carrots, and Beets.
I have to take talk about the Barbecue Ribs. I had ribs on at another buffet on this trip and they did not hit the spot to satisfy my rib craving. They were good but much too meaty. These ribs looked like they were going to make me happy - and they did. I am sure these were not ribs cooked in a smoker but they were tender, enough meat per rib and not too much, had a sauce that was tomato based but not overly sweet and not overwhelming - just right, and when I was eating them, the meat just fell right off the bones. These ribs were wonderful! I almost concentrated my whole meal on those ribs. I don't think that I have had ribs here before - maybe - but on this night these ribs were just right!
I did try other things. I had a small slice of carved beef and while it was more done than I might have liked it had great taste and was very tender. The Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole was just what it is called - chicken with ham covered in a cream sauce and melted cheese. It was gooey to scoop out of the tray and it was very good. The Ravioli was also good and there were chunks of tomatoes in the light tomato sauce and leaves of fresh basil. The Cajun Catfish looked good but looked spicy (as it should be if it is Cajun) and I did not try it. Henny Penny chicken is like Broasted Chicken and since the Broasted name is copyrighted it seems that the Henny Penny company also has a process like Broasting (frying under pressure) and this is their copyrighted name for what looks like and is very much like fried chicken. The Dried Corn was very good. The Clam Filling was very different and good. In this area filling is another name for "stuffing" and it is baked in a pan and served as a side dish. This filling was a bread filling and it was flavored with clams. The clams were in there - not obvious (in other words you were not chewing on clams as you ate this) but you could taste the clams. Similarly, potato filling uses potato for the filling instead of bread and here, as I have said before, you can taste the potatoes. The Herb Roasted Potatoes with Cheese were small whole white potatoes that were roasted and seasoned with herbs and the whole tray was layered with cheese which made a great addition to what was already a good dish.
For dessert there were slices of chocolate and vanilla cakes, fruit and cream pies, Shoo Fly pie, fresh fruits, and a number of prepared desserts. There was Hawaiian Wedding Cake in one of the prepared dessert pans - a whipped cream covered, pineapple cake. There is also Turkey Hill (a large East Coast brand of Ice Cream which is located in this area) soft serve ice cream and sundae bar.
I looked at all of the desserts and decided that I had indulged enough in desserts over this past week and went over to the bread bar. There I took a slice of pumpkin bread and it was delicious. It was dense and tasted like pumpkin and spice. It was just like some excellent pumpkin muffins that I have had in the past in a non-buffet restaurant in Virginia. This was as good as any dessert I could have taken.
Service was excellent as always. Every dish was cleared away whenever we went up for more, and drinks were refilled promptly.
We did not regret going back a second time just four nights after our visit earlier. This restaurant/buffet is one that I cannot resist.
I obviously recommend Dutch-Way Family Restaurant in Gap, PA. As I have said, this is a local restaurant for the local community. If you decide to go there - and you should - just don't act like a tourist.
The Dutch-Way Family Restaurant is located at the Dutch-Way Farm Market Supermarket at 365 Gap Newport Pike (Route 41), Gap, Pennsylvania 17527. The buffet is served from 4 pm to 8 pm Monday to Saturday. The restaurant is closed on Sundays. This is about two and a half miles south of Route 30. There is a web site and that is linked at the side of this page. The phone number is 610-593-6080.Yes, you are out of the Lancaster area code here - that is how far off it is.
Friday, August 02, 2013
A Return to Dienners Country Restaurant Since Family Cupboard Has Closed
I have written about Dienners before and in November 2012 wrote here about the Family Cupboard Restaurant in Lancaster County, PA closing (actually being up for sale but it has closed and the bulding is about to become a store). Family Cupboard was owned and operated by John Dienner and his wife, and he is the son of the owner of Dienners Country Restauant on Route 30 in East Ronks, PA in Lancaster County. John decided to sell and eventually close his restaurant so that he could go to help his father run Dienners. I like Dienners, but we (my wife and I) liked Family Cupboard more. The buffet menus were similar but Family Cupboard in our dining experience always topped Dienners.
