Showing posts with label buffet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buffet. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunny Buffet
Jonathan and I had lunch one day at a Chinese buffet near his work, called Sunny Buffet.
I thought it was a little pricey for lunch, especially when they're slow at filling up your water. They were pretty prompt about clearing old dishes, though. My biggest gripe would be that their setup was very difficult to maneuver. I never did find the white rice, and I had to be told twice where the dumplings were before I found them. Most of the foods on the buffet tables were labeled, but they tended to only have the names on one side rather than both, which was a bit annoying.
There was a wide variety of foods, and we both especially enjoyed the pepper chicken. Jonathan liked the chicken-on-a-stick, but I preferred the pork dim sum. The soup was pretty average, and I didn't have any of the dessert, so I can't comment on that. There was a sushi area, but the rolls weren't labeled, so I didn't bother. There was also a Mongolian grill area, but the line drove me away (not that it was long, but it was moving quite slowly).
Overall, I probably wouldn't return, but see why Jonathan and his colleagues go there every now and then!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Crazy Buffet
We've passed Crazy Buffet many times, as it's on a major road that we take often. We've also talked about going multiple times, but it just hadn't happened. So, I was really in the mood for Chinese, and Jonathan was just hungry, so we set out to eat there on a Saturday night.
It's pretty poorly organized when you walk in... we thought we were in a line to put out name on the list. Five minutes later, we realized that wasn't the case. We probably only waited about 20 minutes total, but that's a long time for a buffet, LoL! The entire experience was mediocre, really.
The water was good, but refills consisted of a server taking away our cups and we didn't see them again for five minutes... with the salty nature of many Chinese dishes, this was a problem. There was fresh sushi and sashimi at one of the buffet lines, which looked great. The tuna and salmon were pretty good. The problem was that the plates were very hot, so by the time you were back to your seat, your raw fish was starting to get warm...not nearly as appetizing. Still, we each had a few pieces (plus whitefish, a spicy roll, and a few other non-descript items).
There was a heavy seafood emphasis, with crab legs, oysters, and clams all being out, plus salt-and-pepper shrimp, crawdads, and other crab items. The crawdads were okay, but I passed on the crab, clams, and oysters. There were frog legs, which I found to be decent (my first time having them, so I don't have any other background on them). The roasted duck was hit-or-miss: I had it on my first plate, and it was extraordinarily greasy; Jonathan tried it later and found it to be dry. The pork shu mai was pretty good, though the potstickers were kinda mushy. The spring rolls were average, the sweet-and-sour chicken was dry, and the vegetable-fried noodles were bland. Jonathan tried the prime rib, which he found to be okay. We both tried the pepper steak, which I found to be pretty good, but Jonathan found it to be mushy and fatty. The vegetables I had (celery, onion, peppers) were pretty good. As always, you can't completely remember each item you tried at a buffet, but I think that this is probably enough to note that it was an overall average place.
The Chinese donut was excellent (if I still had room, I would've had another), the soft-serve was fine (though they were often out of dishes), and the cantaloupe was fairly fresh. The jello, however, was very tough. Overall, the place was a little overpriced for us (though if you like all-you-can-eat crab legs, salt-and-pepper shrimp, and oysters, you probably would have found $14.99/person to be a steal). We probably made up for the cost by having the sushi, though. We also had a 10% off coupon that we found in a paper - I'd recommend doing that. Oh, and as a final note, you might want to avoid Saturdays simply because of the number of birthdays being celebrated - we heard the birthday song over the loudspeaker 4-5 times while we were there... and it's a very long version. Of course, maybe it was just a fluke on the night we went..
It's pretty poorly organized when you walk in... we thought we were in a line to put out name on the list. Five minutes later, we realized that wasn't the case. We probably only waited about 20 minutes total, but that's a long time for a buffet, LoL! The entire experience was mediocre, really.
