All Entries Tagged With: "Buffet"

Eagles Buffet in Tulalip Casino, WA

You know where are some of the best places to have buffets? It’s the casinos. In our vacations, we always seek out casinos if we wanted buffet. (Wanted to say that we do NOT gamble … we just like their cheap buffets).

There is a good one in Marysville/Tulalip area. It’s on the same stretch where the Walmart Supercenter and the Seattle Premium Outlet is. You might have guessed that the name Tulalip refers to the bands of native Americans (in Canada we call them First Nations).

The Eagles Buffet at the Tulalip Casino is the best buffet we had ever been to in the Washington state. It was busy the weekend we were there. There were a lot of British Columbians too … as a matter of fact, I meet two separate friends there.

The queue was quite long but takes only 10 minutes for us to get a table. Sunday Brunch prices were $15 per adult.

Arkensen and I went straight to the carving station. We asked for an extra thick cut of the prime roast. This brings us back to the memories of the TEN buffets that we had over on our summer vacation this year.

The fried chicken was crunchy but the piece is so big. They should make smaller pieces for buffets. This is so big that it’s like half a meal already.

We also like their Pot Roast which was tender.

The Pork Ribs was disappointingly tough. It does not even look good.

This is the sweet and sour pork and fried spring rolls that the boys like.

The prawns looked good but they are (1) small and (2) they are not fresh.

The Seafood Chowder had quite a bit of chunky seafood. Not bad.

Since this is a brunch, there are also stuff like french toast and waffle. The waffle was great with whipped butter.

Their ice cream was just OK … nothing special about them at all.

Some fruits …

Suanne had the Blackberry tart and Raspberry Chocolate Mousse in a cracker.

Our bill came up to $65 inclusive taxes and tips. It was a good meal. This cannot be compared with the gold standard of buffets in Las Vegas but is good value for money.

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+”!!

Reno/Lake Tahoe Vacation: Breakfast Buffet at Lord Fitzgerald

I guess we’re eating like there is no tomorrow. We had a good buffet the previous day at the Flavors Buffet and then the next morning, we decided to go for another one. Just to be able to cope with the guilt of eating so much, we decided we try to look for the cheapest breakfast buffet. The cheapest we found was the Lord Fitzgeralds Feast and Merriment Buffet which is just a short walking distance from our hotel.

Well, the place is cheap alright. In order to get to the buffet, we had to walk the gauntlet of slot machines and smokey interior. All that stale cigarette smoke does not help with building an appetite.

The breakfast spread was quite respectable. We did not expect much since this place is cheap. They even have a “cook to order” station — nice.

What we like particularly about this place is that they have espresso and cappucino, albeit it was from a machine. Now, now … why did the other buffet places we been to not have this? Just for this alone, I am giving Lord Fitzgerald a few notch up in my rating.

There are the standard stuff you’ll find in breakfasts. Because of the way it was arranged and presented, they don’t particularly look appetizing.

No one in the family likes eggs except for myself. I simply love eggs and don’t understand why the others don’t. I think Suanne does not like it because she thinks it will make her fart more. The eggs benedict was quite OK. I find the egg a bit overcooked … slightly sifter would have been perfect. The biscuit is too dry and hard for my liking.

Nanzaro does not particularly like eggs but he got this only because it was made to order … he gets a kick out of being like a grown up. I was there when he ordered this. The man at the station asked him what he wanted in his omelette and guess what he says … “Everything”! That comment cracked everyone up at the line. Someone commented that that’s the right way to have omelette.

The scrambled eggs are OK. I love it with lots of pepper and a bit of salt. Better still, if I had soya sauce. The best thing you could add to eggs are soya sauce … don’t you guys think so? No, serious … especially those who had never had soya sauce with eggs … try it and I think you will like it.

The meats are dry and hard. Oh well … we had to have protein for a balance diet.

The sausage is OK and the bacon is a bit undercooked. We prefer them almost burnt to a crisp when it is crunchy and the flavor explodes in your mouth as you bite it. Bacon are NOT meant to be chewed!

The french toast was particularly yummy. Soft and moist … just perfect.

There is nothing much to say about the waffle except that they only have honey syrup to go with this. Tell me … what do you like your waffle with?

I don’t know what this is called … it’s a rolled up crepe and have jams as a filling. Hmmm … this would have been great if they make the crepe at the station. Crepes are meant to be eaten hot.

The boys love rice. They can have rice and noodles at every meal for all they care.