I had two hopes for Dienners with John Dienner's move there. One was that he would change the hours that Dienners is open. This restaurant closes at 6 pm every night except Friday nights when it is open until 8 pm. (The restaurant like most local buffets and restaurants here is closed on Sundays.) My other hope was that John would bring his recipes and also some of the variations to the buffet menu that he had at Family Cupboard. Neither of these has happened. Dienners still closes at 6 except for Friday's at 8. What is on the buffet at Dienners has not changed.
We went on a Friday night recently. We waited about 45 minutes to get in. The restaurant is small and there always seems to be a line to get in. While you wait you are given a beeper that allows you to walk into the neighboring shops to spend time and get out of the summer heat. We had arrived at the restaurant just after 6 and it was almost 7 when we went in. I have to say here that someone was seated at just about 8 pm and there was no problem - though this may be because the family had been waiting outside the 45 minutes that seemed to be told to everyone that came up to the hostess inside.
Dinner price was $11.99 and this was the Friday/Saturday buffet price. It is about a dollar less from Monday to Thursday. This is an excellent price for a buffet considering what the chains are now charging. The food here is quality and most, if not all is made from scratch. The people in the kitchen including the chefs appear to be primarily Amish and Mennonites and this is really home cooking.
When I reviewed Dienners a year ago, fair or not, I based my review on a comparison between this restaurant and Family Cupboard. Family Cupboard is now gone so that review is based on Dienners merits alone.
The Friday night buffet - which is the same on Saturday - includes some items that are not on the Monday to Thursday buffet. As I describe what we found to eat, I will point out what seems to be different.
We started with soup, as we always do, and there were two soups - Chicken Corn soup and Clam Chowder. Clam Chowder is not a surprise as it is standard in this area to find that or a similar seafood based soup on a Friday night. It was New England Clam Chowder, a white cream soup with clams and potatoes. We both took the Chicken Corn soup. The Chicken Corn soup was a thick chicken soup with loads of corn and hard boiled egg with noodles. The soup is thickened with might be a thickened creamed corn. There texture was smooth and not grainy which it would be had a grain or starch been used to thicken it. It was very good. I have my favorite Chicken Corn soups - this is close. Both of the soups are the same from my last visits here.
The salad bar is large and takes up a full buffet server. There is lettuce and an assortment of toppings and also prepared salads - some made with local recipes.
I had two hopes for Dienners with John Dienner's move there. One was that he would change the hours that Dienners is open. This restaurant closes at 6 pm every night except Friday nights when it is open until 8 pm. (The restaurant like most local buffets and restaurants here is closed on Sundays.) My other hope was that John would bring his recipes and also some of the variations to the buffet menu that he had at Family Cupboard. Neither of these has happened. Dienners still closes at 6 except for Friday's at 8. What is on the buffet at Dienners has not changed.
We went on a Friday night recently. We waited about 45 minutes to get in. The restaurant is small and there always seems to be a line to get in. While you wait you are given a beeper that allows you to walk into the neighboring shops to spend time and get out of the summer heat. We had arrived at the restaurant just after 6 and it was almost 7 when we went in. I have to say here that someone was seated at just about 8 pm and there was no problem - though this may be because the family had been waiting outside the 45 minutes that seemed to be told to everyone that came up to the hostess inside.
Dinner price was $11.99 and this was the Friday/Saturday buffet price. It is about a dollar less from Monday to Thursday. This is an excellent price for a buffet considering what the chains are now charging. The food here is quality and most, if not all is made from scratch. The people in the kitchen including the chefs appear to be primarily Amish and Mennonites and this is really home cooking.
When I reviewed Dienners a year ago, fair or not, I based my review on a comparison between this restaurant and Family Cupboard. Family Cupboard is now gone so that review is based on Dienners merits alone.