The water was good, but refills consisted of a server taking away our cups and we didn't see them again for five minutes... with the salty nature of many Chinese dishes, this was a problem. There was fresh sushi and sashimi at one of the buffet lines, which looked great. The tuna and salmon were pretty good. The problem was that the plates were very hot, so by the time you were back to your seat, your raw fish was starting to get warm...not nearly as appetizing. Still, we each had a few pieces (plus whitefish, a spicy roll, and a few other non-descript items).
There was a heavy seafood emphasis, with crab legs, oysters, and clams all being out, plus salt-and-pepper shrimp, crawdads, and other crab items. The crawdads were okay, but I passed on the crab, clams, and oysters. There were frog legs, which I found to be decent (my first time having them, so I don't have any other background on them). The roasted duck was hit-or-miss: I had it on my first plate, and it was extraordinarily greasy; Jonathan tried it later and found it to be dry. The pork shu mai was pretty good, though the potstickers were kinda mushy. The spring rolls were average, the sweet-and-sour chicken was dry, and the vegetable-fried noodles were bland. Jonathan tried the prime rib, which he found to be okay. We both tried the pepper steak, which I found to be pretty good, but Jonathan found it to be mushy and fatty. The vegetables I had (celery, onion, peppers) were pretty good. As always, you can't completely remember each item you tried at a buffet, but I think that this is probably enough to note that it was an overall average place.
The Chinese donut was excellent (if I still had room, I would've had another), the soft-serve was fine (though they were often out of dishes), and the cantaloupe was fairly fresh. The jello, however, was very tough. Overall, the place was a little overpriced for us (though if you like all-you-can-eat crab legs, salt-and-pepper shrimp, and oysters, you probably would have found $14.99/person to be a steal). We probably made up for the cost by having the sushi, though. We also had a 10% off coupon that we found in a paper - I'd recommend doing that. Oh, and as a final note, you might want to avoid Saturdays simply because of the number of birthdays being celebrated - we heard the birthday song over the loudspeaker 4-5 times while we were there... and it's a very long version. Of course, maybe it was just a fluke on the night we went..
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Number 1 Buffet
I really had a craving for Chinese food. We haven't really had much Chinese since we've been here, focusing mainly on Japanese since that's more prevalent in our area. Plus, we were spoiled with California on that one, LoL. We searched around online and found a buffet about fifteen minutes away that had great reviews. It's actually called "Number 1 Buffet" and it's in Morrisville.
It's only $5.99 for dinner, and the food is pretty good. For the most part, it wasn't greasy. The selection was pretty good, and most everything was very fresh. They had the typical foods: steak & peppers (average), chicken & broccoli (good sauce), pepper chicken (average), sweet & sour chicken (good), spring rolls (vegetarian and average), lo mein (average), fried rice (average), egg drop soup (really good), wonton soup (above average), chicken teriyaki on a stick (good chicken but pretty tasteless sauce), bourbon chicken (slightly below average), and General Tso's chicken (not spicy at all). They also had several types of dumplings/"dim sum", stuffed shrimp, and crab rangoon. The dumplings were all pretty good, although one tasted like pork and scallions and not much else. The Chinese donuts were also very good.
We'd go back. In my opinion, it's hard to find a buffet that even has an overall "average" rating, so this was a good find. I kinda wish they had filled the shrimp egg foo yung while we were there (it was empty the entire time), and maybe there will be a bigger selection of steamed/fried dumplings next time.
It's only $5.99 for dinner, and the food is pretty good. For the most part, it wasn't greasy. The selection was pretty good, and most everything was very fresh. They had the typical foods: steak & peppers (average), chicken & broccoli (good sauce), pepper chicken (average), sweet & sour chicken (good), spring rolls (vegetarian and average), lo mein (average), fried rice (average), egg drop soup (really good), wonton soup (above average), chicken teriyaki on a stick (good chicken but pretty tasteless sauce), bourbon chicken (slightly below average), and General Tso's chicken (not spicy at all). They also had several types of dumplings/"dim sum", stuffed shrimp, and crab rangoon. The dumplings were all pretty good, although one tasted like pork and scallions and not much else. The Chinese donuts were also very good.
