Ever been to a "good" buffet?

[DesertDog]

@monstro

Like 15-17 years ago, my aunt took me to brunch buffet in Silver Spring, MD (or thereabouts). I had been expecting something on par with Old Country Buffet, so I was floored. That food was off the chain, which is why I remember all these years later. But I can’t remember the name of the place.

@What_Exit

Just to comment, Old Country Buffet was terrible, truly terrible, all the crappy school cafeteria quality food you could eat.

I’ve been to a decent Chinese Buffet, but only decent and they got worse over the years.

There’s an Old Country Buffet in town, in the part thick with oldsters. I’ve never eaten there but every time I pass by it I’m reminded of the South Park episode where the AARP hordes took over the town. The kids saved the day by luring them into the Country Corner Buffet and gassing them unconscious.

Nearby there is a Chinese buffet, but before stopping in, I looked them up in Yelp. It has a one-star rating; I’ve never seen a one-star rated restaurant in Yelp before.

[Voyager]

@Randolph

I used to work at a place where, occasionally, they’d go to lunch at a strip club buffet. (It was kind of in line with the nature of the job.) I joined them a few times. The food was always excellent - like, way out of line of expectations.

I’ve got to ask - what kind of job is this in line with? Any jobs I’ve been on even proposing this would get you into serious trouble.

[mistymage]

@Voyager

I’ve got to ask - what kind of job is this in line with? Any jobs I’ve been on even proposing this would get you into serious trouble.

Beer distributor? Or, back in the day, cigarette distributor? Food inspector? All daytime types of jobs that could have legit reasons to be at a strip club. Heck, night time for the beer guys if a draft line futzes up.

[Randolph]

Media distributor, for various definitions of media. Excellent job; high pay, flexible hours or WFH, unlimited PTO - all they cared about was if you got your shit done.

[lingyi]

I suspect it’s a businessman’s lunch, where you’re required to cater to whatever (within reason) the client wants to close the deal.

Edit: I see the poster answered. Interesting job!

Sorry for getting off topic again, but when the owners of a store I worked for went to China to search out some manufacturers for the products they were planning to make, the manufacturer’s rep took to to Karaoke, where my Taiwanese friend said the hostesses wear see through lingerie and you don’t just have to look.

The owner told me that the girls would come in four at a time and if you didn’t like anyone in the group, they just said next and four more would come in. When he asked one of the girls if she spoke English, she replied in Chinese: “Sir, if I could speak English, I wouldn’t be working here!” Funny and sad at the same time.

[Voyager]

@Randolph

Media distributor, for various definitions of media. Excellent job; high pay, flexible hours or WFH, unlimited PTO - all they cared about was if you got your shit done.

Cool!

[stillownedbysetters]

At the humble, but delicious, end of the spectrum, I fondly remember the Home Cafe in New Carlisle, Indiana. There wasn’t an endless array of choices, no fancy food (shrimp was as exotic as it got), nothing trendy, just fresh, home-cooked, made from scratch, food your most talented family cook would have been proud to serve for Sunday dinner. The homemade rolls fresh from the oven, the handmade noodles, the gravy (oh that gravy!), freshly made pie with handmade piecrust, creamed corn made with actual fresh cream, etc.

Lines were long, and if you didn’t arrive promptly at 6 pm you likely wouldn’t get a seat.

[gkster]

@DCnDC

The only legitimately good non-Indian buffet I’ve ever eaten at is Phillips Crab House in Ocean City, MD. It’s good quality seafood, but it’s not at all cheap. It was like $20 a head 30 years ago, and I’m certain it’s at least double that now.

Ooooh! Thanks for posting this! I see a trip to Ocean City in my future. The Baltimore Inner Harbor Phillips location has been very good in my experience, and the buffet looks like Heaven!
Menu here: https://www.phillipsseafood.com/locations-and-menus/ocean-city-crab-house/menus/seafood-buffet
Dinner Buffet Pricing:
Adults: $39.99
Early Bird (first hour of business): $35.99
Several tripadvisor reviewers say that it’s gone downhill lately, 3.5/5 overall rating, and one recommended Embers instead, which has 4 on tripadvisor:
All You Can Eat Seafood & Prime Rib Buffet
Early Bird Special: $4 Off Adult Buffet, 4pm-5pm
Adult Buffet: $39.99
http://embers.com/menus/

@stillownedbysetters

At the humble, but delicious, end of the spectrum, I fondly remember the Home Cafe in New Carlisle, Indiana. There wasn’t an endless array of choices, no fancy food (shrimp was as exotic as it got), nothing trendy, just fresh, home-cooked, made from scratch, food your most talented family cook would have been proud to serve for Sunday dinner. The homemade rolls fresh from the oven, the handmade noodles, the gravy (oh that gravy!), freshly made pie with handmade piecrust, creamed corn made with actual fresh cream, etc.

Lines were long, and if you didn’t arrive promptly at 6 pm you likely wouldn’t get a seat.

That reminds me of Mrs.Wilkes Dining Room in Savannah: long lines, lunch only, shared tables, fried chicken, meatloaf, gravy, lots of southern-style sides, all very fresh and just plain good home cooking.

Menu - Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room

[Mama_Zappa]

I popped in to mention the Las Vegas hotel buffets. I’ve only gone to one (at the MGM Grand, I think) and I was startled at how spendy it was (30-40 apiece I think) as the one I’d eaten at in Atlantic City was a fraction of the cost, but the food was really, really good.

I once heard that some place in vegas offered a 24 hour pass vs a single meal - that way you wouldn’t be as tempted to overeat since you could come back later. I could see that being a very good idea if you were spending time in town (we were not; we just went to the strip to see the lights and have dinner).

Most better hotels that offer a Sunday brunch buffet do a dandy job even outside of Vegas - I’ve eaten at several Ritz Carlton buffets in the DC area that were quite nice.

And as mentioned, the Disnely buffets tend to be great - the one we ate at our last 2 trips was at the Animal Kingdom lodge. Also a good place to go if you have food allergies; they’ll send someone out to go with you along the line to point out what’s safe and what isn’t (Dweezil is peanut-allergic).

Chinese buffets tend to be “edible” depending on your definition of “edible”. Golden Corral (used to be a steakhouse chain, now a buffet) has an insane variety but is more of a place for refueling vs dining. It’s better than the Chinese buffet that used to exist near us, though. We used to stop at one particular location when taking the kids to summer camp - everyone could get whatever they liked, so it was a good choice for us.