The Friday night buffet - which is the same on Saturday - includes some items that are not on the Monday to Thursday buffet. As I describe what we found to eat, I will point out what seems to be different.
We started with soup, as we always do, and there were two soups - Chicken Corn soup and Clam Chowder. Clam Chowder is not a surprise as it is standard in this area to find that or a similar seafood based soup on a Friday night. It was New England Clam Chowder, a white cream soup with clams and potatoes. We both took the Chicken Corn soup. The Chicken Corn soup was a thick chicken soup with loads of corn and hard boiled egg with noodles. The soup is thickened with might be a thickened creamed corn. There texture was smooth and not grainy which it would be had a grain or starch been used to thicken it. It was very good. I have my favorite Chicken Corn soups - this is close. Both of the soups are the same from my last visits here.
The salad bar is large and takes up a full buffet server. There is lettuce and an assortment of toppings and also prepared salads - some made with local recipes.
The entrees are what are most important. There were not many entrees and compared to other local buffets this may be surprising. There were Rotisserie Chicken, Beef Tips in Gravy, Sliced Ham, Fried Fish, Fried Shrimp, and there should have been Ham Loaf, as it was marked on a sign on the buffet, but they were out of it and it was not brought out. (In its place was a second tray of Rotisserie Chicken.) Someone walking around the buffet server commented that there was no fried chicken. I thought that she must be mistaken and went back and looked and this woman was right - there was no fried chicken which is a standard at just about every buffet.There is no fried chicken on the regular menu.
The side dishes were more plentiful and included Broccoli, Browned Butter Noodles, Mashed Potatoes, fresh Carrots, Corn, fresh String Beans, Bread Filling, Beets, White Rice, Baked Lima Beans, Macaroni and Cheese, and Stewed Tomatoes. There was chicken gravy and brown gravy.
Rotisserie Chicken is one of the things that this restaurant (and formerly, Family Cupboard) is known for. It is moist and extremely tasty chicken on the bone cooked with the skin on. Add some chicken gravy on top and it is a treat. The Beef Tips in Gravy is a dish of braised beef chunks that are then almost stewed in brown gravy. This becomes very tender and the meat falls apart on your fork. This too is very tasty. The Ham is served pre-sliced from a tray on the buffet server and is fine. I like the Fried Fish here and there is a very nice tartar sauce to add to it. These are large strip chunks of filleted fish (no bones). The Fried Shrimp is very nice. There is also cocktail sauce for the shrimp on the side of the buffet. I wish that they had not run out of the Ham Loaf as this can be very good - and is a favorite of my wife.
The side dishes are all fresh vegetables and freshly made. There were strings in the string beans and a few stems too - fresh. The carrots were not sweetened and were good on their own. The Baked Lima Beans are cooked in a mild sauce like baked beans. The Stewed Tomatoes are good but slightly sweet - as they usually are. You can tell that the mashed potatoes were mashed in the kitchen and the Browned Butter Noodles had the correct nutty flavor and is good!
There
is a buffet server full of desserts. There are custard and fruit pies
in a separate refrigerated case, on the buffet table there were puddings, prepared desserts, hot chocolate fudge cake, hot peach tart compote, chocolate cake, carrot cake, and there is soft serve ice cream with sundae toppings. There was egg custard among the prepared desserts and I love egg custard and that was what I had for dessert.
Our service was excellent and the young lady came regularly to refill soft drinks and clear away plates. She was very pleasant and very nice.
The food is very good. The choices are limited. We did not leave hungry. This place is always busy and both the locals and the tourists come here. The restaurant is right in the middle of the tourist area. This can lead to tourists who have never been to a buffet before who think it is a cafeteria and not only have to follow along as if the buffet tables have lines but also get upset if anyone in the know jumps in to get something from a tray and move off. The restaurant cannot be faulted for this. There will be times - particularly off season - not in the summer - when you will see almost exclusively local people here including Amish and Mennonites.