We were stuffed when we got to the desserts. But we had nothing particularly lined up for the day except for a drive to Lake Tahoe, so we slowed down and try to be greedy and gobble more down. We told ourselves that we’re gonna skip lunch.

The Lemon Meringue pie was surprisingly good. One thing about these kind of light pies, it does not fill you up as much as the other pies.

The cheesecake expert, Suanne, says that this is not nice, not creamy. Failing grades for this.

We ended up with some fruits.

Oh, we tried to time this breakfast so that we are still there for when they bring out the lunch spread. Guess what … they actually cordoned off the entire area while they make the transition. I guess for that low price, they want to prevent people to stay on for lunch too.

The bill came up to $28.35 including tips. Not bad right? Frankly, if you ignore the smokey interiors and the dark decor, this place is a bargain.

Reno/Lake Tahoe Vacation: Flavors! The Buffet in Silver Legacy

Nothing much we could do in Reno except to eat. Anyway, we had planned to max out every opportunity to pig out before we leave for home. It had been a couple of weeks since we left Vancouver and frankly, we are all beginning to feel homesick.

The dinner we had the first night in Reno was at the Flavors! Buffet at the Silver Legacy casino. Here there are hardly any queue at all. In Vegas, the wait times for tables could be up to 1-2 hours. This suits us perfectly fine … the selection is wide, the price is right and the place is very clean.

This is the kind of setting we like … lots of choices and hardly anyone there. Well, I guess it’s because it’s not the weekend. I understand that Reno is very quiet during weekdays.

Arkensen and I went first for the prime roast beef. They are simply some of the best we had ever tasted. Very juicy and succulent … and because there were hardly anyone around, the people at the carving station gave us the cut we wanted and as thick as we wanted. We went for this twice.

The pork loin was equally geat too. The medallion cut is some of the largest I ever had. Man, that must have been one heck of a pig there.

The salmon was nothing to shout about.

Veggies … not my favourite but Suanne takes it.

The skin of fried chicken was really crispy.

And then there is the roast chicken.

I am not sure what this beef dish is called … but recall that it was not really good at all despite the looks of it. We took a bite and set it aside — gotta leave room for more food.

I would not have taken sausages because they were so huge — you know, one of those 9″ long ones. Just take one of these and I am already half full. The boys had this.

They even had tilapias. Hey, you know, I think Reno had quite a lot of Chinese/Asian restaurants in the casinos — seems like a lot more than in Vegas. I figure that they have quite a sizable Asian customers … but where are they mostly from? Vancouver area, you think?

The prawns were OK … a bit too small. Good prawns had to be big.

The desserts were colourful and beautifully presented. Normally we don’t go for jellies but because it was so pretty, we had one.

The pastry selection is quite limited …

… but the chocolate pecan cakes were really good …

… and so is this one.

Ice-cream is just the standard ones. No big deal really.

Had some fruits at the end.

We paid $62 for the four of us, including tips. This is worth every dollar especially with the roast beef.

San Francisco Vacation: Melaka Restaurant in San Bruno

This buffet is unplanned … honest … cross my heart and hope to die!

We were staying in San Bruno, thereabouts. Each day driving between our hotel and the Caltrain station we can’t help but notice a restaurant called Melaka Restaurant. That word could only mean one thing in the world … it’s the name of one of the oldest city in Malaysia … and that means that it’s a Malaysian restaurant. We simply gotta check it out.

We found out that it’s a buffet place. And what really made us stay for dinner is the irresistable price … it’s only about $8 or so per person. I can spot a Malaysian anywhere … from the way they dress, their hair style and especially the way they speak.

You know … Malaysians have their own unique English … pretty much a mix of English, Malay and Chinese … we call it Manglish. I have loaded such a song on youtube here — it is not exactly a Manglish song but more Singlish but it’s close.

I so miss the humble noodles. The mussels were just so-so.

The deep fried prawns was also so-so.

The boys enjoyed the sushi.

The calamari, the hainanese chicken and the fried chicken wings were so-so too.

I think this one is chicken … am not sure.

The soup was so-so.

The pastries selection was also so-so.

Green tea ice-cream … certainly not Malaysia.

The food overall are not great but they were comfort food for us. We enjoyed the evening. The total came up to only $35 including tips. Not bad.