We'd go back. In my opinion, it's hard to find a buffet that even has an overall "average" rating, so this was a good find. I kinda wish they had filled the shrimp egg foo yung while we were there (it was empty the entire time), and maybe there will be a bigger selection of steamed/fried dumplings next time.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Buffet at Fallsview Casino
We walked across the street to the Fallsview Casino and walked around. We had some more great views of the Falls, and decided to have the Grand Buffet for dinner. It was a tad overpriced, but we could understand why it would be worth it to some. My favorite was the build-your-own-pasta bar, as the concoction the guy made for me was fabulous. Jonathan thought the lamb was good, and we both enjoyed the noodles. The dessert was rather disappointing, aside from the tiramisu (made as a mousse of sorts) and the cookies (chocolate and caramel chips in one cookie!).
Friday, February 5, 2010
Old Country Buffet
So we're not really buffet people. You might have guessed that by now. In Florida, you're forced to have Chinese buffet because there's not good dim sum restaurants in most of the state (if you actually know of ANY dim sum place in FL, let us know!), but otherwise we don't have buffet much there, either. This is with the exception of Golden Corral, which is pretty good most of the time.
Anyway, there's this place called Old Country Buffet (same company as Ryan's) that we pass all the time. It's probably about three miles from our apartment, maybe even less. We finally decided to go this past Sunday, since we worked most of the day and needed a break.
I didn't care for the beginning part... you don't have an option not to pay for a soft drink or hot beverage since it's included in the price. Nobody shows you to a seat. There are no trays in the place, so you are limited to just one plate at a time. But you do get a green slip of paper to "hold your table" while your group is up at the buffet.
Overall, there's not a lot of selection. Hot, carved meats included turkey breast, roast beef, ham, and pork ribs. The ham was a little fatty, but good. Ribs were dry. Starch sides included creamy but bland mashed potatoes, rice, very good macaroni and cheese, and blase penne alfredo. The fried chicken had delicious skin but was too greasy on the inside. The taco bar has simple options, nothing fancy. No refried beans option. The salad bar was boring, and the pre-made salad options were scarce. Potato salad was mustardy yet strange. The seafood salad was shells with mayo... I had a tiny piece of krab in a large scoop of salad. The rolls were delicious. We didn't try the pizza or the spaghetti... nor the french fries or corn-on-the-cob. Jonathan thought the green beans were average. Corn chowder and chicken noodle soup were the soups of the day, but we didn't try either. There was rotisserie chicken, baked fish, and some good fried butterfly shrimp.
Jonathan went with the lemon meringue pie (pretty good), the fudge (good), and vanilla frozen yogurt with chocolate chips (good). I had a great brownie, rubbery hot sundae cake, a hard snickerdoodle, a non-descriptive sugar-free chocolate chip cookie, and some great chocolate mousse (but don't eat the crust). The apple crisp was sticky and rind-y. The white chocolate caramel and french vanilla cappuccinos were out of order, so I had a very good hot chocolate with dessert, and Jonathan had decent coffee.
Final thoughts: it took us twenty minutes to find water. We both ended up with Sprite on round 1 because there's only one small spigot for water, and the container probably holds less than three gallons. It's a pricey buffet, at over $12/person. Nothing was notable enough to go back for seconds on. We even got a buy-one-get-one coupon for another time, but I doubt we'll use it, except maybe for a breakfast. Stay away.
Anyway, there's this place called Old Country Buffet (same company as Ryan's) that we pass all the time. It's probably about three miles from our apartment, maybe even less. We finally decided to go this past Sunday, since we worked most of the day and needed a break.