I was hoping to find a Dienners mixed with Family Cupboard and did not find that. Dienners can stand on its own just the way it is. The selections that I have named above is what you are going to find - perhaps meatloaf instead of shrimp on a Monday to Thursday - or perhaps not - and perhaps no shrimp or fish. The atmosphere is country restaurant and as I said it is small. There are tables along both sides of the buffet area and there is another small room off to the side. Come here for home Amish cooking but without some of the standard Amish dishes that you will find at other buffets.
There is menu dining also and the menu is just about the same in choices as the buffet with the addition of burgers and sandwiches. You can order from the menu if someone at the table is having the buffet.
Will I come back to Dienners? I suppose so, if I am feeling reminiscent for Family Cupboard because what is here is what was there, but here minus a few more dishes. I certainly liked the food here. Should you come here? I will say try it at least once for the cooking. The price is certainly right and you are getting quality food.
Dienners is located at 2855 Lincoln Highway East in East Ronks,
Pennsylvania (This is US Route 30). It is next to the big windmill so
you cannot miss it. I have told you the hours, remember that like the
rest of the local buffets it is closed on Sundays. Their phone number is
717-687-9571. There is a sparse website and that is listed at the side
of this page.
You can see a menu there but not for the buffet (but that you have here).
Friday, July 26, 2013
Shady Maple Smorgasbord on the Fourth of July
For a big tourist area, not all restaurants are open on the Fourth of July in Lancaster County, PA. Shady Maple at one time closed early, but for a long time now has remained open for its regular hours. We were in the area on the Fourth of July and went to Shady Maple for dinner.
It was crowded but there was no wait. We went right in and was seated. The dining room was crowded and we sat a bit off to the side of where we are usually seated. I prefer a table and I like the main dining room area in front of the buffet area entrance. This Fourth of July was on a Thursday and the Thursday feature for dinner is always Family Value Night - and dinner was priced accordingly. As we were seated the hostess told us that there was an additional feature for the holiday - three types of ribs!
The menu is always changing at Shady Maple and there is so much that listing everything that is on the buffet just does not make any sense. There were some new soups which I have not seen there before that I do have to make note of and those were Sweet Potato Soup and Ham Vegetable. The Sweet Potato Soup was very interesting - and very good. Imagine mashed sweet potatoes sweetened with brown sugar and maybe even a little maple, add a little fresh butter, and liquify this with cream to a thick, creamy soup. This was the Sweet Potato Soup. If you like sweet this is the soup to try - and there was enough sweet potato flavor to satisfy. This would make an excellent soup to serve on Thanksgiving. Even though it was over 90 degrees outside, it was still satisfying! The Ham Vegetable was interesting also - like beef vegetable but with ham and a nice ham stock loaded with chunks of ham and vegetables. When there is more than one soup here that tempts me I take a half cup of each. The Ham Vegetable was very good - and it was very different from Ham and Bean (which they also had on this night).
The three types of ribs were baby back ribs, St. Louis ribs, and I guess what we can call generic barbecue ribs. The baby backs and the St. Louis ribs were served from one of the grills. The barbecue ribs were served from a tray on the buffet servers. I tried the baby backs and the St. Louis ribs. They both were good, but it may seem odd to say, but with each there was too much meat on and between the rib bones. The bones somewhat came away from the meat easily but my rib craving was not getting satisfied by these ribs. They were good but they would have been better if they had cut the ribs apart - they were served together in groups of three or four ribs, and if they were not like eating pork with bones in between. The sauce was good, but I did not go back for more ribs and ordinarily when I find ribs on a buffet I do go back for more. It did not really matter, though, as there was so much more to have - as there always is at Shady Maple.We had spent the day outside in the heat and perhaps this was just too heavy to deal with for dinner that day.
The Oriental Stir Fry was set up on the last grill and this I believe is a regular part of Thursday nights at Shady Maple. On that grill there was a sign for Portuguese Cod Cakes. I had no idea what would make a fish cake Portuguese but I tried one. These were breaded cod cakes with the cod minced like a crab cake is and it was mildly seasoned. They were flat fried on the fry grill. They were tasty and slightly spicy though not "hot and spicy". They were interesting and good.