Yosemite Vacation: Buffet Breakfast at Curry Village

Back to normal programming …

We had a rough night in those tents in Curry Village. It was so bloody cold. Moreover, me being such a hero, did not bring along even a light jacket for this trip. Suanne insisted everyone bring one but I thought, well, it’s summer … why would I need a jacket right? The blanket was so thin and SHORT … does not help a bit at all. I decided to wake up at 5AM and took a walk to warm myself up.

Everyone else woke up at 7AM. Decided that since this place is so rough, we let the boys go without brushing their teeth for today! I was amazed that Suanne allowed that. Well, considering we had to take a long cold walk to the bear lockers to grab our toiletries and then endure a long wait to use the limited washrooms, I guess it’s quite OK to skip brushing their teeth for once. They were happy.

About the only warm place that morning was the Curry Village Buffet. We did not plan on having another buffet since we had so many already in Las Vegas. It was either this or we take a bus to the Yosemite Lodge.

Service was atrocious even though it was a buffet. The people who worked there are obviously seasonal workers who does not care to give us a fake smile or a fake greeting. No eye contact … mono-syllable communication … in another words, just plain rude, if you ask me. After a rough night, I admit I am quite cranky … but these kind of attitude will not bring these workers far in life. Sorry for being so judgmental! I had already decided then and there … no tip whatsoever for you guys … sorry.

The good part is this place is warm.

There were lots of food though. Count on this as standard American breakfast fare. It was quite good and we enjoyed it.

I remember we took a long time having this breakfast. I guess we were waiting for the sun to warm up the morning air.

Since we wanted to spend more time outdoors, we had only planned to have a sit down dinner. So, we loaded up and eat to our fill.

The total bill came up to $36.64 … the beauty of it is I did not leave any tip … and I actually felt good about it! I am not complaining about the bill … considering the amount of food, it was quite OK … it’s not cheap but at least I don’t feel ripped off price-wise.

Las Vegas Vacation: Carnival World Buffet at Rio

We got up extra early that last morning in Vegas as we had a long day driving from Vegas to Yosemite. This is one breakfast we know we want to load up on as we have no plans to stop for lunch until we get to Yosemite.

Since Rio is known as an All-Suite hotel, I figure that they would be worth checking out. The Rio hotel is not located along the The Strip but a few blocks west of the South Las Vegas Blvd. Driving down the Strip, one would not miss noticing the red and blue tower.

The Carnival World Buffet is known to be the first buffet in Las Vegas to have multiple action stations and the buffet that introduces high-end buffets to Las Vegas.

Rio’s buffet is quite cheap compared to Bellagio’s. Here is what I gleaned from their website:

• Breakfast $13.99 plus tax, 7am-11am Mon-Fri, 7:30am – 10:30am Sat-Sun
• Lunch $16.99 plus tax, 11am-3:30pm Mon-Fri
• Dinner $23.99 plus tax, 3:30pm-10pm Nightly
• Saturday & Sunday Champagne Brunch $23.99 plus tax, 10:30am-3:30pm

They have several electronic payment machines, much like an ATM to make your payment. I was very impressed and thought why didn’t the other buffets do this.

We were there early at slightly past 7AM. There were hardly anyone around when we were there.

The buffet tables were the longest we have ever seen. What you see below is just perhaps a quarter of the buffet counters around. They are arranged by themes. The food are more authentic than any we have ever been to.

The fresh carved meats was our favorite station. The meat were just fresh out from the ovens. Don’t you just love it seeing steam rising as they carved the meats? I do.

I know this is breakfast but I just must have the prime roast. I figured this will be the last time we’re gonna have this until we get to Reno … so why not eat to our fill, right?

The normal breakfast fare are also there … french toasts, waffles, pancakes … yummy!

From the Chinese section, there were buns and dim sums.

They even have chinese pastries — sesame seed balls.

More stuff …

And these …

They even have churros … the boys like these sugarly sticks.

We simply must have bacon, scrambled eggs and hash browns for breakfast.

Their ice cream selection is the best we have seen. The display is simply mouth watering.

We just had chocolate ones though.

The selections from the pastries section were really fresh made.

For a balanced meal, we felt good also having some fruits.

We enjoyed this buffet a lot because we practically had the entire buffet to ourselves. There were no jostling with the crowds although we read that this is one of the busiest buffets in Vegas.

Despite all the claims from every buffet as being the best, Rio is widely recognized as the best buffet in Vegas. I would not disagree.

So, here it is … the last blog entry of our stay in Vegas. Like they say … “What Happened in Vegas … Ends Up On The Internet”.

Cheers! :-)