I didn't care for the beginning part... you don't have an option not to pay for a soft drink or hot beverage since it's included in the price. Nobody shows you to a seat. There are no trays in the place, so you are limited to just one plate at a time. But you do get a green slip of paper to "hold your table" while your group is up at the buffet.
Overall, there's not a lot of selection. Hot, carved meats included turkey breast, roast beef, ham, and pork ribs. The ham was a little fatty, but good. Ribs were dry. Starch sides included creamy but bland mashed potatoes, rice, very good macaroni and cheese, and blase penne alfredo. The fried chicken had delicious skin but was too greasy on the inside. The taco bar has simple options, nothing fancy. No refried beans option. The salad bar was boring, and the pre-made salad options were scarce. Potato salad was mustardy yet strange. The seafood salad was shells with mayo... I had a tiny piece of krab in a large scoop of salad. The rolls were delicious. We didn't try the pizza or the spaghetti... nor the french fries or corn-on-the-cob. Jonathan thought the green beans were average. Corn chowder and chicken noodle soup were the soups of the day, but we didn't try either. There was rotisserie chicken, baked fish, and some good fried butterfly shrimp.
Jonathan went with the lemon meringue pie (pretty good), the fudge (good), and vanilla frozen yogurt with chocolate chips (good). I had a great brownie, rubbery hot sundae cake, a hard snickerdoodle, a non-descriptive sugar-free chocolate chip cookie, and some great chocolate mousse (but don't eat the crust). The apple crisp was sticky and rind-y. The white chocolate caramel and french vanilla cappuccinos were out of order, so I had a very good hot chocolate with dessert, and Jonathan had decent coffee.
Final thoughts: it took us twenty minutes to find water. We both ended up with Sprite on round 1 because there's only one small spigot for water, and the container probably holds less than three gallons. It's a pricey buffet, at over $12/person. Nothing was notable enough to go back for seconds on. We even got a buy-one-get-one coupon for another time, but I doubt we'll use it, except maybe for a breakfast. Stay away.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A Sushi Buffet
Jonathan's colleague from Cape Canaveral, Li, was out in Sunnyvale for a week with some LM employees, and we were able to get together for dinner. We headed out to Cupertino to go to Todai, a sushi buffet. It's a nice place for being in the Vallco mall, near Sears and the AMC movie theater. It's set up like a Golden Corral, with the buffet being mostly along a counter that spans the back of the restaurant.Aside from chicken teriyaki and some pork chops, almost every dish was seafood or sushi. There were some noodles and rice though. The sashimi only offered salmon and tuna, both of which were decent, but not the freshest/most flavorful. There were about twelve nigiri options, the ebi (shrimp) weren't the greatest, and the eel was not good. Tuna and salmon were good, and I believe Jonathan tried a few of the whitefishes without complaint. Now, there were probably twenty different rolls, ranging from your California to spicy tuna to a "fruity roll" which was crab with banana and kiwi. There was a spicy scallop salad roll, which tasted just like it sounds, and a chicken salad roll, which was a little like liver. None stick out too much in my mind, but that's okay since I chowed down on tuna sashimi. I also tried the Hawaiian Poke, but the tuna in that was too fatty to make up for the delicious marinade on the salad. The crispy calamari was among the most delicious I've ever had (and far more delectable than any I've tried off of a buffet), but the grilled calamari was rubbery - neither Jonathan nor I cared for it.
The dessert options were plentiful. Chocolate and vanilla soft serve, creme brulee, cream puffs, three types of cheesecake, chocolate cake, pumpkin pie, butter cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, green tea cook, several gelatins, mango yogurt, and a few fruit tarts.
Allegedly they have wonderful crepes, but we did not see any. The cookies were pretty bad (and hard), and the cake was a bit dry. Jonathan loved the creme brulee, and the cheesecakes would be enjoyed by those who like that particular pastry.This little balloon guy to the right was sitting on the cashier's counter. I thought he was cute, and the cashier made a joke about it being his boss.
[update: 4/16/11: Todai is closed]
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