Reno/Lake Tahoe Vacation: Carvings Buffet in Harrah’s Reno
Believe it or now, this is the TENTH buffet we had in this vacation. One of the things that I was fixated with is to try Kobe beef which we did not come across in the buffets we had in Vegas. So, for this final buffet, we simply wanted to go to a place which had Kobe beef. We found one at the Harrah’s Cravings Buffet.
What more … they have BOTH Kobe beef AND King Crab … and for only $13.99.
The Cravings Buffet is organized by cuisine. Lots and lots of variety to choose from.
We love the service … very friendly and prompt. Even the napkin says “We will earn your A today”. I am impressed with that and the fact that they try so hard to be the best. We were glad to be here.
Hmmmm … we were pretty disappointed with the Kobe beef. This is supposed to be the rolls royce of beef. I heard that the cattle are fed with beer!! (Is that true?). The meat was tough and not as flavorful as I had expected.
The prime roast beef was, on the hand, superb. Juicy and moist, they are a million times better than the Kobe beef. We did not go back for Kobe beef but went back for more for this. Oh yummy!
Then we moved on to the all-you-can-eat King Crabs. Oh boy, oh boy! This is perhaps my last time to eat King Crabs for a long time. So, I decided to eat this like there is no tomorrow.
We went for plate after plate full of crab legs. I think I had four plates altogether. Needless to say, I made a complete mess of the table. Eating crabs could be very very messy. You know, they really earned my “A” … they came by so often to clean up after me. I so thoroughly enjoyed this one.
The prawns were equally good too.
From the Chinese station, they make really authentic noodle soup. This the the beef rice noodle soup.
The char siew egg noodle soup was pretty good too.
Chow mein … all these noodle dishes are chosen by Arkensen and Nanzaro.
What I like most from the Chinese station is the dim sum selection. If not for all the King Crabs and Roast beef, I would have gone back for more of these.
They grill vegetables on the spot.
From the Italian station, there was a good selection of freshly baked pizzas.
The pasta selection was quite good too. As much as we like spaghettis, we did not try this — we simply could not.
We could not resist the delicious looking chicken wings though.
After I had the most marvelous crepe in Paris’ Le Village. I simply had to try this even though I could hard eat anymore. I asked the man at the cooking station for a banana Nutella crepe but he told me he will do better than that. He made me this instead. It was awesome.
So I went back for more. I asked the man to make me another of his special and he made me this this time. I tell you … this man is a genius!
After all that, we took a break with coffee and let all the food settle down before we go for the desserts.
The chocolate king was really good,
Good thing the delicious looking mousse were small.
The fruit tart was equally great too.
Alright, the whole meal costs only $64 including tips. This is simply one of the best buffet we had during this vacation. We highly recommend the Cravings.
Harrah, you have earned our “A+”!!
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Categorized Under: Buffets • Reno/Lake Tahoe 2007
Ben,
As you probably know, Kobe beef is distinguished from other cuts by the intense marbling (fat) in the meat that gives it the flavor. That piece of roast you show did not demonstrate any kind of marbling. Secondly, it was overcooked so it is not surprising it was tough. The other Prime Roast beef looked a lot better. Kobe beef for $13.99 all you can eat is quite suspicious. Real Kobe beef goes for more than double that amount per pound.
Still, $13.99 for all of that food is quite a deal. I would venture to say a better deal than Las Vegas buffets.
I agree with Erick and would go as far as saying there is no way in the world that was kobe beef. The price of that one piece you showed alone would be twice as much as you paid for the buffet. More likely is that it’s what kobe-style beef, which is really not kobe beef at all. It’s simply the same breed of cow they use for Kobe beef, except it is raised in the US without the strict guidelines they have in Kobe, Japan. i.e., not the same intense diet, beer, etc.
That was some horrible looking kobe let alone over cooked. Mind just server a slice of a tire.
Wow. I wanna go on a king crab binge now.
[...] before. As a matter of fact I had FOUR full plates of it in a casino buffet restaurant in Reno (see here). But that king crab is just steamed and served cold with melted butter as dip. This one is [...]