Over on the charcoal grill they were cooking burgers. I did not have one but you could have had a burger grilled to order (with or without a bun) - add cheese and there are many toppings all over the buffet to build a burger with. I had wondered what they did with the grill when it was not a night that they serve steak - and on this Fourth of July Thursday they were grilling burgers.
There is no question that if you are in this area you must eat at Shady Maple. I have to struggle with my dinner choices not to go to Shady Maple so that I can get to the other buffets in the area that I love.
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. There is also an active Facebook page.
It was crowded but there was no wait. We went right in and was seated. The dining room was crowded and we sat a bit off to the side of where we are usually seated. I prefer a table and I like the main dining room area in front of the buffet area entrance. This Fourth of July was on a Thursday and the Thursday feature for dinner is always Family Value Night - and dinner was priced accordingly. As we were seated the hostess told us that there was an additional feature for the holiday - three types of ribs!
The menu is always changing at Shady Maple and there is so much that listing everything that is on the buffet just does not make any sense. There were some new soups which I have not seen there before that I do have to make note of and those were Sweet Potato Soup and Ham Vegetable. The Sweet Potato Soup was very interesting - and very good. Imagine mashed sweet potatoes sweetened with brown sugar and maybe even a little maple, add a little fresh butter, and liquify this with cream to a thick, creamy soup. This was the Sweet Potato Soup. If you like sweet this is the soup to try - and there was enough sweet potato flavor to satisfy. This would make an excellent soup to serve on Thanksgiving. Even though it was over 90 degrees outside, it was still satisfying! The Ham Vegetable was interesting also - like beef vegetable but with ham and a nice ham stock loaded with chunks of ham and vegetables. When there is more than one soup here that tempts me I take a half cup of each. The Ham Vegetable was very good - and it was very different from Ham and Bean (which they also had on this night).
The three types of ribs were baby back ribs, St. Louis ribs, and I guess what we can call generic barbecue ribs. The baby backs and the St. Louis ribs were served from one of the grills. The barbecue ribs were served from a tray on the buffet servers. I tried the baby backs and the St. Louis ribs. They both were good, but it may seem odd to say, but with each there was too much meat on and between the rib bones. The bones somewhat came away from the meat easily but my rib craving was not getting satisfied by these ribs. They were good but they would have been better if they had cut the ribs apart - they were served together in groups of three or four ribs, and if they were not like eating pork with bones in between. The sauce was good, but I did not go back for more ribs and ordinarily when I find ribs on a buffet I do go back for more. It did not really matter, though, as there was so much more to have - as there always is at Shady Maple.We had spent the day outside in the heat and perhaps this was just too heavy to deal with for dinner that day.
The Oriental Stir Fry was set up on the last grill and this I believe is a regular part of Thursday nights at Shady Maple. On that grill there was a sign for Portuguese Cod Cakes. I had no idea what would make a fish cake Portuguese but I tried one. These were breaded cod cakes with the cod minced like a crab cake is and it was mildly seasoned. They were flat fried on the fry grill. They were tasty and slightly spicy though not "hot and spicy". They were interesting and good.
Over on the charcoal grill they were cooking burgers. I did not have one but you could have had a burger grilled to order (with or without a bun) - add cheese and there are many toppings all over the buffet to build a burger with. I had wondered what they did with the grill when it was not a night that they serve steak - and on this Fourth of July Thursday they were grilling burgers.
On the buffet among so many things there were a couple of things I have not seen before here. One was barbecue beans which were kidney beans, bacon, green peppers and onions. The other was potato chunks with browned
butter. There is usually browned butter noodles served every night at Shady Maple. This was the first time that I saw potatoes in browned butter (and they were good!). To make browned butter, you take a pot filled with butter and put it on a stove and melt the butter - and once the butter melts to all liquid you leave it on the flame to continue to cook. What happens then is that the butter begins to burn and brown flakes form in the liquid. When it has all turned brown - you have browned butter. This gives the butter a very nutty taste and it is delicious. As I say, it is common in this area to see it on noodles, but not so often on potatoes.
As always at Shady Maple you have to tell yourself to stop going back up because there is always something else that you wanted to try or take more of. I stopped eating with several things that still caught my eye. I don't know if I have mentioned these here before but Shady Maple serves pretzel rolls - fresh baked and brushed with butter. They are found in a glass, heated case next to the left side at the edge of the dining room of the center grill island. These are very good but I reluctantly stopped myself from adding one of these to the end of the meal.
Of course, Shady Maple has been BEST Buffet for so many years in a row and in 2012 when we changed the format of the awards, it remains a TOP Buffet. (As I said then - if we did not do something to add more buffets to recognize for their excellence there is NO topping Shady Maple.)
There is no question that if you are in this area you must eat at Shady Maple. I have to struggle with my dinner choices not to go to Shady Maple so that I can get to the other buffets in the area that I love.
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. There is also an active Facebook page.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Yoders Restaurant on a Wednesday Night
I thought I had been to Yoders Restaurant in New Holland, PA at least once on each night of the week, but we were in the area on a Wednesday and went to Yoders and discovered that when we got there it was Italian Night. We had not been there before for Italian Night so this was going to be an experience for an Italian that grew up in an all Italian family and was raised on fine Italian cooking.
As we went in I wondered just how much of the buffet would be Italian and how much would be the usual Pennsylvania Dutch fare that Yoders usually serves. We discovered that there was a very pleasant mix of the two. What this showed me and that I can share with all of you is to not be put off by a "special" feature night and that generally there will be standards and non-themed dishes served along with the featured theme.
Yoders is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They open very early in the morning and close at 8:00 pm at night - as most other buffets in this area do. They recently started opening for Sunday brunch but other than that they are not open on Sunday's for lunch or dinner and close at 2 pm. The main days are Monday to Saturday for buffet and menu dining. Some at your table can order from the menu while others order the buffet. They have no problem with that.
The restaurant is located at Yoder's Country Market, Route 23, New Holland, Pennsylvania. The phone number is (717) 354-4748. There is a website and that is linked at the side of this page. There is also a Facebook page that you can "Like" and get updates on specials.
As we went in I wondered just how much of the buffet would be Italian and how much would be the usual Pennsylvania Dutch fare that Yoders usually serves. We discovered that there was a very pleasant mix of the two. What this showed me and that I can share with all of you is to not be put off by a "special" feature night and that generally there will be standards and non-themed dishes served along with the featured theme.
One would not know from the soups on this night or the majority of what was served from the grill that this was Italian Night. The soup selections were Cream of Celery and Chicken Corn Noodle. The chicken corn noodle was both our choice and it was very good. It was loaded with noodles and corn in a light stock with pieces of chicken. I tend to like a thicker chicken corn soup but this was very good and it did have pieces of hard boiled egg in the soup which is traditional in this area for chicken corn soup.
The salad bar was the same as always. It had its usual great selection of a variety of lettuces, toppings, dressings (including creamy Caesar), and prepared salads.
The grill was featuring Smoked Brisket, Cajun Catfish, Potato Cakes, Corn Fritters, and in keeping with the theme - Chicken Parmigiana. I tried the Smoked Brisket and the Chicken Parmigiana. The brisket was a little dry and I should have put some barbecue sauce on top which was available. The Chicken Parm was a little unusual from what you would get at an Italian restaurant in that the chicken was not fried, but broiled and then put without breading on the flatiron grill with cheese and tomato sauce put on top. This was then covered with a lid and steamed to melt it all together. It was tasty but not what I had expected - but that was OK because it was good.
It was when we went up to the hot buffet servers that we saw that this was Italian Night but the Italian dishes were intermixed with Pennsylvania Dutch and American dishes. There was a very good assortment and this included Lasagna, Fettucini with Red Clam Sauce, Italian Sausage and Peppers, Eggplant Parmigiana and Pizza in the Italian selections and Hamballs in Pineapple sauce, Ham in Gravy, Prime Rib, Baked Chicken, Broasted Chicken, Baked Haddock. Chicken Hot Wings (Buffalo Wings), Nachos with hot, melted cheese and toppings, aTaco Bar and a Potato Bar. The side dishes included Corn, Steamed Mixed Fresh Vegetables, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Green beans, Mashed Potatoes, Potato Filling, Macaroni and Cheese, Stewed Tomatoes, Brown Butter Noodles and
Brussels Sprouts.
The Lasagna was good. The Fettucini in Red Clam Sauce was interesting. There were not obvious clams in the sauce. I suspect that they were blended well in with the tomatoes which were chunked. It was very nicely seasoned and it tasted very good. I was quite delightfully surprised. The Italian Sausage and Peppers brought me back several times for more. These were not served in a tomato sauce but rather as grilled or baked sausages with peppers and onions around them. The Hamballs were very good and not overly sweet. The Prime Rib was a big surprise as in the pan it just looked like thin slices of Roast Beef in a thin gravy. But when I ate this it was definitely Prime Rib - very tender and good! I very much enjoyed it!
We were quite happy with the selections. My picky eater wife found plenty of things to enjoy. Over on the counter where the breads are there were hot trays of baked oatmeal and baked oatmeal with blueberries. I tried the baked oatmeal with blueberries and they were a nice addition to what is already a good baked oatmeal.
There were a variety of desserts out including fruit and cream pies, shoo fly pie, cakes, and a wide assortment of prepared desserts. There is also soft serve ice cream and a sundae bar and the soft ice cream here is excellent. I wish they would include the hard ice cream that is made in Yoders adjacent dairy. This fresh made ice cream is wonderful and can be had on the menu but not the buffet. I chose the same two desserts that I had the night before at Dutch-Way - shoo fly cake and cracker pudding. Here the cracker pudding is more traditional and not overwhelmed with coconut though there is coconut in it. I like this cracker pudding better. The shoo fly cake was very good but the shoo fly cake at Dutch-Way was moister. Both were satisfying and I would not pass either up.
Service was very good and the server came regularly to clear away plates and offer refills on our drinks. While the restaurant closes at 8 pm they were still seating people at 8.
This buffet is one of our Top Buffets for 2012 and it still deserves that rating. I have to say this every time I write about Yoders. This is a restaurant in a supermarket and it is not at all fancy inside. It is pleasantly decorated but the booths and tables are utilitarian - nothing fancy. People come here for the food and not the ambiance. And this a restaurant for the locals. It is rare to see tourists here. It is more common to see Amish and Mennonites dining here. I was recently looking at their Facebook page and someone - obviously from outside of the area was not pleased with Yoders - things were too plain - and not fancy. Well, local people responded and suggested this must be someone from the "big city" and what were they expecting when they came in. The food is good and I come here for the food. The price is extremely reasonable and good. Deciding to come here on this night we had two other choices - buffets that don't often get to and when I discussed with my wife where we should eat, we both agreed to go to Yoders. If you are looking for big city fancy like the lady on Facebook - don't come here.
Yoders is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They open very early in the morning and close at 8:00 pm at night - as most other buffets in this area do. They recently started opening for Sunday brunch but other than that they are not open on Sunday's for lunch or dinner and close at 2 pm. The main days are Monday to Saturday for buffet and menu dining. Some at your table can order from the menu while others order the buffet. They have no problem with that.
The restaurant is located at Yoder's Country Market, Route 23, New Holland, Pennsylvania. The phone number is (717) 354-4748. There is a website and that is linked at the side of this page. There is also a Facebook page that you can "Like" and get updates on specials.
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